By Ava Collier

Jewel Scott is an attorney at Scott & Turner Law Group in Atlanta, Ga. She is also running for Clayton County Commissioner in district 4. Her husband, Lee Scott, is a successful businessman and entrepreneur. They are the parents of two sons, ages 19 and 24. A Jamaican native, Jewel, says she was in law school in Jamaica and on vacation in Montego Bay when she first met her husband. New York City native, Lee, says that she was beautiful and he was instantly attracted to her.

“We met on the beach,” Lee says, “Jewel was very attractive and I asked her out on a date for dinner that evening. She wouldn’t go without her girlfriend and her girlfriend’s baby. I took everyone out!” Jewel says that Jamaicans are very warm people, although a little suspicious of foreigners. “I was a little leery, but I thought he was a nice person and he was a gentleman. He was from New York and I was about to finish law school. He said if I ever needed a contact in NY or decided to come to the states, to please contact him.” Jewel says it was over a year later while practicing law in the Turks and Caicos Islands that she contacted Lee about possibly coming to the states. “I didn’t think he’d remember me. He called me back and kept calling every day. He was relentless!” They were married in 1985 and will celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary in July 2010.

Although born in Harlem, NY, Lee says his father was from Jamaica. He says while growing up, he visited Jamaica often and was accustomed to the culture. “I used to go once a year as a young adult. I was already hooked on Jamaica and the possibility of marrying a Jamaican woman,” says Lee.

Jewel shared that Lee was very persuasive and persistent and would make long distance calls everyday from NY to Turks and Caicos to talk to her. “We had a long distance relationship. He is a man of his word and has character and integrity. He is exemplary as a husband and father and he never takes shortcuts.” “Jewell is a very strong minded person. She is a little stubborn, confident and she will get her own way.” He continued, “In Jewell, I saw someone who is smart, intelligent and not a pushover and she knows her own mind. I was looking for someone like her to be the mother of my children.”

“Both of us love the Lord. I was very attracted to Jewel not only for her looks and intelligence,” Lee shared, “She also had a personal relationship with the Lord and her dad was a minister. I wanted to know more about that and wanted to live that type of life and I wanted my children to live that life. It was clear from the start that the Lord would be the center of our lives. I feel the grace of God everyday.” I asked them what they do for each other and just for themselves to keep their love renewed and fresh. “The most important thing I do for my husband, my kids, and others that I interact with daily is early morning quiet time with the Lord,” says Jewel. “I ask Him to recharge and direct me. I read His word and ask for strength. Apart from the love of my husband, the love of the Lord keeps me going and gives me that passion about serving people. I turn to God’s word and ask for direction and strength; that’s how I recharge.”

Lee says, “Although Jewell has her private devotional time with the Lord, we end up praying together at least once a day about everything. We bind up the situations and the things that we’re concerned about and place it in the Lord’s hands and ask Him to let things go according to His will.” Jewell says they sit under the ministry of Creflo Dollar and this has empowered them to do what they need. “As a family law attorney, I say to couples to work on their marriage and don’t give up so quickly. The more years that Lee and I have spent together, the better our marriage is. We love each other and enjoy being together. Our kids have a model to try to pattern their lives after and I’m thankful to God for that.”