Ayana P
Motivated By Love
We had three shoots scheduled for the end of September and it was a rough summer. All except for one attempt I made to make money was successful. My mother took an unexpected pay cut. Every reason to give up and wash my hands of the show flooded my mind. I wanted to open up and talk to someone besides my fellow Producers about it. But I felt that those that I even considered speaking to would never understand. So I kept my mouth shut. I kept things between my fellow Producers and God. I began to question why I was even putting myself through this kind of stress. Overwhelmed, one day I opened my bible to Matthew 27.
Matthew 27:39-44
Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, “You are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!”
In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! He’s the King of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe him. He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God,’” In the same way the robbers who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him.
Here Jesus was on the cross suffering physically. Then people began to insult Him and ridicule Him which caused him to suffer emotionally. On top of that they made it clear that they didn’t believe in Him which only added to the emotional hurt. On the outside looking in one might believe that it just would have been easier for Him to come down off the cross to put an end to His humiliation, His hurt and their doubt. He was fully capable of doing so. Yet He remained on the cross because He knew it was absolutely necessary. He was the ultimate sacrifice.
2 Corinthians 5:21
God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
If He didn’t sacrifice Himself we would be lost forever. He was motivated by love. His strength motivated me to surge forward. This was God’s plan for my life and I knew it would be successful. I’m happy to say that we taped the three shows and we are now halfway through the season. There will be times where it seems like it would be easier to just give up. When that happens ask yourself what motivates you. Remember if God made this kind of sacrifice and endured such suffering for you, there should be no reason why you shouldn’t do what He asks of you.
Nothing can Thwart the Plans God has for you
Job 10:15-16
Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him; I will surely defend my ways to his face. Indeed, this will turn out for my deliverance, for no godless man would ever come before him!
After the script was written, I was eager for God to tell me what company my mother and I should pitch the script to and how. What I found in my research was that agents were expensive and that they only want to work with you if you have a name for yourself. I decided that the best course of action would be attending a pitch festival. The way I figured it, it would be the perfect opportunity for my mother to pitch the feature she had written and the perfect chance for me to pitch the sitcom. I made plans to attend the Hollywood Pitch Festival and purchased two books to help us prepare for the event. But whenever you do something for God, opposition from the devil is never that far behind. Sure enough, the first week of the month of May, our next door neighbor had a fire. It affected my mother and I because where we live, our homes are connected. It was about one ‘o’clock in the morning. I felt like I was getting the best sleep ever. It was one of the deepest sleeps I ever had. I vaguely heard my mother call my name. When I finally woke up my mother’s calling became more and more frantic. I jumped up and followed her voice to the kitchen. A huge cloud of black smoke flew through the window. Shocked, I continued to follow my mother’s voice down into the basement. “The house is on fire next door! Call 911!” But all I could think about was getting my mother and myself out of there. I grabbed my phone and grabbed my mother, ran out of the house and called 911. After I called 911 I found out that several other neighbors had already called. As I stood outside and watched the firefighters fight the flames, I looked up at the sky and asked God what He wanted me to get out of this situation. There was a lot of smoke damage and the firefighters knocked out a few windows and broke up a few of our things. The environment where I worked was pretty much completely destroyed. At that moment I felt that failure at the Hollywood Pitch Festival was not an option. In my eyes this event was our only way out. So despite the circumstances, my mother and I continued to prepare for that event. The following Sunday on our way to church we were in a car accident. The cab we were in ran into directly into the car in front of us. Thankfully we weren’t critically injured, but I was convinced that we were under the attack of the enemy.
Ayana Productions Up Close 