christian
Embrace Life’s Delays
It’s been an emotional roller coaster ever since this journey began. From freelancing with the Amsterdam News, to running the Online News and Entertainment series to the Hollywood Pitch Festival and finally to the production of Media Alert. It took years to get to this point. I found myself discussing with my fellow producers how things would be when we finally finished the web series. We were all tired, and we eagerly anticipated the destination. Because I constantly dwelled on the finished product, the stress of it all crept up my back and expanded throughout my shoulders. It had been a long six years, and it was beginning to physically wear on me. But then I realized something. I became so wrapped up in the destination that I neglected to revere the beauty of the journey. I can remember each one of those emotionally draining waiting periods. It was then that God did the most profound things, and I grew the most spiritually. While working with the Amsterdam News, I met public relations representative James Grant of James Grant PR and formed Ayana Productions, an online News and Entertainment series with my mother. We covered red carpet events and interviewed various guests. I recall when we had actress Chantal Maurice on the show. Little did we know that we would meet an actor, Kamel Goffin, who would soon become the main character of our web series Media Alert by attending one of her film screenings. Then my godfather, Edison Sainsbury, came on board as one of the producers. With his background in sound engineering as well as film and video production, he filled a major void that we had. A few months later, we picked up our other two phenomenal cast members, Imani Nia Robinson and Fritz Jean. I recall wondering what the delay was during each one of those long, drawn-out periods, and God opened up doors each and every time. Even when I didn’t understand what was happening, God was directing me to my destiny all along. So embrace life’s delays. God is not in the business of wasting time. Everything He is taking you through is for a purpose.
Romans 8:28
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
When God says all things, He means all things. All of the setbacks, all of the vulnerability, all of the embarrassment, all of the anger, all of the sadness, all of the times you needed money but couldn’t make it, all of the time you think you lost, all the time you think you wasted, and yes, even LIFE’S DELAYS. God is working it together for your ultimate good. All of it is necessary for God’s plan for your life. He takes into consideration things that we would have overlooked had we been in control, and He weighs out options that we wouldn’t even consider. He is a master planner and designer. All of it, every bit of it, is a part of the plan.
Philippians 1:6
Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry to on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
As per my prayer request in the very beginning, God had been directing me the entire time and will finish the good work He started with me just as He will with all of us.
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 whom 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 hur,t 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 when 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.
God is the Ultimate Casting Director
June 26, 2017 this happened #TrustGod
June 26, 2017 this happened #TrustGod
Psalm 37:23
If the Lord delights in a man’s way, he makes his steps firm.
We were approximately three weeks away from production. As the big day approached, two things concerned my mother and I. The lack of money for the location and the lack of cast members. We decided to reach out to an actress who had been on Ayana Productions previously to fill the empty position. A week later, to our dismay, she informed us that she would be unable to play the part. Now we were down to two weeks until production. It was crunch time, so we decided to write a script from scratch using the cast members that we had.
Finally, when the scripts were written, I emailed each cast member a non-disclosure agreement. Once they signed it and sent it back, I emailed them the script. We were now down to a week until production. I was concerned about the booking of the location, but my mother agreed to take care of that. Things were pretty calm for the first part of the week, and then two days before production, one of the cast members informed us that he had to work during production hours. We had to think fast. I remembered a few weeks before that someone I went to high school with posted a video of him acting on Facebook, and he was pretty good. I let my mother watch the video, and she thought we should reach out to him for the part. To our surprise, he agreed with such short notice. I sent him a non-disclosure agreement, he sent it back right away and then I sent him the script.
Romans 8:28
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those that love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
It turned out my old high school buddy worked out perfectly and is now a permanent cast member of the series. Although we didn’t see it at first, this is where God was leading us from the beginning. Yes, God is the ultimate casting director.
In the beginning God
I love views like this. It reminds me of how vast God is. There’s nothing He can’t handle. #NothingsTooHardForGod #SkyAsFarAsTheEyeCouldSee
When I was younger, my mother used to say to me, “God hung the stars on nothing. You think He can’t handle your problems?”
Each day that passed, the weight of the production costs, the lack thereof, and the fact that we were losing time began to wear on me. I began to pray, but a little differently this time. Instead of focusing on the issues my mother and I faced, I focused on the heavens and the earth that God created. I opened up the first chapter of the book of Genesis, a very familiar text to most, but one certainly worth reading again when problems seem too much to handle.
Genesis 1:1
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
I began to meditate on the works of God’s hands. It then occurred to me the absurdity of our worries. The bible doesn’t give an explanation as to how God created the heavens and the earth. It just says that He did and that He began to speak things into existence. He created something out of nothing. Our issues are all so minuscule when compared to God. He could turn things around in an instant. I stopped worrying about how God was going to work everything out for us and focused on the fact that God was going to work everything out for us.
Psalm 8:3-4
When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?
Old Habits Die Hard
Joshua 1:7-9
“Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Do not let this Book of Law Depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”
Writing a sitcom seemed so far off from what I was doing. But I had no doubt that God said it, and I was determined to do just what He said. But then I got a direct message from a rap artist named Tally P, and he was interested in an interview. Excited, I quickly sent him a message back and arranged an over-the-phone interview. So there I was writing an article and I assured God I would get to what he told me to do eventually. And I was genuinely confident that I would. But after I got through with that article, I got a phone call from my cousin. She told me that Wanda Armour, the mother of Mindless Behavior’s artist “Prodigy,” was interested in an interview about her new book. Again, I assured God that I would get to writing that sitcom just as soon as I interviewed Armour and posted it to my website. And I had every intention to do just that. I shot her publicist an email, arranged an over-the-phone interview, and wrote the article.
Never put off what God has instructed you to do.
God allowed me to post the article to my website but then after that boom! He shut my whole operation down. I got a virus on my laptop. Until I got the money to get it fixed, I was left with nothing but a pen and a notebook to write the sitcom that God wanted me to write in the first place.
Keep Your Eyes On God And He Won’t Let You Sink
Matthew 14:30-31
But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched out his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, why did thou doubt?
Unfortunately, I allowed my extenuating circumstances to take my mind off of Ayana Productions. The harsh reality was that bills were piling high. In addition to writing what was assigned to me, I covered anything that I thought would be of interest to the Amsterdam News in an effort to help make ends meet. But not all my stories made it into the paper. Eventually, things got so bad that I sometimes couldn’t afford to get to and from interviews. Those stories resulted in over-the-phone interviews. Constant fellowship with God was what got me through to this point, so I fell on my knees and I prayed. And I mean, I prayed hard. In the midst of prayer, God spoke to my heart and said, “Keep your eyes on me and I won’t let you sink.”
Knowing that God doesn’t lie or go back on His word, His word gave me a newfound strength. So I laid my circumstances at His feet, focused on God, and continued to work steadfastly despite the issues surrounding me.
Let the Chase Begin
When God says yes, don’t let anybody tell you no
Hebrews 10:36
You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.
On the verge of hitting rock bottom, I was naturally eager to speak to my new editor about my first news assignment. I got my writing samples, a cover letter, and my resume together. I sent it to her by email, assuming that she would get back to me right away. But then a day went by, and then another day. I didn’t hear from her. Two days can feel like a lifetime when you’re low on cash. So I decided to follow up with her by sending another email. Then another two days passed, and nothing. I certainly didn’t want to be a pest, but I didn’t exactly want to give up either. I couldn’t quite put my finger on what God was doing and why He was allowing this to happen. But one thing was clear. I know I heard God say Amsterdam News.
In prayer, I expressed to God that my back was against the wall and I was confused as to why things were going the way they were going. But God spoke to my heart and told me to keep trying. So I persevered, and a few more emails and telephone calls later, I got my first news assignment.
Ayana Productions Up Close 