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Yielding to Your Purpose
Yielding any part of your life to God is a process, not an event. The same is true for your entrepreneurial journey. It happens in stages. My process began when I felt stagnant at my job. I was a recent college graduate, and I had exhausted all my options of attempting to acquire a role in my field. At my wit’s end, I said, Okay, God, it’s me and You. I surrender. Please give me guidance in this area of my life. It was that prayer that fueled the trajectory for the rest of my career. Committed, I saw to it that God was my first order of business by starting each day off with prayer.
By no means did I change overnight. There were times when I didn’t understand what God was doing and allowed my common sense to overrule what He was telling me. I went off course many times, but God always got me back on track.
The rest is history. God has taken me in a direction I never could have predicted, and I have never been more confident in Him.
This journal is filled with thought-provoking prompts, questions, and scriptures that helped me get through some of the most difficult times of my entrepreneurial journey.
Media Alert is finished. We have made it to the other side. To God be the glory.
It’s official!
As of August 5, 2021 myself and my team made it to the other side. Jesus calmed the storm and brought us through. To God be the glory!
Praise break time right?
Yet, when I should have felt elated all I could think about was what went wrong, what we could have done better and the precarious situation I’m still in. My rejoicing was short-lived. Before I knew it, I was solely focused on what the project was lacking and the uncertainty of the future.
Through my experience, I’ve tried to put into practice looking at the bigger picture.
Isaiah 14:13-14
You said in your heart, “I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.”
To be sure, Satan wants the praise that belongs to God. He cannot stand when God gets any glory. Therefore he will try to steal your praise by tempting you to focus on what you don’t have, what you should have done, where you are and where you think you should be.
I implore you: Do not let the devil steal your joy, steal your praise or steal your happiness. Forget about what went wrong and where you think you should be by now.
Because as Ecclesiastes 3:1 states: There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven.
God knows exactly where you are. Everything that happened, happened when and the way it was supposed to. Therefore clear out all the noise and be intentional about your praise to God.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
Below is a link to an episode of Media Alert entitled ‘The Hope.’ I pray that it blesses you all:
Appreciating God’s Speed Bumps
I had set aside one major resource, and that resource was time.
Luke 12:48
But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask much more.
I planned to use my time to work on the audio mixing, color correcting, and color grading of Media Alert. When I made the decision, someone rescheduled an interview for an article during the same time Ihad set aside to edit. But I thought to myself
“That’ll just take 30 minutes out of my time.
I can handle that. No problem.”
But then another person requested three additional articles, and I found myself having to use the time that I had set aside for interviewing people. I was upset. But then God said
“You need to learn how to appreciate My speed bumps.“
Speed bumps reduce the speed of cars to promote safety for drivers and pedestrians. If you go over a speed bump too fast, you can potentially cause damage to your car. Finally, you’re not supposed to go around a speed bump as it is against the law.
God placed that speed bump there to get me to slow down. Although I was upset, He didn’t place it there to harm me but to prevent me from causing damage and to avoid accidents.
Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you, plans to give you a hope and a future.
God told me that Media Alert was going to make it. When I had the resource of time available, I took it upon myself to try to control how and when it was going to make it.
Thank God for His speed bumps.
30 Pieces of Advice I Would Have Given To My Younger Self
To commemorate my 30th birthday here’s 30 pieces of advice I would have given to my younger self.
1. Genuine love IS worth waiting on.
2. Put it in God’s hands.
3. Relax, God is in control.
4. If you’ve done your best, there’s no sense in beating yourself up over it if it didn’t work out.
5. Always look at the bigger picture.
6. In tough times, ask God what He wants you to learn from it.
7. You do more than most & work harder than you or others give you credit for. So it’s okay to have more fun!
8. You don’t have to make room in your life for ANYONE who is belittling you.
9. If the ball is in someone else’s court, leave it there until they pass it back.
10. Open up your eyes and look around you. You’re holding it down.
11. Encourage yourself in the Lord more.
12. Let go of false guilt. Most of the time, things are not what they seem.
13. Get back to basics. Spend time in prayer every day.
14. Take delight in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart (Psalms 37:4)
15. Celebrate you more.
16. If you think you’ve missed out on something…think again! God’s plan is perfect. His timing is perfect. It has no holes and no mistakes. So if you missed out on it, rest assured, it was a part of God’s perfect plan.
17. Check up on and spend more time with your family.
18. Make more time for yourself.
19. And we know that all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28)
20. Persevere
21. Most of the time, people are not who they’re cracked up to be. How many times have you discovered this to be true?
22. God didn’t bring you this far to leave you now. Have faith!
23. Go for what you want.
24. Do the things you enjoy more.
25. You know God’s voice by now, so knock it off and listen!
26. Look less at your surrounding circumstances and more at God.
27. If you ever find yourself worrying about how you’re going to make it, remember God said in His word that He would meet every need.
28. God doesn’t lie and He doesn’t go back on His word, so hold on to the promises of the Lord.
29. Don’t just listen to the words…Peep the game.
30. Don’t quit. God is not through with you yet!
Beware of Boredom
So here I was unemployed. In addition to my daily job search, I tried to get more coverage for Ayana Productions. I went back to my old routine and started praying first thing in the morning. Things were going pretty well, but then my boredom got the best of me. Praying every day, looking for jobs, and searching for media coverage somehow didn’t satisfy me, especially since I still didn’t see a significant change in the websites’ traffic.
Philippians 2:3
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourself.
Eventually, my boredom led me right back to my selfish ambition. I was spending more and more time taking online courses to make my resume look more appealing in order to get a job that had nothing to do with what God wanted me to do. Again, I was headed in a direction that God didn’t want me to go in. Then my selfish ambition got the best of me. My mother, who is now the Executive Director and Host of Ayana Productions, wrote a feature film script in two composition notebooks. I could feel God tug at my heart, telling me to type the script. Still not used to God’s voice, I brushed it off because we had an online news and entertainment show. In my mind, we had no business fooling up with a feature film when we couldn’t even get the show off the ground. So I put it off. I certainly wish I would’ve listened to God because what comes next, I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy.
Eventually I got another job. But God has a way of chastising you when you’ve been disobedient. I landed a gig at an eCommerce company as a customer service representative. In retrospect, the job was pretty simple. All I had to do was assist customers with their orders via email. At this job, we were allowed to wear our headphones and listen to music. But at a reasonable volume, of course, just in case one of the supervisors was trying to get our attention. Simple enough right? Not really. Because we were allowed to listen to music, the supervisors’ sitting in the front office would speak negatively about the staff. There were times I heard them speak negatively about me, which made for a very uncomfortable working condition. One day I guess I couldn’t suppress their comments any longer because I started gasping for air and my heart started racing. I couldn’t put my finger on what was wrong. So I got up, went to the restroom, took a couple of deep breaths and tried to calm myself down. But the relief was only temporary. When I got back to my desk, it started up again. This feeling just wouldn’t let up. It was becoming increasingly worse with each passing day. I did some research on my symptoms and apparently I was suffering from anxiety attacks. To make matters’ worse I was beginning to have night terrors during my sleeping hours. The job was really wearing on me. I prayed and asked God to get me out of the situation. My desire became so great that I vehemently started working on Ayana Productions coverage. While I was employed there I covered the Queens Peace Keepers March, a Fathers Alive In The Hood event and the Dumbo Arts Festival. My mother also interviewed Ralph McDaniels (Uncle Ralph) and the Mis B’havin Misfits. Sometimes God allows trouble to come to get your attention and get you back in line. But take my advice; things are always easier when you listen to God the first time.
His Purpose for your Life is Real
Sometimes when you’re praying and waiting on a word from the Lord, you don’t always feel God or get an answer right away. But don’t fret. God has not abandoned you.
I came back from the 2011 Essence Music Festival excited about the footage I acquired. I planned the first episode of my news & entertainment series, decided what clips would go where, what I would say, put it all together, and uploaded it to the internet. I promoted the show on every social networking site I could think of. But then a week went by, and the views were not where I hoped they would be. So I promoted the show more, but the numbers hardly changed. I was afraid. I had quit my job, had a limited amount of money, and my camera and laptop were subpar. I didn’t have the equipment to do the job God told me to do. Questions and doubts raced through my mind. Did God really tell me
to start this company? And if He did, then why isn’t it yielding the kind of financial results that will sustain me?
I got back on my knees and prayed. I asked God why He was allowing this to happen. It was at that moment that I couldn’t quite put my finger on what God was doing.
Exodus 4:10-12
Moses said to the LORD, “O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.”
The LORD said to him, “Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? It is not I, the LORD?
Now go; I will help you speak, and I will teach you what to say.”
I had fallen prey to the circumstances surrounding me. But I had to remind myself that God wouldn’t tell me to start this company if He knew I couldn’t be successful. I continued to pray on a daily basis and worked on covering my next event.
Get Up Close and Personal with Ayana Productions as we make God our First Order of Business!
Proverbs 16:9
In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.
Putting God first when you’re running a media company is no easy task. I mean, let’s face it. You’re going up against one of the largest and most powerful platforms in the world. The media world as a whole has an agenda, and it is not Christ-like. Join Ayana Productions on our journey as we make God our first order of business!
Ayana Productions Up Close 