SEPT./OCT. 2023

     Your assignment is not the assignment of everyone else.  Once I learned what those nine words truly meant, my focus on life changed.  Of course, I have been told that God gives His toughest battles to His strongest warriors, but that memo didn’t include details of when the battles would end.  Instead of sticking my chest out during my victories and hanging my head during the moments of defeat, I’ve decided to learn from each circumstance, and by doing so, I am prepared for the next battle with each new day.  

     The best advice I have ever given myself is to be satisfied in my attempts to be better.  When I first launched Huami Magazine, I was presented with a situation that adversely impacted the quality of my relatively new publication.  I was frustrated, but I also knew what had occurred and why it happened.  The idea of quitting never came into my mind, even while I sat motionless, staring at the balled-up copy in reference.  I didn’t know then, but God was preparing me for something greater.  

     In November of this year, we will begin our seventeenth-anniversary celebration of the birth of Huami Magazine.  When I think about all of the layouts, the photo shoots, the interviews, and the distributions that have taken place, all I can say is God has been faithful and continues to keep His promise.  

     Had I given up in the beginning, the stories and testimonies of countless individuals may have never been published.  Had I given in to the pressure of operating in the unknown, my mother would have never been able to mail magazines to her friends.  Had I not decided to pour everything I have in me into producing something my community would celebrate, the hope that others have in God doing a great work for them may not exist.

    All of my assignments have come with a lot of responsibility.  What is more interesting is that the same set of instructions has accompanied them all: to seek God first and operate according to His plans.  My assignment is not everyone else’s, and I know everything I desire is connected to how it aligns with God’s plan.  Learn your assignment and align it with God.  He will handle the rest for you.