Testimony

How To Turn Your Dreams into Reality with Jessica Starks

Dreams don’t only come true in Disney movies. They can come true in your everyday life! Find out how to turn your dreams into reality with Jessica Starks. Can you believe we have only one more week left in this month? Time is not waiting around, so I hope you aren’t either. In fact, it’s time to turn things up a notch and make every day count.  In the first Real Talk episode, I sit down with my close friend Jessica Starks who shares secret tips on how to make your written dream a reality. How to Turn Your Dreams into Reality with Jessica Starks Catch up on other entrepreneurial stories: 4 Brillant Business Owners Who Share Their Journey to Success Stories The Essence of Entrepreneurship Dear Aspiring Entrepreneur The Essence of Entrepreneurship How to Stay Positive & Move Forward with God in 2020 If you’ve been following My Journey to Refresh from the beginning (originally REFRESH Magazine), you may remember Jessica as a contributing writer. Since then, she has flourished mightily. Jessica is the CEO of 17 Plus, LLC, which currently houses two companies: J.D. Scribes, a creative media agency for small businesses, and BOND Small Business Group, a promotional and developmental membership organization for small business owners. In addition to her businesses, Jessica is also on the marketing team at Hill Country Network, an independent, locally-owned television channel, and website that creates original programming to showcase the talent and beauty of North Mississippi and those that reside in it. The Mississippi native is a blogger, professional writer, and the author of a historical fiction novella, The Lynching Calendar. Mud & Magnolias Magazine named her one of the most influential women in Northeast Mississippi in 2017. In January she was named one of the Top 50 Black Business Women in Mississippi. When Jessica isn’t working, she enjoys volunteering and participating in community activities, as well as reading, writing, cooking, and spending time with her family. In our first episode, Jessica shares four practical tips on how to get past hurdles in your life and move forward with God’s calling on your life even when you are afraid. 1. Don’t let go of your dream. If you really feel like this is what God has for you, don’t let go of that dream. You’re going to go through times when you second guess yourself and you feel like you’re not going to get anywhere but at the end of the day, that’s what I had to hold on to. I knew it is what God wanted from me. 2. Be open-minded. A company might approach you about a writing job or an editing gig, don’t be closed off to that. Be open and willing to try it. Even if it doesn’t work out you can chop it up as a lesson. 3. Get your writing portfolio up. Even if you don’t have a writing job that doesn’t mean you can’t write. Say you see a news story, try to write a mock news story or start a blog. That will help you get your juices flowing, so when you do have the opportunity to interview for a job or someone approaches you, you can refer them to your blog or give them the sample articles you’ve written. That way you will always be ready and you won’t have to worry about scrambling when that time comes. 4. Always be willing to learn. Even though I’ve been doing this for years, things change all the time. There is always something new. They re a lot of people who don’t know how to properly write. Make sure you hone your skills and keep them up to date. You’ll always have that fire within you to continue to write because if you don’t use that gift you can easily lose it.   Do You Want More?? If you want to find out more tips from Jessica on how to turn your dreams into reality be sure to connect with her on all social media platforms at  J.D.Scribes!

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3 Brilliant Business Owners Share Their ‘Journey to Success’ Stories

Did you know there are more than 582 million people in the world in the process of starting or running their own business?  Like many business owners, they start from scratch and turn to the internet for business-related advice and instruction. However, the entrepreneurs I share with you this evening decided to go a different route by following the vision they received from God. Are you ready to be next? If you are pursuing an entrepreneurship lifestyle but unsure how to begin, find out how these four brilliant entrepreneurs found the missing piece to their puzzle and turned their dreams into realities.  1. When your childhood and previous jobs become apart of your experience. “I was 9 when I became fascinated by luxury brands like Louis Vuitton and Chanel. I would draw my initials as a logo to see how they would look, not knowing then entrepreneurship would be apart of my experience. Fast forward to 2014, I recognized I was a messenger and scribe by nature who had a way with words. That’s how my business, D.I.V.I.N.E. Blogger, LLC, was birthed. The acronym for D.I.V.I.N.E. represents “Develop Intellectual Visionaries Individual Needs Exceptionally” through writing, blogging, editing, and social media. Steadfast in working in one field for the rest of my life, God orchestrated moments in my life that led to my entrepreneurial journey. It freed me from my own limitations. I’m thankful for my previous studies in Business, Accounting/Financial Management, and current studies in Professional Writing along with me working for business owners which prepared me for my present and future endeavors.”- Lequvia Ousley CEO of D.I.V.I.N.E. Blogger, LLC   2. Trusting in God when the vision He shares doesn’t make sense. “We delayed complete obedience to God’s calling for our lives due to fear. We were concerned about the thoughts of others and not sure how to pursue what God was showing us. Once we begin to walk in alignment with God, miraculous displays of God’s Grace and provision happened in our lives. When we were out of alignment, we could feel it strongly. Things just seemed off. Submitting to God’s will have given us peace. When he finally opened his Farmers Insurance Agency, Kempton said, ‘I felt like a weight was lifted off my shoulder.’  This was before the agency started making money. [Moving forward] people will think you are crazy because they didn’t receive the vision for your life. And probably wouldn’t understand it if they did receive the vision. God’s way is not man’s way. When we decided to open the insurance agency, others tried to steer us in a different direction. From the saturation of the insurance industry to so much more, we’ve heard it all. We still pursued it and within a year the agency became the top commercial insurance producer in our district and top 5 in the state. Other agents constantly call seeking advice on how to grow their agencies. We tell ourselves, we would rather rely on advice from our Heavenly Father who is all-knowing and all-powerful, than on the advice of man with limited knowledge and ability. He has never led us in harm’s way.”- Kempton and Elishia Thompson, CEO of Farmers Insurance Agency 3. When you have to make the decision. “My business, The JLeonard Group, is to help business owners, athletes and people in the entertainment industry refine their message and build the ultimate confidence before they hit the stage. In addition, I help them by working on speech development and presentation mastery. I would say the three words coined by possibly the most famous shoe brand is “Just Do It”. The sooner you get started, the closer you will come to change your circumstances. Everybody has a gift and there are people who are waiting for you to release your gift.”- Julian Leonard, CEO of The JLeonard Group Did you enjoy their stories? Which one encouraged you the most? Let me know in your comments below!

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Thank You, Kanye!

Hip- Hop Rapper and Fashion Guru, Kanye West is Touching Lives and Healing Them Too! Did you know, today, marks a full month since  Kanye dropped his latest Gospel album, “Jesus is King?” Yes, you have read right, GOSPEL album. And, people are going cray cray over it. I being one of them. Although it’s great, I didn’t come to share with you a review of his album. Instead, I would like to share with you my thoughts on his story and the positive effect it has for others. In January, prior to the release of his album, Kanye began his own traveling church entitled, “Sunday Service.” Every Sunday he goes with his choir, the Samples, to different locations and spread their love for Jesus through music. I was shocked when I first received news of Kanye’s Sunday Service and the possibility he may launch a GOSPEL album. The news may have come as a  surprise to you, but to me, it was a revelation. Truth be told,  a few weeks before the news was released, a friend and I were having a conversation about music we grew up listening too and immediately I mentioned how I missed the old Kanye. The Kanye who inspired me to go after my dreams and walk into my destiny. The Kanye who reminded me to walk with Jesus in all areas of life.   The Kanye who pointed out the importance of my parents and how they shouldn’t be taken for granted. Although Kanye’s songs weren’t holy or curse word free, compared to other artists out there, at the time, Kanye was cool with me. When I listened to his music, he would reveal stories that captured my attention. They would bring issues to light. He had a way with his words and was never afraid to speak his mind– whether people would agree with him or not. That day, I recall sharing with my friend, even though his circumstances had him down at that moment I felt he would come back in some way more impactful than ever before. When my revelation came to pass, I was excited but still did my research. I wanted to know if what he was promoting a scam or legit? Had Kanye really renewed his mind and given it back to Christ? I watched an interview, presented by BigBoyTV, to begin my search.  Throughout the interview, conducted by radio host, Big Boy, Kanye shared how he started in the music industry, the highs and lows of being an entertainer working with a corrupted company and he shared how he came out of hiding when he was informed by God to start his ministry. (If you haven’t seen the interview check it out here!) Honestly, after watching that interview my side-eye straightened up. The judgemental voices in my mind stopped chattering and I took in what Kanye said as true. Think about it, we haven’t been walking a straight and narrow path all of our lives. Apostle Paul describes us best when he mentions in Romans 3:23-24,  how we have ALL have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Yet, we are justified freely by God’s grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. I believe just as God saved and redeemed us from our wicked mindset and behavior, He did the same for Kanye. Final Thoughts We are ALL working progress. None of us are perfect. I can’t change how you think of Kanye because you have your own free will. But, what I am saying is loosen up and evaluate yourself if judgemental voices are haunting you. Since Kanye’s ministry began He has managed to connect people back to God,  introduce non-believers to Christ and spread the Gospel!  Did I mention his album ranks as No. 1? According to Nielson, he achieved the equivalent of 264,000 sales in the United States in its opening week, including 197 million streams and 109,000 copies sold as a full album, according to Nielsen. At the end of the day, all I can say is, Thank you, Kanye! Click here to listen to his full album, “Jesus is King”. My favorite is, “God Is“, What’s yours? Share in the comments below!      

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Christians Need Counseling Too!

“How are you?”  When was the last time somebody asked you this question?  Do you remember your response? If you are like me, your immediate response is usually, “I’m fine”. Yet, the real question for us all is, are we really just fine?   This year that question, roamed my thoughts heatedly. I needed answers. Curious about what I could observe about myself, I  began to pinpoint my reactions to different situations which included sudden outburst to people who genuinely cared for me, anxiety attacks and the feeling of failure. It was clear  I was not really okay. However, despite being aware of my reactions, I let religion take control.  I tried to deny my emotions and my frustrations because that’s what I assumed Christians were supposed to do. Paul in the book of Ephesians tells us we are to put on the whole armour of God. James even reiterates in his own epistle by saying  “count it ALL joy when we go through various trials because it will provide us with patience…”. So, to keep the peace,  I walked with a mask of happiness, but inside I was feeling hollow. My heart was heavy, and I was unsure how to release my emotions. I felt as if I would rain down anyone’s parade if I shared with them my feelings.  So, I glossed over them, in hopes that no one would notice exactly how I was feeling. In March, my best friend invited me to a counseling session. Not at all fazed by the invitation, I was prepared to decline her offer. However, all that changed when she informed me the session would be held at church. Counseling outside of traditional marriage counseling at church?? No way! So, I decided to give it a chance and boy I was glad I did. Although the session involved other people, it felt good to go into a room and not be looked upon as if something was wrong with me. Now, I am able to release my current emotions, what I’m feeling  and receive strategies on how to cope with my emotions outside of the famous line, “Just pray about it.” Now, don’t get me wrong, prayer is essential just as denouncing the lies the enemy attempts to feed to you. However, God wants us not only to be open and honest with Him, but to our brothers and sisters in Christ.    Final Thoughts: This month, I’ve been hearing the word “counseling” consistently. As I think about it, I believe it is God’s special way of nudging me to re-evaluate my immediate response of “I’m fine”.  Even with the current group counseling sessions I attend, I believe God is calling me to dig deeper into my roots and pull out what is hiding inside of me. This time though, I don’t believe He wants me to do it alone. If you’re reading this message, maybe God is asking you to dig deeper into your roots and release them as well. However, He doesn’t want you to release them alone. Do know that it is okay to not be okay. It is okay to share your feelings with others and if necessary, call for help outside of the four walls of your church. It’s time to release and let go.  What are some techniques you use to release your feelings? Do you attend counseling sessions? Jot them down in your journal? Draw? Share below!

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