A Letter From The Editor

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defeated. I was seconds away from giving up.

It was at that moment God gently reminded me I had been through far worse in my life and never gave up. Like the death of my mother while pregnant, my son being extremely ill as a child, amongst other less than desirable circumstances. Even with the start of my magazine I had trials, so why was I going to just give up on this... what was so different? The simple answer is NOTHING. Nothing was different — other than my mentality. I had told myself my show would take off just as quick as my magazine did. That was my problem.

All it took was that gentle reminder God gave me that I had to keep going. I decided to shorten my episodes and really start to promote my business, both the magazine and the show, on social media — Instagram mostly. All it took was a simple day of re-strategizing, and then the business of the show started to do better. All it took was one simple change.

I still remember on one of the awful days, receiving a farming devotional in the mail, that I had not ordered. It was someone who follows me on Instagram and decided to surprise me. The first devotional I read was about God’s plans and not believing the lies of the enemy and the world. Sometimes, instead of seeking validation of humanity and myself, I should be seeking God’s validation. Life is short and I want to fulfill the plan He has set out before me. That simple act of kindness from a stranger was yet, another gentle reminder to keep going

Now, I still have trials that are taking a lot longer than I expected, but it doesn’t mean I am failing. That is one thing I have learned is my timing is not always the right time, and I cannot let one failed expectation make me want to give up. I will not always succeed immediately. I cannot allow Satan to creep into my mind and make me feel like a failure, because we all succeed in our ways. I need to celebrate the small victories too. Sometimes it’s the smallest victories that impact us the most.

Another important thing I learned is that I would never ever Be able to do what I do without people believing in me. All my readers, sponsors and family have always cheered me on in their own ways. My family deserves the saint award for all the emotions and crazy things that have happened in the past couple of years.

I am also so grateful for the people who make what I do possible. Such as my graphic designer Alfonso, who makes this whole magazine possible. He patiently waits for me, and he always cheers me on even when I am late in giving him all the content he needs. He has stuck by my side when I came to him eight years ago with the idea. Also, my producer, Aaron Trevino is a saint for traveling with me, and his willingness to change plans at the drop of a pin. Having a team and a great support system in life is crucial.

If I had given up, I would have let the people that mean the most to me down, all because I wasn’t believing in myself. I always say you can’t jump from mountain to mountain in one single leap. You have to take several leaps

I think often whatever it is we may doing, we set up false pretenses/expectations for ourselves, and when we don’t meet them in our set timelines, we feel defeated. Don’t let your defeat get in the way of the success you can have. You were made for something great and sometimes you just have to tweak your plan in order to get back on the saddle.

Whatever you are going through, just know even Jesus had moments of feeling defeated. Defeat is not the worst of failures. Not trying is the true failure. Now, we might fail at some things, but we tried. Some things are meant for us to do, and some are not, but we will never know until we try, and God will eventually show us what is meant to be. Remember, there is a vast difference between defeat and temporary defeat. Surround yourself with good people, always believe in yourself and trust Jesus. No matter how much I wanted to quit, there was a voice telling me to keep going.

Trust me, I still have awful days, days where I still want to quit, and feel like I am wasting my time. But when these feelings arise, ask yourself, are you seeking human validation? Are you sure it is something to quit, or are you just having a bad day? You may feel defeated one day and victorious another. Just keep going, and believe in Jesus. When you have those days, ask God to show you if it’s something meant for you.

I am thankful for all of you, and it is my readers, sponsors, team, family and Jesus who keep me going even when I feel like giving up. You all are the biggest cheerleaders to me. Don’t let the pressures of the world get you down. Just let Jesus take the wheel.