Chispa!09 magazine

27,000,000 SLA VES + COUNTING

t he f r eedom issue

END ITW E'RE IN IT TO

IN THIS ISSUE

Editor's Letter 06

Your StrategyProfessional 08Mompreneur 12Windy Artist 16

SENIORita 20

Relat ionships Happily Ever Now 24

Conversat ionsFreedom is a Choice 26

She's Got ChispaDee Dee Huey 30

FeaturesWhat Did Solomon Say? 32

Her Name is Mahtob 36

Cover Story27,000,000 Slaves and Counting 42

A Bet ter YouFashion + Style 52

Health + Beauty 88 Smart + Homey 112

Travel + Culture 114 Through The Lens |

No Longer Slaves 118Love Thy Neighbor. Share The Truth. 128

Be The Change. Be The Church. 136Bookworm 148 Must Haves 150

Mi Chispa 153

26

118

42

Editor-in-ChiefMavian Arocha-Rowe

Lifestyle DirectorRomina Nabhen

Execut ive EditorMia Guerra

Managing EditorsPaola Ramirez + Milo Senallé

Associate EditorLucia Rodriguez

Creat ive DirectorChristian Ruben + Shea Trenbeath

Social Media ManagerLauri Bonilla

Director of SalesScott Rowe

Writers Cena Block Teresa Cutter

Jennifer Grace Daniel HendersonStephanie Loomis Chris McMahan

Maggie Sabatier-Smith Brady Wilson

Photographers Redd Angelo Aaron Burden

Robert Hickerson Matthew Kane Justin Luebke Sebastian Pichler

David Sherry Tim Stief

Advisory BoardPaola RamirezVivian Reina

Maggie Sabatier-Smith

Advisory BoardJohnny Arocha

Pam BlackMario Luis

For information on advertising and/or subscriptions, call 404.793.7743 or email sales@chispamagazine.com.Editorial questions, submissions, and/or pitches, email editor@chispamagazine.com.

Vol. 2, Issue 3 ©Chispa Magazine. All rights reserved. Reproduction or use, without permission of editorial or graphic content in any manner is prohibited. Photo credits are not given to improperly identif ied photos.

Chispa!magazine

Chispa Magazine

EDITOR'S LETTER

While at The Grove a couple of weeks ago, a young, passionate woman humbly spoke of the organization God called her to start. In its beginning stages, she confessed to not seeing how God would create something big out of the mess of her past and the mundane of her every day. ?God, you said to stick with it and you would make something big? I don?t see it,? she said. Those words didn?t just nudge my heart, they pierced my insides. You see, those words voiced my unspoken thoughts. How interesting that two years ago, at the very same place, at the very same event, God gave me the vision of Chispa. Not just the vision, but the name, the look and feel, the detailed assignment. Yet, two years later, I just don?t see it. Where is big? The talk at The Grove continued and so much of what Pastor Louie Giglio and wife Shelley shared, too pierced my insides. Toward the end, while others sang No Longer Slaves, I was mute. I scanned the large room and listened to the lyrics come from hundreds of women. I had never heard this song. Stil l mute, God began to detail the assignment for the Spring Issue. He tit led it, The Freedom Issue. And, He said it would be big.

He told me which writers He wanted. He told me which photos He wanted. He told me who I should interview, who I should contact, and He even told me when it should be released. As I write, today, its f ive days before its release date and I just got up from the f loor, in my closet, after sobbing for three hours? Where is big?

In my closet, I went back to the editor?s letter that I wrote for the Winter Issue; it said: I don?t care about social media following or if I lose followers because I turn them off with the mention of the Bible. Yet, I am lying to myself . I do care if readers are reading. I do care about aff irmation. I do care if I am following His assignment. Where is big? I just don?t see it.

My poor husband who just witnessed a sad, overconsumed worry-monster left to spend the afternoon with our litt le Rio. Before he left he said, ?Perhaps God just wants you to be a mom and a wife; I don?t know.? Those words keep ringing in my mind and with a migraine at bay I ask, ?God what do I do? Should I not want big?? Yet, yes is busting out along with my tears. Writers Maggie Sabatier-Smith wrote on freedom being a choice, Stephanie Loomis questioned what it means to be a Proverbs 31 woman, Chris Mcmahan interviewed Mahtob Mahmoody, the woman who was enslaved by her father in Iran? all stories point to freedom. We all need freedom, including me. We need freedom of fear, freedom of uncertainty, freedom of doubt, freedom of unbelief, freedom of the demons that crowd our

My Cr i es Tur n

t o a Pr ayer

Chispa Magazine

Editor's Letter 07

Mavian

Self-portrait

our minds, freedom of this tainted society, freedom of ourselves. But how?

In the article, 27,000,000 Slaves and Counting I ask you to join us by marking a Red X on your hand as a way to tell the world that slavery stil l exists and you won?t stand for it. Just l ike we know a Red X won?t end physical slavery, but it raises the awareness, what if that Red X symbolically represented that we too need freedom from the tricks, the lies that keep our minds twisted with shackles?

I end this letter clinging on to The Ruins new song Deliverance: ?I feel something inside me rising up, soon it will turn these walls to dust, and wash them burn? I am breaking out. You can?t hold me down. You can?t hold me down. I am breaking out. You can?t hold me down. You can?t hold me down. It?s time for my deliverance.?

God, help me see Your Big Face. C

Chispa Magazine

When I t Comes ToTIM E M A NA GEM ENT

EnergyI t 's A l l A bout

Your Strategy | Professional 09

Many times, I?ve seen business leaders send their employees off on time management courses in the hopes that the training will help increase engagement and productivity. Many times, I?ve seen those same leaders show bewilderment when the training doesn?t seem to have any impact? or worse yet, results in employees being less engaged and less productive.

Why is this happening? Traditionally, organizations have believed that, to create higher-performing workplaces, employees must: Be more committed and dedicated to the cause; stay later and come in earlier; and make more of an effort? that is, ?try harder? (such as by learning new skills).

In other words, organizations seem to think that sheer determination is the key to helping employees perform their absolute best. Now, I?m not going to lie: t ime management courses can be helpful. But, when a person is depleted of energy, all the skil ls and know-how in the world won?t be able to help them, especially when it comes to managing their t ime. That?s because wherever you see high performance, you will see the eff icient management of energy.

February is National Time Management Month. And, it?s time that business leaders start looking at t ime management dif ferently? the lens of brain science.

Understanding the execut ive funct ion. First, a litt le science lesson. The brain is, inarguably, a very powerful organ. It controls how we think, feel, behave, and perceive and understand the world around us. Moreover, within the brain lies a remarkable central processing unit called the ?executive function? (EF). Capable of astonishing levels of value creation, the EF enables us to:

Process: analyze, predict outcomes, and problem-solve. Focus: memorize, pay attention, and verbalize. Self-regulate: maintain impulse control, self-monitor, and cognitively f lex. Init iate: priorit ize, plan, and decide. But wait, there?s more! The EF also helps us: Think strategically: addressing systemic issues, uncovering root causes, and predicting the downstream implications of decisions and actions. Collaborate broadly: inf luencing and aligning stakeholders across the organization. Communicate clearly: providing context, making meaning, harmonizing competing priorit ies, and resolving conflict. Execute decisively: drawing out the best information possible, making a call, and closing the loops to ensure complete follow-through has been achieved

Directly or indirectly, every one of the above capabilit ies is related to our ability to No.1 manage time and No. 2 be productive. In other words, the executive function is