A Four-Hour Delay, a Closed Pool, and a Perfectly Timed Miracle Meet-Up

October has been nothing short of miraculous.

This month’s Adopt A Scholar wishlist totaled nearly 900 items, and you, our Mafia Miracle Makers (MMM), showed OUT.

We closed the week with just 208 items left!!! And several schools bought out!

THIS IS HUGE MMM...HUGE!

With over 60 students at 25 HBCUs, this means snacks, hoodies, and hygiene items are already headed our babies' way...thanks to YOU!

I say it all the time, but it bears repeating:

When this family moves, we move just like THAT.

If you're new here, Move-In Day Mafia is where dreams get the green light...one dorm room at a time. We exist to serve HBCU students who’ve aged out of foster care or are unhoused, surrounding them with Hope, Understanding, Generosity, and Stability—our H.U.G.S.

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A Walk. A Patio. A Miracle.

From the very beginning, Mafia was launched in miracles. And the truth is, we’ve been walking in them ever since.

Now, while I was celebrating the miracle of #AdoptAScholar Week, I got hit with a memory of another time where God blew my mind with His laser precision.

I saw the recap video from THEE HBCU Bingo Experience, produced by Orange Strategy, Mafia's media partner. And the way I met the man behind that company still leaves me in awe. 

As a former TV producer and editor, I've always known that the mission of Mafia is something special ...something made for television. We shot the footage, but deep down I knew it wasn’t time yet.

Fast forward to 2023. God started nudging me again, whispering that it was time to take the show seriously.

But here’s the thing: the mission always comes first. And I had no clue how we were gonna pull off a TV show AND keep serving our scholars. The budget didn’t make sense. The timing didn’t make sense. None of it did.

So one afternoon, I was out on my daily walk, the one I take to think, pray, and reset. But this day, I was dragging. It took me four whole hours to motivate myself to get out the door. 

When I finally did, I got lost in my thoughts. And that’s when I prayed one of those bold TeeJ-style prayers:

“Alright, Lord… if You really want this TV show done, You’re gonna have to send me a production company that’s willing to do it for free. That’s the only way I can see this happening.”

I threw that challenge out to God and kept walking...and walking...and walking. I walked way longer than I realized.

When I came to my senses, I turned around immediately cuz LawdHamMussyGeezus, I gotta walk all the way back. But then I realized, I needed to detour to the grocery store. 

And that new path took me past a hotel patio, and that’s when I looked up and locked eyes with someone familiar. It took me a second, but then I realized... it was Terry Simmons.

Years earlier, I'd met Terry through one of my young media clients. He was his mentor. Terry and I had followed each other on Facebook ever since we met, but we hadn’t seen each other in years.

So imagine this...

Terry lives in Baton Rouge. Later, I learned that he was only in Atlanta for business. He had planned to work out by the hotel pool, but it was closed. So he decided to sit on the patio instead.

At that exact same moment, after four hours of procrastination and one random Publix detour, I walked right past that patio.

Tell me that ain’t divine timing.

We caught up, hugged, and swapped stories. I told him about Move-In Day Mafia, and I half-jokingly said, “You wanna sponsor a scholar?”

He laughed and said, “Wait. Aren’t you turning this into a TV show?”

Now remember, that’s exactly what I had just prayed about minutes earlier.

Before I could even answer, Terry said, “Well, I actually want to help with that.”

I was confused. I knew him as a business strategist, not a filmmaker. That’s when he smiled and said, “You might not know this, but I own a full video production company.”

Y’all, I stood there stunned.

I had just told God I needed a production company… and a few minutes later, I was literally standing in front of one!

That’s how Terry Simmons and Orange Strategy became the heartbeat behind our Move-In Day Mafia show footage.

He showed up with cameras, yes...but more importantly, he showed up with heart. His team (looking at you, Carter and Jess) has fully embraced the mission of Mafia.

When 2023 rolled around and we filmed our next move-in season, Terry and his incredible team delivered a stunning recap video that still brings me to tears.

And when it came time to host our first-ever live fundraiser, THEE HBCU Bingo Experience, I didn’t even hesitate. I called Terry and said, “You in?”

And, just like family, he said yes.

Orange Strategy became our official media partner...capturing the joy, the laughter, the dancing, and the culture that night. And babyyyyy, if you haven’t seen that recap video yet, trust me, it’s electric.

The very company that showed up when I had nothing but faith is now helping us show the world what Move-In Day Mafia really looks like in motion.

A random walk.
A closed pool.
A patio.

And one divine appointment that changed everything.

You can’t tell me God will not go out of HIS way to pull off miracle meetings, and I can't wait to show you the decked-out dorm show we're working on.

Check out Terry and the HBCU Bingo recap video here!

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STRAIGHT FROM THE SCHOLARS (GOOD NEWS)

STRAIGHT FROM THE SCHOLARS (GOOD NEWS)

Miracles Don't Miss

Sometimes God delays you on purpose.

What feels like procrastination might just be precision.

If I had left the house on time that day, I would’ve missed Terry and the miracle that birthed our show. That walk, that detour, that patio… it wasn’t random. It was orchestrated.

Because miracles don’t miss. They have perfect aim.

They don’t need our GPS, our hustle, or our panic.

They just need our obedience to move.

So the next time it feels like you’re “running behind,” remember... you might be running right on Heaven’s schedule.

See you next week. As always, like, comment, subscribe, aaaaaaand DONATE! MoveInDayMafia.org/Donate