Rolling With The Punches

I’ve never been a huge fan of boxing. But I do respect the physical stamina and strength, and sheer courage it takes to get into a ring knowing the other guy is literally trying to knock your block off. The phrase “rolling with the punches” means that when a blow gets past your defenses, you dodge, twist or roll to one side so you don’t absorb the full force of the blow.

In life, the punch is coming in, you can’t block it. So do you just take it, or do you adjust so it does as little damage as possible?

Sometimes it’s just a mental adjustment. You deal with the new information, and make the best decision you can. You adjust to the new reality. Sometimes you make more tangible adjustments. Like reducing expenses when you lose that client.

We’ve become pretty good at slipping the jab, at rolling with what is thrown at us. But our blows are nothing compared to the life of Joseph in the book of Genesis.

The kid had it made. Loving parents. Big, rich, family. Stylish new coat, and God was speaking directly to him. Then the blows came.

Thrown down a pit. Sold into slavery. He adjusts and rises to a position of respect in his master’s house. Then he is falsely accused of attempted rape, and goes to jail. He interprets some dreams, and then is forgotten.

We don’t know much about what happened to Joseph in prison. But he didn’t despair. In every situation he rose to the top. He adjusted. I’m sure he didn’t wake up the day after he got his coat of many colors and hope that one day he could be a slave, or in jail. But even though those punches would have knocked most people down, he rolled and came up as best he could. Until after over a decade of slavery and prison he is placed in a role that allows him to save a lot of people, including his family (and by extension, Israel).

I don’t want to be a guy who lets a blow knock him out. I want to roll with it, and come back strong.

 

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Mid Life Calling – Year 2

It’s hard to say the exact date when I realized God’s call on my life had changed. Do you time such things by the moments you actually do something? Or the times you think something? Was it the first time I realized religious TV had to change in order to survive, in order to have an audience with younger generations? Was it when i came up with a show idea or 10? When I decided to create something different? It feels more like it should be from the times I decided to change my career.

I don’t remember the exact day my wife looked at me and said that maybe it was time to have the talk with my boss. Or the exact day I had that meeting. Or the week everything was agreed on. It must have been sometime around April/May. My last day in the office was the 21st of that June. So let’s say it was my birthday, April 4th. That’s as good a day as any.

So, today. 42 years old. 2 years into a mid life calling. It’s not a crisis. Not always. In fact, in the beginning, it never was. I didn’t get a new car. (although I would like a sporty convertible. What is up with that? So cliche, but still true.) I wish I could say that everything had been amazing and wonderful. It has been very interesting.

Sometimes people say that the safest place to be is in the center of God’s will. That’s bunk. Lots of times following God takes you through some scary, dangerous, hard pathways. I know. The biggest lesson we have learned is to trust God. Before this I always had a job with a steady paycheck, we always had security. And that was just fine. But during this time, every bill has been paid on time. God has been faithful.

There are days when I wonder when I will give up. When I will say, forget this dream, go back to something you know will pay the bills. What’s it worth?

But, we have accomplished a lot. 10 episodes of an award winning Christian sitcom completed and broadcast around the world for an amazingly low amount of money. Short film scripts and feature scripts done. Ideas of new shows. Contacts and relationships developed.

I recently went to a “meet up” with a group of fellow dreamers. I met them online through an author/speaker named Jon Acuff. He was in town, and one morning we gathered in the lobby of a local hotel. Here most of us are. At one point there was about 15 of us. I’m in the back row, middle, peering over a shoulder.

In the conversation I asked how to overcome obstacles and not get discouraged. Jon told us that a lot of time we just don’t give our dreams enough time. We often expect things to happen on our own time table. But it takes a lot longer than we think.

So 2 years in… I’m not where I want to be. But I am a lot closer.

My Dream Job

I recently explored a return to church work. Not in the same capacity as before, but generally a “working for a church” job.  Ultimately our family felt that God wasn’t in that move. So we stayed planted. But it was odd to think of working for a church when I wasn’t called to do that particular work. I know that a lot of people do. Right now, I’m working for an AV company and that isn’t my calling.

I work for PSAV. I work on corporate shows, loading in gear, running the events and loading the gear out. It’s a decent gig with good benefits. I wish it paid more. But God has always provided, and every bill has been paid on time. 

Still, that’s not my calling.

What am I called to do? Create TV/Video/Film from a biblical worldview that appeals to younger audiences. By “younger” I mean under age 50.

 

So, my dream job is a way to do that and make a living. What does that look like? Not really sure.

 

Maybe I will just do one project that is financially successfully. Peculiar, for as well as it has been received, has not earned back the money it took to make it. Not yet anyway. I’m still looking for the scripted religious TV financial model.

 

Maybe there is a church that is inspired to do non traditional TV and looking to hire a producer. I would love to have the budget that some of my previous church’s spent on traditional broadcasting to do a show or two. Maybe there is a TV station or distributor looking to do the same.

 

I don’t know. In the mean time, I work to make ends meet and I work to fulfill the calling on my life. Some day those might be the same.

Watershed

Watershed: A ridge line that splits drainage areas, or an important point of division or transition between two phases, conditions, etc.

Today is a watershed day.

As I blogged earlier in the week, I’m leaving church media ministry for … media ministry. For over 10 years I have been in full time employment at a church, doing the work of media ministry. I’ve seen God do some pretty spectacular things in this time.

Starting tomorrow I won’t be coming into an office every day. I will be working on the next thing God has called me to do.

There will be some things I won’t miss at all, and some I will. The biggest thing I will miss is seeing a project of eternal significance grow from an idea into an experience used by God every week. I will still see that happen in my new work, but not every single week.

Meanwhile I’ve made some great progress on the show this week. Got some new things I hope to get rolled out next week, when I actually have the time to work on it. And on the tent-making side if things, I landed a freelance gig this weekend. God is continuing to affirm this course for us.

So this is it. I’ve got a few more things to finish up, so I gotta’ go.