Monday morning is here again. It was a good weekend even if it was not as productive as it could have been. I did not really do much editing this weekend. I guess I did some editing Friday evening. I was just not feeling it Saturday and for the piece that I am working on right now I need to be feeling it because it requires intense creativity. So I decided instead of working on it and producing something that would be mediocre I would wait and do something else and come back to it later. I think I will spend some time on it this evening. Even last night I started to see where I need to go with it and how to get there.
The funny thing about creativity is that it is not just enough to know where you need to go. You have to really know how to get there. In my line of work, getting there can present huge obstacles because the path I am able to take is restricted to the footage that I have on hand. This can leave one needing to be "creative", no pun intended. Anyway, it is always a journey.
I am happy to have another contract signed. That is how this business is going to be build, one contract at a time.
My brother Jonathan got his cell phone back last night. He is officially done with his advanced training and is moving into some training that is very specific to where he is going to be stationed. I was very happy when I received his phone call last night. I was the first person that he called. That made me fell pretty special. I am driving up to Kentucky in two weeks to pick him up and bring him back to Dallas. It is going to be pretty awesome. I feel like we will be able to have a lot of good conversation in the car and just have an overall good time. He is going to be back here in Dallas for two weeks before he has to go to where he will be stationed. I plan on spending a good amount of time with him while he is here.
Thats all for now!
Monday, August 2, 2010
Friday, July 30, 2010
Big New Project
Well here I am. I realize that it has been a long time since I have written anything. It is not because I have not wanted to write, it is just that it has been crazy busy over the last month or so.
Life is good though. I have so much to be thankful. As a company Black and White has a ton to be thankful for as well. God is continuing to bless us and is providing many opportunities to do wedding videography for people. In addition to that, we have started on a very big new project that we are very excited about. Hopefully we will unveil this project next weekend. There are a few little pieces that need to fall into place.
I hope to have some new exclusive footage up on the website this weekend. If not on the website, I will definitely get it up on Facebook. I have been working on the concept for this new video for a while. I have gotten stuck a few times. I am hoping to wrap it up this evening. We shall see what happens.
Next week Jonathan graduates from his advanced training. That is pretty exciting. It is weird because the time has gone by really fast. I still miss him a ton and I can't wait to see him, but it has gone by really quickly and I am thankful for that. In two weeks I will be in Kentucky again to pick him up and head back to Texas with him. I believe he is going to be down here for two weeks before he ships out. It will be awesome to see him and spend some time with him over those two weeks. Then he will be deployed for the next three years. At least once he is done with his training he will be able to have a computer and phone. I am going to get a webcam so that we can stay in touch that way. Technology is pretty awesome. Just think, twenty years ago people in the military might have gotten to call home every once in a while, but the primary way of communication would have been by mail. Now we have all kinds of technology that makes communication over great distances available instantly. It is great.
I love Michigan in the fall. I will be heading north on September 3rd. It should be a lot of fun. It will be nice to get away from some of this Texas heat. I am looking forward to seeing family and some friends that I haven't seen in a while. I hope to do some photography while I am up there. Maybe get a few good images that I can put up in a gallery. Help pay for the trip and all that. I will of course go out to Grand Haven, because how can you not. I may head up the coast one day and see if I can get some good pictures. It should be beautiful.
Well that is enough for now. I will be on hear next week I am sure to talk about the new project.
Life is good though. I have so much to be thankful. As a company Black and White has a ton to be thankful for as well. God is continuing to bless us and is providing many opportunities to do wedding videography for people. In addition to that, we have started on a very big new project that we are very excited about. Hopefully we will unveil this project next weekend. There are a few little pieces that need to fall into place.
I hope to have some new exclusive footage up on the website this weekend. If not on the website, I will definitely get it up on Facebook. I have been working on the concept for this new video for a while. I have gotten stuck a few times. I am hoping to wrap it up this evening. We shall see what happens.
Next week Jonathan graduates from his advanced training. That is pretty exciting. It is weird because the time has gone by really fast. I still miss him a ton and I can't wait to see him, but it has gone by really quickly and I am thankful for that. In two weeks I will be in Kentucky again to pick him up and head back to Texas with him. I believe he is going to be down here for two weeks before he ships out. It will be awesome to see him and spend some time with him over those two weeks. Then he will be deployed for the next three years. At least once he is done with his training he will be able to have a computer and phone. I am going to get a webcam so that we can stay in touch that way. Technology is pretty awesome. Just think, twenty years ago people in the military might have gotten to call home every once in a while, but the primary way of communication would have been by mail. Now we have all kinds of technology that makes communication over great distances available instantly. It is great.
I love Michigan in the fall. I will be heading north on September 3rd. It should be a lot of fun. It will be nice to get away from some of this Texas heat. I am looking forward to seeing family and some friends that I haven't seen in a while. I hope to do some photography while I am up there. Maybe get a few good images that I can put up in a gallery. Help pay for the trip and all that. I will of course go out to Grand Haven, because how can you not. I may head up the coast one day and see if I can get some good pictures. It should be beautiful.
Well that is enough for now. I will be on hear next week I am sure to talk about the new project.
Monday, June 21, 2010
My best friend
I know that I have not been as great at keeping this page up lately as I should be. Life has been really busy lately. Work has been extremely busy and I have also been busy with wedding work as well. It is good to be busy. At times it can be slightly overwhelming. This weekend was no exception.
After work on Thursday I met up with Josh Parker and Chad Newton and we headed out to Fort Knox Kentucky. I don’t think that any of us new just how awesome of a trip this was going to be. It was a long 800 mile trek. At times it was touch and go with the staying awake, but God was watching over us the entire way. As the sun was coming up Friday morning we had a little jam session, rocking out to the Newsboys. It was really cool. Pulling into Fort Knox Kentucky the excitement was building. We were here to see my best friend Jonathan Rhoads graduate from his basic training. It was completely awesome. When we arrived on post we were a little lost and tired, but we knew that in just a few minute we were going to see our friend and brother. It was so awesome. As we walked through the doors into the theatre, we rounded a corner and there he stood. He looked good there in his uniform. I could tell that he was really happy to see us as well. It was really hard not to run up to him and give him a big old bear hug, but we restrained ourselves because we didn’t want to get him in trouble.
The ceremony was really pretty short, then we went outside and waited for Jonathan to be released. The reunion was just so awesome. The first thing that he wanted was to get in the car and get off the base, but then as soon as we got in the car he wanted a Mountain Dew. We spent time eating and getting him some food that he had not had in a while, then we went over to the campground where his sister and brother in law were staying. Chad and Josh decided that it was more important to take a nap. Even though I had been up since 6:30 Thursday morning, there was no way that I was going to take a nap while Jonathan was around. So Jonathan and hung out with his family. We went swimming, we talked, it was really fun.
Friday evening we went out for pizza at Pizza Hut. Let me just say this, if you thought that the any size any toppings for just ten bucks was a great deal, that is nothing compared to the deal that we got. We realized that we need more military people in our lives because they get awesome discounts. Ten of us ate Four Pizza’s, cheese sticks, bread sticks, and drinks for $36.00. That is pretty awesome right? It was a good time around the table talking about things and telling stories. We all went back to our hotel room afterwards and just had a sweet time of fellowship.
Late Friday night we went to see “The A-Team”. Funny story about that. The post where Jonathan is at is in the Eastern time zone. So first thing when we got up there we all changed our watches and the like. Well apparently the hotel that we were staying at in Cave City was in the Central time zone. So we showed up to the movie about an hour early. It all worked out ok for us in the end though. I was doing pretty good on no sleep right up till this point. I think if I had not already seen the movie the week before I would have been ok, but since I already knew what was going to happen I really struggled to stay awake. It is an awesome movie though.
I slept so good Friday night. I was just so tired. It was great. We woke up very refreshed on Saturday and fully utilized the continental breakfast. Josh and Chad went to see another friend of theirs in Kentucky on Saturday and they were gone all day. Jonathan and I hung out with Scott and Christine and the kids all day. We had good food, great conversation, some swimming, and some fun putt putt. Jonathan and I went geo-caching, sort of. It was leading us through a field of quite tall grass and since they have a pretty big issue with ticks in Kentucky we decided not to proceed further. We had a good walk and a good talk as well. It was pretty crazy because I knew that I had missed him, but I don’t think that I knew quite just how much I missed him until this weekend.
We bought some crickets and had fun eating those with the kids. Very interesting. We bought a half gallon of chocolate milk and Scott, Jonathan and I sat around talking and drinking it. It was awesome. About this time Josh and Chad arrived back. We had smores and played cards and talked. It was a lot of fun. Then we went back to the hotel and went to bed.
We woke up bright and early Sunday morning because we did not want to waste any time with Jonathan on the last day that we were going to be together. After all of us guys had showered we sat down and just spent some quality time in prayer. We were able to lift one another up before the throne of grace. It was a very encouraging time. After that we went down to breakfast.
Then came the part of the weekend that was not so fun. We met up with Scott and Christine to hand over Jonathan for them to take him back to his post. It was very hard to say goodbye. We said our goodbyes, gave hugs all around and hit the road headed south. We had gone about 10 miles when we got a call that Scott and Christine were having vehicle troubles and needed us to head back up there to pick Jonathan up and make sure he got back to base on time and would not be AWOL. We all agreed that this was awesome. I don’t think that we were really ready to say goodbye. Anyway, we met up with them, grabbed some lunch together and just enjoyed some more fellowship. Then we brought Jonathan back to the base. Once again we said goodbye. This time though it seemed like there was some closure. We left Fort Knox and headed south. And the rest is history.
After work on Thursday I met up with Josh Parker and Chad Newton and we headed out to Fort Knox Kentucky. I don’t think that any of us new just how awesome of a trip this was going to be. It was a long 800 mile trek. At times it was touch and go with the staying awake, but God was watching over us the entire way. As the sun was coming up Friday morning we had a little jam session, rocking out to the Newsboys. It was really cool. Pulling into Fort Knox Kentucky the excitement was building. We were here to see my best friend Jonathan Rhoads graduate from his basic training. It was completely awesome. When we arrived on post we were a little lost and tired, but we knew that in just a few minute we were going to see our friend and brother. It was so awesome. As we walked through the doors into the theatre, we rounded a corner and there he stood. He looked good there in his uniform. I could tell that he was really happy to see us as well. It was really hard not to run up to him and give him a big old bear hug, but we restrained ourselves because we didn’t want to get him in trouble.
The ceremony was really pretty short, then we went outside and waited for Jonathan to be released. The reunion was just so awesome. The first thing that he wanted was to get in the car and get off the base, but then as soon as we got in the car he wanted a Mountain Dew. We spent time eating and getting him some food that he had not had in a while, then we went over to the campground where his sister and brother in law were staying. Chad and Josh decided that it was more important to take a nap. Even though I had been up since 6:30 Thursday morning, there was no way that I was going to take a nap while Jonathan was around. So Jonathan and hung out with his family. We went swimming, we talked, it was really fun.
Friday evening we went out for pizza at Pizza Hut. Let me just say this, if you thought that the any size any toppings for just ten bucks was a great deal, that is nothing compared to the deal that we got. We realized that we need more military people in our lives because they get awesome discounts. Ten of us ate Four Pizza’s, cheese sticks, bread sticks, and drinks for $36.00. That is pretty awesome right? It was a good time around the table talking about things and telling stories. We all went back to our hotel room afterwards and just had a sweet time of fellowship.
Late Friday night we went to see “The A-Team”. Funny story about that. The post where Jonathan is at is in the Eastern time zone. So first thing when we got up there we all changed our watches and the like. Well apparently the hotel that we were staying at in Cave City was in the Central time zone. So we showed up to the movie about an hour early. It all worked out ok for us in the end though. I was doing pretty good on no sleep right up till this point. I think if I had not already seen the movie the week before I would have been ok, but since I already knew what was going to happen I really struggled to stay awake. It is an awesome movie though.
I slept so good Friday night. I was just so tired. It was great. We woke up very refreshed on Saturday and fully utilized the continental breakfast. Josh and Chad went to see another friend of theirs in Kentucky on Saturday and they were gone all day. Jonathan and I hung out with Scott and Christine and the kids all day. We had good food, great conversation, some swimming, and some fun putt putt. Jonathan and I went geo-caching, sort of. It was leading us through a field of quite tall grass and since they have a pretty big issue with ticks in Kentucky we decided not to proceed further. We had a good walk and a good talk as well. It was pretty crazy because I knew that I had missed him, but I don’t think that I knew quite just how much I missed him until this weekend.
We bought some crickets and had fun eating those with the kids. Very interesting. We bought a half gallon of chocolate milk and Scott, Jonathan and I sat around talking and drinking it. It was awesome. About this time Josh and Chad arrived back. We had smores and played cards and talked. It was a lot of fun. Then we went back to the hotel and went to bed.
We woke up bright and early Sunday morning because we did not want to waste any time with Jonathan on the last day that we were going to be together. After all of us guys had showered we sat down and just spent some quality time in prayer. We were able to lift one another up before the throne of grace. It was a very encouraging time. After that we went down to breakfast.
Then came the part of the weekend that was not so fun. We met up with Scott and Christine to hand over Jonathan for them to take him back to his post. It was very hard to say goodbye. We said our goodbyes, gave hugs all around and hit the road headed south. We had gone about 10 miles when we got a call that Scott and Christine were having vehicle troubles and needed us to head back up there to pick Jonathan up and make sure he got back to base on time and would not be AWOL. We all agreed that this was awesome. I don’t think that we were really ready to say goodbye. Anyway, we met up with them, grabbed some lunch together and just enjoyed some more fellowship. Then we brought Jonathan back to the base. Once again we said goodbye. This time though it seemed like there was some closure. We left Fort Knox and headed south. And the rest is history.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Kentucky
Tomorrow my best friend graduates from Army Basic Training. I am so proud of the man that Jonathan is and I am so glad that I can call him my friend.
I was not originally going to be able to see Jonathan graduate, but then my plans for the weekend changed and I felt God calling me to go to Kentucky to see him. It is going to be an awesome weekend. We leave tonight after work and we are going to drive straight through the night. It is going to be pretty awesome. Josh Parker will be my travel companion this weekend. Both of us are really excited to see Jonathan.
I am excited to be going on a road trip. It has been quite a while since I have gone on a road trip anywhere. In fact the last road trip that I went on I blew an engine, so that was not so good. This is going to be awesome.
I was not originally going to be able to see Jonathan graduate, but then my plans for the weekend changed and I felt God calling me to go to Kentucky to see him. It is going to be an awesome weekend. We leave tonight after work and we are going to drive straight through the night. It is going to be pretty awesome. Josh Parker will be my travel companion this weekend. Both of us are really excited to see Jonathan.
I am excited to be going on a road trip. It has been quite a while since I have gone on a road trip anywhere. In fact the last road trip that I went on I blew an engine, so that was not so good. This is going to be awesome.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Long time, no write
Well my faithful readers, I realized this morning that it has been a while since I have written anything on here. This last week has been a crazy mess of client meetings, weddings, identity theft, holiday weekend, and spending time with the family.
I enjoyed my weekend emensely. The wedding that we did on Saturday went very well. It was a beautiful church and a fun if a bit crazy reception. We are starting to get busy with the wedding video business. It is a lot of work and at times does not leave a lot of time for other things, but I am very blessed to be busy with it.
I enjoyed spending some time with my sister and brother and their significant others this weekend as well. It was fun catch up with each other and just hang out. It is good to relax a little every now and again. Some people are all work and no play and some people are the exact opposite. I feel like there is a healthy balance though. I have really been concentrating on trying to have at least one day, Sunday, when I am not doing any work. I try to spend some time relaxing and just enjoy a little of life. It can be difficult to do this. Many times it is hard to relax when you know that there are so many things that you need to do. I always say, "if you don't finish it today, it will still be there tomorrow."
The thing of it is that each one of us will die someday, but when that day comes how many of us will be able to look back and say that we really lived. Everything that we are striving to do here on earth, it will pass away. The houses that we build, the cars that we drive, the money we save, our possessions, all of these things will pass away. So I ask myself, how much time should I be spending on the accumulation of these things? I don't think that there is anything wrong with these things, I just want to make sure that I don't do it at the expense of everything else. Jesus said "What shall it profit a man if he gains the world, but looses his soul?". I am not worried about loosing my soul. It is held securely in His hand and no man can pluck it out. I do want to make sure that the things that I am working for have some eternal value.
Not every wedding that we do is a "Christian" wedding. Not every bride and groom are washed in the blood. It is my prayer first and foremost that when we go out there and show Christ's love to all those that see us working. I hope that we can have a awesome testimony before the world. I hope that when people see us they see Christ. I hope that we are different in the way that we walk and talk.
I enjoyed my weekend emensely. The wedding that we did on Saturday went very well. It was a beautiful church and a fun if a bit crazy reception. We are starting to get busy with the wedding video business. It is a lot of work and at times does not leave a lot of time for other things, but I am very blessed to be busy with it.
I enjoyed spending some time with my sister and brother and their significant others this weekend as well. It was fun catch up with each other and just hang out. It is good to relax a little every now and again. Some people are all work and no play and some people are the exact opposite. I feel like there is a healthy balance though. I have really been concentrating on trying to have at least one day, Sunday, when I am not doing any work. I try to spend some time relaxing and just enjoy a little of life. It can be difficult to do this. Many times it is hard to relax when you know that there are so many things that you need to do. I always say, "if you don't finish it today, it will still be there tomorrow."
The thing of it is that each one of us will die someday, but when that day comes how many of us will be able to look back and say that we really lived. Everything that we are striving to do here on earth, it will pass away. The houses that we build, the cars that we drive, the money we save, our possessions, all of these things will pass away. So I ask myself, how much time should I be spending on the accumulation of these things? I don't think that there is anything wrong with these things, I just want to make sure that I don't do it at the expense of everything else. Jesus said "What shall it profit a man if he gains the world, but looses his soul?". I am not worried about loosing my soul. It is held securely in His hand and no man can pluck it out. I do want to make sure that the things that I am working for have some eternal value.
Not every wedding that we do is a "Christian" wedding. Not every bride and groom are washed in the blood. It is my prayer first and foremost that when we go out there and show Christ's love to all those that see us working. I hope that we can have a awesome testimony before the world. I hope that when people see us they see Christ. I hope that we are different in the way that we walk and talk.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Fairy Tales
It is a crazy journey and a crazy life. I think many people believe in a fairy tale life. I think that many Christian's even believe in a fairy tale lifestyle. As I set down with a friend of mine last night, he could not fathom that I would even consider the idea that my marriage is over. He came up with all kinds of reasons why it couldn't end, why it shouldn't end. I wondered why he was so adamant about this. I realized after a few pointed questions that he felt this way because he believed that if I could not make my marriage work how could he make his work. I don't have an answer to that accept to say that he is not me. My problems and issues are not his problems and issues. We all go through different things in our life. We have different experinces. Each couple is unique in their own way. The sad fact in life though is that not every story has a happy ending. Not everyone lives happily ever after. Does that make it right? No, not necessarily. I think there are a lot of things that we see everyday on tv and in movies that have led us the believe that the couple always works things out and the is always this happily ever after. Walt Disney build an empire on this concept. I think that it is so ingrained in society that people who should know better, they just want that to be the way that it goes. I wanted it to be that way. I wanted to be married till death do us part. Did I think that less than a year into it I would discover the things that I discovered, did I think that these things would happen to me? No way. Not in a million years. My friend was talking to me last night about his marriage, which was semi arranged, and you know what he said about it? He said, "It looks good on paper". What does that even mean?
As Christian's I think that we need to pull our heads out of the sand and stop listening to the fairy tales that the world is giving us. I believe that we need to look around, there are issues out there. There are issues that we are confronted with every single day, but so many times instead of dealing with these issues we sweep them under a rug. We think that if we ignore an issue that it goes away. That simply is not the case. Sin cannot be ignored. If God, who is the soveriegn ruler of the universe cannot ignore sin, how can we. We try though, I think one day it will be a problem for the church. I think that the church will be judged for it.
So I say this to all of you out there, I am not saying that divorce is right, I am not saying that it is wrong. I would certainly not counsel anyone on whether or not they should get a divorce. I am saying that a decision to end a convenant that was made before God is a decision that each individual must come to on their own. It doesn't matter if there are 1000 people out there telling you what you should or shouldn't do, ultimately whatever you do is between you and God. You and only you will have to live with the consquenses of your actions.
In short, God doesn't promise us fairy tale endings. He does promise to love us and take care of us. There are many promises made to us by God and he will carry through on them, but he never promises happily ever after.
As Christian's I think that we need to pull our heads out of the sand and stop listening to the fairy tales that the world is giving us. I believe that we need to look around, there are issues out there. There are issues that we are confronted with every single day, but so many times instead of dealing with these issues we sweep them under a rug. We think that if we ignore an issue that it goes away. That simply is not the case. Sin cannot be ignored. If God, who is the soveriegn ruler of the universe cannot ignore sin, how can we. We try though, I think one day it will be a problem for the church. I think that the church will be judged for it.
So I say this to all of you out there, I am not saying that divorce is right, I am not saying that it is wrong. I would certainly not counsel anyone on whether or not they should get a divorce. I am saying that a decision to end a convenant that was made before God is a decision that each individual must come to on their own. It doesn't matter if there are 1000 people out there telling you what you should or shouldn't do, ultimately whatever you do is between you and God. You and only you will have to live with the consquenses of your actions.
In short, God doesn't promise us fairy tale endings. He does promise to love us and take care of us. There are many promises made to us by God and he will carry through on them, but he never promises happily ever after.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
New Highlights Video
Good Morning All!!!
What an awesome and exciting morning this is. I have been talking a lot lately about the new highlights video that Black and White Productions is going to be releasing soon. Great news! It is in the final stages. I have a few people screening it now. I willl make some final adjustments based on feedback this evening and then tomorrow evening we will launch it worldwide. I am very excited about this particular video because it represents something that I have wanted to do for quite a while, but I have not been able to because I did not have the right footage to make it work. I think that this video has the potential to be a huge marketing tool for us. When we release it, if you like it, share it. Put it out there with pride knowing that you know the Director/Producer and the camera crew. Or something like that. Anyway, the goal is just to blast this video out as fast and as far as we can, and then wait to see what happens.
What an awesome and exciting morning this is. I have been talking a lot lately about the new highlights video that Black and White Productions is going to be releasing soon. Great news! It is in the final stages. I have a few people screening it now. I willl make some final adjustments based on feedback this evening and then tomorrow evening we will launch it worldwide. I am very excited about this particular video because it represents something that I have wanted to do for quite a while, but I have not been able to because I did not have the right footage to make it work. I think that this video has the potential to be a huge marketing tool for us. When we release it, if you like it, share it. Put it out there with pride knowing that you know the Director/Producer and the camera crew. Or something like that. Anyway, the goal is just to blast this video out as fast and as far as we can, and then wait to see what happens.
Monday, May 17, 2010
Texas Country
There have been a lot of times over the last three and a half years that I have missed the scenic beauty of Michigan. Texas does not have a lot of scenic beauty, but when you are blessed enough to find some, man is it beautiful. I was out west of the DFW metroplex on Saturday. I saw some truly beautiful country. One of the things that you will hear me say if you are a fly in my car when I am out taking pictures is, "I have to get off this road". Yes I do talk to myself when I am driving and its not just in my head either. The true of the matter is though, if you want to shoot amazing landscapes, beautiful sunsets, or nature, you aren't going to find it driving along the highway. My rule generally is, I can't start taking pictures until I am lost, until I have no idea where I am. And so I found myself driving almost 100 miles west to get out to "where the blacktop ends".
One of the things that was so awesome about it was that as I got out of my car, I couldn't hear anything. No traffic noise, no people, nothing except nature. I think that it is in places like this and at times like this that we can truly hear God speak. The still small voice as it were. I saw longhorns, shorthorns, horses, and a snapping turtle. There were wild flowers. I drove through little country towns where everybody knows everybody. I saw people that had never been to Dallas before much less out of Texas. I saw a piece of Texas that I had not seen before, and it was awesome. I felt like a cowboy when the lady at the service station asked me what I was doing up there and I tipped my hat and said, "I'm just passin through, ma'am".
I was experimenting with a new kind of photography that I have not done before. It is called High Dynamic Range or HDR. The idea is that you take several pictures of varying exposures and merge them together into one image. This allows a much greater tonal range than you would otherwise be able to get in a single image. It is pretty facsinating. The results were a little mixed, but I will definitely put some up to show you later. The concept is really cool, it is just going to take some time to master it. We shall see what happens though.
Also, today is my brother Joshua's birthday, so a big happy birthday to him.
One of the things that was so awesome about it was that as I got out of my car, I couldn't hear anything. No traffic noise, no people, nothing except nature. I think that it is in places like this and at times like this that we can truly hear God speak. The still small voice as it were. I saw longhorns, shorthorns, horses, and a snapping turtle. There were wild flowers. I drove through little country towns where everybody knows everybody. I saw people that had never been to Dallas before much less out of Texas. I saw a piece of Texas that I had not seen before, and it was awesome. I felt like a cowboy when the lady at the service station asked me what I was doing up there and I tipped my hat and said, "I'm just passin through, ma'am".
I was experimenting with a new kind of photography that I have not done before. It is called High Dynamic Range or HDR. The idea is that you take several pictures of varying exposures and merge them together into one image. This allows a much greater tonal range than you would otherwise be able to get in a single image. It is pretty facsinating. The results were a little mixed, but I will definitely put some up to show you later. The concept is really cool, it is just going to take some time to master it. We shall see what happens though.
Also, today is my brother Joshua's birthday, so a big happy birthday to him.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
I am a Cowboy
For those of you who didn't know, I am a cowboy. Well I at least pretend to be. I mean let's face it, who doesn't like a cowboy. They represent everything that we good and wholesome about the wild west. Someone recently told me that I looked very Texas with my cowboy hat, my jeans and my boots. I feel like I was missing my six shooter and my pickup truck, but oh well.
Something that I would love more than anything would be to own a ranch. I would love to move out of the city and just have some land. Maybe get some horses and cattle to make it legit, but either way I would just love to live out in the country. In so many ways it is a harder life, but it is also a simpler, quitter, slower paced life.
I spent some time on a farm while I was growing up. It was definitely hard work, but the whole pace of life was different. I miss the days when we would sit down to a big lunch and then sit back and relax for a couple hours till the sun passed its prime. There was no real reason to rush to get anything done. Oh there was work that needed to get done to be sure, but there was this unspoken understanding, that the work would get done.
I know I find myself rushing through life and sometimes not taking enough time out to enjoy it. I think that I get so caught up with getting to the next thing that I don’t take time to smell the roses.
Some of the happiest times of my life were hanging out with Rob Cook on his Grandpa’s farm. We worked hard, but we played hard too. I miss that. Maybe, God willing, someday I will be able to buy some land and go back to that simpler life and time.
Something that I would love more than anything would be to own a ranch. I would love to move out of the city and just have some land. Maybe get some horses and cattle to make it legit, but either way I would just love to live out in the country. In so many ways it is a harder life, but it is also a simpler, quitter, slower paced life.
I spent some time on a farm while I was growing up. It was definitely hard work, but the whole pace of life was different. I miss the days when we would sit down to a big lunch and then sit back and relax for a couple hours till the sun passed its prime. There was no real reason to rush to get anything done. Oh there was work that needed to get done to be sure, but there was this unspoken understanding, that the work would get done.
I know I find myself rushing through life and sometimes not taking enough time out to enjoy it. I think that I get so caught up with getting to the next thing that I don’t take time to smell the roses.
Some of the happiest times of my life were hanging out with Rob Cook on his Grandpa’s farm. We worked hard, but we played hard too. I miss that. Maybe, God willing, someday I will be able to buy some land and go back to that simpler life and time.
Monday, May 10, 2010
Enough Talent to Win
“You think you can win on talent alone? Gentlemen, you don't have enough talent to win on talent alone.” Herb Brooks
As I was editing this weekend, I thought to myself “What does it take to win in this?” I was reminded of Herb Brooks quote to his 1980 gold medal hockey team. In video production I don’t have enough talent to win on my own. At some point I have to let go and let God step in and take over. I think the sooner that this happens the better off I will be. When I am working on a wedding, I am not and cannot be doing it for myself. It has to be for the glory of God. I think that so often it is easy to forget as Christians that every time we suit up for the game we go out there and represent God. We are on his team. I know in my own life it is easy for me to go out there and represent myself. What a selfish thing to do. It has been said many times to many teams, “there is no I in Team”. We cannot claim any victories in our life as our own. All praise and honor and glory go to God.
In life it is not always about winning or losing. I believe that score should be kept and results tracked. At the end of the day though what truly matters, is did you give your all, and more importantly, did you give your all for God.
Every team has two things, a coach and a playbook. It is the job of the coach to write the playbook. It is the job of every player to know the playbook inside and out, front to back. In that regard the Christian life is no different. I think that the Holy Spirit, as part of the triune God, can be considered to be our coach. We have been given the ultimate playbook in the Bible. It is our responsibility to know this book cover to cover.
In my work with the JV boys in AWANA this year I have been trying to impress upon them the importance of scripture memorization, of hiding God’s word in their hearts. Almost every single one of these young plays some sort of sport in school. They all have memorized their playbook for their sport. They can quote sports stats and player stats from every major league sport to you all day long. Yet, as professing Christians they do not see the need or have the desire to memorize God’s word. If they understood that there is only one game in life worth playing. The stakes to that game are eternal life for the winners and eternal hell for the losers. It is the game of life itself. There are two coaches. The thing is, there is a guaranteed outcome. One of the coaches most definitely will win and won most definitely will lose. We already know who will win and who will lose. All that is really left to determine is which team you will play for. Right now the losing team has far more players. Right now the team that will ultimately lose, they seem to be winning. Some of that may be because the winning team does not always act like a winning team. They don’t all know the playbook as they should. They are not teaching their fellow teammates the play book as they should be.
In order to win, I need to listen to my coach. I need to be studying my playbook every day. That is how we can be victorious. The battle is still raging, but the victory is sure.
As I was editing this weekend, I thought to myself “What does it take to win in this?” I was reminded of Herb Brooks quote to his 1980 gold medal hockey team. In video production I don’t have enough talent to win on my own. At some point I have to let go and let God step in and take over. I think the sooner that this happens the better off I will be. When I am working on a wedding, I am not and cannot be doing it for myself. It has to be for the glory of God. I think that so often it is easy to forget as Christians that every time we suit up for the game we go out there and represent God. We are on his team. I know in my own life it is easy for me to go out there and represent myself. What a selfish thing to do. It has been said many times to many teams, “there is no I in Team”. We cannot claim any victories in our life as our own. All praise and honor and glory go to God.
In life it is not always about winning or losing. I believe that score should be kept and results tracked. At the end of the day though what truly matters, is did you give your all, and more importantly, did you give your all for God.
Every team has two things, a coach and a playbook. It is the job of the coach to write the playbook. It is the job of every player to know the playbook inside and out, front to back. In that regard the Christian life is no different. I think that the Holy Spirit, as part of the triune God, can be considered to be our coach. We have been given the ultimate playbook in the Bible. It is our responsibility to know this book cover to cover.
In my work with the JV boys in AWANA this year I have been trying to impress upon them the importance of scripture memorization, of hiding God’s word in their hearts. Almost every single one of these young plays some sort of sport in school. They all have memorized their playbook for their sport. They can quote sports stats and player stats from every major league sport to you all day long. Yet, as professing Christians they do not see the need or have the desire to memorize God’s word. If they understood that there is only one game in life worth playing. The stakes to that game are eternal life for the winners and eternal hell for the losers. It is the game of life itself. There are two coaches. The thing is, there is a guaranteed outcome. One of the coaches most definitely will win and won most definitely will lose. We already know who will win and who will lose. All that is really left to determine is which team you will play for. Right now the losing team has far more players. Right now the team that will ultimately lose, they seem to be winning. Some of that may be because the winning team does not always act like a winning team. They don’t all know the playbook as they should. They are not teaching their fellow teammates the play book as they should be.
In order to win, I need to listen to my coach. I need to be studying my playbook every day. That is how we can be victorious. The battle is still raging, but the victory is sure.
Friday, May 7, 2010
Victorious or Victimized
“May we choose wisely and become part of the solution group of victors instead of the problem group of victims.” Chris Brady
What a world we live in. I don’t rant a lot, but this is going to be a rant. We need to wake up. Chris Brady recently wrote about a new job opening that we have in our country. This job grows in popularity every day, but don’t worry, there are still plenty of opening available. The job position that Chris was writing about is that of the victim.
I run into people every day who fill this position. I find people who are willing to blame anyone and anything for the situation that they are in. You know, it’s time for people to step up and take some responsibility for their actions. It’s not your parents fault, it’s not the fault of where you were born, and certainly the government is not at fault. The only person, who can take responsibility for where you are in your life today, IS YOU.
I was reading this crazy story on MSN the other day where some God professing preacher was instructing people to boycott BP because of the situation in the gulf right now. The ignorance that spewed from this guy’s mouth was utterly unbelievable. It is the same thought process that continues to keep the wounds of racism open and fresh. The accident in the gulf, its just another place where people are signing up to fill the position of the victim. There are two significant things that you should know. One, BP did not operate the rig that exploded leaving an open wellhead 5000 feet below the surface. Two, even if BP did own and operate the rig, there are such things in life as accidents. They happen everyday . That does not give anyone the right to become a victim. Certainly there are victims of accidents, there were eleven men killed in that explosion. And my heart goes out to their families. I can understand the financial hurt to the fishing industry right now. The thing of it is, it is not the people who work in the fishing industry that are spewing forth ignorance about boycotting BP. No instead they have taken jobs to work with BP to correct the situation. They are helping to clean up the spill so they can move on with their lives.
Chris wrote about another group of people as well. He called them the victors. These are the people who take the circumstances that they find themselves in and rather than blame someone else, they step up to the plate, they load their boats with oil booms and help clean up the mess. Is it what they would prefer to be doing? No. The victors do what needs to be done, because it needs to be done. They do it because they realize that another handout from the government is not going to correct the situation. Victors: Positions Open now.
We as American’s need to wake up. Every day we give more and more power to the government. Every day the government gets larger and larger. Is this what the founding father had in mind? I doubt it. As a nation we need to turn back to God. We need to go back to the principles that this country was founded on. There was a time when the rest of the world looked at the United States and they wanted to come to our country. They wanted to move here legally and become citizens. They believed in the process. They believed that this country was great. It is not our government or our military that makes us great. It is our people and our principles. Day by day we are fighting a losing battle. As Christians we need to wake up and pray.
What a world we live in. I don’t rant a lot, but this is going to be a rant. We need to wake up. Chris Brady recently wrote about a new job opening that we have in our country. This job grows in popularity every day, but don’t worry, there are still plenty of opening available. The job position that Chris was writing about is that of the victim.
I run into people every day who fill this position. I find people who are willing to blame anyone and anything for the situation that they are in. You know, it’s time for people to step up and take some responsibility for their actions. It’s not your parents fault, it’s not the fault of where you were born, and certainly the government is not at fault. The only person, who can take responsibility for where you are in your life today, IS YOU.
I was reading this crazy story on MSN the other day where some God professing preacher was instructing people to boycott BP because of the situation in the gulf right now. The ignorance that spewed from this guy’s mouth was utterly unbelievable. It is the same thought process that continues to keep the wounds of racism open and fresh. The accident in the gulf, its just another place where people are signing up to fill the position of the victim. There are two significant things that you should know. One, BP did not operate the rig that exploded leaving an open wellhead 5000 feet below the surface. Two, even if BP did own and operate the rig, there are such things in life as accidents. They happen everyday . That does not give anyone the right to become a victim. Certainly there are victims of accidents, there were eleven men killed in that explosion. And my heart goes out to their families. I can understand the financial hurt to the fishing industry right now. The thing of it is, it is not the people who work in the fishing industry that are spewing forth ignorance about boycotting BP. No instead they have taken jobs to work with BP to correct the situation. They are helping to clean up the spill so they can move on with their lives.
Chris wrote about another group of people as well. He called them the victors. These are the people who take the circumstances that they find themselves in and rather than blame someone else, they step up to the plate, they load their boats with oil booms and help clean up the mess. Is it what they would prefer to be doing? No. The victors do what needs to be done, because it needs to be done. They do it because they realize that another handout from the government is not going to correct the situation. Victors: Positions Open now.
We as American’s need to wake up. Every day we give more and more power to the government. Every day the government gets larger and larger. Is this what the founding father had in mind? I doubt it. As a nation we need to turn back to God. We need to go back to the principles that this country was founded on. There was a time when the rest of the world looked at the United States and they wanted to come to our country. They wanted to move here legally and become citizens. They believed in the process. They believed that this country was great. It is not our government or our military that makes us great. It is our people and our principles. Day by day we are fighting a losing battle. As Christians we need to wake up and pray.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Highlights
Well I have finally decided to do it. I have decided to get purple highlights in my hair. Just kidding…
No seriously though, I have the opportunity to do something really cool that I have wanted to do for a long time, with the highlights video that I am making from Megan and Michael’s wedding. The cool thing is that this is not part of the contract so I can use the footage and really take it in my own creative direction. Additionally, since there was some dancing at the reception that gives me footage that I previously did not have.
I want to take this opportunity to push my limits a little and try to make this highlights video be really there. It is definitely going to take some work, but I think that it will be pretty cool when I am done. At least I hope it will be. Of course there is always the off chance that once I get into it, I will discover that I do not have all of the footage that I need to make it work and it may go a completely different direction.
They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. I hope this is the case. I find myself trying to re-create many different things that I see other people do, in both my video and my photography work. I see different effects and I try to figure out how to make them work. It is probably the way that I learn more than any other way.
Anyway, give me ten days or so and we will see what we shall see.
No seriously though, I have the opportunity to do something really cool that I have wanted to do for a long time, with the highlights video that I am making from Megan and Michael’s wedding. The cool thing is that this is not part of the contract so I can use the footage and really take it in my own creative direction. Additionally, since there was some dancing at the reception that gives me footage that I previously did not have.
I want to take this opportunity to push my limits a little and try to make this highlights video be really there. It is definitely going to take some work, but I think that it will be pretty cool when I am done. At least I hope it will be. Of course there is always the off chance that once I get into it, I will discover that I do not have all of the footage that I need to make it work and it may go a completely different direction.
They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. I hope this is the case. I find myself trying to re-create many different things that I see other people do, in both my video and my photography work. I see different effects and I try to figure out how to make them work. It is probably the way that I learn more than any other way.
Anyway, give me ten days or so and we will see what we shall see.
Monday, May 3, 2010
Where do you stand?
"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy"
Wow. That’s all that I can say about this weekend. It was unbelievably amazing. I can see God’s hand with us throughout all of our endeavors this weekend.
Megan and Michael’s wedding was amazing. She was a beautiful bride. I don’t know if I have ever seen two people more in love. You could tell by the way that these two interacted, the light in their eyes, that they love each other very much. Both Megan and Michael are God fearing Christians, this was publicly proclaimed during the ceremony. I have to say to that their ceremony was one of the most beautiful, God honoring ceremonies that I have ever been part of. Something I love about southern believers that I have run into outside of the assemblies is their genuine love for the Lord. It is really cool. The church was awesome, even though lighting left a little to be desired. We met and exchanged contact information with some cool vendors. It was awesome working with Lauren, Jared, and Heather while they were doing the photography. Jordan, did an amazing job coordinating everything and making sure that everything went really smoothly on Saturday. It is always fun to meet other people in the wedding business and exchange ideas and experiences with them. It was a double blessing because all of these people were Christians. It really made it an enjoyable experience.
I am really proud of Lydia and Josh for their efforts this weekend. They both did an awesome job. Lydia’s camera work was very good. She takes after her older brother in the handheld camera department. It really is a skill. Not everyone can do handheld camera and hold it steady and move with the shot. She has grown a lot in the past few months. Josh stepped in and really worked hard in a support role this weekend. A really big thanks goes out to him for fixing my glasses after someone sat on them. You know that is just part of the experience. Things happen out there and you just have to role with them.
I did a photo-shoot with the talented Julia Hamilton yesterday afternoon. It was a lot of fun. We did some motion shots. I have some images that turned out really sweet. I learned a few new things. All in all it was great though. I think that she is happy with the way that things went and I think she is going to be happy with the results. I know I was.
That pretty much wraps up the weekend. I spent the rest of the day yesterday capturing the wedding footage. Tonight I will sync it and edit it. I think it is going to be pretty awesome. Right now I am looking for inspiration in a highlights reel. I am not sure what direction that is going to go at this point.
Wow. That’s all that I can say about this weekend. It was unbelievably amazing. I can see God’s hand with us throughout all of our endeavors this weekend.
Megan and Michael’s wedding was amazing. She was a beautiful bride. I don’t know if I have ever seen two people more in love. You could tell by the way that these two interacted, the light in their eyes, that they love each other very much. Both Megan and Michael are God fearing Christians, this was publicly proclaimed during the ceremony. I have to say to that their ceremony was one of the most beautiful, God honoring ceremonies that I have ever been part of. Something I love about southern believers that I have run into outside of the assemblies is their genuine love for the Lord. It is really cool. The church was awesome, even though lighting left a little to be desired. We met and exchanged contact information with some cool vendors. It was awesome working with Lauren, Jared, and Heather while they were doing the photography. Jordan, did an amazing job coordinating everything and making sure that everything went really smoothly on Saturday. It is always fun to meet other people in the wedding business and exchange ideas and experiences with them. It was a double blessing because all of these people were Christians. It really made it an enjoyable experience.
I am really proud of Lydia and Josh for their efforts this weekend. They both did an awesome job. Lydia’s camera work was very good. She takes after her older brother in the handheld camera department. It really is a skill. Not everyone can do handheld camera and hold it steady and move with the shot. She has grown a lot in the past few months. Josh stepped in and really worked hard in a support role this weekend. A really big thanks goes out to him for fixing my glasses after someone sat on them. You know that is just part of the experience. Things happen out there and you just have to role with them.
I did a photo-shoot with the talented Julia Hamilton yesterday afternoon. It was a lot of fun. We did some motion shots. I have some images that turned out really sweet. I learned a few new things. All in all it was great though. I think that she is happy with the way that things went and I think she is going to be happy with the results. I know I was.
That pretty much wraps up the weekend. I spent the rest of the day yesterday capturing the wedding footage. Tonight I will sync it and edit it. I think it is going to be pretty awesome. Right now I am looking for inspiration in a highlights reel. I am not sure what direction that is going to go at this point.
Friday, April 30, 2010
What a weekend
Well I have a super crazy weekend coming this weekend. This evening I have to go to the church and check out the rehersal for Megan and Michael's wedding. I want to see the location and get a feel for the flow of things. It will be our first evening wedding. Providing the weather clears up we should have some really awsome lighting.
Tomorrow Megan and Michael will begin their journey together. I pray that God richly blesses their lives together. They are a really cool couple and they have an awesome story. I can't wait to tell it. It will also be the first wedding that we have done where there will be dancing. I am looking forward to getting some really cool footage from that as well.
Sunday morning is church. It is going to be awesome. I begin my duties as an usher. That really cool. I have been very blessed and encouraged by the saints at LBC.
Sunday afternoon I have a photoshoot with a girl who is a ballet dancer. I think that is going to be pretty sweet. We are going to do some outdoor motion shots. It is going to be crazy. Sunday evening I have another shoot with a young aspiring actress. She is a friend of Selna Gomez, for those of you who know who that is. Anyway, pretty much just doing headshots and composites for this shoot. Pretty basic though.
I have been getting a little bit of photography work lately. I am pretty thankful for that. I am currently working on building a website dedicated to my photography. I will let you know when it is up and you can check it out. I am learning a lot about websites lately. It has been interesting. I am not going to have much time to work on it for a couple of weeks though since editing the wedding footage needs to be my priority. I have some really cool ideas for the highlights video, it will be interesting to see how it comes together.
Thats all for now folks. I hope to be able to write Monday morning that it was an awesome weekend. I know this is going to be one of those weekends that I will remember for a while. Lord willing everything goes smoothly. I did not invite my friend Mr. Murphy (of murphy's law) but he has a way of sneaking along anyway.
Tomorrow Megan and Michael will begin their journey together. I pray that God richly blesses their lives together. They are a really cool couple and they have an awesome story. I can't wait to tell it. It will also be the first wedding that we have done where there will be dancing. I am looking forward to getting some really cool footage from that as well.
Sunday morning is church. It is going to be awesome. I begin my duties as an usher. That really cool. I have been very blessed and encouraged by the saints at LBC.
Sunday afternoon I have a photoshoot with a girl who is a ballet dancer. I think that is going to be pretty sweet. We are going to do some outdoor motion shots. It is going to be crazy. Sunday evening I have another shoot with a young aspiring actress. She is a friend of Selna Gomez, for those of you who know who that is. Anyway, pretty much just doing headshots and composites for this shoot. Pretty basic though.
I have been getting a little bit of photography work lately. I am pretty thankful for that. I am currently working on building a website dedicated to my photography. I will let you know when it is up and you can check it out. I am learning a lot about websites lately. It has been interesting. I am not going to have much time to work on it for a couple of weeks though since editing the wedding footage needs to be my priority. I have some really cool ideas for the highlights video, it will be interesting to see how it comes together.
Thats all for now folks. I hope to be able to write Monday morning that it was an awesome weekend. I know this is going to be one of those weekends that I will remember for a while. Lord willing everything goes smoothly. I did not invite my friend Mr. Murphy (of murphy's law) but he has a way of sneaking along anyway.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
The Measure of a Man
As I prepare for Megan and Michael's wedding this weekend, I found myself thinking about how I can measure the results of the work we do at this wedding. How is it that I will know if we were successful?
As we look around there is a lot of evidence pointing to the proper measurements not being taken. I wonder if our economy would be in the state that it is in right now if results had been measured and adjustments had been made. Who knows…?
Orrin Woodward suggests that 90% of Americans do not keep score concerning their goals. If you are not keeping score and measuring the results, how do you know if you are succeeding or failing?
It was with this in mind that I determined I needed to develop a system to keep score. To do this, I needed to write down my goals. If there is nothing written down it is easy for me to say, “well the goal is to make the wedding business a full-time job”. And that is great and a good goal to be sure, but the question becomes, how do I actualize that goal. How do I take that from being just a goal and make it a reality?
First I have to realize that making Black and White Productions a full-time job is really an overall goal. It is the end result. This goal needs to have a time-frame, a definite amount of time in which I would like to finish this goal. A plan needs to be developed to reach this goal. I would say that a plan is really just a series of smaller goals. For every smaller goal there has to be a plan of action on how to go about it. The plan has to be carried out. Once the plan is carried out, I need to look at the results of the action and see if my results match up with the expected outcome. If they don’t I need to analyze the process and adjust what I am doing so that next time my results are more in line with my expectations.
I would describe the wedding this weekend as a sub-goal. My number one result desired is to walk away from this wedding Saturday night, knowing that I have given my all and left nothing back. I would like to have the bride and groom be very satisfied with the final product. So these are the criteria that I will use to measure this wedding.
As we look around there is a lot of evidence pointing to the proper measurements not being taken. I wonder if our economy would be in the state that it is in right now if results had been measured and adjustments had been made. Who knows…?
Orrin Woodward suggests that 90% of Americans do not keep score concerning their goals. If you are not keeping score and measuring the results, how do you know if you are succeeding or failing?
It was with this in mind that I determined I needed to develop a system to keep score. To do this, I needed to write down my goals. If there is nothing written down it is easy for me to say, “well the goal is to make the wedding business a full-time job”. And that is great and a good goal to be sure, but the question becomes, how do I actualize that goal. How do I take that from being just a goal and make it a reality?
First I have to realize that making Black and White Productions a full-time job is really an overall goal. It is the end result. This goal needs to have a time-frame, a definite amount of time in which I would like to finish this goal. A plan needs to be developed to reach this goal. I would say that a plan is really just a series of smaller goals. For every smaller goal there has to be a plan of action on how to go about it. The plan has to be carried out. Once the plan is carried out, I need to look at the results of the action and see if my results match up with the expected outcome. If they don’t I need to analyze the process and adjust what I am doing so that next time my results are more in line with my expectations.
I would describe the wedding this weekend as a sub-goal. My number one result desired is to walk away from this wedding Saturday night, knowing that I have given my all and left nothing back. I would like to have the bride and groom be very satisfied with the final product. So these are the criteria that I will use to measure this wedding.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Walk on Solid Ground
John Maxwell in his book, “21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership”, talks about the “Law of Solid Ground”. He makes the point that leadership must be built on trust. It reminds me of a story told in the bible. A house of leadership is built on trust and trust is like the house that was built on a rock by the wise man. In everyone’s life there comes a time when a man has nothing to stand on but his word. The sad fact is that so many times when our backs are to the wall and we are relying on our word, people do not trust us enough to believe what we are saying.
The lesson here is that the time to begin building trust is not when your back is against the wall. When you reach that point it is too late. I believe that leadership is fundamentally about building relationships with people. It is about show people your true character and in doing so you build trust or you don’t as the case may be. If you want to lead, learn to build relationships with people.
I mentioned the other day the movie “Facing the Giants”. They were a losing team and they were slated to continue winning. The coach came to the realization that when he went out on that football field every Friday night he went out there for the wrong reasons. It was not until he realized that the reason for him going out there and coaching was not to win, the reason that he was coaching football was to honor and glorify God. Once he took priority off of himself and turned it toward God, he was able to build effective relationships with his coaching staff and his players. When they realized that he believed what he was telling them, they began to respect him and soon they began to follow him. It wasn’t long till that little undersized, undermanned no name football team, began to win games. In fact they made it all the way to the state championship. They faced a team with three times as many players that were bigger, faster, and stronger, and had already one the state championship three times in the three years prior. They won that game.
What’s the point? Do you want to lead? Build character. Build trust. Build relationships. People are looking for someone to follow you just have to become the leader that they will follow.
How does all of this relate practically to me? Well in business I have nothing except for my name. Right now I don’t even have a very great name behind me. I do have God on my side. I realize in my life that whatever I do, I need to first and foremost do it for the honor and glory of God. Beyond that God will handle the details. When I go to work every day, I pray that I will do a job that is honoring to God. When I go to do a Wedding, I pray that I do a job that is honoring to God. I want people to see God through me and through my actions. I want to build character in my life that inspires trust. I want to walk on Solid Ground.
The lesson here is that the time to begin building trust is not when your back is against the wall. When you reach that point it is too late. I believe that leadership is fundamentally about building relationships with people. It is about show people your true character and in doing so you build trust or you don’t as the case may be. If you want to lead, learn to build relationships with people.
I mentioned the other day the movie “Facing the Giants”. They were a losing team and they were slated to continue winning. The coach came to the realization that when he went out on that football field every Friday night he went out there for the wrong reasons. It was not until he realized that the reason for him going out there and coaching was not to win, the reason that he was coaching football was to honor and glorify God. Once he took priority off of himself and turned it toward God, he was able to build effective relationships with his coaching staff and his players. When they realized that he believed what he was telling them, they began to respect him and soon they began to follow him. It wasn’t long till that little undersized, undermanned no name football team, began to win games. In fact they made it all the way to the state championship. They faced a team with three times as many players that were bigger, faster, and stronger, and had already one the state championship three times in the three years prior. They won that game.
What’s the point? Do you want to lead? Build character. Build trust. Build relationships. People are looking for someone to follow you just have to become the leader that they will follow.
How does all of this relate practically to me? Well in business I have nothing except for my name. Right now I don’t even have a very great name behind me. I do have God on my side. I realize in my life that whatever I do, I need to first and foremost do it for the honor and glory of God. Beyond that God will handle the details. When I go to work every day, I pray that I will do a job that is honoring to God. When I go to do a Wedding, I pray that I do a job that is honoring to God. I want people to see God through me and through my actions. I want to build character in my life that inspires trust. I want to walk on Solid Ground.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Fear Not
You know in the Bible the phrase do not fear is used 365 times. Ironically that is once fore every single day of the year. Don't you think that if God took the time to tell us something 365 times, we ought to perk up our ears and listen.
Last night I watched "Facing the Giants" with a group of Junior High kids. The major theme of the movie was that we should put forth our all for God and leave the rest up to him. There are so many times in our lives when we put God in a box and determine what our God can do and what he cannot do. Here is a thought, if you believe you can then you can, but if you believeyou can't then you can't, either way you are right. In life we face many giants. We don't have to face them alone though. God is with us.
Last night I watched "Facing the Giants" with a group of Junior High kids. The major theme of the movie was that we should put forth our all for God and leave the rest up to him. There are so many times in our lives when we put God in a box and determine what our God can do and what he cannot do. Here is a thought, if you believe you can then you can, but if you believeyou can't then you can't, either way you are right. In life we face many giants. We don't have to face them alone though. God is with us.
Friday, April 23, 2010
It is easy in life to get discouraged and think that things are going pretty badly. The thing that I have learned, especially or the last year or so, is that you don’t have to look very far to see people that have it worse than you do. You look around and there is hurt and pain all around. Broken families, broken homes, broken hearts, broken lives. I found that at times of great discouragement God is always there as well. He is never far off. All you have to do is look for him.
The last year of my life has been a learning experience for me. There are times where I have started to feel pretty sorry for myself, but through everything that I have been through God has blessed me beyond anything that I could truly imagine. There are three specific blessings in my life that have been huge for me.
In October of 2009 I moved to a new church. I have never felt more at home in church than I have felt over the last several months at Lewisville Bible Church. If I had to describe it, I would say it is just a small country bible church. It is filled with good God loving people. It never cease to amaze me how God’s people are capable of such friendship and hospitality. God has brought Bernie and Deigh Moore into my life as well at church. It is a little strange because they have a lot in common with my own parents. They have reached out to me with love and hospitality so much over the past several months. It has been awesome. I truly feel like I am part of their family.
Bernie and Deigh are the directors of the AWANA JV group at LBC. When they found out that I had been involved in AWANA all of my life, they encouraged me to get involved at LBC as well. I really felt that God was leading me to get involved with it as well and I was very excited about the opportunity. I thank God for all of the AWANA leaders that were in my life from the time that I was five years old all the way through the JV program at Alpine Baptist Church. They gave of their time and energy to be there for me every single week. I never really realized what a commitment it was on their part until I started working with the JV group this year. It has been such a blessing and encouragement to me though. It is awesome to work with these young men and woman and encouraging them to memorize scripture. I know my line is getting worn out on these young men, but I tell them every week that there may come a time when we may not be able to have bible and that is why it is so important to memorize it. It’s awesome watching them take up the challenge.
You know when God works his plan is perfect. It’s unbelievable. So almost fourteen years ago Jake VanOwen started having a men’s prayer meeting in his home on Saturday mornings. Fourteen years ago I was twelve years old. Jake didn’t know me and he certainly did not know where my life would be at now, but for fourteen years he has been faithfully meeting with a group of guys on Saturday mornings and praying. Only an amazing all-knowing God could have known where my life would take me and only he could have known that this Saturday morning prayer meeting that I would start attending fourteen years later would be one of the single greatest sources of encouragement in my life. Talk about a crazy journey. You can’t make this stuff up. I mean really…think about it. It brings tears to my eyes.
You know, the heroes of the church are often unsung. Its guys like Jake, and David, and Bernie, and Lynn, and John, and Dan, these guys are true heroes of the faith. There are some many things that I am sure they could have been doing on Saturday mornings for the past fourteen years, but instead they felt the most important thing was for them to be there meeting and lifting one another up before the throne of grace.
Welcome to my Journey...
The last year of my life has been a learning experience for me. There are times where I have started to feel pretty sorry for myself, but through everything that I have been through God has blessed me beyond anything that I could truly imagine. There are three specific blessings in my life that have been huge for me.
In October of 2009 I moved to a new church. I have never felt more at home in church than I have felt over the last several months at Lewisville Bible Church. If I had to describe it, I would say it is just a small country bible church. It is filled with good God loving people. It never cease to amaze me how God’s people are capable of such friendship and hospitality. God has brought Bernie and Deigh Moore into my life as well at church. It is a little strange because they have a lot in common with my own parents. They have reached out to me with love and hospitality so much over the past several months. It has been awesome. I truly feel like I am part of their family.
Bernie and Deigh are the directors of the AWANA JV group at LBC. When they found out that I had been involved in AWANA all of my life, they encouraged me to get involved at LBC as well. I really felt that God was leading me to get involved with it as well and I was very excited about the opportunity. I thank God for all of the AWANA leaders that were in my life from the time that I was five years old all the way through the JV program at Alpine Baptist Church. They gave of their time and energy to be there for me every single week. I never really realized what a commitment it was on their part until I started working with the JV group this year. It has been such a blessing and encouragement to me though. It is awesome to work with these young men and woman and encouraging them to memorize scripture. I know my line is getting worn out on these young men, but I tell them every week that there may come a time when we may not be able to have bible and that is why it is so important to memorize it. It’s awesome watching them take up the challenge.
You know when God works his plan is perfect. It’s unbelievable. So almost fourteen years ago Jake VanOwen started having a men’s prayer meeting in his home on Saturday mornings. Fourteen years ago I was twelve years old. Jake didn’t know me and he certainly did not know where my life would be at now, but for fourteen years he has been faithfully meeting with a group of guys on Saturday mornings and praying. Only an amazing all-knowing God could have known where my life would take me and only he could have known that this Saturday morning prayer meeting that I would start attending fourteen years later would be one of the single greatest sources of encouragement in my life. Talk about a crazy journey. You can’t make this stuff up. I mean really…think about it. It brings tears to my eyes.
You know, the heroes of the church are often unsung. Its guys like Jake, and David, and Bernie, and Lynn, and John, and Dan, these guys are true heroes of the faith. There are some many things that I am sure they could have been doing on Saturday mornings for the past fourteen years, but instead they felt the most important thing was for them to be there meeting and lifting one another up before the throne of grace.
Welcome to my Journey...
This Crazy Journey
Even as I start to write this entry Josh Turner's "Would you go with me" is playing on the radio. You can't tell me that it is not a little ironic and crazy. I am hear to invite you to go on a journey with me. It's a crazy journey, but in the end it will be the trip of a lifetime.
A little about myself. I am not a writer. I don't know that I have a lot of deep thoughts to share with the world. I do feel like there are times when I need to write things down. I get so excited about the possibilities of the future that I have to write them down. I have to get the ideas out on paper. Sometimes I go back and look at it and I am not sure what I was thinking. Other times I go back and pick it up and do something with it. I say all that to say, writing and grammer are not my strong points. Even as I write this I realize that certain people will be reading this and correcting all of my mistakes. It is enough to know that I know I am not great at writing.
So who am I, who is Nate Thomas? What makes him tick? Oh yeah, I referred to myself in the third person. The concept of Nate Thomas is very fluid right now. I was born and raised in Grand Rapids Michigan. I currently reside in Dallas Texas. There is a whole long story that goes into how I got from there to here. I am here now though and thats what matters I suppose. I work for a property management group as a Financial Analyst. I don't know that I could tell you what that means if you asked me to, so don't ask. Notice that I say that I work as a Financial Analyst, I am not a Financial Analyst. I think that so many people let their job define who they are. I really feel that is not the way that it should be. First and formost I am a child of the King. Saved by the blood of my precious Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It is this that I hope and pray defines what and who I am. I am just a simple country boy.
Beyond this I am business owner and entrepenuer. My company, Black and White Productions(www.bwwproductions.com), is a wedding video company. I started this company with my best friend PVT Jonathan Rhoads. Recently God called Jonathan to join the army and he left for basic training. My goal over the next four years while Jonathan is gone is to build our company into a sustainable source of income for us. We both have a heart for ministry and helping people.
So that is just a little bit about me. If you will follow me on this crazy journey, I can't promise it will be worthwhile, but I do promise that we will have some crazy adventures together. I hope that I can share a little that I learn along the way with you. I will leave you with this thought. In life, to accomplish anything, it requires persistent, consistent action. Nothing in life that is worth having comes easy. You must work for it. It is not just work though, it is hard work. You must be willing to fall over and over and at the end of the day you must must all of the strength that you have and with every fiber of your being you MUST GET BACK UP!
A little about myself. I am not a writer. I don't know that I have a lot of deep thoughts to share with the world. I do feel like there are times when I need to write things down. I get so excited about the possibilities of the future that I have to write them down. I have to get the ideas out on paper. Sometimes I go back and look at it and I am not sure what I was thinking. Other times I go back and pick it up and do something with it. I say all that to say, writing and grammer are not my strong points. Even as I write this I realize that certain people will be reading this and correcting all of my mistakes. It is enough to know that I know I am not great at writing.
So who am I, who is Nate Thomas? What makes him tick? Oh yeah, I referred to myself in the third person. The concept of Nate Thomas is very fluid right now. I was born and raised in Grand Rapids Michigan. I currently reside in Dallas Texas. There is a whole long story that goes into how I got from there to here. I am here now though and thats what matters I suppose. I work for a property management group as a Financial Analyst. I don't know that I could tell you what that means if you asked me to, so don't ask. Notice that I say that I work as a Financial Analyst, I am not a Financial Analyst. I think that so many people let their job define who they are. I really feel that is not the way that it should be. First and formost I am a child of the King. Saved by the blood of my precious Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It is this that I hope and pray defines what and who I am. I am just a simple country boy.
Beyond this I am business owner and entrepenuer. My company, Black and White Productions(www.bwwproductions.com), is a wedding video company. I started this company with my best friend PVT Jonathan Rhoads. Recently God called Jonathan to join the army and he left for basic training. My goal over the next four years while Jonathan is gone is to build our company into a sustainable source of income for us. We both have a heart for ministry and helping people.
So that is just a little bit about me. If you will follow me on this crazy journey, I can't promise it will be worthwhile, but I do promise that we will have some crazy adventures together. I hope that I can share a little that I learn along the way with you. I will leave you with this thought. In life, to accomplish anything, it requires persistent, consistent action. Nothing in life that is worth having comes easy. You must work for it. It is not just work though, it is hard work. You must be willing to fall over and over and at the end of the day you must must all of the strength that you have and with every fiber of your being you MUST GET BACK UP!
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