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.
Friday, April 30, 2010
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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