As I write this, I face a similar concern to that of most writers. Will anyone read it? Of course I have exacerbated the situation, by letting my column go dormant for five months. Letting something go that long can be death to a column, so if you’re still reading, God bless you… literally.
The Back Burner
To be honest, I didn’t realize it had been that long and when my long suffering editor, Alan notified me to let me know I hadn’t submitted since the new year, I was more than a little taken aback. There had been so many times that I thought I should really sit down and write another column, but there was always another project going, and it slid to the back burner, again. I am sorry, and I do appreciate you. I will try to do better.
Excuses, Excuses
The truth is I really do have a pretty good excuse. You see the reason I wasn’t doing my column on creative arts ministry, was because I was doing creative arts ministry in a plethora of forms. In my column writing drought, I was doing work that gives me something to write about, so I guess that’s a pretty good excuse. In addition, I was helping my wife through a pretty difficult arm injury, and of course ministering to the congregation God has given me, and trying to bring them some inspired creative projects well. This was definitely not a case of creative block. As a matter of fact, this has been one of the most creative seasons of my life.
The Main Thing
My main project was creating the curriculum I will be using when I minister at Delta Lake Bible Conference Center in Rome, New York. I will be teaching four weeks of their Haven Camp. Four weeks is the most I have ever done for them in a year and I could not be more excited. Haven Camp is a camp for adults with developmental difficulties, and over the last decade, it has become one of my favorite ministry opportunities. I genuinely love these people and strive to bring them my best stuff.
Be Strong
Several of my campers return for multiple weeks so I don’t feel I can just do the same sessions four times. Fortunately, the camp picked the very broad topic of “Be Strong” for this year. I started my study by looking up all the times in the Bible that dealt with strength, and the Lord telling someone to be strong. Can I tell you, there are a lot of them? I began to assemble thoughts on all these stories for messages and before long, I began to realize, this could become a book. As it turns out, it did! Then once I had the chapters, I began to distill them into messages for the campers. If that sounds like a lot of work, you are an astute observer, because it was. It turns out, it was also amazingly rewarding.
Scope Creep
My hobby is plastic model building. You might wonder why a person as busy as me needs a hobby, and if you think that you unwittingly answered your own question. I need a hobby because a person can only think and write so many hours a day. In the hobby there is a thing called Scope Creep. The idea is pretty simple. Creativity begets creativity and creations tend to bring about more creations. Model builders often end up doing CAD work, 3D printing, architectural design, scenic design. photography and more. One idea inspires another and before long you have a lot of good things going. It also usually demands that we develop more and more skills and do more things. Scope creep can be a very good thing for your creativity.
My Scope Creep
In my case, what could have been a few messages became a book, but there’s more. The camp also asked me to bring three messages to their family camp from the series. I decided to try a few of these at my church and another speaking engagement, with some pretty diverse “audiences,” and happily discovered that they really do speak to a variety of different groups. It turns out, Be Strong is going to become a new speaking topic for me. Further, as I was developing the services for the campers, I needed to develop the speed paintings I do for them as well. I usually paint to music, and I wanted songs to fit the messages so I started expressing the topics poetically and took them to suno.com to turn them into songs and simple lyric videos that will play in the background while I paint.
Why This Matters to You
As I write this, I hope none of it comes off as lament, because I am having the creative time of my life, This frustrated wanna be musician has posted 137 AI songs and videos in the last year. In addition to my book, I have written countless messages, articles, images and more, and that’s just it. There are only so many hours in a day and a multitude of good things to be done to fill those hours. Sometimes things will slip to the back burner. It’s not that these things have less value, and some of the back burner things are very good things, like this column, I hope. Here are a couple things that can help you through these kinds of busy seasons.
1. God First
My study for Be Strong has showed me something all creatives need to know. I could not find one time in Scripture, where God tells someone to be strong, without following it up with some version of I will be with you. You need His help to do whatever you do. If you’re not spending time with the Lord, and seeking Him throughout your creative process, you will end up leaning on your own limited strength, and that is a recipe for disaster.
2. Family Second
Back burner projects if you have to, but do not back burner your family. I’ve learned this the hard way. Don’t do it.
3. Don’t Neglect Your Health
I’m having a real physician heal thyself moment here. If you’re not getting your rest, and taking care of your body, this won’t end well. Everything you do on this earth, requires a body, make sure you’re caring for the only one you’ll get before the resurrection.
4. Scope Creep Is Usually Good
Trust the Lord when the scope expands on your projects. It usually allows you to gain new skills and gain new opportunities. Don’t be afraid to try new things.
5. Deadlines Are Your Friend (Most of the Time)
The down side of scope creep is it can throw you off schedule. Monitor your deadlines, and hit them. If you can’t do all the scope creep stuff, write it down and when (or if) you get the opportunity go back to it. Deadlines can help bring priorities into focus.
6. Value Accountability
Having someone to help you keep track is a great asset. I didn’t stop writing this column because I didn’t care. I actually didn’t stop at all. I just lost track of time in the midst of a busy season. But when my editor Alan, kindly checked in, my thought was, “Has it been that long?” I started writing as soon as I got home. It is really good to have someone who cares looking out for you.
7. Trust God
He loves you and wants to work in and through you. He gave you the gifts and talents He gave for a reason. Use them to His glory and see what He will do in and through you. Sometimes what you think is scope creep is really God bringing something He put in you.
8. God Knows
It is true that inactivity is a very bad thing for content creators. And consistency is also very important. As I write this, part of me worries about losing readers, and maybe rightfully so, but here is what I also know. God knows what He is doing and the person who needs to read this. I prayer that is you. God knows.
Remember Philippians 1:6 “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” He began it, and He will finish it. Join Him on the journey and prepare to be amazed.
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