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One of the Producer/Preachers best friends is water.

Yup.

Water.

Spiritual and physical.

You need to keep yourself 'filled' because the whole point of what you do is to pour yourself out for others.  

You pour out ideas, dreams, and effort--with hours of phone calls and negotiations and planning and budgeting and studying and reading and writing and thinking and selling and meeting and crafting and speaking.

And if you don't take care of yourself, spiritually, physically and mentally--sooner or later--you'll find yourself empty.

Like a husk.

And you and I both know that there's nothing worse for the creative person than having nothing left to give.

Thing is, this is true for you as well even if you're not a creative person or someone whose life is about communicating ideas to others.  Even if you're a mom at home with her kids or a dad coming home from the grind, you're going to need to make sure you've got enough left to 'give' both to your spouse and to your babies.

I'm thinking of an image of baby birds, beaks spread wide, squeaking for their parents to feed them.  That's your kids with you.  They need you to provide for them, not just sustenance or a roof but inspiration, truth, meaning, love, purpose, passion, and faith.

If you don't give it to them, they'll get it nowhere else.

Same deal with your audience.  When someone sits down to watch or listen to your work you are like a parent to them.  For that space in time you are their provider--or at the very least a mediator through whom provision will be given them.

It's serious business this life-building, sermon-preaching, story-telling thing.

Keep yourself filled friend.

'Cause we're all thirsty for what you have to give.

T