1000:1

Ok, so you're trying to follow your dreams. You're trying to do the impossible. You've set a goal that seems unattainable. You've found the situation where faith is possible.

Now what?

Bust your ass, that's what.

Did you see my moment of glory on IG the other day? Looked cool, right? Looked like a writer/director savouring a moment of victory, of relief, of catharsis. Right?

Well, it was.

But you know what? That moment was one moment after a thousand moments of toil, uncertainty, conflict, and drudgery. No joke. Honestly, that one 'good moment' came after more than a thousand moments of trial. I spent, for sure, several hundred moments of trial writing the episode I'd just watched that made me cry in that photo. Then I spent several hundred more while prepping to shoot and shooting the thing. We haven't even talked about sitting for, literally, WEEKS watching every single shot in nearly 25 TB of footage.

Try that one on for size.

That's all before I had to sit down and watch all the 'story content' (as opposed to the visual stuff) and try to find a way to make ten different perspectives work together to tell, not just a coherent story, but an inspiring one that will make people cry with joy.

What a task.

How does this apply to you?

Well, you might not be a husband/father/filmmaker/pastor/preacher/coach/sailor but there's a very good chance you're right in the middle of trying to do something VERY hard and you're feeling like the task is all but impossible.

My word of encouragement to you today? 

Keep going.

Trudging.

Climbing.

Striving.

Busting your tail to try and make the thing happen that you're seeing in your mind's eye.

You can do it. You just have to hang on, log the hours, do the work.

Even if you're facing a 1000:1 ratio.

Have at it kids.

T

Step by step...

Been a while.

I've been thinking that I'll try to get a little more reliable in this here space.

There have been a few things on the go that have kept me rather chained to my desk (or to the steering wheel of my car or to the seat of a trans-oceanic jet or to the couch of an edit suite) principally, shooting and beginning to cut THE BOOK: fact or fairytale, the biggest filmmaking endeavour of my and my business partners career, working to lock, locking and starting in the Lead Pastor role at a new church, getting the kids back to school while launching my seventh season as a football coach and re-building our backyard shed, just for fun.

Sheesh.

It's been crazy.

Shooting THE BOOK was one of the most immersive, difficult and challenging things I've ever done as a director but, once I got into the edit suite, it became quickly apparent that it's--by far--the best thing I've ever been a part of. This is due, in large part, to a very compelling subject, very excellent collaborators, and enough resources to (for the FIRST time in my ENTIRE life) capture, in real life, what I initially saw in my imagination. Seriously, the first time in 20 years of doing this. I'm either a really 'late bloomer' or it's REALLY hard to 'make it' on your own terms in this crazy show-business world.

Anyway, it makes me emotional every time I get to work with the material; that's how thankful I am to have this kind of stuff to work with.

Grateful.

That's also an apt description of how I feel to be back in the pulpit/pastorate again. It's funny, maybe I've mellowed significantly over the years, or maybe--after a fairly long layoff and some cataclysmic years on a personal level--I'm just 'broken' enough to be thankful enough that things that used to really 'bug' me about this side of my career, don't seem to get under my skin like they used to. I'm just happy to be there doing what I can to partner with God in His ongoing work of seeing hope brought to people who need it.

My wife thinks it's much simpler than all that...

She thinks I'm having a mid-life crisis.

My line to that is equally simple; "Well, at least I'm not buying convertibles and going after strange flesh; I'm making movies and taking churches..."

To which, she just shrugs her shoulders and smiles that knowing smile which suggests to me she might be hedging her bets.

Sweet girl.

(I'll show you girl, with houses and happiness and holidays)

Bottom line, it's a crazy time, a good time and I'm doing everything I can to simply 'do the work' required to try and achieve greatness.

Which usually means waking up at 3:15AM 'cause I can't stop my mind from racing...

Happy times.

T

Underwater...

Show business is equal parts inspiration, drudgery and magic.

You work for months and months gestating an idea and, most of the time, it goes nowhere. I was telling someone today that, if I had ten bucks for every treatment I've written that went nowhere, I'd be able to finance one of 'em.

Seriously.

Then, a couple of times every ten years or so, something gets off the ground and then you gird yourself for the soul-killing drudgery of it; where you walk, lift, lug, trouble shoot, travel, lift, lug, eat at crappy buffets, lift, lug, sleep on hard beds, travel, lift, lug, climb, trouble shoot, sit in traffic, travel, lift, lug, argue, fight, try to sleep, get lost, skip some meals, get sunburned...

You get the idea.

Several times on 'first unit' we laughed about how 'manual labour' filmmaking is.

Then, once is a while, you get a couple of hours of downtime and you go snorkelling.

Naturally, your wife (and friends) rib you a bit, about how 'hard' you've got it ('cause all everyone sees with social media is your highlight reel) but you know the truth.

You're underwater with all this work you've got to get done.

T-minus 18 days 'till I board a plane to go shoot 'second unit'.

And we start editing tomorrow.

Here we go...

T

Airborne...

Spent my week shooting the aerial unit for the big documentary series (and feature-length doc) my biz-partner and I are producing (with our team and some key collaborators) this year. When I was trying to explain to my wife why I was so fried each night after flying and filming all day, the best I could come up with was...

"Imagine getting up at 4am, driving an hour and half to the airport--skipping breakfast 'cause you're up before all the restaurants--then jumping into a helicopter that's alternately roasting (sun) or freezing (high altitude) and flying around like you're--literally--riding a roller coaster all day, then driving home (2 hours now 'cause of traffic) collapsing into bed, sleeping three hours ('cause you're jet-lagged) then doing it all again the next day, and then the next..."

Something like that.

Thing is, we're getting awesome (and I mean AWESOME) footage.

By FAR the best thing I've ever done as a director. Much of it has to do with our amazing cinematographer (a long-time collaborator and friend) as well as a wonderful setting and amazing gear and crew (all set up by my exec-producer/producer biz-partner) along with a very compelling subject, but still.

It's still little 'ol me writing and directing, and it's gigantic and awesome and amazing.

I felt almost emotional seeing the 'rushes' from day two.

"It's like we're actually making a movie or something..." I said. "Like, this NEEDS to be seen on the big-screen..."

A powerful moment.

Pretty cool.

Something to be very thankful for.

I feel like I'm flying...

T

Again...

We opened the pool this past weekend.

Crazy Canadians.

One week ago, we had eight inches of snow on the ground, this week our pool is open. Death gives way to life, blah to blast, cold to warm, dark to light. It all comes back 'round...

Again.

It's a fun thing about life. Don't forget it; especially if you're going through a tough time today.

One of the best things about growing older is that you gain a certain degree of perspective; you realize that, even if things SEEM really bad right now (like when it snows in April), if you just hang on long enough, things will turn around.

There's a lot to be said for just putting one foot in front of the other, continuing to move forward (however slowly) until things turn back 'round...

Again.

I find myself dealing with levels of tension and dysfunction at work these days that would have absolutely crushed me years ago. These days I just keep moving forward (one tiny step at a time sometimes) and *know* that it's gonna' break eventually.

Now--pay attention--when it *breaks* it doesn't mean you immediately go from zero to hero.

Sometimes you have to let the water warm up for a few weeks.

Right?

And then, after some time and some Sun, you'll be able to jump back in...

Again.

T

'till you start bumping into things...

When was the last time you worked so hard you could hardly see straight? I mean SO hard you couldn't stand, could barely walk and, when you did, you started randomly bumping into things?

Think about what you do, and ponder that one a moment.

When was the last time you pushed yourself to the brink, the real edge-of-your-ability limit where you absolutely, positively, unashamedly can't do any better or any more.

Do you preach that good? Write that good? Love that good?

Do I?

Better hope so 'cause I'm smack dab in the middle of the biggest, most important production of my ENTIRE life, and I've been doing this for TWENTY years!

That story board up there is the 'private' one that only me and my associate Jeff get to use; it's the one with the most 'mojo' the most 'possa' the most magic. It's the one where we go to sweat the details and push the limits. I spent two full days at its altar this week, busting my a$$ to try and achieve greatness. My business partner made the mistake of calling me halfway through and you bet your butt I snapped at him; 

"I'm not in the MOOD to argue semantics with you right now, I'M WRITING!!"

(Poor guy; it's not his fault. Patient man)

I'm writing this today to try to inspire YOU to reach for more; to dig deeper, to go farther to push yourself...

'till you start bumping into things...

T

Begin. Again.

My shoes at the end of last week's first 'real' run as part of training for this year's triathlon.

The first week is always the toughest.

It's almost as if you haven't already run all the races you've run, like you've haven't logged the miles you've logged, like you have no experience at all.

It's this same way every time you begin again, doing whatever.

Start a new job. Start a new relationship. Tackle a new assignment. Cook that favourite recipe you haven't touched in years. Open your Bible. Go for a run.

Begin. Again.

It's tough. Halfway through starting up that new thing you'll be wondering if you can finish, wondering how you ever did this before, questioning whether or not you've got what it takes, wondering why you started up again in the first place.

Waiting for your left ankle to go numb so your achilles will stop hurting.

"Why did I do this?"

Ever felt that way?

It's amazing to me (being as old as I now am, and having done as much as I've now done) to realize how relentless life is. See, it doesn't CARE what you DID. It cares about what you're DOING. Your body doesn't give you credit for the miles you ran last year, it wants to know what you've done for it lately.

True, muscles have 'memory' and you will get up to race-shape much faster than the first time you started doing this, but it's still gonna be hard, you're still gonna' wish for death several times along the way and wonder why you thought you were fit for this anyway?

What have you done lately?

How good was your last sermon? Did you hit it out of the park? How good was your last pitch meeting? Did you change your client's life (even just a little bit?). What about last shoot? Did you nail it in every aspect? Did the client leave feeling well-served and lucky to have you? How about your last staff confrontation. Did you handle it with grace AND truth? Did your last disappointment or betrayal destroy you and steal your joy, or did you shoulder it, mourn, and then keep going?

When was the last time you ran 5K? The last time you read your Bible every day for a week? When was the last time you ate fresh-cooked Oatmeal instead of the packaged kind? When did you last complete your wife's 'honey-do list' on the weekend without complaining? When was the last time you were happy and fun with your kids at breakfast instead of grumpy and tuned-out? When was the last time your friends felt like you loved them? Did you chase your wife around the house this weekend? Last weekend? When was the last time 'bro? When was the last time you took responsibility for your actions without begging off, by subtly shifting the blame to someone else? When was the last time you were completely honest, regardless of what it was going to cost you? When was the last time you walked by faith and not by sight?

What have you DONE, that's awesome, lately?

Yes. I read Hebrews 11 this morning. And it messed with me.

T