“Step Up and Execute”
When you make yourself available to God, He uses you. And He'll take you to the edges of yourself if you let Him. So I'm learning another lesson. And although my roommates have unique taste in movies sometimes, it happened to reinforce my lesson tonight.
I was realizing a few weeks ago as I was getting ready to play bass at Cru that for all the time we spend practicing and picking songs and setting up and tearing down, it really all comes down to twenty short minutes of playing. There are no “overs”, no “mulligans”. If I play badly, there is no opportunity to be like “Sorry guys, I wasn't pay attention. Let me try that again.” Nope – you get one shot, and that's all.
It's the same with school. I have less than two weeks until graduation, and my status/GPA at graduation will depend on how I finish out the semester. There will be no second chances. My grades will be what they are. I can't change the past, but soon my entire undergrad education will be “the past”. I have one senior semester, and one set of finals left. One.
Last week, Pastor Jay was speaking on taking risks. How we will never accomplish anything if we don't step up and step out. “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”, and all that. Our church will never reach our goals by sitting still, or even by maintaining the status quo. We have to intentionally go where God is calling us. Yes, we will fail. No, not everything we touch will succeed. But _nothing_ will succeed if we don't try.
How does this relate to a movie? OK, so the movie is really cheesy, but it amused me. We watched Disney's “Enchanted” tonight. It's a juxtaposition of fairy tales vs. the “real world”. A lead character comes to New York from “fantasy-land”, and doesn't believe that all the complications we add to life are necessary. “If you love someone, why not tell them so with everything you do?” Cliché Disney movie stuff, but the point remains.
How long will we sit in our chairs, at our computers, at our desks and do nothing? How many times will we practice for something, but not perform to our best when the object of our practice comes? How many times will I make excuses at work for being behind schedule instead of working hard and extra hours to finish stuff?
“Train the way you compete, and you'll compete the way you trained.” This was a common mantra when I was in competitive shooting. The point was to take your practice seriously. Not so seriously that you were devastated by a poor shot, but serious enough that every shot counted. That _every_ shot was aimed for a perfect bullseye. Every one. Not most, not some. Every one.
What would it look like if we stopped complaining about stuff and worked on fixing it? Gandhi said, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” If “someone” ought to do something, why not you? Why not now?
Speaking of standing up and executing, I've decided to pursue a bass gig elsewhere with the decline of usual scheduled gigs. I could just talk about playing bass, jam with a few people when they have time. Or I could pro-actively seek opportunities. Opportunities to go and meet people, to tell them about why and how I've learned bass. Why I enjoy playing worship, and Who it's for. Today I sent out a handful of emails to various bands seeking bassists on Craigslist. No responses yet, but we'll see what happens. I may be in way over my head. In fact, I'm pretty sure I'm going in over my head. I'll probably fail, too. But that's OK, because God will be there to catch me, just as He has been every other time.
Sorry if I'm on a tear tonight, but I'm also learning about not tip-toeing around what I perceive to be offensive to others. There will always be people who don't like me. Their problem, not mine...I can only be who God is molding me to be.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I have email to write. To write now, because procrastinating doesn't accomplish anything.
I was realizing a few weeks ago as I was getting ready to play bass at Cru that for all the time we spend practicing and picking songs and setting up and tearing down, it really all comes down to twenty short minutes of playing. There are no “overs”, no “mulligans”. If I play badly, there is no opportunity to be like “Sorry guys, I wasn't pay attention. Let me try that again.” Nope – you get one shot, and that's all.
It's the same with school. I have less than two weeks until graduation, and my status/GPA at graduation will depend on how I finish out the semester. There will be no second chances. My grades will be what they are. I can't change the past, but soon my entire undergrad education will be “the past”. I have one senior semester, and one set of finals left. One.
Last week, Pastor Jay was speaking on taking risks. How we will never accomplish anything if we don't step up and step out. “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”, and all that. Our church will never reach our goals by sitting still, or even by maintaining the status quo. We have to intentionally go where God is calling us. Yes, we will fail. No, not everything we touch will succeed. But _nothing_ will succeed if we don't try.
How does this relate to a movie? OK, so the movie is really cheesy, but it amused me. We watched Disney's “Enchanted” tonight. It's a juxtaposition of fairy tales vs. the “real world”. A lead character comes to New York from “fantasy-land”, and doesn't believe that all the complications we add to life are necessary. “If you love someone, why not tell them so with everything you do?” Cliché Disney movie stuff, but the point remains.
How long will we sit in our chairs, at our computers, at our desks and do nothing? How many times will we practice for something, but not perform to our best when the object of our practice comes? How many times will I make excuses at work for being behind schedule instead of working hard and extra hours to finish stuff?
“Train the way you compete, and you'll compete the way you trained.” This was a common mantra when I was in competitive shooting. The point was to take your practice seriously. Not so seriously that you were devastated by a poor shot, but serious enough that every shot counted. That _every_ shot was aimed for a perfect bullseye. Every one. Not most, not some. Every one.
What would it look like if we stopped complaining about stuff and worked on fixing it? Gandhi said, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” If “someone” ought to do something, why not you? Why not now?
Speaking of standing up and executing, I've decided to pursue a bass gig elsewhere with the decline of usual scheduled gigs. I could just talk about playing bass, jam with a few people when they have time. Or I could pro-actively seek opportunities. Opportunities to go and meet people, to tell them about why and how I've learned bass. Why I enjoy playing worship, and Who it's for. Today I sent out a handful of emails to various bands seeking bassists on Craigslist. No responses yet, but we'll see what happens. I may be in way over my head. In fact, I'm pretty sure I'm going in over my head. I'll probably fail, too. But that's OK, because God will be there to catch me, just as He has been every other time.
Sorry if I'm on a tear tonight, but I'm also learning about not tip-toeing around what I perceive to be offensive to others. There will always be people who don't like me. Their problem, not mine...I can only be who God is molding me to be.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I have email to write. To write now, because procrastinating doesn't accomplish anything.
posted by The student of life at 11:29 PM
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