My Journey to Five Weeks in Canada
January 19, 2009 Leave a comment
Yet again, an experience of one of my friends has led me to think about an experience of my own. This person is getting ready to leave home for eight months, following God’s calling. Also, I’m sure by now there are many in the college ministry I was a part of, Baptist Collegiate Ministries (BCM), who are looking over possibilites of where to go this summer for a week or two, a month, or maybe even the whole thing. I have no idea where you are right now, but this post is for everyone, and its focus is on identifying and answering God’s call.
Summer Missions to me was never something I felt like I had to do because I owed it to an organization. In fact, I went through all but one of my summers in college without giving it much serious thought. This includes time spent on the leadership team of BCM. I knew there were things that needed to be taken care of, such as summer classes. I had never felt led to apply for missions over the summer, and really felt like God wanted me to do what I was doing. It was always up to Him, and as long I left it that way, then I was on the right path.
It wasn’t until my last year of college and BCM that I felt like my calling was changing. I didn’t have to take summer classes after graduation, and had the opportunity to go, and began studying the opportunities available to me because of this. And, boy, were there ever a lot of opportunities! I believe it was something like 23 pages worth of locations and desctiptions. And of those 23 pages, there was really only one opportunity that I felt strongly about… and it involved five weeks in another country.
Over the next few months that led into the application process and my local interview with BCM leaders past and present, and ministers, serving at The Bridge Community Church in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada was the place I felt God was leading me. In fact, on the online application that wanted me to list three choices, I was only able to come up with the one.
I shared with the interviewers that I felt strongly about the description to go and serve in this church, which meets in a movie theater, and use my gifts and talents for them. I felt that I had a lot to offer, being part of a portable church that meets at a high school. More than anything though, I really felt like this was where God was calling me. And when God calls you, it doesn’t matter how familiar or foreign something looks… He’s got a plan for you where He wants you to go!
That interview was in the books, as were my four references and all the other good stuff I had to gather together for the trip. All the while, I gave an honest account of myself, continued to pray and seek God’s guidance, and headed into the statewide BCM missions interview weekend, which was my biggest test of faith yet.
I don’t know why, but I felt like I was “off” this whole weekend. Most of it consisted of small group settings and being asked very informal questions. My nerve issue with these are that I always tended to overthink what was being asked. Even something as simple as what influential person would I like to have dinner with (or something along those lines), I tended to sit in my seat and analyze what the group leader was really wanting to know. This led to keeping quiet.
I did have a few high points during the weekend though. The team exercises went well, including the “plan a worship service in x amount of minutes” one. By the way–if you’re someone applying for missions this year who is reading this and thinking I’m giving you an unfair advantage… trust me… I’m not.
The application process ended during this interview weekend. At which time, we were instructed to choose alternate trip choices. WHAT??? Are you serious? I mean… yeah… I knew this was coming for months now… but I’ve felt like I only had one place on my heart the whole time. Nevertheless, I managed to come up with something like five other choices, with Canada remaining my first. As it turns out, I was the only one out of 230+ who had this particular Canada trip at the top of the list. This was evident at the end of the weekend when my picture and information remained lonely as it was handing out on the wall under “The Bridge Community Church (Kamloops, BC, Canada)” option.
I wasn’t sure how it was going to go. Several times, I found myself questioning whether or not this trip was really for me, or if I somehow dreamed up the whole thing and was just going along with it. I was in a state where I really felt like it was God’s calling for me to go, but thinking it could have been all me just as easily. Have you ever been there? Are you there now?
All of this was finally put to rest when I got a call from a fellow BCMer who was helping out in the interview process that weekend. He told me I was going! A couple of months later, I met my teammates, who I knew right away were totally awesome. A few months after that, we boarded plane after plane and headed to BC. Five weeks later, my life would forever be changed from what all God did in me and through me. And yes, He did both. This wasn’t simply a mission trip where the missionaries received all the ministry. He also used us to make an impact in the community, and plant and water seeds for His Knigdom. Real friendships were made, many of which I’m able to maintain on Facebook.
There was great satisfaction in knowing that it was God who led me to Canada from the beginning. It’s easy to get in a place where you don’t know that for sure, and sometimes it will take you awhile to discover it was His calling. Confirmation didn’t come for me overnight. I wasn’t thinking about going to Canada, asking God for a sign, and then sitting in Waffle House and seeing the words “maple syrup” on the side of a bottle and knew that it was destiny. I mean… I’m sure I did go to Waffle House somewhere along the way, but nothing that cool happened.
My point in sharing all of that is that we may not always know for sure if God is calling us to do something. However, it is necessary to take steps of faith that lead us to where we’re going. The greatest thing about an application and interview process is that you are not alone in figuring this out. There are many praying for you and not taking the decision of where (or even if) they send you lightly.
When you face a hard-to-judge calling, go for it, and see where it leads you. If it is indeed a calling from God, nothing is going to stop it from happening.
Originally written October 24, 2008.
My Journey to Pro Wrestling Commentary
February 2, 2009 2 Comments
I’ve already mentioned I’m a wresting fan. That’s only the half of it. When I was growing up, I used to want to be a wrestler and do what the Hulk Hogans and Ric Flairs do on TV. That is… all the way up until my first training session. Wrestlers get hit, and when they do, they fall down. The best thing you can learn to do for yourself is learn how to fall. The trainer instructed me. And when it was my turn, I was more than willing to compromise this aspiration. I had already put aside being a superhero early on in my childhood, so this was not a big letdown.
Other than wrestling, and walking to the ring with wrestlers as a manager-type (which is actually what I was preparing to do in said training session), there were only a handful of things left to do. The first couple I crossed off my list were being a runner and making sure there was communication between those in the main area of the venue and those in the back. I was also the sound guy for a show or two, playing entrance music.
Finally, I got asked to ring announce and do live commentary for a show. I was nervous at first, but slowly adapted to the role. This is where I began to grow in my journey in professional wrestling, and what I kept doing for five years. In addition to commentating, I was also involved on the creative side of things, as well as webmaster for both my own and the company’s websites. I also made the flyers for the shows, got us radio time on both my own weekly program and another station–the second station being an idea I had, but totally out of my control whether or not it happened.
After the company I stayed grounded in was sold, I began to go a couple hours out of my way for other shows. I kept this up for a year and 10 months, commentating for two companies towards the end. I also managed to get involved with the creative side of things with one.
Then, almost overnight, I lost my passion for what I was doing. It was in the Fall of 2005 that I was putting a lot of things in perspective. I went through just about everything I did and determined whether I ever asked God if I should be doing it or not. I was also beginning to really mature spiritually, and needed to be away from an environment that could have been potentially harmful to me. The latter two explanations were not as blunt as the first sentence though: I simply lost my passion–or at least shifted it to where it belonged from the start.
The above is a tricky paragraph to write. Is commentating a sin? Is wrestling a sin? No. However, I learned that it was a god I was putting before my God. I even talked to one of my friends who wrestled for a Christian organization at the time, and told him where I was at. It wasn’t a matter of me turning on the industry, but I just didn’t have the desire for it anymore. I told him that I won’t say I’ll never do it again. I really believed that. I believed that God would give me the passion back if He desired, but it was under Him now.
After I left wrestling, I commentated two more shows five and six months later after being asked to by a friend. It was his last match, and he wanted me to be there for it. Since said “last match” got pushed back another month, one show turned into two. Now, last matches in wrestling are usually as definite as the last time you get fast food from somewhere because they got your order wrong in that you normally go back, but some “last matches” have more of a sentimental value than others.
In commentating these two shows, I enjoyed myself both times, but my heart wasn’t in what I was doing.
Almost three years later, I get a call from the owner of the old company I was in the longest, asking me if I want to ring announce an upcoming show. This is after months now of having an itch to do this one more time. Finally, here’s my chance. At first I wasn’t sure, due to my work schedule. But the more I got to talking and listening, the more I was sold on one more “one more show.” That’s why on Thursday, February 19, 2009 in Augusta, GA, in the words of Owen Wilson in “You, Me & Dupree,” I’m going to be throwing seven different kinds of smoke!
More to come in future writings, but that’s my journey.
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Filed under My Journey Tagged with commentator, desire, God's will, independent, me & dupree, passion, play-by-play, pro wrestling, profressional wrestling, seven different kinds of smoke, wrestling, you