I’ve been struggling with a weird cold that Sid and I have been swapping back and forth for the last few weeks. THIS week, it’s my turn to have no voice, fever, sore throat… It basically sucks. But illness not withstanding, I have not experienced a 24 hour period like I did last Sunday, it was amazing!

Two old friends of mine, Pam and Jim Fenoff came over from Orlando to spend the night and Sunday with us, but I’m getting ahead of myself..

6:00 am – The alarm went off and I got up and took a shower.  The I hit ‘The Book’, for some quiet time with God and hear something from my Savior.

7:30 am – Breakfast, yep a FULL breakfast of pancakes, eggs, fruit, and Bacon Explosion!  It was marvelous!  After we ate, I hit the road to be at church early, and I got out of doing dishes!!

9:00 am – Downbeat for band rehearsal.  everything went well, I felt pretty good playing and all the elements seemed to be coming together.

10:30 am – Service Begins.  Today Common Ground started a new series, God Love Sex, based on the Song of Songs.  Hot stuff for a church to talk about, but we need to hear about sex, just like money, sin, Hell, and Heaven.

12:00 -Service ends, and it was awesome!  We had cool videos, some extra surprises and an amazing stage set.  I really felt like I was back in my niche.  Well, church was over, and only 1/3 of my Sunday was over…what next???

1:00 pm - The Florida State Fair!!  Sid, the Fenoff’s, and myself drove over the fairgrounds and enjoyed the entertainment, the attractions, the fair exhibits…but mainly, it was all about the FAIR FOOD!!  I cannot even begin to list the different items we tried, but they were all good, but only once a year….

6:00 pm – Sid and I had enough of the fair and we STILL had Super Bowl plans…so we drove over to our annual football ritual at the lovely home of Doug and V, friends from back in the day….  Shrimp, beer, brats, and baked beans were the menu items, and Saints v. Colts the entertainment.

9:45 pm – Saints win!  Saints win! Saints win! I cannot believe it!  Everyone told me I was pulling for a loser, but justice prevailed!!

10:30 pm – Sid and I got home, took some cold medicine, and crawled into bed for a good nights rest.  It was truly an amazingly crazy Sunday!

Every since October, I did a lot of praying and soul-searching as to what God was wanting me to do.  I had a few long/hard conversations with a great friend, and he gave me some good advice, “God has you in a great position to leverage everything that you do well.  So DO IT!”

And the “it” that he was referring to was my skills with Creative Arts, Worship Media presentations, website, blogs, video editing, graphics…and lump it all up and create a company… And so, finally, I present Worship Media Solutions, helping You communicate His message.

We’re up and running and accepting new clients.  We come in and create all your media needs for worship services from Announcement Slides, Song Slides, Teaching Logos, Video Roll-Ins, and Message Slides, all wrapped up and sent back to you in easy file.  If you are a church that can’t afford a creative arts team, or just need some help, Worshp Media Solutions is here to help.

I have also partnered with Strategic Online Networking, a social media consulting company for businesses.  I am their Graphics and Web Blog Specialist.    I help with WordPress sites, custom logo creation, FaceBook Fan Pages.  They liked Worship Media Solution’s theme so much, they borrowed it (with a fair amount of customization).  Strategic Online Networking is a great company, and I am very excited about partnering with them!

And finally, I have accepted a position as Leadership Resident at Common Ground Community Church, in South Seminole Heights, FL (a suburb of Tampa).  I will be helping with their leadership development and strategy.  I am also playing int he band and helping with their Creative Arts and Media/Tech teams.   I have an amazing respect for the pastor, Danny Schaffner, and his team at Common Ground.  They are doing something amazing a I believe that God is doing great things there, and I am privileged to be a part of it.  And just like the entire staff at Common Ground, I will be raising my salary…so there may be a litter for support in your mail box very soon!

I decided to write a short series based on the many miracles in my life.  From our house to the many relationships in my life, God has been blessing me and I am humbled and amazed.  So, keeping this series going, I wanted to shed some light on the miracle of my job.

When we moved back from Georgia, I had 2 interviews lined up.  One with a church planter in Wesley Chapel, and another guy named Danny Schaffner at a church called Common Ground.  I checked out the one guy, interviewed with him and started spending some time there, and God made it VERY clear that I didn’t need to be there.  I also interviewed at Common Ground.  I liked them and they liked me.  The only problem was, because the economy was tanking, they had some funding that fell through…no money, no job.

So I kept looking.  At one point I was sending 20+ resumes out a day for everything I cold think of.  I went to cattle calls, I shaved my beard, I applied to drive trucks, make bed deliveries, sell furniture, sell office supplies, I even had a possibility to work with the State of Florida.  But nothing landed…for 6 months.  Add those 6 to the 4 in Georgia, I was looking at 10 months without a job.

2 months after my first meeting with Danny Schaffer, I started to have this recurring thought: You Need to work with Danny Schaffner and Common Ground.  What I know now is that was the voice of God telling me what He wanted me to do.  So after a little begging, Danny allowed me to come on staff as an apprentice.

I worked there helping with their leadership development, team building, band, and tech area.  I learned a lot, and one day, Danny told me he had a friend who was looking for a guy like me.  And that is how I got connected to Brian Moon, my new boss Church of the Suncoast.

Some would say that it was all because of my connections.  Or being in the right place at the right time.  I would disagree with all of that.  The ONLY reason that I got a great job during one of the worst economies in the last 50 years is because God ordained it.

Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

It’s miracle that after 10 months I get hired by a church.  It’s a miracle that it’s the perfect job for me: close to home, all about leadership development and team building.  It’s EXACTLY the amount of salary that we needed to save the house.  Who else but God could orchestrate something like that?  No one.

It was a monumental weekend.  I have been pressed in all the areas of my life: Saturday I was artist, consultant, drummer, tech booth guru, evangelist, leader, and apologist.  And that was just in the 3 hours I was at Common Ground Tampa.  I also had my first Sunday at my new job, and I discovered what 5:00 AM looks like on a Sunday morning…and it wasn’t pretty.

FRIDAY

• Friday was a day of diversity.  I had very little planned, but what I had planned was important.
• I got to sleep in (until 8:00 am) and I had to finish a graphic project and then get some blog work done.
• Then I had a late morning meeting with my children/admin person from Suncoast.
• We discussed team building and leadership.  It was at Starbucks, so it felt very familiar and also strange.
• I have truly missed using my leadership skills, I feel a little rusty still, but I believe that I will shake it off pretty quickly.
• After the 3+ hour meeting….let that sink in…. I came home and decided to read a while, I didn’t have any projects too pressing, so I rested my mind a little…and fell dead asleep.
• I woke up and finished a few little housekeeping items and waited for Sid to come home.
• And then we went to the YMCA to workout…I did a half-hour on the bike, Sid did her half-hour on the treadmill.
• We came home, and had some dinner, and watched a little TV and called it a night.

SATURDAY

• Sid had to head back to her weekend job, and I had a full Saturday planned out.
• I spent the early morning working cleaning the house and waiting for a couple friends to drop by.
• They’ve been helping us with a monthly gift from Project: SHARE… it’s amazing.  I also got to share with them that I had found a job and that Sid and I would be helping give someone else the blessing of food from Project: SHARE.
• In the afternoon, I had to go to Common Ground Tampa to work with the Worship/Tech Teams
• After I had a 20+ minute conversation rant session (I was on the receiving end), I finally got everything fixed for the weekend service.
• I got out of there around around 3:45…a little later than I wanted…
• I came home and read a little…and then made dinner, and then did the ONE THING that I wanted to do all week….
• I laid in bed and watched a movie….Good times.
• Sid came home and shared that her boss had given here Sunday off, so she could attend church with me, on my first Sunday.  Very classy.
• Sid and I went to bed early because…

SUNDAY

• 5:00 AM comes REALLY, REALLY early.
• I got up, showered and GROGGILY drove over to the school to help set up for church.
• Brian beat me there…I got there at 6:00, Brian got there at 5:45….amazing.
• We got it all set up by 8:20 and then the band rehearsed, I changed clothes, and then we kicked it off at 9:30 and 11:00
• I was surprised that my friends Dave and Michelle came by and visited Suncaost this AM.
• Today was also extra special, because Brian was ending the series “The Vow” with a huge renewal of the wedding vows for all the married couples.
• So, Dave and I went forward, were given roses, and then awaited our lovely brides to renew our vows…. I cried…and so did Sid.
• I am really grateful and thankful for Church of the Suncoast.  Brian and I are a great fit and I am really excited about whet God is doing there, and cannot with to see what He does through me and my teams.
• After church, we tore it all down….and I got home around 2:15.  And after lunch, passed out.
• I woke up about 1 1/2 hours later and caught the end of the Brickyard 400 – Great job, Jimmy Johnson.  Great race and great ending.
• Dave, Michelle, and Carly all dropped by and cooked us dinner in our house, did I mention we have AMAZING friends?
• Dave made melanaze…rib eye pounded, breaded, and friend…mmmmmm.
• We all spent the evening talking, laughing, catching up and just enjoying being together.  It’s truly good to be back home in the F-L-A.