Getting off track

Really freaked myself out tonight by adding up all the words I’ve written for the first draft of my book and calculating how close I am to my goal of 45,000 words. 

I’m 28% there. Not close at all. My deadline is January 31st. UH OH. THAT’S NOT GOOD. 

You know what went wrong? I stopped being consistent. I was writing every night until suddenly I wasn’t. That first night I skipped it and went to bed just opened up the flood gates. Giving up once is a gateway drug to giving up all together. It’s so much easier after that first time.

Getting back on track is going to be so painful. I hate this. Why’d I let myself break the chain?! 

The Importance of Good Headshots

One of these things is not like the other.

I really need new headshots. I’m the only one not smiling on this poster and I’m the freaking comedian.

I need to hurry up and book a photographer and then quickly learn how to smile naturally in pictures because that is a skill I do not currently have. I always look like I’m in pain or very confused when I try to smile like a normal person in pictures.

Embarrassing Stories

I love doing stand-up because I love telling embarrassing stories to strangers. Some times I’m afraid I’ve run out of stories but then I’ll remember something I did as a kid and physically cringe at the memory and that’s when I know I need to share it on stage.

When I perform I always share a message on confession and importance of vulnerability. I hope people don’t think I’m just slapping that on at the end as a separate after thought. The whole show is a part of that message. The embarrassing stories are a way to introduce it. “Look! I shared some of my most humiliating stories and I’m still standing. It didn’t destroy me for me to say it out loud. It’s possible to talk about the things in our life that scare us in such a way that they don’t feel as heavy and daunting. You might one day be able to laugh about it. But it starts with a willingness to wrap words around it.” That’s what I’m trying to say in my material.

Hopefully that comes through.

Easy isn't the goal

There’s a lot of great wisdom in Creativity Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration. I just listened to the audiobook on my drive up to St. Louis on Thursday.

One of my favorite themes repeated throughout is “easy isn’t the goal, quality is.”

Ed Catmull, a co-founder of Pixar animated studio, reminds the reader over and over again about this idea.

“Making the process better, easier, and cheaper is an important aspiration, something we continually work on—but it is not the goal. Making something great is the goal.”

If we get too caught up in efficiency, it’ll take over everything, and we’ll lose sight of quality. Your project could start out as an incredible hole in the wall burger restaurant and end up like McDonald’s. Burgers are shooting out fast and cheap all over the country but nobody’s saying it’s the best burger they’ve ever had. And if they are, we need to pray for them.

Interviewing Cheese on Bread

Thanks to my incredible friend Isaac and his music blog, Born Loser, I got to interview one of my favorite bands, Cheese on Bread. My friend Casey and I discovered them back in high school and I’ve played their album The Search for Colonel Mustard over and over and over. They took a 10 year hiatus but returned recently for a new album.

Isaac knew how big of a fan I was so he reached out to them for an interview and then texted me a screenshot of their email accepting the offer.

“You want to do a guest interview?” he asked.

I almost screamed.

I’ve loved this band for so long. Their song Cornfields, Cornfields is VERY VERY MEANINGFUL TO ME, THANK YOU VERY MUCH! I felt like this was the greatest honor of my life.

So obviously I put off doing the interview for months and months.

I was too scared. I didn’t want to screw this up. You know how easy it would be to come across like an annoying fan who is taking everything way too seriously? Very easy.

But I finally sent my questions. And they responded.

You want to know the craziest part? We had interacted once before, 10 years ago, when I was a nerdy super fan in high school. Of course, I remembered it vividly. The crazy part was, they remembered it too.

Read the interview

Never Stop Praying for the Ones You Love

Today was the memorial service for my grandpa, Morty Galoskowsky. He passed away at the age of 90.

My grandma found a letter I had written him when I was in the 4th grade. I was very concerned about his salvation.

It wasn’t until 10 years ago, at the age of 80, that he came to Christ and was baptized.

Never stop praying for the people you love.

We've Got Snow

I’m in St. Louis, Missouri for the weekend and it won’t stop snowing. The weather refuses to let up. I even asked nicely but it just ignores me.

Sneaking onto a Disney World Ride

One of my goals for 2019 is to save up a bunch of money to go to Disney World for a week. I keep telling myself I have to work so hard this year that I deserve an amazing vacation. I’m going in September so this will be my reward for finishing my book.

Every once in a while I’ll watch something Disney World related on Youtube to keep myself focused on the goal.

The other night I saw this mini documentary about two friends who started sneaking off an old Epcot ride to explore the backstage when no one was looking. This was before Disney had elaborate security so they could just hop off, walk around, steal props, and take pics with the animatronics.

It’s worth watching just for the footage they were able to get, but then the video surprises you with a really touching ending.

I would also like to make it clear that I would never ever try anything like this because I’m a coward and I will be afraid of getting in trouble until the day I die.

Youth Conference Speaker

Last weekend I spoke in a breakout session for the Converge Youth Convention. My talk was on how we can create a culture of confession where our friends can feel comfortable opening up about their struggles.

All growth and progress in our ministries have to start with an emphasis on confession. It’s true for youth and it’s true for the whole church.

The Sad Truth About Church Events

“Every project wants to fall apart and every project wants to be bad. They have two instincts that you’re always fighting against. Make it better. Hold it together.”

When Nina Jacobson said this on the Without Fail podcast she was describing her job as a film producer but THIS IS UNIVERSAL.

Every church event WANTS to fall apart. I used to think all I had to do to make a successful outreach was to put it on the calendar and post about it on social media. That might not be the dumbest thought I ever had but it’s up there (when I was little I thought I could trick my friends into thinking I was the star of Home Alone).

Think about it like your big event is actively working against you. That'll keep you on your toes. You can’t afford to assume anything. Volunteers will drop out, people won’t pay attention to social media and completely miss the announcements, and it’s probably going to rain.

I’m really bad about assuming too much. I assume people know things without me ever communicating them. I assume things are possible without checking ahead of time. 

You have to make sure you have enough time to develop, plan, and prepare this event.

You need a team who can handle some of the responsibility because it’s easier for a big event monster to defeat you when you try to tackle it on your own. With a team you can attack from all sides.

If it’s the first year you’re doing this big outreach event, imagine it’s a baby. You wouldn’t throw some clothes into a baby's room and expect them to get dressed and ready on their own. You’ve got to be hands on. If you’ve been doing an event for 5 years, you can probably treat it like a 5 year old. They’re able to do a lot for themselves but they still need some supervision. If you’ve been doing the same event for 18 years, maybe it’s time to kick them out of the house and try something new.

Every event is trying to fall apart. If we go with the baby analogy, every event wants to poop its pants and throw up all over your nice clothes and ruin your plans.

If we believe in our event we’re willing to fight the good fight, get our hands dirty, and make sure it’s a success.

Want to make sure you believe in your event? Here are 3 questions to ask in the planning stage.