Suddenly, as we were setting up our equipment we heard the pitter-patter of little feet running the stairs…
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
I looked at John and he looked at me, he began to talk about how the microphone was going to pick up all this noise and it would be impossible to get really crisp sound without a lot of background clutter noise involved.
I know there are ways to clean up the sound as they say, but I am not skilled at this, and anyway, most every experienced film maker would tell me that it's better not to have that problem in the first place.
Only one of the actors was there at that point, but the longer John and I talked, the more convinced we both were that it would be better to postpone, rethink our location and reschedule for another time.
To say I was disappointed is quite an understatement, but I saw the wisdom in rescheduling. John reminded me that it's better to do it right the first time than to have to redo it again. What John doesn't know (yet) is that his co-worker, Joel Rizzo, said almost the same thing just last week while we were talking.
I have to also express great appreciation for my actors, Warren Mayer, Sandy Warren, Marilyn Culver and Henry Lookout for being so understanding and forgiving that we had to postpone.
While I am disappointed, I can't forget what happened to me that morning even before we set up at our location.
Both the night before and that morning I felt uneasy about the coming shoot. This is nothing unusual, since I experience this kind of apprehension every time we go on a shoot or if I am called upon to speak or teach Sunday school. I know that part of this is because I'm new at being a director. As a result of my nervousness the night before, I had uncomfortable dreams which extended my nervousness to the morning, until I read my Bible verses for the day.
I keep with me a packet of Bible verses that I have written out on 3x5 cards that I read each day. I have collected these Bible verses ever since feeling the call of God to make this movie. Today my verses were Philippians 4:19 and 2 Corinthians 12:9:
"And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from His glorious riches which have been given to us in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:19
"But He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me." 2 Corinthians 12:9
All this started some twenty years ago when I began to be serious about prayer and the reading of God's Word on a daily basis. It didn't happen all at once, but over time the Lord has spoken to me more and more, for my encouragement and instruction, through His Word and through other events and situations.
But back to today.
I know that God never told us that doing His will would be easy. In fact I know that to do what He calls us to do means we will have to constantly fight battles to get the task accomplished. There is a negative spiritual element that is determined to stop us whenever we try to do God's Will.
Paul talks about this in terms of warfare, and reminds us to put on the whole armor of God in Ephesians 6
"If circumstances require it, he (the modern army commander) must be able to turn the whole structure of his thinking inside out." –The Rommel Papers, paperback, page 204, Da Capo books.
I know I must be as flexible as Rommel was when he fought his battles. If I can trust in the Lord with all my heart, and not lean on my own understanding, I know I can succeed, because I know, ”… I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength." (Philippians 4:13)