How to Interview a Stranger, Part Two

Previously, on This Blog:

I’m organizing a Ginny Owens concert. As part of my publicity efforts, I thought, “I could interview her! We could talk about the intersection of faith and the arts!”

The day of the interview arrived. I started to get nervous. Would I babble? I pressed the button to start the call.

I got her voicemail.

And now, the conclusion.

I’d never gotten someone’s voicemail on Skype before. I wasn’t sure what to do. Should I leave a message? Would she get it? I hung up.

I fidgeted for a minute, then tried again. Same result. I waited a bit longer and tried again. And again.

Ironically, I started to relax. The unforeseen difficulty completely took my mind off of my nervousness. We would, I figured, at least have something to laugh about.

How To Interview A Stranger, Part One

Ginny Owens is an expert at asking questions - she’s even written a blog about it. Perhaps I should have asked her for tips before I interviewed her.

You see, I’m not a professional question-asker. I didn’t study journalism. The first time I interviewed someone, I sent them a list of questions via email, and they typed up their responses. The second time I interviewed someone, it was my brother. Ginny Owens was my third interview.

What was I thinking?

Joy Instead of Discouragement

Last night was the third meeting of Lake Bible Arts (if you count the first one, which nobody showed up to). We had a very successful event, although it may not seem like it as you read on.

Ekphrastic poetry is poetry written in response to a piece of art, usually a painting. I like the idea of applying that to all the arts, so when I sent the event reminder to my small email list, I asked everyone to bring something they had created, for us to respond to with new work. I myself printed out three of my poems, and brought a variety of other artworks in case anyone showed up without something.

I got to the church early to set up: I planned to give my testimony as an artist, so I put out a circle of chairs for everyone to sit in. I set up a table for the art everyone was supposed to bring. There were two additional tables for creating new work, one covered with a tablecloth for the painters. Both rested on a tarp to protect the carpet. A fourth table held snacks.

Everything was ready with time to spare. While I waited, I helped myself to some snacks and watched a few YouTube videos on my tablet. The time to start came and went.

Nobody showed up.

Learning Curve

We often experience periods of marked growth in various aspects of our lives. When I was in the Air Force, I encountered various stages of learning and experience, from Basic Military Training, to deployment, to being an NCO. Each stage had its own learning curve - some steeper than others – and they’re all standing me in good stead now, especially the program management experience I gained toward the end of my time in service.

It recently came to my attention that I have now been out of the Air Force for two years, and let me tell you: those two years have presented some learning curves of their own. One of the nice things about those periods of growth is all the communication I’ve been seeing from God - it’s pretty much everywhere. There are the usual places; the Bible, sermons at church, RZIM messages, etc. And then there’s the music.

Making Things Up

Remember in Raiders of the Lost Ark when Sallah asks Indy what his plan is, and he says, “I don’t know – I’m making this up as I go?”

Henry Jones, Jr. had goals, but at that point, he had no plan for how to accomplish them.

I can relate.

I don’t have a clue what I’m doing, and haven’t since that fateful day when I became convinced that God was calling me to write, and that he might be asking me to leave my comfortable, secure job to do so. My book, To Do This Right, largely deals with the struggle of someone who dislikes uncertainty (me) coming to terms with not having a plan.

But apparently I’m a glutton for punishment, because I recently started an arts ministry at my church, and I have no clue how to do that, either. I have the vision, sure, but a plan for executing it? Lol.