God when we can't see Him
Now with all that in mind, let us go back to when we started this project, Literal What We Believe. I asked God to help me know what I believe. A simple request right? Well, let me tell you, "Be careful what you ask for".
Alright, now it's Friday, August 8th. I've been editing episode 2 all week and I'm working on finishing the very last scene ... or so I thought. I finish the edit and we sit down (my family that is) to watch it all the way through. The credits start to roll and then end. Episode 2 is finished!
NO!! Wrong!!
Remember episode 1 has that "next time" little preview clip at the end of the credits? Well, it's the only one like that. All the other episodes have what we call an "after credits scene" which is to set the stage for the next episode. When we watched episode two the credits started and the credits ended and there was no "after credits scene". The realization hit us like two tons of bricks. "We have not filmed that scene!! And episode 2 airs in less than 3 weeks!!".
Oh just wait it gets better.
We don't even have a set to film on!!!!!.
The set that we had been filming on belonged to a local TV station. For various reasons the TV station had to move to a nicer but much smaller area. Therefore, there wasn't room for us to use it anymore. In short we have less than three weeks until episode 2 airs, we have a whole scene not yet filmed, and we're back to square one when it comes to the set. Oh, and the actor who stars in this scene is going out of town so the only day we can film is Sunday August 17th.
Now I know what you all are probably thinking, "This is the point where God shows up and does a miracle, right?"... Nope. Not quite. This is actually the point that the main actor in the scene we need to film (the one going out of town) is riding his bike with a friend and the actor (who is a safe biker) crashes his bike and hits his shoulder...hard! (This is a ding, ding bike not a motorcycle)
Now it's Saturday, August 9th (the next day). We have asked everyone we know who might have an office (that's the kind of set we needed) but no one can help. Sunday, August 10th rolls around. I wake up at 4:40 to get ready for work. That's right, I had forgotten I had to work Sunday through Wednesday that week (I'm a dishwasher in the hospitality dept at Life Care.) I was not going to have much time left to look for a set until Thursday. Time is running out here!!!
Sunday comes and goes, and I find nothing to use as a set.
Monday, August 11th. The "all dayer" (and yes that is supposed to be the word "day" with an "er" at the end). This means I'm not getting back home until about 10:00 pm and I have to get back up at 4:40 AM to go back. All this to say that "I" was not able to do any searching for a set Monday...but "God" could, and He did.
There are a lot of other men who work in the hospitality department (they are not all dishwashers) and I asked them all individually if they had or knew of an office I could use as a set. They all gave me the same answer, "No. Sorry". But don't worry we still have one last trick up our sleeve.
Delano Baptist Church has an old basement no one is using. Perfect. We could set it up and leave it and it wouldn't be in anyone's way. So I call the pastor and discover why no one uses the basement.
Mold.
The reason no one uses it is because the church can't let anyone because of the mold. I just have to say: "I REALLY HATE MOLD". (You who have helped with filming know that this has not been the first encounter we have had with mold while making this project).
I'm all out of ideas and we are down to two weeks and one day until airing. So my dad, Chris (who also works in the hospitality department) asked the other men to pray that God would show us what to do. So during our break time on Monday the men of the hospitality department at Life Care Centers of America prayed for God to intervene.
Tuesday August 12th, the actor who crashed his bike decides to go get his shoulder checked out. To put it in his own words "The diagnosis is a partially torn AC ligament in the shoulder".
This just keeps getting worse and worse.
Not only are we down to two weeks until airing with no location to film in, we also have an actor who has a partially torn ligament in his shoulder. Can it get any worse? YES it can... and it does.
But back to Life Care. One of the men who prayed for me knew a couple of local ministries in Cleveland that he thought might could help. So we left work (with permission) for a couple of hours in search of an answer. We went to the first place and no help there. We went to our second place (which was actually an unscheduled stop), the T.L. Lowery building. Now this place is nice. Swanky is the right word for it. We walk in and I introduce myself, explain what I'm looking for, and a little bit about the project. Then without anything else said the lady shows us this really, really swanky office area and says three words "Will this work?". She tells us that she's the only one still working in the building meaning that we won't be in anybody's way and there will be no one in our way when we are filming. I could not have dreamed for a better location or a better offer.
You are probably wondering how it got worse. Well, it's now Thursday, August 14th. I worked all day Wednesday so I'm just now able to I call The T.L. Lowery building and ask if we could film some time in the afternoon on Sunday, August 17th. Turns out that's the only day we can't film. But it's the only day that the actor can do because he's going out of town. This just got worse!
Frantically I text the actor and asked if there was any other day that could work. I get this text back "Ok let me check. I will let you know in a bit. I need to make a call real quick". So for like an hour I wait hoping. Then I get this text
"We can film in the afternoon on August 19th. I have a doctors appointment for my back and shoulder and then have the rest of the day off for my birthday".
I was really thankful he was willing to film on his birthday.
On Friday, August 15th, I called the lady at the T. L. Lowery building to ask about August 19th and without hesitation she said "That's fine, what time and how long do you want to film?". You're probably thinking this is the end of the story, right? Well, not quite yet.
Let us now go to August 16th, Saturday. I'm talking to the actor (who had the bike wreck) and he explains to me that he would have been out of town Tuesday, August 19th for his birthday if it was not because he had to get his shoulder adjusted and he would not have had to have his shoulder adjusted if he had not messed it up in the bike wreck.
This started to make me think that I would not have found The T.L. Lowery building if it was not because of working at Life Care. Then I thought I would not have been working at Life Care if it was not because dad worked there. Dad would not be working at Life Care if it was not because a friend told him about it. We would not have known that friend if we had not moved to Tennessee years ago.
I later sat down and walked back through time and saw that God had been directing not only my steps but the steps of all those around me just to get this one set for this one little project called Literal. This REALLY helped me to see the meaning of Romans 8:28:
"And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."
Like I said in the beginning, I asked God to help me to know what I believed...and episode 1 is about how God has a plan even when we can't see it. God really showed me that, because honestly I didn't see his plan until it slapped me in the face.
Now I'm not saying God made the actor wreck his bike so he could film. I'm just saying I know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. So on August 19th one week to the day from the airing of Literal Episode 2 (this is for the early airing date for the Indiegogo supporters; mass release date is Sept 2) we will be filming the episode's last scene. And it's all thanks to God and the way He causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him. So remember this, God always has a plan even when we can't see it or when we can't see Him.