As I’m currently on book tour, I thought this would be an appropriate post to reshare. It was originally published July 15, 2023. I may be in your area this week and would love to meet you! If interested, check the details at the end of this post.
I struggle with my dream job of being an author.
I don’t mean struggling with the deadlines, the overwhelming edits, the endless marketing efforts, or the career’s inherent financial uncertainty (though those are all painfully real). I mean struggling with the “impractical” nature of writing fun spooky books for a living. With so much suffering in the world, is this really how I should be spending my limited time and energy?
Then I remember what these types of books meant to me as a child. I was a scared kid, afraid of almost everything—the dark, bullies, the woods, the basement. But I loved spooky stories. They allowed me to experience fear in a safe, fun way. And when I saw the characters in these stories face their fears, it gave me the courage to face my own.
As an adult, the impact of stories on me has not lessened. I’m grateful everyday for the bit of escape, of relief, of inspiration, of enlightenment, of recharging that diving into a well-written book or show provides. Stories help me grow and face life with a better attitude and focus.
One of my goals as an author is help kids fall in love with reading, because reading leads to greater understanding, compassion, and empathy for others. I believe those are beneficial traits to develop, especially in our divided world.
Lastly, writing stories and sharing them with others makes me come alive like nothing else. If philosopher, theologian, and civil rights leader Howard Thurman was right, that’s a good sign I’m where I belong:
Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive and then go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.
howard thurman
What do you love? What makes you come alive? Cooking? Cycling? Wood-working? Designing? Dancing? Working in a food pantry? Find it. Do it. Share it with others. If you do, you’ll help yourself and the world, and you’ll take another step toward Becoming Yourself.
SPECIAL NOTE: I’ll be on book tour with my author wife Lisa McMann from Oct 11-26, 2024 with events in Arizona, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Colorado, and Texas. I’d love to meet you! For details, see the graphic below or visit my website HERE.
I was munching on a Cornish pasty when it happened. My wife and I were having dinner at an English-style pub with some of her author friends when one of them asked me, “So Matt, how did you decide to become a pastor?”
So I told him. When I was a teenager, I was very involved in the youth group at my church. I’d never done anything musical until I was dragged into singing for the dreaded “Teen Talent Night” service my youth pastor organized. Shortly after that debut performance, our group went camping for a week during the summer before my senior year in high school. On the return trip we put on a Sunday night youth service for a small country church in Indiana. My youth pastor spontaneously asked me to sing during the service, and I nervously obliged.
What happened next is something I’ve never been able to explain. I know this will sound really strange, even ludicrous, to many of you, but the best way I can describe it is this: God showed up. The presence of something, of Someone, vast and grand and powerful and wonderful and awe-inspiring fell on me like a brick. I was staggered by the intensity of the Otherness. I managed a one word prayer: “Music?” A wave of peace, a flood of affirmation, washed over me. Then the presence faded. I stood up and walked slowly out to the van knowing my calling was to perform music for God.
A year later, I showed up as a freshman at Calvin College determined to be a vocal performance major. But there were a few problems. I was not very good at singing and completely clueless about music. I had some raw talent, but my experience was minimal and my training close to zero. I was immediately over my head and soon far behind in my classes. My declared major required me to be in one of the three choirs on campus, but I got cut from all of them. Even the “if-you-can-sing-in-the-shower” choir. I had music professors pat me on the knee and tell me I was a nice kid but I would never make it. Their advice was for me to switch majors.
Two things saved me. The first was Professor Carl Kaiser, the head of the vocal department. For some strange reason, he believed in me when no one else did. The second was the strength of my calling experience in that little church. I knew at a deep, core level that this was what I supposed to do. I clung to that belief, dug in, and clawed my way through my freshman year. After dropping some classes and getting a special music tutor, I began making some progress. By the end of that first exhausting year, I was caught up and in a choir. I went on to excel in the program and graduated with a music degree in vocal performance.
If you’re really honest, the biggest hurdle to living out your calling is probably fear. Fear of failure, fear of the unknown, fear of financial insecurity, fear of what other may think. You’re not alone in that struggle. That said, please realize what those fears are stealing from you. George Addair said “Everything you’ve ever wanted is on the other side of fear.” Are you willing to take a risk, face what frightens you and chase your calling? To do what you are meant to do? To become who you are meant to be?
If you need some guidance and encouragement, check out The Crossroads of Should and Must: Find and Follow Your Passion by Elle Luna. It’s a colorful, graphic-filled guide to discovering and pursuing your calling. I found it motivating, helpful and easy to read.
My goal for this blog is to share things I’ve learned in hopes that it will help people become better versions of themselves. If you’re reading this, I’m guessing you’re on a personal development path. Doing what you were meant to do is a significant part of that journey. So look inside. Find your calling. Chase after it with everything you have. If you do, you’ll take a huge step toward Becoming Yourself.