if you told me two years ago that i’d be in charge of stage designs and that it would be something that i love to do, i would’ve told you that you were crazy. set designs are a talent that i stumbled upon about a year ago and have been addicted to ever since.

a few months ago, right after new year’s was over, i gathered my team together and we started the process of tearing down our christmas set and putting together our new set. we went to the hardware store, bought the materials we needed, and started working on the design. this was tuesday morning.

going into the process, we knew that we would have to have some sort of stage ready for our wednesday night service. it didn’t have to be finished, but it needed to at least look presentable. on wednesday afternoon, we were having a ton of problems with one of the accent pieces of the set. no matter what we did, we couldn’t get it looking good. we couldn’t even get it looking decent. i remember standing in the doorway that afternoon looking at the stage half finished thinking, “this is going to look terrible, and i’ve spent more time on this design than anything i’ve ever designed. what was i thinking?”

i was walking out of the building disappointed.

i was walking out discouraged.

i was walking out second-guessing myself.

thankfully i don’t work alone.

i was walking to my car with a friend of mine that was a part of our design team. as i was telling him all of the questions i had about the design and how i was discouraged, he looked at me and said, “jonathan, you never like things on wednesday. wait til friday.”

on wednesday, the stage didn’t look like i thought it should.

on wednesday, we still had more questions than answers.

on wednesday, things weren’t finished.

i’m the type of person that sets a goal and then runs towards it like a freight train. i put my head down and go until it’s not only complete, but perfectly complete. if there’s a bump along the way, my natural reaction is to work harder and power through it. after all, i have a goal and i have to execute it well.

i don’t think life is about the perfectly executed goals.

i don’t think it’s about getting things just right.

i don’t even think it’s about getting things mostly right.

i think life is all about the process. it’s all about learning to enjoy things from tuesday through thursday while working towards the goal. it’s about finding joy in the mistakes and screw ups and miscalculations. it’s about learning and growing and being stretched through the process.

what are you in the middle of right now? what goal are you working towards? no matter what it is, right now isn’t about reaching that goal at all costs. right now is about right now. pursue the goal, but don’t let your pursuit get in the way of the process.

i have a new set design being rolled out in two and a half weeks. if i’m honest, the process of coming up with an idea for this one has been a little frustrating. we’ve gone back and forth with what we want to do and still haven’t nailed down exactly what we want to do. two weeks from today, i’ll likely be staring at a stage that’s half finished wondering if i made a huge mistake and if it’s all going to come together.

this time, i’ll be doing it with a smile.

this time, i’ll know that it’s only wednesday.

this time, i’ll enjoy the process.

say your prayers and take your vitamins.

have a nice day.

-jonathan