I Say Go For It

In some of the blogs I’ve written for the worship blog I will end it with the words “I say go for it" followed by my name. I would like to explain what I mean by that. Anyone who knows me well would most likely say that I’m always up for an “adventure”.  Whether that be trying spicy food or skydiving, it's true for the most part. I’ve heard professional musicians and movie stars when asked about giving advice say “take every opportunity you can”. In other words go for it. They say this because, with every time you do something, new especially, you learn and grow from it, even if you fail (this is very important). 

When Nikki and I joined MPBC we joined the choir shortly there after, and I’m glad we did. Through this we met, and made friends with a lot of people that otherwise we may not have. Also through this I began to kind of be interested in learning the drums. I just wanted to try it. I could hear the basic beat and I thought why not? I took lessons for a while from Brad and practiced at home on my basic electric set by Yamaha. I then began to learn more advanced things and I got an acoustic set. After about a 1 1/2 years of practice, I started playing with the worship team. 

I’ve been playing in the band for about 2 ½ years now and you know what, I’ve still got a lot to learn. But it’s been worth it. When I was a younger man, and played ball, I would be so hard on myself for messing up one little thing that I would get in my own head and then mess up even more.  It would feed on itself. As I get older, I realize that time keeps on ticking at the same rate, 1 second per 1 second, if you mess up or not. It could be a total train wreck on stage on Sunday and eventually the set list would end, and Monday still rolls around.

So, where does this help or encourage you? Whatever it is you are thinking about trying, TRY IT. If you want learn an instrument, go back to school, teach a Sunday school class, learn to crochet, or start a dog training school, I say go for it. Obviously you should seek wise counsel, and pray about all things, but what I’m saying is don’t live life in fear. Fear will handicap you if you let it. 

To expand a little more, I would also say that “going for it” doesn't mean without control. For example, the way I play the drums on "I'm Going Free (Jailbreak)" is different than how I play on "What a Beautiful Name". One is fun and one is powerful. So, when each song comes around I try to play it in a way that compliments the message. Imagine if we played "Lord, I Need You" the same way as "Victor's Crown"? It would not fit the song. 

Anything new you try will be the same way. You will need a different mindset to start a business than you would to learn an instrument. Both are challenging but in different ways. But they both require a first step. Whatever it is you decide to go for, go for it to the fullest measure that it will require. Be bold in the face of a challenge, trust in the Lord, and realize that you may fail. But in the words of… well maybe you know who said it, "Failure, the best teacher is".

1 Corinthians 9 24:26- Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives a prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air.

I say go for it!

Derek