It is happening again. You can feel the tension rising and the vein in your temple just started bulging. You just got asked to do “the impossible” before tomorrow's Christmas production rehearsal.
Your jaw clenches as the snarky replies leap to mind. If only you could choose one and let it fly like a hawk to its intended prey. But you hold your tongue because you are trying to be loving, and partly because you can't quickly choose the right sarcastic response.
To add to your tension, the drama director just announced that you need to find wranglers to handle the camel she rented. In the same breath she asked if you could mic the beast so they would get authentic lowing, or whatever you call the noises that emanate from camels. Seriously, you're supposed to know how to mic a camel?
If you're on a church tech staff, you know this feeling. It happens this time every year as the special services, Christmas productions, and “low-key” holiday events multiply—and each weekend has to be “our best” because we'll have lots of guests.
They don't know what they are asking, or how difficult it will be. They just ask.
"And now your spouse is peeved that you will have to miss your daughter’s music performance because it is during a tech rehearsal."
You've already got an absurd schedule trying to move between all of these special events and productions. Each requires moving or hanging fixtures, adding wireless microphones, recruiting volunteers, rewiring controls, reprogramming the light board, and scheduling your already thin team of volunteers. Plus those nagging repairs you have not had time to fix all have to be done now so you can use your full capabilities.
And now your spouse is peeved that you will have to miss your daughter's music performance because it is during a tech rehearsal. You can't help but think about the auditorium needing more bass as your wife says, ”Can't someone else do it?” The image of her going alone to her office Christmas party enters your cerebral cortex momentarily, only to be shoved aside by the fact that she's used to it by now.
If this even remotely describes your situation, here are a few brief reminders of how to survive production season.
1. Grab Five
We trick ourselves into thinking if we don't spend an uninterrupted hour with the Lord we are a failure. Yet, the Holy Spirit can and does speak to us when we have just five minutes to reflect on scripture, or to pray for the most elusive fruit of the spirit, patience (or was it joy?). If your devotional time is squeezed, take a few mini-spiritual retreats while waiting for that next over-the-top request.
2. Remember the Reason
The whole point of all of this extra work is to try to help people fall in love with Jesus. Keep a picture on your sound console of the mom who came to faith last year and baptized her teen daughter in August. Remember, you are serving the Lord so the next family can find faith in Christ.
3. Good is Good Enough
Just like nobody understands what you do, almost nobody hears that rumble in the subs that you will spend three hours trying to tweak. Jesus spoke to people through His Word and His Spirit for thousands of years before we enhanced the message with LEDs and transducers. Rest and know the Lord can work even when the tech is just good enough.
4. Schedule and Go
Tell your boss about important family events (recitals, office parties) that you don't want to miss. Schedule around them and let others serve you by freeing you up. It may not be realistic to do all the family obligations this time of year, but you won't get to any of them unless you plan in advance and ask for the time.
