FIRST IN LAST OUT
RECHARGING | Todd Elliott
Over the Christmas break , a few years back , my daughter was home from college . It was amazing to have her back in the house . While she was home , she was driving one of our vehicles that didn ’ t heat up very well . Because of that , I bought a heated pad that sits between the driver and the actual seat . The downside to this added heat pad is that if you leave it plugged into the cigarette lighter , it will drain the battery … quickly .
And that happened recently . And that battery was DEAD . Not sort of dead , but all the way . Nothing would happen . No interior lights coming on . No car radio clock . Zip .
We tried to jump-start the car , but nothing worked . It was also really cold out . I gave up . A few days later , when it was about 20 degrees warmer , the car would start . It has been fine ever since .
The whole experience of charging car batteries got me thinking about my own life . I know … strange connection .
I grew up with car batteries charging all the time . My Dad had a trickle charger set up and seemed to always have a battery plugged into that thing . The key to the trickle charge is that it keeps the charge up in a battery , while a quick charge can really only be done a limited number of times before it wears the battery out . There is definitely some science involved here , but I ’ m the wrong person to dig into those details . For the sake of this article , let ’ s keep it simple .
The trickle charge takes longer but helps the battery last over the long term . The quick charge is fast but destroys the battery over time .
In the life of a technical artist in the local church , we all need to be recharged from time to time .
I imagine that most of us end up with a quick charge because there really isn ’ t time for anything else . While you actually get recharged , it comes at a price . Your lifespan as a technical artist is reduced .
Most of us don ’ t feel like we have the luxury to take time for a trickle charge . There ’ s too much to do . The events come around too frequently in the schedule . When I ’ m not working , I ’ m involved in tons of family activities and have no time to stop . There are always seasons when a quick charge is necessary . It ’ s game time and we need to get up and running as soon as possible . However , many of us start running fast all the time . Our “ busy season ” is every season . This cannot last .
While some things that need to get done at our churches aren ’ t our decision , I believe that we tend to not speak up when things start to move too fast . When I need time for a trickle charge , that feels like failure .
I was having a conversation with the TD of a multi-site church , and he was mentioning that his team ’ s schedule was crazy . When we talked about all the events , each one was connected to a different ministry that didn ’ t have any idea of anything else going on except their event . You add enough of them up , you ’ ve got a crazy schedule . We ended talking about this person stepping in to start a church master calendar that production spoke into and that each ministry was aware of when planning their event .
Unfortunately , nobody cares if you ’ re getting time for your trickle charge . They are only worried about their things . Except that everyone wants you to be at 100 % when their event comes around .
As we head into the busiest season of the year , ask yourself these questions :
• How can you take control of your schedule and make time to be renewed and
refreshed ?
• How can you involve your boss in creating the necessary space for a trickle charge ?
God did not make you a technical artist in His local church for you to cook yourself on quick charges . Christ wants all of us to live a life over the long haul … trickle charged .
If you don ’ t figure it out , no one else will for you .
Todd Elliott Todd is a
writer , speaker , technical artist in the local church and founder of
FILO , which stands for First In , Last Out . FILO was born out of his own need as a technical artist in the local church to be in community with other church tech people , to learn new ways of doing things and to be inspired that what he did mattered . The more FILO-type people he met , the more convinced he was that these are things we all need . That ’ s why FILO exists : to equip , encourage and inspire technical artists in the local church to become the best version of ourselves . Formerly the Technical Arts Director at Willow Creek Community Church , he started FILO in 2015 to help other technical artists become more effective so that the local church can be more effective . In his free time , he enjoys being inspired by Winston Churchill speeches and visiting the gravesites of U . S . presidents . Residing near Chicago , he and his wife Bissy have three kids and a dog ... none of whom are into production . filo . org