Several years ago I was awarded Business Person of the Year by the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce. It was there that I met a very talented free lance photographer who photographed the award ceremony. We became friends and in the ensuing years I often saw her at various events around Atlanta and occasionally she would do a photo shoot of me and/or my family for various purposes.
I was always appreciative of that because she is the most talented photographer that I’ve ever met and is much in demand. She routinely photographs most anybody of import that visits Atlanta, and that list is quite impressive. Her portfolio includes cover shots for prestigious Atlanta Magazine and other publications and she has photographed several past United States Presidents, rock stars, athletes, and other famous celebrities.
Her career skyrocketed and she was on top of the world and then she suffered total devastation when her oldest son tragically died in the prime of his life. She went into deep depression and seclusion and could not bring herself to get out of bed for nearly two years. There were times when she wanted to die too.
She credits God for giving her the strength to get out of that bed and go back to work. He had a purpose for her and she is back on track trying to fulfill it and finally smiling again. Her husband and remaining children are glad to see her back on track, as are her many friends including me.
My friend has been a subscriber to WFTD for many years and she was deeply moved when she read Miracle on Luckie Street. After reading it she called and told me that she was starting a video production company and she and her team wanted to do a book trailer video to put on You Tube to help promote it.
I told her that would be wonderful, so she and her cohorts began working on it. They traveled to New Orleans, Honey Lake, and ended up downtown Atlanta on Luckie Street. They shot footage of many of my old haunts including the French Quarter of New Orleans and even intimidating Parrish Prison where I once was incarcerated.
She wrote a script based upon the book, recruited an actor who was a student at broadcast school to play a young version of me, gathered various props and other actors and used a talented musician to compose and perform original music for it. Once she had shot all of her footage, she laboriously put it all together. Her first try was something like 16 minutes long. It took many difficult nights after work and several weekends of editing as she labored diligently into the early morning hours. Finally she winnowed it all of the way down to the standard book trailer length of two minutes. She delivered it to me yesterday and even threw in a bonus video to promote my Success Seminar.
Many of you are suffering and maybe even broken down a bit yourself. Consider this individual’s courageous journey to overcome devastating tragedy. She ultimately found strength through God to fight her way out of deep depression and resume life. Not only that, but she found it in her heart to give something back to God’s work. She wouldn’t want me to tell anyone, but she wouldn’t allow me to pay her one penny to produce this video. She wants others to find hope through reading my book and hearing my story of how God transformed my life and brought me from my own dark place to His light. I hope you will forward it to as many people as you can and help spread that message even more.
God is amazing. He stands at the door and knocks, awaiting our call to invite Him into our hearts. He alone can heal the hurt in this world, but we have to put our complete faith in Him. God knows all too well how this talented young photographer felt when her son suddenly died; (sometimes we tend to forget that God tragically lost a Son too). And just as Jesus wept when He was told that His good friend Lazarus had died, I’m sure He wept when my friend’s son died too. The wonderful thing about it is that Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead shortly after He grieved for him. And so it will be for all of those who choose to follow Him.
If you are anxious, hurting, or maybe just plain scared at what is happening to you in this world, call on God. He will help you find the peace and purpose for your life that you seek. We need to keep our eyes on Him and not ourselves in this troubled world…
You can check out my friend’s video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esW60_j7qZU
Matt. 11:28
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”