"After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them, and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them." Acts 18:1-3 (NIV) It has amazed me how the thrust of these past few journal entries has changed from the time I get the idea to the time that I have to write about it. This entry is no exception. As many of you know, I have worked in television for the past 18 months. Before that, I was "Director of Creative Media" at a church. Before that I worked at Radio Shack, before that in video at a seminary, before that at a video store. It seemed certain to me that I would always spend my working hours honing my skills in media or technology. That had been the case in the previous 6 years. Isaiah 48:6b says, "I proclaim to you new things from this time, Even hidden things which you have not known." God sometimes surprises us with things that we don't see coming. I wasn't actively looking for a job; I'd begun writing for a magazine, but thought that was all that would come about. Then, I got a call. It was a friend of a friend. He was opening a retail store that sold scrubs in my town; he wanted me to manage it. I was 75% sure it wasn't for me. After we met, my perspective employer was more sure than ever that I was the one. I wasn't. I liked the prospect of more money and time with my family. I didn't like the idea of leaving the industry I love. My other main concern, what kind of boss I'd have, was quickly eased by talking to his employees. The more people I talked to, the more obvious it seemed that this wasn't a distraction, but the opportunity I needed to enable me to spend my time better working for church. This was my tentmaking gig. I occurred to my that my namesake, the apostle Paul, probably would have preferred to teach and write all of the time, but it didn't happen, so he made tents. He did what it took to free his time to do his passion as much as possible. Is there part of me that's sad to leave? Oh, yeah! Do I see this as a gift from God? Oh, yeah! Sometimes your path takes a turn. I look forward to the adventure. Paul