At 2:59 AM Eastern Standard Time, seconds before midnight on the west coast, the May 1st deadline to submit a screenplay for 2015’s Academy Nicholl Fellowships Contest ends. Any procrastinating writers who have fallen behind schedule, scramble to the finish line, hoping to make it across before its too late. Giving up mentality weeks ago, God’s strength lifted me up to grind it out.
We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed, 2 Corinthians 4:8-9.
Following two unsuccessful entries in consecutive years, I took 2014 off, doubting that I would ever have the right stuff to be a professional screen writer. The jury is still out as I have to wait until summer to find out for sure. Either way, after two grueling years, my first edit of Behind the Devil’s Door is complete. You can’t win if you don’t enter so at least I have that going for me.
If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small, Proverbs 24:10.
Whether you’re an athletic, student or worker, certain things come much natural to gifted individuals. Although it might seem unfair, the disadvantaged are forced to become tougher through failure. Like the line by Tom Hanks in A League of Their Own, “If it was easy, everyone would do it; hard is what makes it great” in reference to baseball. As for me, I may not have the experience, talent or skill, yet I will continue to grind it out, yearning to fulfill God’s will for my life.
by Jay Mankus
