2003. Grand Rapids, Michigan.
I was a news producer for WOOD-TV.
And I was miserable.
Oh, the people I worked with were nice enough. I still call some of them friends today. West Michigan is beautiful. We loved all it had to offer, especially the close proximity to Lake Michigan in the summertime. We also adored our house and neighborhood. Work was the problem. I was not where I was supposed to be. I was growing bitter toward the news business, and I saw no path for it to get better there or in any other newsroom for that matter.
One day, we were two hours from the newscast airing, and we had no lead story. There just wasn’t a lot going on locally or nationally on that particular day. To the average person, that may seem like no big deal, maybe even a good thing! But trust me, it’s a crisis to the boss and everyone under them. “There are no slow news days, only slow news reporters,” we were taught. The staff started debating back and forth about what should be the first story in the 5, 5:30, and 6 o’clock newscasts. The arguing grew more intense as opinions flew around the room.
I didn’t care. I had grown so apathetic, and I knew my voice didn’t carry much weight anyway.
Suddenly, the newsroom’s police scanner started blaring high-pitched alarms, and a call went out for fire departments and rescue to an apartment complex engulfed in flames. And the dispatcher said these words, “Possible children trapped inside.” The entire mood of the newsroom changed. I won’t say it was a celebration, but it was excited relief. “We’ve got our lead!” someone blurted out. I sat back in my chair and thought about my twin 3-year-old daughters, and I knew I had to leave this business.
I got home that night and sat in front of my computer thinking about what else I could do for a living. I had been in news for fifteen years, many of them as an award-winning reporter. I didn’t know how to do anything else. I also liked the attention being in a high-profile job gave me. You may not make a lot of money in news, but there’s a certain status that comes with the job. Your work is heard or seen by everyone in town, and you’re often treated like you’re special, even by friends and family.
Still, I knew I had to take action. I have always loved to write. So, in my online job search, I put “writing” in as a keyword just to see what came up. The first thing I saw was a position in marketing at Family Christian Stores. It was a retail chain of 300+ stores around the country. Sort of a Barnes & Noble of Bibles. They sold everything from gifts, DVDs, and music to journals, books, and Bibles. The company’s headquarters was three miles from my house. I quickly read through the job description, and although I’d never done anything like it, I applied.
A few days later, I got an email from the VP of Marketing and Brand, Amy Garrigan. She wanted to set up a phone interview. I couldn’t believe it. I had zero experience, and I couldn’t tell you the last time I even opened a Bible or where I kept it. They wanted someone to write marketing materials, product descriptions, and even newsletters. “I don’t know if I can do that. I’m a news guy!” I thought. But I never hesitated. I went through with the interview process and landed the job. Years later, I told Amy how unqualified I felt. She laughed and told me she couldn’t believe someone with my incredible resume would even apply.
Suddenly, I found myself in the first cubicle I’d ever been in in my life. It was so quiet in the office. No more police scanner, assignment editors working the phones, or people debating why something is or isn’t worthy of being on the news. You could literally hear somebody sneeze a half a football field away. I played Christian music quietly on my computer from artists I’d never heard of before. Artists like Jeremy Camp, MercyMe, Casting Crowns, and Jars of Clay. I’ll be honest, I didn’t love a lot of it, but the lyrics were messages I needed to hear.
I remember getting my first writing assignment. Amy sent me all of the information I needed to write copy for a two-page spread in the monthly catalog that went out to more than a million consumers. She told me I had two weeks to complete the task. I finished it in two hours. And that was how it was day after day, week after week. I honestly couldn’t believe I was making the same money as I was in news. I started pacing myself. I would finish an assignment and then read the books they put in my cube — authors like Max Lucado, John Eldredge, Rick Warren, Lee Strobel, and Donald Miller.
I felt like God was opening my eyes. I had always been a believer, but I never made time for Him to actually work in my life. It was such a time of healing.
A year went by, and I was in a routine. The job was so simple I spent a lot of the day playing basketball outside or working out in the indoor gym. I’d shower and return to my desk and finish whatever small assignment I had that day. Polly and I had started going to a local church we really enjoyed, and I was the happiest I’d ever been. But I was feeling a tug at my heart. It was time to find a new challenge.
God had already been working; now He was taking it up a notch.
I noticed that three of my favorite books, including one about money from a guy named Dave Ramsey, were published by Thomas Nelson Publishing in Nashville, Tennessee. What if we moved south, and I worked for them? My parents were looking to retire to the south too, so maybe we could all be together and escape the snow! I jumped online and found an opening for a book publicist. I didn’t even know what that was, but you had to be a strong writer, and you had to know how to get attention in the media for authors. “I can do that!” I thought. So I applied. And I got the job.
For the next five years, I worked directly with those authors I had never heard of. Max Lucado and Donald Miller became friends. And that guy who wrote a money book? Dave Ramsey? He became my boss a few years later.
Today, with hindsight, everything is crystal clear. I am deeply grateful for people like Amy Garrigan, Heather Adams, and Beth Tallent—three people who took a chance on me when I had doubts about myself. Looking back, I can see God’s hand in every step. It wasn’t just about finding new jobs or a change of scenery; it was about drawing me closer to Him and shaping me into who I was meant to be.
It was about being a better husband, father and leader.
Have you ever felt stuck in a job that brings you little or no satisfaction? What would happen if you took a leap of faith?
Are you willing to put pride aside and let Him write a new story?
It may be time.
Ask.
In memory of Amy Garrigan 1970 – 2022
