Sagemont Life
And now I need to brag on my husband...
Back in April, he was officially given the opportunity to serve as our church's Communications Director in addition to his responsibilities in the music ministry. He loves graphic design and has a very natural ability for it, so he'd already done several projects on the side. But, with the new role, he could finally let all of his creative energies loose.
And he has!
First off, and most exciting if you ask me, is that he transitioned our regular church mailout from a boring black-and-white, no pictures/few stories, weekly bulletin to a professional, four-color monthly magazine! The first one just came out in September, and it looks awesome!
You can check out the entire first issue of Sagemont Life here!!
The main purpose of the transition was to provide an opportunity for people to share real stories of how God is working in their lives. Testimonies. Trials. Struggles. Victories. Something that is not just announcements for events and menus for Wednesday dinners anymore! Something with some real substance.
Now, how has this affected the Ryan household? Well, you can imagine that when an editor of a magazine finds himself married to a writer... the writer automatically gets "drafted" as a reporter. (I'm sure this was in our vows somewhere and I just missed it.)
Now, the best part in all of this is that once again, I can clearly see how God has orchestrated all events according to His wonderful purpose. For those of you who don't know, I was editor of my high school newspaper for two years. This is only significant because it laid my writing foundation and gave me great insight into graphic design and layout back when it was still a new thing. (We pasted our issues together on lightboards!)
Secondly, my entire senior thesis in college was a compilation of interviews of testimonies which I wrote in order to reflect each subject's point-of-view and voice. Sounds eerily like reporting, doesn't it? Who would have known I'd have to (get to...have to...whatever) do this again almost ten years later?
But, just this little background in high school and college gave me enough insight to connect with and understand what Jason has to do to make his deadline each month. I understand how one 2x4 inch ad can take hours to design. I understand why the computer must be set up on our kitchen table or our end table several nights in a row before the issue goes to press. I understand how each issue is like a puzzle with text, graphics, photos and guidelines as the pieces, and it can take days to figure out how those pieces should fit together. And, finally I understand that if it weren't for deadlines, an issue could probably be a work-in-progress forever.
Really, there's just something special about being able to serve God alongside your husband. And, as you all know, I don't get to do that very often because my husband plays the cello, the piano, and embodies all things musical while I only play the radio. But, this has given us the added blessing of being able to serve together once again and has bridged our two worlds in a way that I never expected when I married a musician.
Now, to be fair, I have to admit I have not been entirely "non-alcoholic" when it's come to my unrequested involvement in this magazine (ie. there has been much Emily-flavored whine involved!) See, as much as I love the final product of life-changing stories, I hate interviewing people! I have no clue why; I just do. Plus, my plate is pretty much full already with teaching, working, mommying, etc. so I've had my flip-out stress moments of I-can't-do-it-all! But, I've been trying to get Jason to "fire" me since we began this process this summer, (turning in stories late, that sort of thing), and he just won't do it. I mean, really. What's a girl gotta do to get fired around here? :-) But, then I can't blame him entirely because just when I see the light at the end of the tunnel with almost all of my assignments complete, I'll open my big mouth with another story idea and before I know it, I have another assignment in the queue. It's definitely a love/hate relationship, and I'm just thankful God still uses the reluctant.
So, to sum up the rambling, not because of me, but in spite of me, Jason has launched this awesome new magazine, and I am extremely proud of the work he's done this summer to get it off the ground. He's also worked with our web designers to launch a redesigned version of our church's website as well! (Check it out here!) And in typical Jason fashion, they are both great!
Of course, a monthly magazine means that there's never an END, so as I type, I'm sure he's holed up in his office working on the October issue which has a deadline today. So just to make it easy, pray for him around the tenth of every month!
Back in April, he was officially given the opportunity to serve as our church's Communications Director in addition to his responsibilities in the music ministry. He loves graphic design and has a very natural ability for it, so he'd already done several projects on the side. But, with the new role, he could finally let all of his creative energies loose.
And he has!
First off, and most exciting if you ask me, is that he transitioned our regular church mailout from a boring black-and-white, no pictures/few stories, weekly bulletin to a professional, four-color monthly magazine! The first one just came out in September, and it looks awesome!
You can check out the entire first issue of Sagemont Life here!!
The main purpose of the transition was to provide an opportunity for people to share real stories of how God is working in their lives. Testimonies. Trials. Struggles. Victories. Something that is not just announcements for events and menus for Wednesday dinners anymore! Something with some real substance.
Now, how has this affected the Ryan household? Well, you can imagine that when an editor of a magazine finds himself married to a writer... the writer automatically gets "drafted" as a reporter. (I'm sure this was in our vows somewhere and I just missed it.)
Now, the best part in all of this is that once again, I can clearly see how God has orchestrated all events according to His wonderful purpose. For those of you who don't know, I was editor of my high school newspaper for two years. This is only significant because it laid my writing foundation and gave me great insight into graphic design and layout back when it was still a new thing. (We pasted our issues together on lightboards!)
Secondly, my entire senior thesis in college was a compilation of interviews of testimonies which I wrote in order to reflect each subject's point-of-view and voice. Sounds eerily like reporting, doesn't it? Who would have known I'd have to (get to...have to...whatever) do this again almost ten years later?
But, just this little background in high school and college gave me enough insight to connect with and understand what Jason has to do to make his deadline each month. I understand how one 2x4 inch ad can take hours to design. I understand why the computer must be set up on our kitchen table or our end table several nights in a row before the issue goes to press. I understand how each issue is like a puzzle with text, graphics, photos and guidelines as the pieces, and it can take days to figure out how those pieces should fit together. And, finally I understand that if it weren't for deadlines, an issue could probably be a work-in-progress forever.
Really, there's just something special about being able to serve God alongside your husband. And, as you all know, I don't get to do that very often because my husband plays the cello, the piano, and embodies all things musical while I only play the radio. But, this has given us the added blessing of being able to serve together once again and has bridged our two worlds in a way that I never expected when I married a musician.
Now, to be fair, I have to admit I have not been entirely "non-alcoholic" when it's come to my unrequested involvement in this magazine (ie. there has been much Emily-flavored whine involved!) See, as much as I love the final product of life-changing stories, I hate interviewing people! I have no clue why; I just do. Plus, my plate is pretty much full already with teaching, working, mommying, etc. so I've had my flip-out stress moments of I-can't-do-it-all! But, I've been trying to get Jason to "fire" me since we began this process this summer, (turning in stories late, that sort of thing), and he just won't do it. I mean, really. What's a girl gotta do to get fired around here? :-) But, then I can't blame him entirely because just when I see the light at the end of the tunnel with almost all of my assignments complete, I'll open my big mouth with another story idea and before I know it, I have another assignment in the queue. It's definitely a love/hate relationship, and I'm just thankful God still uses the reluctant.
So, to sum up the rambling, not because of me, but in spite of me, Jason has launched this awesome new magazine, and I am extremely proud of the work he's done this summer to get it off the ground. He's also worked with our web designers to launch a redesigned version of our church's website as well! (Check it out here!) And in typical Jason fashion, they are both great!
Of course, a monthly magazine means that there's never an END, so as I type, I'm sure he's holed up in his office working on the October issue which has a deadline today. So just to make it easy, pray for him around the tenth of every month!
posted by Emily Ryan at
10:15 AM
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