Gearing Up for the Road… A Thought on Humility
In March 2022 I started playing trombone on the Rescue Story Spring Tour for Zach Williams. I was brand new to the band and was just scheduled to do that two-month tour. By the summer I received an offer to join the band full-time, and it ushered me into a season I had been praying for since before the pandemic: a return to full time music. Since then I was a part of a Summer festival season, a Fall, and Christmas tour.
The past two months we’ve been off, but tomorrow starts rehearsals for Zach Williams A Hundred Highways Spring 2023 Tour. I’ve enjoyed some time off of the road to rest my body, do some travel, visit with friends, spend time with my family, and reset on my goals and priorities for 2023.
I don’t take this season for granted. Prior to July 2022, I had spent the past 3 years working in sales full time. While my season there was somewhere I went to internally kicking and screaming, I realized there are several life lessons and skills I need to learn while I was there. One of the biggest lessons I learned was the importance of humility. The music industry is full of extremely talented individuals, operating in various places and spaces. When I was doing music full time prior to working in sales, I fell victim to comparing my career to others in my field, or others I aspired to be like. I would see them operating in their creative roles full time, and I thought that was the only way to “make it.” I thought that some how if you stopped doing music full time, or if you had a side hustle or part time job, then somehow you were putting your music career on the back burner. I learned that couldn’t be further from the truth.
Everyone’s journey and story is different, and God has a unique plan for everyone. If I rejected the opportunity to work in sales while I was in a season of not touring, I would have missed out on some things God was trying to do in my life! I didn’t want to do a traditional job. I had toured and gotten a taste of my dreams and passions. I felt like committing to anything other than music was me saying I didn’t want to do it anymore. That simply wasn’t the case. I was so tempted to just keep going without taking a job, but I would have run the risk of going broke. I had to humble myself, adjust my perspective on work, and trust God’s plan and timing. Here are 3 things the sales season gave me that I would have missed out on.
A new apartment
Work during the pandemic
Insurance to get several heart procedures done
Lesson number 1: a new apartment. I had a couple of roommates get married and move out and eventually I was the last man standing. When I started working my sales job, I got paid every 2 weeks. That consistent pay was essential to me finding a place to live, and I had never had a scheduled pay cycle as a musician. I was usually paid gig to gig.
Lesson number 2: work during the pandemic. My job shut down for 7 months in 2020, but thankfully I was able to work remotely for over a year and a half. No one saw the pandemic coming, but had I rejected a traditional job, when music stopped in March 2020 I would have been on my heels searching for work.
Lesson number 3: insurance. In 2021 I discovered and was diagnosed with a heart condition that I was born with. It would cause my heart to beat over 200 BPM for several minutes. I had to have 3 procedures done to take care of this. Had I not accepted the job, I wouldn’t have had insurance to get these procedures done that ultimately healed my heart.
What am I getting at. God sees further down the road. Sometimes we go through seasons that seem counterintuitive, but in reality God is using them to develop, protect, and even heal you. Trust His plan even when it doesn’t make sense. Because of the 3 years I spent away from touring, I have a renewed perspective on the road and playing the trombone. It’s truly a gift and a blessing each note I play - the past 3 years showed me nothing is promised - not even my life. Excited to be traveling soon and doing what I feel God is giving me to do in this season. I prayed for this season 3 years ago. Just because something seems delayed, doesn’t mean it’s denied. Hang in there. Stay humble. Trust God. He’s got you.
Be Blessed!
Glenn