It’s going to take me a while to unpack all the blessings that have unfolded for me recently. Never in my life have so many awards come in such a short span of time - in one seven-day span I took home an Emmy Award, the Cardinal John P. Foley Award, three Telly Awards, the Catholic Media Association’s Videographer of the Year Award, and even more. Our diocesan communications office won 18 awards (6 of which were first-place honors) at the annual CMC Conference in Atlanta, a record for us in only our second year of entering!
We never get into this field solely for the sake of winning awards, because if so it would be the most depressing job ever! I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve entered far more contests than I’ve ever actually won. So when a time like this past week comes along, it can be a lot to take in! On one hand it’s the fulfillment of a lot of dreams and ambitions, but on the other hand it’s a challenge to strive even higher.
My bishop has a great way of keeping me humble and grounded - when I first saw him after the Catholic Media Conference, one of the first things he said to me was “Do you think there maybe weren’t a ton of entries in these categories?” 🤣 I love it!! Because there are so many people to lift us up and offer their congratulations - and trust me, I had SO much affirmation at the CMA Conference (it was truly a memory I’ll keep forever!).
But the work isn’t done. This isn’t the pinnacle or the end of the road. There will always be more stories that deserve, and NEED, to be told. And I am just an instrument of the Holy Spirit who tries (and frequently fails) to be docile to the Lord’s will in my life. It is, ultimately, His story to be told, after all. But we can be cooperators in that story by using our unique gifts and talents to help tell it in ways that speak to our particular day and age, our “HisStory,” so to speak.
Thank you to the Catholic Media Association, NATAS - Michigan Chapter, and to every individual who has given me affirmations in the past few weeks that what we do matters, and that it touches people’s hearts. To ever greater heights!
