Someone recently said I was “stepping into midlife.” Hearing it put that way doesn’t really inspire passion about getting older.

When I was a kid, I was excited to grow up because I wanted to be a cool teenager, roaming the neighborhood with my buddies and playing football in the street. As a teenager, I was excited to grow up because I romanticized the independence that comes with being in your 20s. And as I sit here, a few weeks shy of turning 40, I’m still excited—but not to grow up. I’m excited to be exactly where I am.

Vulnerability and Value

“People were bringing infants to him so that he might touch them.” Luke 18:15, CSB

Over the course of 11 years, I planted and watered a faith community in one of the most beautiful neighborhoods in New York City. As a former pastor turned filmmaker, I know how hard it is for pastors—midwives to the emotional, social, and spiritual well-being of their people—to avoid external pressures and ...