Things took a turn in October. It was then that I met Rick Welch, the owner and CEO of Tacky Tie Films. Thanks to my dear friend Tabitha Brockus, I met Rick at a special film showing of Still Waters, a Christian thriller about a woman who gets captured by a madman due to her inability to swim. At one point, the lead prays Amos 5:8, an obscure, often overlooked verse that nonetheless testifies to God’s sovereignty. I shook hands with Rick after the showing and shared with him that I had read that verse that very morning. We parted ways.

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We were taken aback when a couple weeks later Rick commissioned Zack and me to write a film script. Rick gave us two words of advice: First, he said we needed to tell God’s story, the story He wants told. And second, we needed to tell the story that’s the most difficult one to tell. That night I tossed and turned, mulling over plotlines. I knew the story God wanted us to tell, but my heart ached at the thought of telling it. Did I have the strength to relive the loss of my father? I remembered how just before Dad died, Mom, Zack, and I were in his hospital room joking about writing a book that would recount our two years of hospitals and hardships. In jest, I glanced above my head and deemed our project, “Under the Needle Box.”

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With Tabitha’s editing skills and Rick’s direction, Zack and I began composing the script. The Lord brought into the fold another dear friend of ours, Holly Clark. Before Holly even knew about our project, she did some training with Actors, Models, & Talent for Christ (AMTC), and during that time, she resolved to snag a lead role in a film within two years in order to build her portfolio. But it was a mere two weeks later that God would confirm her to play the lead of “Cait” in Under the Needle Box!

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When it came time to hand the finished product over to Rick, as per our agreement, the Lord (again) had other plans. Since the beginning, God has been serious about this film, and as such, I felt compelled to warn Rick that all those involved who do not inquire of the Lord every step of the way will be cut off from its blessings (me included!). It was mid-February 2017, at about the same time our dog Tyson began really struggling with cancer, that God began to impress upon me that Rick’s heart was not in the right place to produce this project. God was prompting me to wait before signing the rights of the film over. Little did I know, all the while, God was working on Rick, by bringing him to full submission in his prayer life and by testifying to him that he would not, in fact, be the one to produce this film.