2009 is year that has been filled with both hardships and joy and eight and a half floors is the term I have begun to use to identify this very peculiar place the Lord has me in now. It refers to a stop in the elevator of life that feels ‘awkward’, ‘in-between’ and a not ‘solid’ landing place.

On a daily basis, I am blessed to watch the Holy Spirit at work in Hollywood transforming lives and situations.
Yet at the same time, all of the projects I had lined up for this year either were cancelled, never materialized or were not properly funded. So, I have had to rely almost solely on my ministry support from donors to stay afloat. and that has been down way below what is budgeted.   As I questioned G-d about the strange place I found myself in, the Lord showed up in a most unusual way

If you will indulge me I’d like the share some highlights of one (not too atypical) weekend in my life about one month or so ago that helped me to contextualize things and may also bless you too.

STORY CONTINUES HERE:
...The annual screenwriting expo was taking place at an upscale hotel in downtown Los Angeles. Despite the fact that there were a good deal of speakers and registrants that I knew attending, there was just one speaker I really wanted to hear and I wasn’t sure that it was worth the time or money for me to attend.

So, I went down Thursday, the night before, to see if I could pay for and attend just the one class the next day. As I approached the window a woman there recognized me. After an exchange of greetings, she said,

“Oh, let me get your registration.”

“No”, I explained. “I’m not registered. I just wanted to ask a question.”

"One minute,"  she chirped, then hurried off behind a door.

The woman re-appeared with a badge in her hand.

“Here you are. You ARE registered!”

Baffled, because I did not recall registering, I hung the basic registration badge around my neck and came back the next day for the conference.

END OF FIRST DAY
Friday, after a full day of divinely appointed meetings and events, I went into the main expo hall where I saw a table with a sign:

(This is a Christian program I had been both an alum of and on faulty on)
I asked the table volunteer if there were a lot of Christians coming to their booth at this 2500 person event.

“No," she said. “But there was a Jewish screenwriter who came by before asking questions about what we believed. I think she is coming back in one hour to buy a screenwriting book. “

I quickly pulled out one of the pamphlets I always have on hand containing an explanation of who messiah is from a Jewish perspective.

“Here, I said. ‘Give this to her when she returns.”

I came back one hour later to see if ‘Susan’ had returned.

The volunteer explained, “Yes, she did, but I didn’t feel comfortable giving her the pamphlet. Her mother just died and she was talking about having just seen the film “A Serious Man’ and being on a quest for truth.”

(I won’t tell you what was going through my mind at this point, but I’m sure I expressed my dismay at the missed opportunity.
Well, the volunteer pointed that she was across the hall saying, .

“Why don’t you go talk to her?”

I wasn’t about to go awkwardly introduce myself to this woman, but I did pray for her and for an opportunity. Suddenly the doors to the exhibition hall closed and the room was transformed into a dining room with a buffet. As I attempted to exit (since I had no ticket for this dinner) I was told no one can go in or out .

“Just stay and enjoy the meal.”

I went through the buffet line and there was no seat to be found. I heard a voice yelling,

“You hoo. There’s a seat over here!"

Of course, it was next to this woman, Susan who I had just prayed for.
As I met the table full of screenwriters and producers, and settled in, I led with the question:

”So... has anyone seen any good movies lately?”

A conversation ensued about ‘A Serious Man’ and it’s hopeless outlook at life. A door opened and I had the opportunity to share the hope I had in messiah with the table of 6 (mostly Jewish) persons for 45 minutes.. Pray for Susan as she is grappling with God and looking for answers in the aftermath of her mother’s passing.

THE NEXT DAY
The next morning I decided to take the train downtown. I had not planed on attending the conference and at lunch hour,  had to get to the nearby music center where parking would be a nightmare. After braving the LA train system I arrived at the hotel, opened my pocketbook to pull out my badge and there was only a string with nothing attached.

When I went to the registration window, this time I was told there was no record of me registering but - why don’t I go to the am session and come back in an hour after they searched through all of my email addresses on the computer?

When I came back a new guy (who had my license) behind the counter said,

“Oh I’m supposed to give you a replacement badge."  He handed me a new badge that I put around my neck.

Without going into the 10 or so other divine encounters that day, that evening as I was getting ready to leave, walking down one of the hotel corridors double doors opened up and I was told to come into ballroom for the high end dinner they were having.
I explained that I did not have the $60 ticket needed to attend that soiree, when the doorperson said, “You have a badge.” I looked down and realized that as my replacement badge, I had been given a very expensive ‘all-access badge’ and was ushered into the room where I I immediately went to the prime rib cutting station.
As I looked behind me a woman with a badge saying, Carolyn Minkovitz, (not real name) was there. I recognized her name and seeing she was a speaker at the expo I quickly looked her up in the program to learn that she headed up a prominent screenwriting programs at a top NY university. A light bulb went off and I realized why I knew her name.

“Excuse me," I said. “ Did you write a screenplay set in Fire Island about 2 years ago?”

She was suspicious. “How did you know that?”

“Well, I’m Nikki H. – the director who was attached to direct your project.” (of course I used my whole last name :)

As it turned out about 2 years ago, a friend in MD wanted to produce a film. She located this woman, Carolyn and paid her money for an option to produce her screenplay. She then sent the script to me to see if I wanted to direct it. After reading the script I felt it was well written, but very dark. I thought the woman who wrote this seemed to be very sad and I began to pray for her. (I also told my fiend’s that this script was too dark for me and at her request gave several pages of notes on how I would need to shift it, if I were to direct it)
These notes were returned to Carolyn. Though my friend had decided to not move forward with producing the film, Carolyn kept the notes hoping to one day meet me. On top of that, it also turned out that Carolyn grew up and still lives 2 blocks from where I grew up in New York City and her sister attended our family synagogue where my brother got bar mitzvah'd!

She shrieked with amazement, “Oh my – this is besherit” (meant to be).

Carolyn was shocked at the ‘coincidence’ She asked if she could take me to dinner the next night and we are now in regular contact.
Truly a divine appointment!  Keep praying for future opportunities to share the Lord with Carolyn.

MY ASSESSMENT
Through I am frequently in these sorts of divinely appointed situations, I reflected on the number of events that had to transpire this weekend to make these connections possible (the first registration woman recognizing me and giving me a badge, taking the train (which I have never taken downtown) and needing a replacement badge – then having an all access badge putting me into the dinner. Being in the places at the exact right moments to share the Lord with these women - and others that Im not going into now.)

I realized the uniqueness of the situation God has me in right now. I am not on the 1st or 2nd floor of life – just trying to get established in Hollywood. Yet, I am not at floor 10 where I am wildly successful and famous.  I am right now not even at the 8th floor (which for the sake of my analogy will represent some sort of 'solid' place. Yet, I realized the continual uniqueness of where God has me and how that I am here because there are some specific kingdom assignments he has for me to accomplish.

So, I think I can say that though right now, the elevator has stopped at 8 and a half floors in life and it seems to be purposeful. Though likely, just for a season, since I can’t stay in this ’in between’ place forever. But for now, the Lord has some specific kingdom assignments for me that can only be done while He has me at the 8½ floor.

If you are like me and would rather be where the Lord wants you than anywhere else, I would encourage you during this new year to look at the specific situation that God has placed you in and pray for insight about the kingdom purposes he has for you. And for me, hopefully the elevator will begin to move again soon, but for now, I'll just continue to be about my Father's business and trust that He knows the beginning from the End.