Interview with Terry Esau

BMC: Terry, what led you to change careers from writing songs, which sell products, to writing books which help people connect with God?

TE: I got a little tired of writing jingles for kitty litter companies. Then, one day, when I was approached by a company to write a song about a large pill that a farmer forces a cow to swallow in order to lace its cow pie with a chemical to prevent flys from reproducing, I had an epiphany. This led me to seek other means of supporting my family. I found an outlet by writing Christmas carols each year as my Christmas card to my clients and customers. I did this for six years. Then, on the seventh year, I had an idea about a story about Santa Claus and Jesus. I sent this story to my customers instead of a carol, and I received a lot of positive response from both Christian and non-Christian friends. This helped me to realize that my writing could help people discover more about God. This fits my passion.

BMC: What disappointments have you encountered from switching careers?

TE: Of course, the music business was my life, and I was well connected with people whom I had built relationships with over the years. Now, I was treading on new territory. I needed to trust that God would supply the income to support my family. You asked what disappointments that I encountered during this switch in careers. Well, after I wrote my first book, Blue Collar God, White Collar God, I met with a movie executive from Hollywood, who read my book and wanted to turn it into a movie. He flew out here to discuss the idea with me. He was very positive about making this work. However, after he returned to California, he got fired. I never heard back from him or from the movie studio again. That was a big disappointment.

BMC: How did you stumble onto your second book, "Surprise Me?"

TE: One night, as I was watching a reality show on TV, "The Fear Factor," I kept asking myself why are we in our culture so fascinated with reality TV? We think that we are dropping into a non-scripted adventure. So, I began to wish that my faith was more of a non-scripted adventure with God. I was looking for a way of expressing my faith and relationship with God that was more authentic, more raw, more real, and more alive. I wanted that spontaneous adventure with God. This gave me the idea to try a spiritual experiment, a "reality spirituality," by releasing my agenda and asking God to surprise me. By praying this prayer, I am not asking for what I want, but asking him to walk into my life. Then, I started to keep a journal of my observations. This journal became my book, the thirty day experiment of praying, "Surprise me, God."

BMC: How has this experiment affected your faith and relationship with God?

TE: I began to see that God was interested in the ordinary things in my life. I began to notice that God was real and that he wanted to partner up with me. Of course, It was not all happy and revelatory things. It was a combination of the mundane things and trials that I did not want to deal with in my life. It made me walk through life with the realization that God had something for me to do today. I walked through my day with a heightened sense of awareness that God is out there. My encounters with people or events stopped becoming interruptions. Instead, they became the purpose for the day. I know that this sounds counter culture to how we live. Yet, it was a slice of everyday life with God.

BMC: So are you saying that we shouldn't live our lives intentionally by setting goals and taking steps toward them?

TE: The idea is not for you to live your life intentionally, but to let God live your life intentionally. This doesn't mean that you have to sit around doing nothing. Instead, you don't wait until God surprises you before you do something. You let God step into your life and live where you are living.

BMC: How would you encourage men to keep a journal of this adventure of living life spontaneously with God at the controls?

TE: Before I started this faith experiment, I didn't keep a journal. Keeping a journal was foreign to me. On the other hand, this concept of practicing the presence of God helps with that. First, you are saying do this for thirty days. This is not for the rest of your life. It is for thirty days. Guys like a start and finish date. They say, "This is manageable, I can handle that." Also, if it's connected with an experiment or an adventure, you just make observations of what happened in your life and what you said. Then, you can look back and see how God is working in your life. I found that God worked with everything that happened in my life. He was able to teach me things about my life from what I wrote down.

BMC: You have told us how we can start the practice of journaling, but can you tell us why men should be journaling?

TE: Men could benefit hugely from journaling. As a whole we do not reflect on our lives as much as women do. Reflecting is a part of growing. As you put your observations on paper, you will begin to see God working in unexpected ways.

BMC: Most men tackle their everyday life expecting to get things done. How should they approach this experiment of "Surprise me, God?"

TE: Go into this adventure with God with as few expectations as possible, because whatever expectations you have will be wrong. Go in with an open mind, open to going wherever God takes you. Remember, men don't do this very well. So, it will take some effort on your part to trust God to surprise you with His presence.

BMC: If a man, as the spiritual leader of the home, takes the risk of doing this experiment of "Surprise me, God," and he wants to involve his family, what should he do to get his wife and children on board with him?

TE: First of all, if a man has not been leading his family in spiritual matters, his wife and family may look at him with skepticism. He may have to do the experiment for a few days by himself first and share with his family what God is doing in his life before he can bring them on board to follow him. I believe that women would like to see men take more spiritual leadership with the family; this experiment could be the jump-start that men need to exhibit more authenticity with regard to spiritual leadership at home.

BMC: Terry, thank you for providing our readers insights into this concept of living an adventurous life with God.