Dave's Real Job

I bet you all are wondering what I'm talking about when I refer to my husband, the composer.....

Let me tell you. It's a whole post, really!

My husband has always wanted to be a composer for movies, since he was a very young boy. He remembers being captured by the music after he watched a movie with his dad, and he looked at his father and said, "Dad, that's what I want to do some day."

Well, now that day has come.

Let me back up in time a bit.

My husband is incredibly musically talented. He plays the piano and the guitar, and also the trombone and the bass. He has never had any formal lessons, other than a month of guitar and a few piano lessons.

He remembers seeing someone playing the guitar, and in his mind he said, "I think I can do that!"

So he did.

My husband writes music and composes orchestral melodies from scratch here at home on his iMac workstation. He wrote a song for me at our wedding and has written songs for three of our 6 children. This man is highly and abundantly gifted and blessed by God to be able to write evocative music. He's basically played on some sort of worship team for ever.

Three days after I met him he took me to our church and began to play the concert grand piano for me. At that moment, I remember being so moved and so touched by his music, and I thought, "This man is the man I want to marry."

My husband has been attending the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival every year, put on since 2004 by Vision Forum. That year, I literally had to force him to go. He was uncertain as to what it would yield for him if he did go that far from home for 5 days. I told him to go! It would get his name and face out there to the many people he was trying to connect with and it would let him put his finger on the pulse of the fledgling independent Christian film industry. I intuitively felt that it would be a very good thing for him to go and meet people who he might work with one day, so he went.

That was 2004, and since then, he has gone to every festival except the 2007 event.

It's been really, really beneficial for us. He has been getting to know many men from all over the nation who have the same values and visions he does......

In 2006, I was privileged to get to go with him to San Antonio. There he met a man named George Escobar, who, at that time, was the Vice President for the education department at the Discovery Channel. George had a heart for getting into the independent Christian film industry. He wanted to make films that would glorify God and family values, and he wanted to capture people's heart while doing it. This was right in line with Dave's vision, so the two men talked at length, and George decided to get Dave on board with him.

Also in 2006, Dave was thrilled to be able to compose the original scores for two films that competed at the SAICFF, and both of them went all the way to the final round! The films were "The Heartwood Dagger" and "Every Day a Gift From God". We were very blessed to work with the Leddens on the "Heartwood Dagger", and the producer and his son for "Every Day a Gift" lived in our home for a month while putting together the film. Those were fun times and great memories.

Now he's on board with Advent Film Group, founded by George Escobar. He's the chief composer for all the films they put out.

He's been working feverishly on AFG's first film, called "Come What May", night and day.......when the Post Office doesn't get in the way! This film is a feature length film about the sanctity of human life and a young man's struggle to do the right thing, come what may.

It's a beautiful film, to be released this summer.

My husband is doing what he always wanted to do......only he wants to do it for a living. He wants to be working all day on composing music, instead of working at the Post Office. We pray that God would bless us with the finances to be able to see this dream become a reality, someday very soon.

"Come What May" and Advent Film Group are being featured on Focus on the Family's radio show this weekend, and the film will be going to the 2009 SAICFF, in the new Best Feature Film category. Dave will also be entering the original soundtrack for the film in the Best Original Score category. The kids and I will be traveling with him in January to the film festival.

So, now you know what my husband really does, where his heart really is. He has a website at www.davidgilchrist.com, and AFG can be found at www.adventfilmgroup.com. You can read all about my husband on his site and listen to excerpts of lots of his music.

It is our family prayer that God would touch people's hearts through my husband's music. We fervently want to be used of God to change people's minds for Him, and to uphold and protect and advocate traditional family values to a society which is seeking Him. This is our heart, our vision......

God, please let it be!