Danny Palow grew up as the son of a pastor, but he did not want to follow in his father’s footsteps. With humor and transparency, Palow shares his remarkable journey of trying to run in another direction to become a filmmaker until he heard the unmistakable voice of God that he too was meant to be a pastor, and then he recounts the circumstances that led him to question the call and try running again, only to encounter God closing all doors except the one he was meant to go through.
Danny describes growing up under a church microscope with an identity tied to his father and then how he eventually found his own identity through a small church in Rhode Island.
He tells the story of God finally getting through to him about his call while on a mission trip to Guatemala. First, the voice came through a pastor. Then it came pointedly through a 95-year-old Guatemalan matriarch. Upon returning home, the call was confirmed a third time through his sister.
Palow then vulnerably describes a period in his life when burn-out led to anxiety and depression, which led to self-doubt–not only questioning whether he was cut out for God’s call as a pastor but questioning the call itself. That self-doubt was then given life by another pastor who told him the call wasn’t real. Danny shares his desperate attempt to run away from the call, looking to find any employment to support a young growing family. He then explains how God closed all other doors–rejection by 196 employers in the course of two months.
Palow tells us how it was his father who God used to open the door back to his calling with a referral to a church in Stamford, CT looking for a youth pastor. Still questioning his call, Palow explains that he walked through the door out of utter desperation to support his family. Through that door, he found the call and passion once again.