Ten years ago, Dallas and Celeste hit record for the first time on Geek Devotions. Ten years, 522 episodes, and a whole lot of lessons later, they’re sitting down to share the 10 biggest things they’ve learned running this ministry, from the terrifying moment of just starting, to why relationships matter more than networking, to knowing when to say no.

Blog Version

It’s officially been 10 years of Geek Devotions.

Ten years of taking geek pop culture (movies, video games, comic books) and using it to tell people they’re loved. Ten years of people we’ve met, lives we’ve gotten to be part of, and a whole lot we’ve learned along the way. It’s been a blessing, and we’ve loved every bit of it. So to mark the decade, here are 10 things we’ve picked up from doing this for 10 years straight.

1. Hitting “start” is the scariest part

This whole thing was born out of a passion, a need to reach people and tell them they’re loved in a language we knew: geek. We spent months preparing, planning, plotting. And when it actually came time to hit record on day one, we were scared.

Once you hit record, it all starts. If something’s on your heart to do, if there’s a passion you’re supposed to walk out, if there’s something you feel like God has given you, just start. Step out and let God move.

2. The silly things are okay, and they can lead to something bigger

One of our top-performing videos is also one that’s endlessly, mildly irritating to us: the Old Bay video, where we tried Old Bay seasoning so that Josh from Victims and Villains would try Tony Chachere’s. It was simple. It was dumb, honestly.

It’s also our most-viewed video ever, and it’s brought people into our community, including a long-time member, Mike Manacci, who found us because of it. So yes, it’s a little irritating that the goofiest thing we’ve made is the thing most people find us through. Doesn’t mean it can’t be good.

3. The people you network with become real friends

We’ve survived 10 years because we didn’t run this solo. The people in our network became genuine friends, not just business contacts. We’re part of a group called Culture Box where we pray for each other and check in every Friday about how life’s actually going. Our friends at the Geeks Under Grace are the same way. People have written for us, done podcasts and videos with us, and created content alongside us because they bought into the same mission: letting people know they’re loved and cared for. They’re not competition. They’re friends, and we’re thankful for every one of them.

4. Don’t be afraid to say no, or to stop something that isn’t working

There’s a running joke that Celeste says no more podcasts, because Celeste says no more podcasts. We’re not adding to our podcast network. Every show takes time, effort, and mental space, and we’ve got other things in life that need that same space.

We also learned to stop things that weren’t working. Early on, maybe six months in, we tried doing something called Extra Tuesdays every single week. It was a lot. It caused stress and, outside of the Old Bay video, wasn’t producing much. So we stopped making it mandatory. We still have the slot for when we want to do something extra, but now it’s optional instead of a weekly obligation.

5. Don’t give up when things don’t go well

Not everything we’ve tried has worked. We did a Summer Sing Along that flopped. We built out an entire Murder Mystery Month with clues on the website and a prize for whoever solved it. Nobody finished it. Nobody. It would’ve been easy to give up after moments like that, and there have been plenty of them: things that didn’t land, products that didn’t sell, plans that just fell apart. It’s demoralizing in the moment.

But in life, things you try won’t always work out. Keep the main thing the main thing, and stay focused on what God has for you. King David, a man the Bible calls after God’s own heart, messed up in enormous ways, more than once. He didn’t give up. He repented and turned back to the Lord. Scripture is full of people who failed badly and kept walking forward anyway.

6. Keep your priorities straight

At Geek Devotions, the devotions are the priority. Everything else can fall to the wayside depending on what’s going on, but there will be a devotion every Friday, until God says stop. Podcasts, Extra Tuesdays, stream nights: everything else comes below that.

At the same time, we have to protect time as a married couple, time with family, and the responsibility to go to work and pay bills. Keeping those priorities in mind is what lets us say no to new things instead of quietly letting the important things slip.

7. Stay flexible, and don’t stress when things go sideways

This one’s a big one for us. There’s a running joke that it’s not a Celeste stream until Dallas shows up to fix something. Something always goes wrong.

The first four episodes of Geek Devotions were recorded, and then the audio was gone. We had to go back and re-record all four. Ironically, we’ve never gotten ahead since. Ten years ago we were a full month of devotions ahead of schedule; now we work week to week. That’s actually worked out well, because it lets us stay current instead of recording something a month before it airs. If it’s not perfect, that’s fine, as long as it’s done with excellence.

8. Don’t underestimate the small moments

We’ve done things that looked small on the surface and had no idea what kind of impact they’d have. People have come into our community through moments that seemed minor at the time and told us years later how much those moments mattered: a comment answered on a livestream, a door opened to encourage someone in a real way. We’ve watched people in our community for a decade now, watched some of them grow up, watched some of them go through terrible things and come out the other side. It all started from small moments we could have easily brushed off. You never know what those little seeds will grow into.

9. People are more than what they can do for you

It’s easy to appreciate people for what they contribute. It’s more important to be concerned for their actual well-being, mentally, financially, physically, above anything they give you. We love our Patreon supporters deeply, and we’ve had some of them come to us and say they can’t keep supporting financially anymore. Every time, our answer is the same: that’s okay, because you being healthy and responsible matters more to us than the money. Would we love it if everyone could give and we could do ten times more with it? Sure. But never at the cost of someone’s health or their ability to take care of themselves. There’s always a person behind the role you’ve assigned them.

10. Keep your mind on the community, but keep it on the Lord first

It’s easy to get overwhelmed trying to cover every need, keep every person happy, meet every ask. There’s good in wanting to do that. The real question is what the Lord is saying. That’s a lesson that’s taken years to really grow into, and it’s something our church emphasizes too: when people have a lot going on, the first question is always what God is actually saying in the middle of it.

If He’s saying to do something specific, do it. If He’s saying to lay something down, lay it down. If He’s saying to hold on to something, hold on. There will always be people with opinions about what you should be doing next, and there will always be good things you could say yes to. If the Lord has told you not to, or has something specific for you, do that instead, even if it disappoints someone. What He’s called you to will usually impact people in a bigger way than what they were originally asking for.

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That’s 10 things we’ve learned in 10 years of Geek Devotions. Thank you for being part of the ride, through the goofy videos, the flops, the wins, and everything in between. Here’s to whatever the next 10 years hold.