Dorothea Bauer in a scene from Nikki & Babs: Dos & Doubts

When I was little, my dad would always try to teach me important life lessons using analogies and by playing “Devil’s Advocate,” constantly trying to help me to see where my priorities should be and how to think things through. As I grew older, he started to state things more plainly as I had a greater capacity to understand what he was saying.

I have always loved acting. It is my passion, something in which I truly find joy. One day when I was talking with my parents about my dreams to be an actor professionally, they told me that I should pray about it and ask God to guide me and ask for His help when I was struggling. From then on I decided to offer my career up to God and let Him show me where he wants me to go in life.

When there came a time I was having trouble with a character, and my dad told me to pray about it and ask the Holy Spirit for inspiration. But I was confused. Why would I pray about acting? I pray about having a career in acting and I pray about what God wants me to do with my life and how to best follow the path He has laid out for me, but why would I pray about something as trivial as acting? God has bigger fish to fry. But my dad insisted, stating simply, “God is a better actor than you will ever be, a better writer and director than I will ever be; He is a better chemist, baseball player, accountant… Whatever you do God will always be better.”

And it is true. God is the Creator of all things. He is of course the master of all of these things, and He wants us to allow Him to be a part of our lives! God has given each of us talents which He wants us to use for Him. So, if God wants me to be an actor, then that is what I’ll do. And if I trust in Him and His plans, He’ll help me get there.

I remember watching an interview with baseball player Mike Sweeney – and on the cover of his Bible is a picture of a tandem bicycle. We sit in the back, it is our job to pedal as hard as we can and trust that the person in front will protect us and lead us down the right path. We just need to allow God to take that first seat.

Now, I pray when I am about to perform on stage or on film, I pray when I need help with a character, and I pray for God to remind me why I am crazy enough to want this in the first place. Acting is a hard gig to get into, but it is what God gave me a passion to do; and I know that He’ll help me out. After all, God is a better actor.

- Blog by Dorothea Bauer, who plays Nikki in Christian movie company Cloud Ten Pictures’ series Nikki & Babs: Dos & Doubts