The month of August will forever be a blur... even more of a blur than the normal blurriness of summer. We went into it with a deal to have a "Reality Show" called "Resolutionaries" come into our lives and make them look interesting.
The Premise: I am disorganized; not half as much in my external world as in my mind. Funny. If you've ever seen my desk or my car, you would ask how that is possible.
The show will be on the TLC network. They paired me up with a "Life Coach" who worked to sort stuff out. It was time. I have been reading one or two books on organization/goal setting every year for the past 8 years. Life Coach Amy made me clean my desk and stick with one project for this month. The project was "The Singing Stone", the new kids book. On August 24th, we had a book reading/signing at Cornerstone Christian Store in Pasadena. It went real well. The book looks pretty good. We sold about 20 of them and we have more people interested. Our goal is to get it available on Amazon and B & N by Christmas.
The show started out as a whim, just a way to see what would happen if someone tried to help me arrange the LINT in my mind. It ended up being something quite substantial. We are now pointed toward more of these books as we seek a way to legitimately get "The Singing Stone" rolling.
The awesome thing was, to see God working through this. I have never had an opportunity like this to send a message of God's love all over the nation. Pray that a real seed will be sown with this program.
How did I write and illustrate and print a children's book in 30 days? It's a long story. Thankfully, we have it on tape once the show airs in January. But, to make an hour-long story shorter, I had to quit working. We literally went for broke. As I wrote, and scratched out drawings, our money reserves went "Plink, plink, plink" until we reached a point of less than a month's worth left. We even gave some of that to the TV crew to throw into the mix for drama. A tax refund came in to save the day.
Now, the Bass family of California is looking back east. We feel that our time here is winding down. We have learned and accomplished many of the things we came out here for, and much more. We do not feel that we are turning tail and running, we simply feel that that "one year" that we set aside, just might be One year.
So where do we go. We thought we were priced out of Florida, but things are looking up in the real estate market. Well, they are really looking down, but down is the new up for us. So Florida might be a possibility. We could really benefit from the friends and family being close. We have enjoyed working together in ministry with so many of you, perhaps God will lead us into more of that.
There is also South Carolina. We have family there, as well and a 150k buys a lot more house there.
The tricky part of it is, I believe I am out of the video production field. I will continue to produce ministry videos as well as freelance projects, but I am not seeking to do what I have been doing for the last 15 years, GULP. I came to that conclusion after a couple interviews out here. I walked out with a sour feeling in my gizzard. Driving home from one of them, I gave it all back. I thanked God for the good years in production, then I gave it to Him. Now, I thank Him for what He has for my next 15 years, GULP not sure what it is GULP.
Today, I go to my new job. Adventure Guide-Instructor. A really cool job. I should enjoy it. The boss has been really upfront with me. He has stated that it will be hard for me to support a family on this salary. I realize that, but it would be even harder to do so by being on reality TV shows for free. We have an understanding that I will continue to seek other opportunities.
So, here we are. In the middle of God's will. No better place to be. We must now wait upon Him. He has always proved faithful. I can count on more of the same. While we are here, we will keep plugging away and marketing that book, leading wilderness trips, performing in the background of silly TV shows, and teaching kids church. School is currently on hold.
Below are scans of the front and back covers of the book. We still have some available, plus, we can always print more...