Lights, Camera, Action!

Hello all my friends and relations! I have missed you all profoundly, and I'm sorry I haven't posted recently. There are reasons though, and good ones. It all started back at the beginning of this year, right before I got elected as the president of our GenJ club. I was giving a campaign speech at the Tate's house and afterward we were talking about the Parental Rights Amendment, and how the word really needed to get out to the citizens of our nation who haven't heard about it, or haven't heard enough to care. The Tates had been thinking it would be very cool to make a documentary about the whole issue and the implications and consequences it could have on our culture. Another family that was there [the Kruses for all you Daughters of Destiny-ers], also really liked the idea and in fact, the dad had some background in news/media stuff. Anyways, it was all very interesting to talk about, but still, and idea. We did, however, pray about it as a group before we all left, and were still interested in the idea. Fast forward to the last couple of months. The Tates had done some research on the movie idea, and in fact, felt like they were supposed to pursue it. [As did the rest of us]. With that in mind, Grace contacted the heads of Parental Rights.Org, and asked them if she and Mr. Larry could come up and have a meeting with them to ask them some questions about the history and story of the Parental Rights Amendment. They did have that meeting, and the result was that the PRO guys were extremely excited about the whole documentary idea. They said they'd actually been wishing someone would get that thought and make one. On top of that, they agreed to let our production be official affiliated with Parental Rights.Org! And that they'd help us make contacts with cases of people who they'd worked with for interview bits! It was very exciting and marked the place that it looked like some kind of movie was going to be made. Okay, so research and other pre-production started, and then Grace, Elissa, and Mr. Larry went up to Patrick Henry College a few weeks ago to see a seminar by filmmaker George Escobar [a film executive who was called to start his own independent film company a few years ago called "Advent Film Group". One of their projects was "Come What May". This seminar was a great opportunity, and I waited expectantly to hear the pearls of filmmaking wisdom that would be brought back ;) In an amazing God-event, the Tates came back telling me that not only was the seminar great, but that George Escobar had offered us the use of his professional filmmaking equipment!!! It was truly an amazing [and slightly unbelievable] turn of events. Nevertheless, last Tuesday found me and Daniel T., Steven T., Grace T., and Elissa K., going up to Purcellville, VA to meet with an Advent intern to pick up and train on the equipment! It was a 10 hour round trip, but it was an amazing time. We didn't really know what they were going to give us, but we figured maybe a camera and a couple of accessories. It turns out that they were giving us a ton more than that. We were amazed as Miss Intern showed us a stack of flight cases containing a great camera, lighting fixtures, mics, audio, and the list just went on! In all, it was like a text book setup. We were so excited as we put it in the car and I drove back home with Steven and Elissa. This week is the start of shooting for a teaser trailer that is scheduled to be done soon. Very, Very, cool. Please pray, and I'll send you all to our film website once we get it up and running =) Another cool development in my personal life, was that I've been working on my application for the GenJ Leadership Corps. When we went to Purcellville, I had finally gotten it ready, and was able to deliver it to the head GenJ office. [very handy ;) I didn't expect to hear back too soon because the website said they'd get back in no less than 10 days. To my surprise, I got a call the next afternoon saying that I had been accepted and would I be available to be a counselor at the iGovern camp at Patrick Henry at the end of the month. This was one of the big reasons I wanted to get my application in quickly, so I was very blessed to see the Lord work in that way. With both of these subjects it has been very cool to see God confirm and propel these desires that I had been feeling were from Him, but had not really been given a clear go-ahead on. Needless to say, it was a great reminder of the fact that the plan that God has for me and my life is the absolute A #1 best way it could ever go. Sometimes I [and maybe you too] get afraid and worried when we don't see how our hopes and dreams will [or even could] play into the "hum-drum" of our immediate circumstances. I know that I don't really want to set my jaw and plunge down my own path of life, but it can be very disconcerting in our limited mindset to just do the next thing the Lord places in front of us and not calculate the probabilities or percentages of how everything could, or might, or should work out. I believe that God wants us to hope and imagine and dream, and the answer to this question is not to just nip our hopes in the bud and bury our dreams in the sand of impossibilities, but to ask the Lord for the hope and faith to trust that the plan is incredible and the desires that He gives us will not just be washed down the drain. Also, God has been reminding me that His plan will never leave me with regrets or feeling like I missed out on something better. His plan was custom made for me before time began. It is the most fulfilling, most moving, most inspiring story that could ever work out in my life. Pretty hopeful ;) So anyways, this is why I've been [and will be] busy, but I will endeavor to keep you all up to date on your post shots and I hope you've all enjoyed this one :)