So I seem to have joined the "Children's Pastor's Conference of the Week Club" without realizing it. Last week I was in Greenville, SC to speak at a denominational conference.  The week before I was in Toledo speaking at a regional conference put on by Westgate Chapel, the church that my Great Grandpa Vischer and great great great aunt helped start 101 years ago.  (It was originally called the "Toledo Gospel Chapel," a name suggested by my great great great aunt.)  That was pretty cool – my Great Aunt Betty still attends the church, and my dad and stepmom drove down from southeastern Michigan to hear me speak.

I really like talking to children's ministry workers – we're definitely on the same team trying to accomplish the same things, just in slightly different ways.  Children's ministry workers are my "peeps."

Next week I'm speaking at the Willow Creek children's ministry conference again – talking about the media and kids this time, rather than telling my story (which they've all heard by now, I think).  It should be fun, though – it's a new talk I put together recently and "tried out" in Toledo two weeks ago.  I figure if it plays in Toledo, it ought to play just about anywhere, right?  If you're coming to the Willow conference, I'm the opening keynote so don't show up late!  (And Buck Denver is going to make a surprise appearance.  But don't tell anyone, 'cuz it's a surprise!)

On the JellyTelly front, we're having some very encouraging partner meetings.  God is moving, and some pieces are starting to fall in place.  For those of you watching JellyTelly religiously and noticing that you're seeing some of the same clips come up again (and again), our apologies.  Until we get some partnerships in place, we don't have much money to spend on additional programming.  And by "not much," I mean "none."  So be patient, hang on, don't wander off quite yet.  As I mentioned, I believe God is moving and we should have some interesting developments before too long to talk about.

If you're wondering what's up with Big Idea and the veggies, we're still waiting for final news.  Apparently a sale of the parent company (Entertainment Rights) is in the works and should be finalized with a month.  ER's bank agreed to give them a little more money to continue operating while they try to wrap up the sale.  (To whom?  We don't know.)  The shareholders were notified that they weren't likely to get anything out of the sale, so the stock price has crashed to about 0.15 pence per share, a decline of about 99% in the last two years.  Ouch.  Within a month or so Bob and Larry should have a new owner, and, once again, we'll see how that affects the assets formerly known as Big Idea Productions.

In the meantime, the current moves, and we bob along thankfully.  No pun intended.  (You can "Larry" along if you want to.)

Jelly on…