So we spent our Spring Break down near Naples, Florida, and we got to see lots of alligators and dolphins and even a few manatees (which my wife described as "large, swimming potatoes").  Here's a picture of an alligator we met on the side of the road in the Big Cypress Preserve… 

gator

We couldn't tell if he wanted to eat us, or just say, "Hi – thanks for visiting the Big Cypress Preserve."  Because we don't speak alligator.  But he seemed pleasant enough.

I had to leave the vacation a few days early to speak at a children's ministry conference in Little Rock, Arkansas, which happened to coincide with the arrival of several tornadoes in the area.  Everyone at the airport was moved to a safe hallway as a tornado passed close by, then about 10 minutes later our plane landed.  When I found out we had just missed a tornado, I wondered if our plane had, perhaps, landed on an evil witch and if all the "Little Rockians" were really Munchkins come out to thank me for saving them.

Sometimes my mind gets a bit carried away.  Tornadoes and Arkansas have that effect on me.

Which brings me back to… Jellyfish.  Specifically, JellyTelly.  What's the latest?  Where did we leave off?  Well, let's see… I'm going to start showing you some of the content that will be on our tiny TV network pretty soon.  But right now I'm in the middle of something almost as unpleasant as a cranky alligator:  Raising money.  I really dislike raising money.  But every good project, at some point, must be funded.  And so the creative type has to comb his hair, put on deoderant, and go hat in hand searching for the money to bring the "big idea" to life.

The good news is… I've got about 2/3's of our funding pretty well put together.  The bad news is… until you're fully funded, you really aren't funded at all.  So I'm still trying to lock up the last 1/3 so we can bring our little JellyTelly guy to life and bring a new level of Christian zaniness into homes across America.  (And since it's the internet, around the world.)

I know some of you are probably thinking, "How can we help?  What can we do?"  Well, there will be many ways you can help with JellyTelly.  We're really designing it from the ground up to involve much "audience participation."  (More about that later.)  But right now, at this point, what can you do?  You can pray for us.  "The prayer of a righteous man (or woman) avails much."  Funding a new ministry in a way that preserves the integrity of the ministry is, to say the least, challenging.  We've developed a good plan that avoids the sorts of pitfalls that ultimately sunk Big Idea Productions (a valuable learning experience), and God has led us to some great individuals with the financial resources to help.  It's time now for us wrap this up and get this little jelly headed down the runway… or off the launchpad… or (insert your metaphor here).

So pray for us, okay?  This is a very critical time with the potential to greatly effect the first few years of a new ministry with lots of potential.

 Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to make a few more calls… where did I put my hat?