Okay, I'm starting to have some serious fun.  When Big Idea fell apart and I first set up my new little office, my thought was, "Okay, now I guess I need to come up with the 'next Veggietales.'"  I mean, that's what everyone would expect me to do, right?

So I sat down in my new office and tried to think of the 'next VeggieTales.'  And I didn't get anywhere.  It wasn't a whole lot of fun, just sitting there by yourself thinking of ideas and then saying, "No, that isn't big enough to be the 'next VeggieTales.'"

Then a couple of things occurred to me:  First, God never called me to make a "big giant thing" in the first place.  He just called me to tell the stories he puts in my heart.  So I didn't need to worry about how "big" something could be, but rather just whether it's a story that God has placed on my heart.  And if it is, tell it!

And secondly, it occurred to me that no one has ever come up with the "next big thing" while they were actively trying to come up with the "next big thing."  It just doesn't work that way.  So I changed my focus from looking for the next big thing, to looking for whatever little ideas tickled me, and whatever concepts or truths seemed to be on my heart.

And the next day, I wrote a children's book. A really fun one.  And the next day I kept looking for more "little ideas," and before long I had another children's book, and an idea for a live-action feature film, and another idea for some sort of weird, late-night Christian television show.  I told my wife, Lisa, that maybe I should call my new company "Little Idea."

Ha ha.

So now, all of a sudden, little ideas are bubbling up all over the place.  I'm starting to look for publishers for my two children's books.  (Though one of them, admittedly, is as much for adults as it is for children.  Think Shel Silverstein.  The other is very Suess.)  And I'm thinking through a strategy for testing this late-night TV show idea, which could be a whole lot of fun.

So stay tuned to my website and I'll keep you posted as to when these projects will see the light of day.  I can't wait for you to see them.

Phil

 

Here's one of my doodles for a character from one of the children's books.  His name is Sidney.  He's a pig.  A sad little pig.  But he doesn't stay that way.  That's what the story is about.