I know it’s been a while. I’ve been in Nashville and spent the better part of a week on the road. Turns out it isn’t as easy to drive…ummm….70mph and write a blog as I thought 😉
While I was in Tennessee I met with several churches and passed out free books to the youth ministers (hellooo business trip 🙂 ) Trying to get the word out as much as I can. The churches were overwhelmingly great and welcoming. We chatted about their churches, book strategies, and youth. And they were excited to pass the word along to the single girls. Except….well there was one “little old church lady”……
Toward the end of my trip, I stopped by a huge (un-named) church. I soon found out that the receptionist was the gatekeeper for the place, so to speak. She looked and sounded put-off by my being there. As usual, I brought in books and explained that I wasn’t selling anything, but I wanted to give them free books for their youth. I started to hand the books to her. “Oooh…I think one will be enough,” she said coolly. And not in the “I’m trying to save you money” voice….more like the “Is this a dead cat? Why are you handing me a dead cat?” voice. Hmmm….I thought about this as I glanced around. One will be enough? ONE? There are at least 5,000 people that go to this church – and that means at least 500 youth. Daaaang those kids must be fast readers – wow passing around one book like that.
A scene flashed through my mind of me wrestling the little old lady to the ground and screaming “Take the books, lady, you will take the books and like them!!” But then again, me wrestling little old church ladies probably wouldn’t be very good PR for Harrison House. So I smiled and left her a book.
On the way back home, I started thinking about it. (Turns out you can think quite a bit in 612 miles). I felt a bit miffed. She wasn’t excited about my dream. She didn’t see the vision. And I realized of a couple of things.
1) It’s not anyone else’s responsibility to recognize my potential. Or yours. No one else is obligated to recognize the value of our dreams. Do you have a dream that’s crazy and spectacular?…God has given you that dream. It is your responsibility to protect it. To get it so ingrained on your heart and mind that you will not be swayed or disappointed by circumstances or random people around you. To choose which people to bare your soul to.
Thinking back, I’m kind of glad I was miffed by that situation instead of discouraged. It meant that I still believed in what I was doing, and that I was more confident in my potential than in her opinion of my potential.
2) I want to be someone who encourages dreams. Not that I have to agree with every tactic and strategy that someone has. But I want to catch the excitement and the sparkle in someone’s eyes when they tell me about their passion. I don’t know if I do that enough – I can be a bit cynical. But I want to.
3) I am more thankful than ever for all of the people who have been behind me at this beginning of my adventure. You guys didn’t have to encourage me. Or listen to my crazy ideas. But you did. And that is priceless. So thank you all, and someday you will all get tickets to Oprah….or Jerry Springer….whoever calls first. And someday, little old church lady will see me on tv and not remember this at all.
Kinda is an author, teacher, speaker, entrepreneur, and hopeless wanderer. Her favorite places in the world include Manarola, Italy, and Gimmelwald, Switzerland. In her free time, you can find her bargain shopping and hanging out at coffee shops.
This is really encouraging. Thanks. I will be waiting for the Oprah ticket. Just so you know though, I’d be fine with Springer, especially if it involved you and the old lady!
Haha!! It sounds like you’ve watched too much Springer already Garrett…;-b
Very good observations, Kinda. I hope you have very few of those encounters. Your book has blessed several of our youth here in Midland. The biggest challenge is getting them to read anything at all, but some have read and benefited from it.
Thanks for the encouragement! Yeah, it’s hard to get youth started reading sometimes. Maybe if I made an MTV show out of it or something….;-D Good to hear from you!
I bet a big church like that gets people bringing in things all the time. they don’t know the explosive awesomeness that is your book, but they know of lots of kooks bringing in all kinds of weird stuff and probably mistook you for one.Not that you look like a nutjob. they probably gave her the job because she has a sour demeanor and can scare off the kooky nuts. you keep hitting the bricks til the message is out!
LOL – yeah I thought of that….I don’t take it personally. And I know they can’t just let in everyone. It’s always this way in marketing, etc., I guess – just keep knockin’ on doors until one opens 🙂 And don’t let it get you down. It was just interesting to get such a “cool” reception for free stuff….