My To Do Lists

For those of you who know me well, it is quite an understatement to say that I’m a To Do List kind of girl! I have a typed To Do List for work. I have a hand-written To Do List notebook for SWAY stuff. I have a sticky-note To Do List in my personal calendar for the home stuff to do! None of these lists is automated. In addition, I keep two (paper) calendars. I have a work calendar and a personal calendar. I recall recently, upon opening my personal calendar up at home to check the time of an upcoming baseball game, Jesse asked, “Do you really look at that?” To which I replied, “Of course!” Astounded, he said, “Everyday?” I just laughed at him; he obviously is clueless to how “organized” his mom is. To say that I’m dependent on my calendars and lists is quite fair. (I even have the schedules for the boys baseball/softball teams taped to the refrigerator.) I have a copy of Sarah’s semester schedule and Billy and Jesse’s annual school calendar just behind my calendar. I have immediate access to this vital information 24/7.

With all that said, I want to share about an experiment that I’m trying. I’m not sure how successful (sustained momentum) I am at this, but I feel quite gratified at the end of each day. So, here’s how it started:

I’ve been reading the book, "The Purpose Driven Life" by Rick Warren (please pray with me that Mr. Warren’s sight is restored and that God completely heals him) for the past 26 days. There are many themes that overlap and so certain topics come up in subsequent readings. One such topic has been the idea that we are created for God’s purposes and not our own. While I think that God could possibly use a few of my ideas, I do get it . . . He’s in charge and He’s the one with the plan!

So, each day for the past few weeks, I have started with a blank To Do List and I pray. I really, really try to stay out of the way, but I ask God to put whatever tasks he needs/wants accomplished that day, that I might be able to help him with. And every day He shows up. It’s sort of like Manna, he gives me just enough for each day. Some tasks are more challenging than others, but some days I get off easy with more simple chores. He brings to mind friends that I need to pray for or call/email. He reminds me of database info that needs to be updated. He prompts me to finish projects that I’d started and forgot about. I like it when he shows me a job listing that would be perfect for a friend who is unemployed and I can pass it along. Its tasks like that (including all my regular work) that He calls me to do! It has completely changed the way I look at my To Do List. Funny, it’s not mine anymore – it’s His To Do List!

A few scriptures come to mind for me:

Unless you are faithful in small matters, you won’t be faithful in large ones. Luke 16:10

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

The plans I have for you are plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11

For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:10

I hope you can find sustained momentum in turning each day and each task over to the Master Planner all to His glory!

Thank you! Muchas Gracias! Danke! Merci Beaucoup!

Alright; so maybe the out of the ordinary blogs are becoming the norm. With that said, it is from the bottom of our hearts that we thank our friends and family for helping us meet this hugely extraordinary interim goal of raising $6,000 for SWAY on Kickstarter! We are completely blown away by the generosity of those we are close to and those we have yet to meet. It’s such a wild collection of people from our past and present; our little independent movie brought us all together in this common goal! Pretty cool.

We want to thank the following folks for their financial contribution to the making of SWAY prior to the start of our Kickstarter campaign:

Billy LeJeune
Beau LeJeune
Matt Putnam
Dr. James Pogue
Lance and Denise Coy
Scott and Donna Farnham
Billy and Brenda LeJeune
Terry and Kelly Maples
Joanne Crough
Lauren Brooks
Laurie Crist
Vic and Karen Coy

Kickstarter Contributors are:

Mary Luongo
Mitch and Viki Mitchell
Jennifer Myers Darby
Donna Wilkinson
Lance and Denise Coy
Scott and Donna Farnham
Robert and Peggy Brown
Gary and Mary Martin
Andy Goudy
Barbara Williams
John and Sharon Carter
Laura Godrey
Karen Roady-Bohls
John and Lisa Bledsoe
Larry Stephens
Betsy Byrne
Jay O. Stephens
Robert and Diane Brown
Tim and Joni French
Dan Ahlberg
Ryan and Jennifer Russell
Jim and Winnie Carter
Donna Audino
Dan Martin
Donna Cox
Jeff and Paula Aspacher
Kasper Pittman
Scott and LuAnn Akers
Meredith Fox
Kimberly Fell
Vic and Karen Coy
Rick and Karen Hawley
Cindy Shinn
Joe VanGilder
John and Kitty Ritenour
Cherry Bolgeo
Cheryl Hunt
Christy Shalhub
David Hampton
Donnise Clark
Doug & Lorrene Yarbrough
Naomi Derryberry
Norm Hancock
Quinn McRae
Zach McRae
Tom and Dorothy Brown
Margie Nathanson
Mickey and Leah Mangrum
Shawn and Joni Holland
Connie Hansom
Nicole Durant
Jamie Crist
Michael and Rachel Kelley
Bridgette Gibbs

Honestly, I didn’t know we had that many friends out there! You all are so amazing to help us out. We are very excited for you to see SWAY.

Next, we are completing the final day of filming. Then, we will work (a couple weeks at least) to finish the final visual edit of the movie. Simultaneously, we will have Jim Frazier (Music Direction) finish the work on the music tracks for the movie and CD. We are hopeful to be completed by the end of August/early September, Lord willing! Please pray with us that we can meet these goals. You can stay current with our sustained momentum at www.swaythemovie.com or at www.feelinggoodentertainment.com.

The next huge endeavor will be to find just the right distribution company and handle all the legal aspects of mechanical and synchronization licenses. We’re out of our league big time on this, so God will once again be in charge!

Please feel free to contact with any questions or suggestions or contacts that you have! I’ve said it a hundred times, but we are so blessed by you. Thanks for standing with us as we attempt to finish this fun project! We can’t wait to send you your DVD/CD of SWAY! God bless you!