We have done it all for Give A Damn? Everything from setting up a booth in Venice Beach, wearing nothing but a box on the street, car washes, speaking to youth groups/classrooms/whoever would have us, spray painting t-shirts at Warp Tour, concerts, dinners, banquets, etc. It has been a tireless year of fundraising.

When you are on this roller coaster ride to make your dream come true, life and work start to meld together. You start to look at people like dollar bills and dimes. You see yourself looking at your closest friends as potential donors. It is really sick in a way. Sometimes I just stop in my tracks, and realize,  "Am I selling myself to my best friends?" It sounds so money hungry/obsessed, but it also feels so natural because that is what is really on your heart and your friends want to know what is on your heart right?

I think some people have jobs and others have this weird career/hobby/dream hybrid. Each has their ups and downs, and I think different people are made for different ones. Some folks like my friend Vince just want to pay the bills.  Vince's top priority is his relationships outside of work. Of course he would like to enjoy his job, but at the end of the day, what really matters to him are his girlfriend, his family, and his friends. For me, and others like me, our dreams get dangerously close to our identities and our emotions fluctuate along with our success. We know it should not. As Christians, we know our identities are in being a child of God, as non-Christians, we realize we are still way more who we are then what we do. We just can't help it sometimes.

In this pursuit of fundraising to make Give A Damn? happen, I had so many ups and downs emotionally. The successes and the disappointments have given me days where I felt like I could work without sleeping and others where I didn't want to get out of bed. Slowly, I have learned to have faith despite the outside circumstances. "The Lord gives a takes away. Blessed be the name of the LORD." This has become so real to me in the fundraising process. I think God needed to strengthen my faith, before he filled our budget.

So it is exciting to now switch over to logistics. To actually start planning the details on how we are going to make this epic documentary where we hitchhike through America, Europe, and then travel through Africa all while living on $1.25 a day. Now is the point where I am saying to myself, "What was I smoking. I said I was gonna do what?!" I bit off way more than I could chew, and that is what is going make this film what it is. The suffering, the naivety, the idealism, and the reality are all going to collide to make a film that we have to make. It is just another part of the plan to open the eyes of our generation to extreme poverty and injustice. I am willing to get in way over my head to "connect those who need a little something to live for with those who just need a little something to live."

Now we just need this remaining few thousand dollars to finish up our budget. We have a concert this Thursday in LA that could fill up the remaining funds if it sells out. So you should come out and attend if you are around, so we can enter fully into logistics mode. (Now is the point where you have to ask yourself if I wrote this whole blog, just to have an authentic and heart warming way to invite you to my concert. I am sure that was a little bit in the motivation. What can I say...us fundraisers stuck on our dream, seeing you as potential donors. Forgive me:)