Day 1

Day 1 of the campaign was wildly successful. Eleven CD's were sold total, and I even met another recording engineer! That was very cool. Including pre-sales from people I personally know and from advertising, eighteen CD's have been purchased!

If I continue to sell this successfully, a week from today I will be sold out! If every CD is sold in this initial order, I will net $1200. If the sell in a week, I will definitely have reason to purchase another order, and this time a larger one!

I'm hoping that reading that was an encouragement. I know that writing it out was a huge encouragement even just to me. I started the post saying how successful the day was, but if I'm totally honest, last night I was feeling somewhat dejected after the first round of sales before I left for the second round. I had been turned down by a LOT of people, and for some reason I was expecting to open my email inbox to maybe twenty emails from online donations. Obviously that's not unrealistic, but these kinds of things take time, which excitements seems to have no tolerance for. But reading the numbers, day one WAS extraordinarily successful! I've already raised $224, sold 18 CD's and probably encouraged just as many people.  

I will continue to work on getting the CD's into coffee shops and on radio stations. A few days ago, I sent out CD's to WBGL and K-LOVE contacts. I've been in touch with the managers who referred me to the individuals who oversee the new music that gets played. So far the responses have been extremely encouraging, so I'm continuing to pray that fruit will come from that endeavor. I have yet to hear from any coffee shops so perhaps I will drive out to them tomorrow.

A few stories from the day:

House A) One lady initially turned me down, which wasn't unusual. I'd been turned down quite often. I left and was walking to the next house, and all of a sudden I heard, "Miss, how much are the CD's?" I turned around and she was at the end of her driveway beckoning to me. She bought a CD and we both went on our (merry) ways. It really made me smile.

House B) This man was very nice and shook my hand when I met him. I explained that I was a college student, selling original music for mission trips. He made a point of saying he wasn't "a believer" but he likes when people do good things. He gave me $20 but said he really wasn't interested in the CD. I thought that was really interesting. I'll definitely be praying for him. People like that always fascinate me, because they clearly have an awareness of the void in their lives and are compelled towards the sort of behavior that God calls us to, but are sort of trapped by their unwillingness to accept God's offer or learn more about him. I was definitely in that place once. I would almost liken the situation to someone who is literally stuck to a wall (like with tape or glue or something) but isn't really motivated to get off the wall. It's kind of sad, but definitely motivates prayer!

House C) This man literally said to me, "I'm sorry, I can't buy one. I don't have any money. She (I'm assuming his wife) won't give me any. She's working until midnight." That interaction was really shocking. It's a somber reminder of the really poor states that some people are in. People who live literally in my own neighborhood are completely broke, financially. People are experiencing marital problems. People endure losses and hardship: death of family members, devastating illnesses, maybe they are working multiple jobs or just lost theirs; maybe they are being bullied at school, struggling with a mental illness, maybe these homes and families are like mine was when I was growing up, shadowed by darkness without anybody knowing or able to help. This world is so broken! 

It's situations like House C that make me motivated to do the door to door solicitation. In retrospect, I really regret not just giving a CD to that man. Maybe he would have listened to it, really been intrigued, related to my story and then experienced the gospel of Christ. Maybe it would have impacted his life in a positive way. Darn it. Next time, right? And I can always go back.

But that's the thing. This project isn't just about raising money. It's about sharing God's word through music, which is something he has given me a lot of excitement about. (The evangelism AND the music.) When I think about this man, I think about the song Alone on my CD which describes a longing for someone else to surrender their struggles. There's hurt and hardship in this life, and sometimes we're hardly floating, but there is a way out - we don't have to do it alone. I SO wish that every single person knew that truth!

It really all comes down to having faith. (I got one of those cool MudLOVE bracelets at my church that says 'faith.' Good reminder...) It's not up to me to change people's hearts, but it IS up to me to choose to have faith that God will. The best part of that truth is that God actually can. It's so great to trust in a God who can move mountains with his breathe and spin the earth from day to night with his words. Praise be.

Love,

Alexandra