Dreams, circus elephants and Justin Beiber. (stay with me)

I was having breakfast with Zach last Monday, a few days before I had hatched a little idea in my noggin. It was kind of more than just a little idea, more like a big idea.

Zach is my very best sounding board. So I said my idea out loud, acted like it was no big deal and waited for his response.

"Oh hon, thats a great idea."

Have you ever noticed that circus elephants are kept confined by just a metal cuff, chain and a wooden stake driven into the ground? Don't you think if the elephant really wanted to get away it could just pull that flimsy wooden stake out of the ground?
When a circus elephant is born in captivity they put a metal cuff around its foot and drive a heavy stake into the ground that it can't pull away from. It trys and trys and eventually gives up, believing that no matter what he does, he will not be free. So that is what the elephant believes for the rest of his life, he can't break free. He stays hostage to something that he could easily master with just a little pull.

Yesterday I went and saw the Justin Beiber movie with Sis.. (there are soo many blog posts wrapped up in just that statement)

Before the movie I was not a fan, after the movie I feel a pretty big change of heart about the Beibster. Really I found some respect for the young man in that movie.

Justin (and his family) could have chosen to give up and stop pulling against that chain.

He had God given talent (yes he really does, yes it almost pains me to say that!) as we ALL do!

The Beibster pulled against that chain. I'm sure some days he was weary, but he knew deep down that there was more for him, it was not pride it was just a simple easy confidence in the talents he has been gifted with.

Then the chain broke..we all know the rest of the story.

So when Zach said..

"Oh Hon, thats a great idea."

I was a little shocked. (cue elephant tethered by only that chain)

So I told another person, then another.

I realized I just had to tug a little bit on the chain.

So I made the final call..

A simple idea of photographing 48 school kids and maybe their families in Kenya (kind of a Help-Portrait event), turned into a day of me photographing right around 600 school kiddos in Kenya.

Kids that have never seen their own reflection, these kids could not identify themselves in a group photo..crazy thought.

What is more crazy? The logistics of photographing 600 kiddos, getting photos processed and returning them to Kenya for less than 5 billion dollars and before I'm 100 years old.

Surprisingly I'm not stressed. It's like everything was laid out so perfectly that I just know its all going to work out fine.

God wants my dreams to come true.

I'm a done with the chain, I'm in love with Justin Beiber and I will never again be afraid to dream big.

post script- I stole the elephant story from my Pastor.

post. post. script-Justin Beiber is TOO a real artist.

post. post. post. script -I leave in 23 days..GASP!

List coming soon..promise:)