A STAR IS BORN??????

This past January I had to go to Boise State campus to pick up a text book which the publisher had promised five times on the phone the week before would be delivered to my home. I knew God was up to something; in fact, I prayed on my way to campus, "Alright LORD! You've got something up your sleeve, don't you? Help me see what you are doing today, ok?"
I went to the library and returned a book. Nothing special happened. I went to the Communication Department to pick up the Organizational Communication text and interacted nicely with the receptionist, adminstrative assistant, and head of the department, but still nothing much really happened to write home (or in this blog) about!
Figuring I had misread the Lord, I started to leave for my car. As I rounded the corner of the building, I spotted Eric and Randy, two of my former students, standing by a bench talking. We made eye contact and Eric said, "Skidmore! We were just now talking about you!"
I said, "Oh really." I knew this was the something!
"Yeah," Randy continued, "You ever thought about acting?"
"Well, when I was a kid. But nothing serious."
"Ever thought about television?"
"Yeah. Again when I was a kid, but it wasn't serious then, and I haven't thought about it in years and years. Why the questions?"
Randy explained how he had just landed an internship with a television production company in Boise and they were beginning to cast for a children's television show. "A kind of kids fantasy that takes kids on a magical, musical, colorful flying ship to a magical, musical land where they meet all sorts of interesting characters. We are looking for someone to play the captain, and Eric and I both were just saying how you would be perfect for the role!"
ME? I thought. "What kind of time commitment am I looking at?" I asked. Randy assured me that it would be overly time consuming.
I said I would go home and discuss this with Jan, and we would pray about it. "By when do you need to know?" (Yes, I actually speak like that occasionally.) "Tomorrow would be the audition."
"Tomorrow? All right. I can tell you now, yes. We'll talk about it and see if the Lord opens that door or not."
To make a long story just a little longer, I did audition. Dave Turner, actor and stand-up commedian for over 60 years (co-starred in Barnaby Coast with Doug McClure and appeared on Sanford and Son about 7 times) said, "They done chose another guy for the part. But I think you're better. So, I'm gonna overchoose 'em!"
They agreed with his choice, we practiced, filmed, and they edited it -- applying computer graphics and animation -- and it now completed, the first show, the pilot. Saturday will be the premiere screening for the public at a local theater where they can meet the actors and crew who made it.
Here is the punch line, God's punch line I think. There is a chance Nickelodeon or Disney may pick this up. If not them, then perhaps another children's cable network. If this happens, it will broadcast nationally. This may propel me into a position of tremendous influence -- I can see the local news teams reporting, "Local pastor costars in children's television program picked up by Nickelodeon. These and other stories at 10." Perhaps schools will have me come and speak to the kids as well as other groups. Maybe, just maybe, it will put me in the position I have been praying for for years and years (especially since we moved to Boise), "LORD, use me to reach thousands and thousands of people with the good news. Help me move from line fishing to huge net fishing!"
Could this be HIS answer to those prayers? Stay tuned -- SAME BAT-TIME! SAME BAT-CHANNEL!