save blue like jazz!

Back on September 1, Donald Miller (Blue Like Jazz, Through Painted Deserts, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years) spoke at Belmont University about living a better story. My friend Brittany and I decided to crash it. Best idea we've had since the two of us have been friends. What they decided to launch that day was the "Living a Better Story" campaign. Envelopes were passed around with different amounts of money in them. We were asked to "intentionally treat this money as God's money." I got $5. Brittany and I tossed some ideas around for a bit, but we couldn't come up with anything that really got us excited.

I know how to use my $5. This is the story I submitted to Belmont's campaign:

My name is Ambika and I am not a student of Belmont. However, I am an appreciative fan of Donald Miller's books. Pretty much every book he has written has become a part of my growth and his reflections seem to become my reflections.

I'm sorry if I violated some rule that pertained to only students participating, but after hearing Don Miller speak that day, I couldn't resist trying it out and seeing what would come of it.

I admit, I had an immensely hard time figuring out what it was that I could do with my $5. I could donate it to Mocha Club, but I didn't feel the excitement and the knowing I normally felt when tossing ideas around in my head. Then life got busy. So busy that I forgot to go grocery shopping and was eating too much Ramen. And my better story got put away.

It was a couple weeks later when I was surfing the internet, passing the time at work that I read Don Miller's blog. My favorite book, the book that had changed my life, Blue Like Jazz was going to be turned into a movie. This fact I knew, I had known about it for years. But what I didn't know and what I didn't want to read was that the project was put on hold or as Don Miller phrased it "the project went away". I was disappointed. When was it the Christian minority's turn to get their story told without Kirk Cameron being anywhere near it? When was it our chance to show how we grew up and what faith meant to us and the struggles we've faced and continue to face everyday? I was discouraged.

Until I saw the tweet. Two fans of Blue Like Jazz the Movie were trying to save it by collecting pledges from fans via Kickstarter. That's when I knew where my $5 was going (plus the other $95 I decided to add). $100 is a lot for me to give up, but I felt that odd sense of urgency and comfort knowing that it will be okay.

My only prayer while donating to this movie was one of hope. Pure, unadulterated hope. That Blue Like Jazz the Movie would ignite something in the world, especially the Christian world. Something that looks like love rather than just talking about it. Something that looked like grace, rather than just talking about it. Something that looked like the solid relationships that life should be built upon, rather than just talking about it.

Something that looked like Jesus, rather than just talking about Him.

The effort that is going into saving this movie is sincerely fascinating. It's only been 8 days, but so far over $75,000 has been pledged. That's 60.2% of their goal of $125,000. Plus, an investor promised to match the $125,000 if they raise it. This movie could be made after all. If you want to help, go here: www.savebluelikejazz.com. You can make a donation of at least $1. ($10 gets you a phone call from the director, Steve Taylor, thanking you. $100 means you're an Associate Producer. Which means my name will be in the credits. Which means I get to make an IMDB page. Which means awesome!)

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