I Like Vegetables

We loaded the kids up in the car today and drove to Franklin. What was happening in Franklin that would make us so giddy? Was it because we were meeting the Goodgames at a mexican restaurant? Nay, it was not.

It was because we were driving to Big Idea, the place where VeggieTales is made. We haven't been too vocal about this because of the possibility of it falling through, but after today, I'm not holding back.

After hearing Slugs & Bugs & Lullabies, some very kind guys producing the next VeggieTales video asked Randall and I if we'd like a shot at writing a Silly Song. That's right: capital S, captial S. We of course jumped at the chance and spent several days brainstorming. We came up with a song called "Monkey", and made a demo in which I did my best Larry the Cucumber and Randy did his best Bob the Tomato. We played it for the producers (we were sweating like hogs, by the way) and they really liked it.

Fast-forward a few months, and today we marched our kids past all the Veggie posters, the concept sketches for the new feature film, and into a little theater where we watched The Wizard of Ha's with about twenty Big Idea employees. What a thrill it was to be a small part of the team that puts these movies together. I don't think I ever realized how much work and love is poured into these videos by these men and women, and I'm always impressed with how focused they are on their mission, which is basically to communicate God's love through creative media.

I can't tell you how surreal it was to see Bob and Larry acting out a scenario that Randy and I created, singing a song that we wrote. The best part, though, was that the final scene uses "You Can Always Come Home", from Slugs & Bugs. The video is great, with or without our songs, and I can't wait for you guys to see it. I think they said it releases in October. I hope I don't get in any weird trouble for giving you the details in a public forum, but I was just so excited I had to say something. It was a great memory for the Petersons and Goodgames.

After a celebratory visit to Baskin Robbins, I was dropped off at the studio where Ben and Andy had been working most of the day on some of Andy's guitars. I sang "The Good Confession" and we packed up and called it a day.

Tomorrow should be a fun day, too. We're heading down to Michael Card's place, Mole End, to record Ben's piano. Adding his purty playing to these songs is going to be uber-gratifying, I think.

AP