Summer 2025 has ended, and I have nothing but gratitude for the incredible opportunities it held for Inflatable Stories. Your churches are truly amazing, your ministries serve in incredible ways, and YOU are an inspiration to me. Over the past few months, I’ve been blessed to see you in action with your kids across both coasts and during some of your biggest events. Whether I was able to bring Inflatable Stories to your families this summer or admired the work you are doing from afar, thank you!
I think three dynamics sum up what made last summer so special for me. First, bookings on the road have long been a cornerstone of what I do, and I consider churches inviting me to return one of my most important litmus tests for effectiveness. As a speaker with such an entertaining niche, sometimes it can be difficult to gauge how impactful Inflatable Stories have been because some churches prefer to rotate the style of guest they bring in each year, so “repeat” bookings might take years. This year I was able to return to the scene of one of my first bookings. In fact, it happened long before Inflatable Stories even existed. When I was a young youth pastor in Northeast Texas, the local association invited me to do their Kids Camp. That was nearly 20 years ago, and they have had me back for events a few times since Inflatable Stories became my career. This year I was excited to join Stephanie again for a camp that grew off that associational camp. What an honor to be back at that same venue for two evenings helping connect the Good News to a new generation of kids in an exciting way! Repeat hosts were partly special this summer because they composed some of the most immersive events and filled such a big part of my schedule. A camp in California and a VBS in Virginia each incorporated Inflatable Stories into week-long events. Considering our event together last summer, that made two full-week annual summer events in a row with the California church, so I had the large number of programs gave me an opportunity to incorporate some brand new material, My favorite addition was a new story for the battle of Jericho that I was a blast to bring to life. You could say everyone “fell” for it.
While far away bookings were important to my summer, I found myself sharing around my own part of the country more than ever before. I’ve been working hard with the folks at Artist Connection Agency to ensure we do whatever we can to make sure I can share Inflatable Stories in my own back yard, and as a result I frequently found myself doing one or two bookings near home before setting back out onto the road.
On a personal level, I’ve found some life-rhythm between bookings in a way I haven’t before this year. Between Inflatable Stories events this summer, I was able to organize two children’s tennis camps and help chaperone the youth of my own church as they went to camp. There wasn’t much relaxed downtime the past few months, but I’ve been able to invest in people and stay busy with things I love so I feel very blessed.
As summer gives way to Fall, I’m looking forward to what the months ahead hold. I have a few very busy patches through the end of 2025, but I also have some flexible dates mixed in, and I am hoping I’ll be able to visit some of your churches in the gaps. Whatever your church has in store for the Fall, I pray all the best for you as you kick off the new school year and look toward seasonal events to finish the year.
In Christ,
Dan
