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Inflatable Stories Ebenezers
2024 has already been a year of special milestones.<!–
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Wow! Time flies and 2024 has been a journey both personally and professionally. As summer ignites, I wanted to update you on what’s been happening with Inflatable Stories. This year has brought some huge milestones! In 1 Samuel 7:12, Samuel sets up a stone and calls it Ebenezer as a reminder that the Lord has helped them. Drawing on that inspiration, I am calling my milestones Ebenezers because the Lord has truly helped me on this Inflatable Stories journey beyond anything I could have asked or imagined.
Ebenezer 1: International Award-Winning
I am now an international award-winning balloon artist! What I do is about people, not prizes, but it still feels amazing to have my work recognized among some of the top artists in the industry. Early this year I competed in two competitions during the Twist and Shout Balloon convention in Chicago. This is an international gathering of gifted balloon artists, and I chose to compete in the balloon costume competition and the balloon act stage competition. Even with past entries I felt great about, I’ve never been able to break into the top three before.
Twist and Shout Balloon Convention 2024 Costume Competition
The first competition was the stage act, which included entries from around the world. My act came together perfectly with a message on growing from our failures and a variation on the climb-inside balloon I have never seen before. When the dust settled, my act was a close second to a fantastic performance from an artist who traveled from Europe.
Twist and Shout Balloon Convention 2024 Stage Act Competition
My second competition entry was in the balloon costume competition. The first time I entered this competition several years ago I’d been embarrassed to walk right off the end of the stage in my balloon dragon costume. In fact, this helped inspire my stage act’s failure theme. This year I entered a massive balloon shark costume that could “eat” someone. Last year a pastor at my church had requested a whale that could swallow someone for his Jonah series, and that earlier costume inspired this variation. During my minutes on stage the shark ate a snorkeler and spit out a balloon skeleton, giving everyone a great laugh. When the award night came, it placed first amid some incredible competition.
Ebenezer 2: International Bookings
I have been excited to make balloon creations when traveling to other nations since I learned the basics for a mission trip in high school. Internationally, I’ve created and photographed large sculptures for my books, used balloons on mission trips to share the gospel, and made friendships despite language barriers. During the year of the pandemic, I had a booking scheduled for Ontario, CA, but we all know how the world fell apart then. This April I was finally able to bring an Inflatable Stories booking across the border as I was privileged to share at TriCity Church in Port Coquitlam, BC, Canada. I’m so excited to finally raise this Ebenezer! If you’re ever in the area, be sure to try poutin and say hello to some amazing folks for me.
Ebenezer 3: A Freshly Renovated Home
On a personal note, when I haven’t been on the road, I’ve spent the past few years renovating my house. When I closed on it in late 2019, it was a mess. The yard was overgrown, it was in awful disrepair, and it needed dramatic changes. After years of plodding progress, I finally invited friends from church for dinner and fellowship last week. There are still little things to do, and there always will be, but I have finally “finished” renovating my home. Now I can do life with others in a better way and hopefully invest some of the newly released time in my next book.
So much more has happened this year, but I think these three Ebenezers say a lot about where I’m at! I’ve been blessed to share around the country, connected with new churches at kids’ ministry conferences, and been blessed to invest in you. Thanks for taking time to catch up with Inflatable Stories, and more importantly thank you for the work you’re doing! The work I do with churches wouldn’t matter if you and others like you weren’t investing in people with the Good News every day of the year.
In Christ,
Dr. Dan
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June 5
June 7
June 9
June 10-11
June 13
June 25-27
Northbrook Baptist Church, Cullman, AL
Frazer Church, Montgomery, AL
Green Acres Baptist Church, Tyler, TX
South Fork Baptist Church, Hodgenville, KY
West Pittman Baptist Church, Westville, FL
Valley Baptist Church Camp, Badger, CA
Inflatable Stories to your church?
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