Hey, What's the Big Idea? (Part 1)

And...what happened to Big Idea?

I was a little shocked and slightly embarrassed (sorry, couldn't resist) that I had NO IDEA what had happened to Big Idea. Let me explain.

I can't say that I was/am a huge VeggieTales fan. I mean, my kids are no longer preschoolers and have graduated from watching these cute cartoon Bible stories, but I did have the thought the other day that my youngest has possibly seen more Harry Potter movies with her older brothers than PBS shows, and I just kind of skipped the whole "VeggieTales" stage with her. Oh, regrets!

Then, I stumbled upon a new project of Phil Vischer, the creator of Veggie Tales. While getting super excited about his new What's In the Bible series, I discovered Vischer's website. Low and behold, I realized that something BIG had happened to Big Idea Productions. These sweet veggies had been through the steamer in recent days (okay, so almost ten years ago now) and just barely survived. Now, I know that I am somewhat of an ostrich with my head in the ground and have missed a LOT of newsworthy events during this past decade of parenting, but for some reason, I was surprised. As I started to skim his first installment of "What Happened to Big Idea?", I realized a few things:

1-Phil Vischer is a gifted storyteller and communicator. Really.
2-His real life stories have as much drama as his fictional tales. They leave you in suspense and on the verge of both laughter and tears. Really.
3-It's fascinating to read how a ministry turns into a media empire turns into a mess. That God can redeem. Really.

So after reading Vischer's posts about the rise and fall of Big Idea, I was hooked. And I learned there was more. So this month I am reading Me, Myself & Bob: A True Story About Dreams, God, and Talking Vegetables by Phil Vischer.

I guess you can say that I needed some lighthearted reading after finishing last month's book club selection, Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy.