Gluten Free Anyone?

14 years ago I began cooking gluten free. Back when it was HARD. When the "can't have these ingredients" list was over a page long and they used the scientific names for everything. I have literally cried in a grocery store thinking my child would starve to death. There was no place near where we lived to buy rice flour, and the stuff we could find was very gritty, so I had to grind it myself. I used a coffee grinder. I spent hours on way too many Saturdays making flour to make bread because my boy's favorite food was a sandwich, and that was literally the only way he'd get one. NO restaurants had gluten free menus back then. They'd never heard of gluten. My 3 year old ate from the salad bar all the time.

Then I didn't cook gluten free for about 6 years. Oh, the bliss! I gave away my recipes, my everything associated with gluten free to the poor folks around me who were trying out this crazy way of life.

Then about 6 years ago two of my children and myself were diagnosed with Celiac Disease. And we went gluten free again. It is a whole different ball game these days, folks. Back then I had two or three websites I could go to for recipes. Now, there are TONS!

I'm not saying it is easy. It is never easy to go completely and totally gluten free, but we've come a long way!

Now this past year or so my dad has been told by a couple of his doctors to try gluten free (nothing to do with Celiac, as far as I know he has never been tested). He dabbles, but hates the taste of all things gluten free. He likes to cook and bake and use the smoker. He grows his own herbs and veggies. He's kind of a 'foodie' and asking him to go gluten free is an anathema

Apparently he was watching "America's Test Kitchen" and heard about their gluten free cookbook.

America's Test Kitchen's I Can't Believe it's Gluten Free.

Well he ordered one. Not for me, for himself. (Maybe there is hope that he will follow his doctor's advice after all. Maybe he ordered it just so he can make great gluten free recipes for me and the kids. He loves us that much, so I would not be too surprised.)

I was at their house this last week and picked it up. My first thought was sarcasm, "Oh how nice, ANOTHER gluten free cookbook. Blah, blah, blah..." You see, I'm not a big fan of gluten free cookbooks. I have several. I used to collect cookbooks actually. But now I have PINTEREST. My cookbook collection collects dust downstairs in the basement. I don't subscribe to gluten free (or any) magazines anymore for the same reason. I. Love. Pinterest. Love, love love. Never do paper again, right?! No hunting - which book was that in??? Store notes right there with it. WONDERFUL!

No more cookbooks for me...

But then I opened it and began reading. It was there, I was there... no commitment. Like everyone does at Barnes and Noble. Within 15 minutes I had my husband ordering ME one. Today I will explain why you may want to as well.

I began to read it like a book. No cook involved. I began to devour it. The MAIN thing that got me is that they explain the science behind their ingredients. Starting with the science of gluten. Now anyone who has had Celiac or been on a gf diet more than a month knows that gluten is a protein found in wheat and other grains. And that it helps breads and other goodies have elasticity which is why we add in guar gum or xantham gum to our gf recipes. Yawn.

But this book went into the differences between all-purpose, cake and bread flours -- did you know they have differing amounts of protein? Those differences in WHEAT flours give them each their various characteristics. My interest piqued. They went on to talk about water content in gluten development and how mixing time affects gluten. Then they spent pages covering the reasons we have flour in recipes - to thicken, coat, build structure, etc.

Now, are you wondering WHY they would spend all those pages discussing how wheat flour behaves in recipes when we can't have wheat flour in our recipes???

You see, we use flour for a reason - a purpose. By understanding the role or purpose of the four in each recipe we can substitute the various ingredients needed to accomplish those same purposes.

I hope the light bulbs are not just going on, but shattering in your head like they did in mine. You see, understanding the Science behind the gluten leads to developing recipes that behave like they should.

Here is an excerpt illustrating how thorough this book covers the flour differences, "There's one more issue to consider when replacing wheat flour in baked goods. Wheat flour contains a starch content of roughly 75%. Most gluten-free fours contain an even higher starch content, which means they can impart a gritty texture to baked goods. In effect, there's too much starch and not enough protein."

This book solves the problems of substitution in a scientific way. On page nine they have a whole troubleshooting section. If you have this type of recipe, and this problem, try this idea. For instance, if your cake is too dense, "use less fat or more stable fat like chocolate or cream cheese."

All of these recipes are based on scientific research and the opinions of taste testers. They tested the recipes with commercial blends and their own homemade blend. They evaluated several store-bought flour blends in several recipes and list the results on page 11.

I've never seen their show, but I get the feeling from my mom and dad that this is how they approach every recipe.

Because I really miss eating my mother-in-law's homemade yeast rolls at all our holiday gatherings, I decided to try out the Dinner Rolls recipe.

Under the picture of each and every recipe, are notes from their gluten free testing lab. For this one, you can see in the picture above, they tested both Bob's Red Mill and King Arthur's flours. Listing the results of using these two popular and easy to find brands.

They also discuss Psyllium husk, a necessary ingredient in their bread recipes. It is easy to find -- don't go to a natural foods place and spend more money than you have to. It can be found in the Health and Beauty department at your local super market - it is with the Metamucil and other fiber laxatives. You want plain, unflavored, with no other ingredients.

Of course, like every gf cook book I've ever seen, they have developed their own flour blend. It is not complicated to make. I liked how they give the results of using other flour blends, though, and it really gives credibility to their methods.

The next part of the recipe is my favorite part: "WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS."

This section discusses the ways they changed the recipe to accommodate the gluten free flour and still get the desired results.

Love, love  love! They do this for each recipe. It fascinates me. (Remember I am a homeschool mom. Perhaps that is why I love reading this section. So much to learn!)

Then we have the recipe.

Dinner Rolls
Makes 8 rolls (I made 16 small rolls ~Staci)

1 1/3 cups warm water (110 degrees), plus 1 teaspoon water
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 large egg and 1 yolk, plus one egg
15 ounces (3 1/3 cups) ATK Gluten-Free Four Blend (the recipe is given on page 13)
1 1/2 ounces (1/2 cup) nonfat dry milk powder
2 tablespoons powdered psyllium husk
2 tablespoons sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons instant or rapid-rise yeast
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus a pinch
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces and softened

1. Spray a 9-inch round cake pan with vegetable oil spray.

I used a cupcake pan and cupcake liners both times I made this recipe this week. I made 12 then 16 rolls. The rolls were small, but that was by design. 

Whisk 1 1/3 cups warm water, lemon juice, and 1 egg plus yolk  together in bowl. Using stand mixer, fitted with paddle, mix flour blend, milk powder, psyllium, sugar, yeast, baking powder and 1 1/2 teaspoon salt together on low speed until combined. Slowly add water mixture and let dough come together, about 1 minute, scraping bowl down as needed. Add butter, increase speed to medium and beat until sticky and uniform, about 6 minutes.

2. Working with generous 1/3 cup dough at a time, shape into rough rounds using wet hands, and arrange rolls in prepared pan (1 in center and 7 spaced evenly around edges). Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until doubled in size (rolls should press against each other), about 1 hour. (Risen rolls can be refrigerated for up to 4 hours.)

This recipe comes with an additional tip.

Here is what I did:

I set them in the living room near the fireplace to rise. It is a little cold in the kitchen.

3. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly beat remaining 1 egg, 1 teaspoon water and pinch of salt in bowl until combined. Remove plastic and brush rolls with egg wash. Bake until tops are golden brown, 35 to 40 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking.

4. Let rolls cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes, then invert onto rack; reinvert rolls and let cool for 10-15 minutes. Break rolls apart and serve warm.

MY rolls didn't get inverted. They didn't get put out on a pretty plate. In fact, I hardly got a picture before they were all slathered in butter and gobbled up. We'd eaten dinner (yes, that is the green bean pan still on the stove) and everyone was waiting on the rolls. They swarmed... I snapped this picture as quickly as I could. Sorry. It is not a good picture. You can kind of see that they browned nicely. Mostly you can see that the family was excited to eat them! They were all eaten before the pan was completely cool. I made another batch the next day, but I left them rising and went to the store. My sister and mother baked them. They didn't do the egg wash -- they browned just fine. But alas, no picture.

This recipe mentions that the rolls "are best eaten  the day they are made." TRUE. We took the leftover rolls to my in-laws Christmas Day. Not so good. They tasted denser (how can that be even after they were baked??) and drier. In fact, they tasted like store-bought rolls. OK, but not great.

I am completely in love with this cookbook. I am learning the science behind gluten free cooking and I know soon I will be converting my favorite recipes and they will actually turn out good! I am so excited! I will share some family favorites some day. Yay!


Here is an affiliate link to the cookbook on Amazon. If you use this link, I will get a small percentage of the price out of Amazon's advertising budget. It won't affect the price you pay. We bought ours from Amazon simply because they had the best price. I encourage you to shop around, and get the best deal you can. Today I signed up for their affiliate program so I could list this for my readers. In the end, if you do want to order from Amazon, please use this link. Thanks!

Tutorial - Using Google Drive Form Builder to Create the Application for your Craft Show Website

This is a tutorial to go along with my series on Directing a Craft Show.
(See part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4)

In an earlier post, I suggested using Google Drive to create your application and having your website dump the responses to a spreadsheet on your Google Drive. Here I show you how to do that.

There are some advantages to having your application online. One is that you don't have paper applications floating around getting lost or displaying people's personal information. But the main one is that it is easier for vendors to use.

This tutorial is for the mostly techno-illiterate folks out there that like step-by-step instructions. If you like to play around with software and apps to figure them out, well you don't need me - just go for it! Feel free to skip down to the part where we start building the form if you are familiar with Google Drive or already have an account. This tutorial starts at the very beginning for people who like everything spelled out step by tiny step.

Step 1 - Create a Google Account

You need a Google account to do this. If you already have one, skip to step 2.

If you are starting out fresh, and have not done anything for your show except read my blog, set up a brand new Google account for your craft show committee. In the process you will create a Gmail email address. You and your committee will use that email for everything craft show. Seriously, even if your organization already has an email address, you want one for your craft show. Trust me on this. At first you will whine and say, "But Staci, I don't want to have to check ANOTHER email address..." Yes, you do. Trust me. Some day you may be swamped with applications; go on vacation a month before the craft show; unexpectedly have a family member be hospitalized a week out or whatever, and what will you do if the emails are coming to your personal email? You will have to give someone else your personal email account information or forward every single craft show related email to them... Ugh! No! No! No! And what if your organization's president/secretary/techie who checks your organization email accidentally deletes an email you want for the craft show because she is not obsessing on craft show details like you are? Or marks it as read and you miss an application? Listen to me, you want a different account just for the craft show. No one would do these things maliciously, but it is confusing to have event mail and regular organization business email going into the same box. Who needs more confusion?

So stop arguing with me in your mind -- I know you already have your personal email and all that. I know you don't want to check ANOTHER email. You think you will forget. And it will only be used for about 3-4 months out of the year. yes, I know. Go ahead and make a gmail account. Don't worry, I will walk you through it.

Go to www.google.com. In the upper right corner of your screen you should see a blue box that says sign in.

HINT: If you already have a personal account or someone else is signed in, you will see a picture or a blue shadow silhouette circle instead of a Sign In button. If you don't see the sign in box, click on the picture or blue circle and then click to sign the person out. Then go back to www.google.com to continue with this tutorial.

Click on the blue box that says "Sign In." You will be given the option to sign in with any existing accounts on the computer you are using. But don't do that. At the bottom of the list of accounts that are available you will see in blue a link to Add account. Click there.

This will bring up a form for you to fill out to create your account.

You will have to choose a user name for your email. This is your email name. Make it related to your craft show (like MyChurchCraftShow). It should be easy to remember. (BTW, Gmail doesn't care if you use upper or lower case letters, they both "look" the same to gmail, but using upper and lower case can help you and your customers/vendors/etc. see your name easier.)

You will also have to choose a password.

• DO make it easy to remember.
• DO make it generic enough (at least 6 characters with a number) so you can use it for lots of other craft show accounts -- like the accounts you will create to advertise your event.
• DO NOT choose your personal, go-to favorite password. You will be sharing this with others on your committee.  
• DO NOT use the same one you use for financial accounts for your group - like paypal or Square.

If you already have a craft show email somewhere, you don't have to change it, just get a Google account to go with your existing email. When you are filling out the form, select where it says I prefer to use my current email address.

FILL IN THE FORM

You have to give information such as a name and birthday. I am not going to tell you what to do here, but your committee can decide to use a real name and someone's actual information or make something up like "Mrs. CraftShow Committee". That might be the thing to do if you know your director will rotate each year.

Finish the process, which will mean verifying the account in some way. If you used an existing email account, they will send you an email to verify it. You can also verify it via a phone/text. Whatever you choose is fine, just "get 'er done."

Once you are verified, you will be taken to a page to build a profile. You can skip adding a photo and building your public profile, or simply add in some rough details. I'm not covering that part in this tutorial. You can add as many details as you like. Come on back here when you are done to move on to the next step.

Step 2 - Sign in to your Google Account

OK, glad to have you back!

Now we are ready to build a form in Google Drive! Yay!

Sign in to your Google account. Go to www.google.com and click the blue box that says "Sign In."

You may already be signed in depending on your settings. You can verify that by looking at the top right hand corner of the screen. It may be a little different from this based on your preferences, but at the top, you should see a menu bar that looks something like the one below. It will have +You instead of +Staci, but it should look pretty close to this if you are signed in. If you added a profile picture, that picture will be in a circle at the top instead of a blue silhouette.

See that icon that looks like a set of 9 blocks? That icon is for Google Apps. Click on that icon and a screen pops up with some app choices. One of those apps is Google Drive. The picture (icon) for Google Drive looks like a triangle. Click on Google Drive.

TIP: Since you will be coming to this page often, during the few months preceding your event, I recommend you go ahead and bookmark this page and add it to your bookmark bar. [Did you know you can just put the icon on the bar instead of the whole name?]

The very first time you sign in to Google Drive, you will see this pop-up:

It will kind of walk you through some of the general features of Drive. Go ahead and hit the X in the gray box to get out of it. You can always go back through it later by clicking on the picture of Drive that says "...get started..." as seen behind the pop-up windows below.

MAKE A FOLDER

You don't HAVE to make a folder, but I need one because I didn't have a separate account for our craft show. (See, you get to learn from my experience!!) So I keep the show documents separate from say my homeschool documents and church documents with folders.

HOWEVER, even if you DO have a separate account for your show (which really, really, really you should!!), you can keep each year's documents organized by making folders, so you might as well go ahead and make one now. It won't hurt, I promise!

Do you see that red button that says "New" on the left side of the screen? Click it. A list will appear showing the new things you can make. Choose Folder by clicking on the word. You will now give your folder a name, like "Craft Show 2015" and ta-da! You have created a folder.

Now you will see your folder in the middle of the screen. It may look a little different depending on whether you have a list (like in the photo below) or icons (like the Drive icon above).

Double click to open your folder.

Now let's make that form!

Step 3: Using Google Form Builder to Build an Online Application for Your Craft Show

Click on the red New button again. See at the bottom of your list of choices it says More? Click on More. You should see Google Forms. Select (click on) Google Forms.

By the way, if you like icons more than lists or lists more than icons, you can change the way your screen looks with the icons on the upper right hand of your screen. [Play with that later! Not now.]

Your brand new form will not be very pretty (yet). First look at the top where it says Form Settings. You have some options there. 

You can opt to let the people who are filling it out know how much progress they have made. (Well sure, why not? Especially if you want a LOT of information.) 

You can allow only one response per person -- if you choose this option you will have to have them log in. I don't recommend that. 

You can shuffle the order of the questions. (Great for teachers making an online quiz, not so great for a craft show application.)

Once you have made your decisions, its time to actually make the application.

You need to click where it says "Untitled form" and give it a good name like "My Craft Show Application 2015" or "The Best Craft Show Application Ever Made" or something like that which will suit your show and not upset your committee. Something that lets you know what this thing is in case you get all excited about forms and make 20 of them for every part of your organization. The date is a good idea in case you change it next year. [Ya never know, you might open up a new space or offer new options or something else equally wonderful next year and make this application obsolete. :-)]

So name it well. Then let's begin to make it.

For each question on the application, you have several choices to make and information to provide. Question Title, Help Text, Question Type, Advanced Settings and Required Question. We will cover each one in turn below. 

As you finish one question and are ready to add another, click on the "Add Another" button to go to the next question.

Question Title

The Question Title is simply the particular information you are looking for, like the vendor's name. I'd start with that one. Type in what you want to know. Be specific. For several of our applications I had the first name and last names as separate blanks/questions on our applications. I did this so I could sort the data table by last name (which is helpful for check in!). This last year I had them both in the same field and sorted by first name. Ha! It worked! People know both and tell you both when they check in. So, do whichever suits you bets. First Name, Full Name, Vendor Name or just Name. 

Help Text

Just in case there is confusion, there is a field for Help Text where you can clarify. ("Please tell us your first and last name.") Most of the time the questions you are going to ask are pretty standard and do not need an explanation, but just in case, you've got a line here to explain yourself. [By the way, Help Text is optional.]

Required Question

Not all questions should be required. Not all vendors have a website. Not all have a business name. But if you have to have some information (name and contact info for sure!), then make sure the box is checked. Otherwise vendors won't give you that information and you will be scrambling to get it.

Question Type

The next choice you have to make is Question Type. There are several options to choose from. When you click on the button, a list will pop up to choose from. 

So you need to select which type of answer you are looking for. 

TEXT/PARAGRAPH TEXT

Most of your questions will be Text or Paragraph Text, which is just a longer area to leave an answer. A text box is just what it sounds like, the person answering the question merely types in their answer. You will use text for their name, phone number, business name, website, etc.

MULTIPLE CHOICE

You might choose Multiple Choice if you are asking a yes/no question like, "Are you a returning vendor?" In this case you will give them two choices. If you have multiple rooms, and they get to chose you can list the rooms. You can even ask the vendors to give you their first room choice then in the next question ask them for their second room choice, etc. 

Multiple choice answers are mutually exclusive. When you choose one, you automatically don't choose the other choices. If you want vendors to be able to choose more than one answer, use checkboxes. 

CHECKBOXES

If you ask them to categorize their merchandise, you might use Checkboxes and allow them to choose multiple answers. For instance, I might ask, "What kind of merchandise do you sell?" and it look like this:

And if you click on the blue "add other" option, it will add a checkbox for "Other" and allow the person filling out the form to specify what that "Other" thing is. (Maybe you will change your application next year if you have lots of people selling blue stars. :-)

CHOOSE FROM A LIST

Choosing from a list is pretty much like multiple choice. It looks like Checkboxes without the boxes. It is a good option when you want them to choose one item from a number of choices. It has a really great feature: Depending on the choice they make, you can direct them to another page.

OTHER QUESTION TYPES

I am not sure of a use for Scale, grid, date or time (each response is automatically date and time stamped when the answers are submitted) for a craft show application. If you know of one, comment! I'll update my tutorial.

Advanced Settings

So, you are trucking right along making up your application questions (good job!) and you notice that the different question types have something called "Advanced settings." These are some really cool options for data validation and data formatting. If you are starting to get overwhelmed, feel free to skip past this part. Everything else is optional here. But in the name of thoroughness, I'll cover them for ya.

Each question type has their own advanced settings except for text and paragraph text, which are the same. Mostly this is for data validation purposes. My hubby is a computers guy and he talks about data validation all the time, so by osmosis I kind of know what that is. Basically, it is a test that can be done to make sure someone is giving you a real answer, a valid answer. So you get the kind of answer you are expecting.

Let's look at each in turn.

Text and Paragraph Text: There are a number of data validation settings you can use for text. If you want to explore your options, click the checkbox that says "Data Validation." 

Numbers: For instance, if you want them to tell you how many widgets they have sold in the last 3 months, you can choose number and specify that it is greater than 1. 

If you have asked for their phone number, a data validation choice you can make is to chose number, and specify that the number is greater than, 1000000000 which in phone number formatting would look like (100)000-0000. If your vendor doesn't put in his area code (which we have to have these days, but people assume you know), this kind of data validation would send the vendor an error and make them re-enter their data. 

Text: You have some further options here, like you can have the form check to see if they have entered a valid website URL, email address, or contains a certain word or text string.

Multiple Choice: The only option is to shuffle the order of the choices. If you were getting an opinion, this would help eliminate bias. If you were a teacher giving a test this would help eliminate cheating. But for our purposes, I'm not sure shuffling would help us, so leave it off.

Checkboxes: The data validation options have to do with how many selections can be made. Check "Data Validation" then "select at least", "select at most" or "select exactly". Then put in the number. So if you want your vendor to choose no more than three of your seven choices, you would choose "select at most" and type in 3. Then, you can add a custom message to be displayed if the vendor chooses more than 3 such as - "Please limit your choices to 3." Pretty straightforward. You also have the option to shuffle the option order.

Choose from a list: Since you can only choose one option, there is really no data validation. The only option is to shuffle the option order.

I won't go into the advanced options for the other types of questions because I don't think you will use them. Again, if someone can come up with a good example of how we'd use them for a craft show application, I will add them to my tutorial here and possibly to my application for 2015. (Hey, I have a LOT of experience, but I'm not above learning a new trick. I'm not that old!)

Finish asking all the questions you want to ask. Look back over your form by using the scroll bar or the arrow keys. You can move them around by clicking and dragging the whole question section up or down. After adding all the questions and making sure it looks like you want it to look, click the big blue button at the bottom that says "Done." 

Make yourself you favorite beverage to celebrate!! Do the happy dance!!

Actually, when you click "Done" you will gt this screen:

You have more choices to make. What do you want to happen when the vendor finishes the application? You can check or uncheck all of these. 

You DO NOT want to check the box that is checked above, "Show link to submit another response" because you don't want the vendor to submit another form. 

You DO NOT want to publish and show a public link because you don't want the vendor to see other vendor's information.

You may or may not want to allow responders to edit responses. I'd say NO. 

So uncheck all three boxes and click "Send Form" and this new screen pops up:

From here you can send the form via email or link it to your Google+, Facebook or Twitter account. If your website is up and running, click on the "Embed"  button. This will bring up the HTML code for the form that you can add to your website.

You will copy and paste the whole HTML code from this text box. It is way longer than what shows. When you click on the text (anywhere), it will highlight the whole thing and a little message pops up that says, "Press Ctrl+C to copy." Hold down the Control key and press the C key to copy the entire code. Then open your website builder program and paste it in where you want it.

Don't forget to publish the changes to your website. Close the website builder website and open the website. Test your form by filling it out and submitting it. 

CHECK the answers by going back to Google Drive. You will now see your form and your form with "(responses)" after it. The responses document is the one you want to open. Check out the submitted form. If you need to make changes, click on the original form and change as needed. Don't forget to recopy it to your website and republish your website. 

Then, when it is working just as you like, seriously, pour yourself that beverage and do the happy dance because you are so done. Woo Hoo!

Directing a Craft Show - Part 4 - Advertising for Vendors

This is a continuation of a series of posts on directing a craft show as a fundraiser for your church or community organization. This is pretty much how we have done it the last several years. It may or not work for you. Here are the other parts: Part 1, part 2, part 3.

Today's post is about getting vendors, which goes along with the first step in advertising. From what I have seen in the past 3 months, most small shows do not do enough advertising for vendors. My guess is that the organizers do not know how. I was so worried about getting vendors that I hyper-focused on this part the first few years. When I was co-director, this was the biggest part of what I did.

If you are doing a show to raise money for a church or organization like we are, your income is from your vendor booth fees. In the beginning vendors will be a little wary of your show. They will ask a lot of questions about how you plan to advertise for shoppers. You will want to make sure your price is low. It needs to be worth it for the vendors so you start building a good reputation for the show. After a few shows you can raise your price and vendors will still be happy to come.

Once you have a few shows under your belt, vendors will look forward to your show and sign up early. But the first couple of shows you will have to work to get vendors. If they don't know about your show they can't sign up, so you have to get the word out. But if you spend a lot of money advertising the event to vendors you cut into your profit and you still have to advertise for shoppers.

Vendors at the Jenks Church Craft Show.

So how do you find vendors for free or very little money?? What work can you do to be sure your event is full? Read on dear friend, and learn from my experience.

The best way to find vendors is to have your event EVERYWHERE on the web at least three months out. At least! Especially for your first several shows. Even though you will get a ton of vendors applying in the last three weeks, you need to have your information out there as early as possible. Waiting till the last minute is STRESSFUL!

The more places you list it, the more places will pick it up your event and add it to their own calendar. This is FREE ADVERTISING! We once had our event listed in a community calendar in a utility bill for a city about 30 minutes away from our venue city. I have  no idea how that happened, but yay! If you think about it, things like that do not happen if you wait until the last minute to list your event. And the more times this happens, the more advertising you have FOR FREE! And the more often a vendor hears about your event the better it sounds to them. The more places they see it listed the more likely they are to apply.

Think about it from a vendor's perspective for a moment: How do you find shows to be in? Most people do a very simple online search or ask other vendors at shows, (who have already done a simple search). Google is your friend! Put in your city and "craft show" and see what comes up.

Open a new tab and do it now. I'll wait.

What do you see? Any shows come up multiple times?

This is what your vendors are doing. This is how they are finding shows. So you need to have your show listed on enough places that you are on the first page of a search engine. Even without your own website. You do that by posting it on all the free event listing sites you can find. But don't worry. I've done some hunting for you and came up with a list. Because I am doing a show in Jenks, Oklahoma, the links may not all be helpful to you. Several are specific to my area. But it will get you started.

MOST online event calendars are free for posting. Not all, but I don't pay for listings. I pay for several different kinds of advertising, but not to list the show for vendors. I can list my show and have it on 30 calendars without paying, so why would I spend my advertising money on an online listing? I have never had trouble getting vendors. NEVER. You won't either if you do what I do.

So, three or four months out, start listing your event on websites. This takes time. It isn't hard, but it is tedious. You will get so tired of typing a show description!

HINT: (I gave you this hint in my last post. Copy and paste the information from your first listing -- which you went through at www.craftlister.com as you wrote your guidelines -- and send it to yourself in an email. So you can copy and paste.

Here are some sites where you can list your event online:

General Event Sites (These are websites that list for multiple types of events and in multiple areas. Vendors can search for their area. You make your listing on the general site.):
Craft Lister/Event Lister www.craftlister.com
Leisure and Sport Review - http://www.lasr.net/addEvent.php
http://www.festivals-and-shows.com/submit-a-festival.html
https://www.eventbrite.com
http://www.artsandcraftshows-usa.com/Listing.shtml
http://festivalnet.com/festival_listings.html

General Local Event Sites: (These are general sites, but you must go to the local subsite for your area to make your listing.)
http://craigslist.org/ (There are a few places you can put listings - certainly make a craigslist event, but also do a "vendors wanted" ad in arts and crafts, too.
http://local.yahoo.com/
www.WhoFish.com Be sure to let them know if you are a church or non-profit doing the show -- they have a special deal for charities.
http://www.nordster.com

OKLAHOMA Sites:
http://www.travelok.com/ Get your information to them early enough and you will be in their printed magazine as well as their online calendar.
http://www.okmag.com/event-calendar/

TULSA Area Specific Sites (Find these kind of sites in your area.):
http://www.visittulsa.com/events/
http://www.tulsapeople.com/Tulsa-People/Things-To-Do/
http://www.tulsaworld.com/calendar/
http://www.tulsakids.com/Alternative-Calendar-Page-with-Monthly-Calendar-View/
http://tulsaevents.com/
http://www.kxoj.com/calendar/events/
http://www.newson6.com/category/286093/events-calendar
http://www.kjrh.com/entertainment/calendar (link is at the bottom of the page)
http://www.k95tulsa.com/s/ccec/ If you would like your community event posted here, email the event info and artwork to Kim.Dallow@coxinc

I know these are not all the radio stations. I need to add more next year.

This page lists event calendars for Tulsa. Keep pages like this bookmarked in case they add a new links that you don't have. http://www.tulsaweb.com/calevent.htm

It may take a bit of searching to find your local places. One thing you can do is to search for a local event you know about. I am telling you, Google is your friend! Everywhere you find that other event, look into listing your event.

Word of mouth & print advertising.
This really overlaps with advertising for the shoppers. I will have a whole separate blog post on that. But any advertising you do for shoppers early enough will bring in vendors, so you need to do some of it early on.

You need flyers for your event. Color if possible. At least on colored paper. Find yourself a volunteer who will make you some cute graphics. [Think brand. Nike swish, Santa's red hat, etc. The thing that sticks in people's mind.]

Choose an image that will work for you for years to come. We have a beautiful teal green and flowers design on all our signs. Now that we only have a fall show it kinda bugs me, because it is kind of "Spring-y" but it is on too many things to change it now. Any time I see anything remotely like it I think of the craft show. I want the vendors to be like that, too. You want YOUR vendors to be like that. And your shoppers. So choose wisely.

HINT: You can get a logo designed for $50 on Etsy. (Our design is worth way more than the $50 logos I've seen, and our gal designs our signage, posters, etc. -- you won't get that for $50, but perhaps your volunteer could start with a logo and add in your info.) You will use this for YEARS, so it is OK to invest a little in it. It is just hard the first year because there is so much to buy.

Have at least 3 people check your design for all signage, flyers, etc. Typos, readability, focus and clarity. Do the people immediately know what it is? Do they know when and where? Is the date correct? (I accidentally printed 100 full-page color flyers with the wrong date this year -- ouch!)

Once you have flyers designed you have to print them. In house is cheaper, but if you don't have a good printer, check around for the best price, You want some full page size flyers (I print 100), but for handing out to folks a half page is fine. (Print 200 2-to-a-page flyers. I'll get to this more later with other advertising.) Save the file as a PDF and a graphic like .JPG, You can add .jpg files to most of your website listings, but not all will take PDFs.

You can also start handing them out. Give 10 to every member of your committee and 5 to every member of your group and ask them to hand them out to people who might be interested in being a vendor. (Later you can pass them out to everyone.)

Go to craft shows and pass them out to the vendors. (Some shows will let you put flyers out at the info desk. Don't be shy - ask them!)

Have stacks available at all the events your group has in the months prior to your show. 

If you are a church, send a flyer to the other churches in your area. 

We hang posters in the downtown area of the little city where we have our show about a month out. We have vendors call every year because of those posters. The first year, if I had known how many vendors it would bring, I would have put them out earlier. That is your call. Some businesses have a time limit. You might do one poster for vendors (that says "Now Accepting Vendors") and then a month before the show change it out with the one for the show/shopping (that lists how many vendors you will have).

For many of our shows we had our teens hang flyers in the neighborhoods around our venue. We always asked permission from the neighborhood associations, and never had a problem, but over time we felt banners, yard signs and other advertising was a better use of our time and money. But I won't stop putting up the flyers in the shops. I get way too many vendors that way.

FACEBOOK
It goes without saying that your event needs a facebook page. You want a group page. I will do a different blog post on doing that and not take up room here. A simple tutorial with tips and things to avoid. But just put it on your to do list. You must have a facebook page for your event. NOT JUST AN EVENT.

In addition to creating your own group page, you can advertise your show all over facebook on various other group pages. Specifically, groups of people who want to know about craft shows. And it is EASY to find them!

Open your facebook account in a new tab. Go ahead. I'll wait.

In the facebook search bar, type the word craft.

You will see a list of people and groups you are associated with that have craft in the name, but below that will be an option to list all groups with craft in the name. There are currently over 1000. The majority of those groups have something to do with craft shows or craft vendors. You can narrow your search by adding a city name (i.e. Tulsa craft). Look at each group's description. If it is a group of crafters in your area, you want to contact that group. You can change the city name and even search for your state. In all, you may have anywhere from 10-20 facebook groups who would be willing to post your show information.

Now, don't go joining all those groups unless you just want to. You can message the group owner and ask them to post the information about your show. Give the group owner the information in text form (just the basics) and a flyer in picture format (.jpg), and ask if they would please pass it along to the group. Most of them will be happy to do it and will thank you!

Some Oklahoma Facebook groups with potential vendors:
https://www.facebook.com/OklahomaCraftFairs
https://www.facebook.com/groups/vintagetulsa/?ref=br_rs
https://www.facebook.com/groups/443068632472852/?ref=br_rs
https://www.facebook.com/groups/148765371833671/?ref=br_rs

There are way too many to list here... But you get the idea. Just do a search and find yours.

And these groups are specifically for craft show vendors in OK.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/678334935514268/ Vendor Events in Central & Northeast Oklahoma
https://www.facebook.com/groups/234212846747360/ Vendors in NE Oklahoma/TULSA
https://www.facebook.com/groups/CraftShowVendorChitChat/ Craft Show Vendor Chit Chat

You can also use the graphic from your show as your picture on facebook - either your background, profile picture or at least post it to your wall as a status update every so often. Send the graphic to every person in your organization and ask them to do the same at least for the week or two before the show. The same picture on several people's walls gets attention.

And don't forget to send an invitation to the event to everyone you know in the area. Even guys.

Other places to get vendors
Etsy - www.etsy.com - Etsy is an online marketplace for handmade goods. In other words, a bunch of crafters list their stuff for sale there. This is a great place to get vendors -- vendors with stuff you like! You know you will like it because you get to see it! At the main page, you can scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page and see a variety of site navigation links. Under where it says Join the Community is a link to teams. If you click on teams you can do a search for teams in your area or state. There are 24 teams in Oklahoma at the moment. Teams are just groups of Etsy crafters with a common interest. So check out the teams. The first one listed in Oklahoma, "Oklahoma Crafters" has this description: "If you craft and you live in Oklahoma feel free to join, no matter what you craft you are welcome. This is a group that will hopefully help one another, with any questions they may have. Either actual crafting, website help, sales in general, classes and Crafting fairs." Right there in the description is the fact that they are interested in craft fairs, which is another name for craft shows. SO this group is most likely going to be VERY OPEN to advertising your show for you. You can click on the members button and see the members. This particular group has 26 members, 2 of them are considered leaders. You can find the leaders by selecting the leaders tab of the members page. Click on the leaders name (in blue) and it takes you right to their personal page. You can click on contact and start a conversation with the leaders. Ask them if you an send them a flyer to post to the group's discussion page or if you can email the group.

This is time-consuming, but very targeted, which means it pays off in vendors. This is VERY EFFECTIVE!

You can also search for all vendors in your area and email them individually. Tell them you found them on Etsy and why you want them to be in your show. (I love your necklaces. Your doll clothes are so cute.) Don't add them to your mailing list or anything. Let them know you are not going to continue spamming them. :-)

Another way to get vendors is to go to show websites and contact the vendors listed. If they have done a show, they usually do lots of shows. So they usually do not mind being told about another show. Be honest, tell them you saw that they were a vendor for Indie or whatever show website you saw them on, and you wanted to invite them to your show.

Some OKLAHOMA shows that list their vendors:
(Mine) www.jenkschurchcraftshow.com
Indie Emporium - http://www.indieemporium.com/makers/

And one more "hard way" to get vendors -- go to facebook pages of local events such as this one https://www.facebook.com/ChristmasAtTheLodge Christmas at the Lodge in Mustang, OK. Look at the people who have "liked the page;" or that this page has "liked;" and people who have posted to the group page. Many of them will be vendors - you can tell from the names or comments. If someone comments "Thanks for letting me come out and sell my carved pumpkins at your show" that is pretty much a giveaway. If their name is "Pretties and Punkins" you can kind of guess.

Do you see how a bit of effort can really yield a lot of vendors? You can do this! Really! Getting vendors is work, but it is not horribly hard and difficult.

However, KEEPING vendors coming back is the best way to get vendors. As you get a reputation for running a good show, your vendors will return year after year. Then you don't have to put as much effort into getting the space filled. You have to turn people away, and that feels nice.

Directing a Craft Show - Part 3 - Guidelines and Applications

This is a continuation of the series of posts on directing a craft show. By the time you get to this part in the process, you should have a venue and figured out how many vendors you can host. See my post How to Direct a Craft Show pt 1: The Space. And you have talked to your group and gotten a committee or at least some people to help and approvals, etc. Read about talking points and prices, etc. in this post How to direct a craft show part 2.

Before you start advertising for vendors you have to have an application and vendor guidelines. You CAN do a Google search for craft shows and copy someone else's guidelines. However, a great way to figure out your guidelines is to walk through listing your event on www.craftslister.com. This will help you decide what you want your show to be like. It will cover more than your vendor guideines and give you a really good picture of what you want your show to be like, If nothing else, you should do this with your committee so you are all on the same page.

Hint: Copy and save your answers to use on other websites, too. :-) Seriously! Copy and paste this information into a word file and save it.

This website is SO very thorough. For example, it has a place for your event address, facility name and facility description. So if your event is at the Circle-K building at the QuickTrip Fairgrounds, you can have all those details in your listing. In your guidelines, you will want to list these details and details such as what will you do if there is bad weather? (Mostly this is for rain and outside events, but in the winter you might have a policy for snow.) Walk through this event lister with your committee and make your decisions. Will it be a juried show? What will the hours be?

Once you have walked through this event lister, write up your vendor guidelines. Save them as a PDF with the date in the footer. You will most likely change them, and will want to make sure everyone has the right ones each year. Every potential vendor needs to read and agree to your guidelines before they are accepted as a vendor. You must be willing and able to hold vendors to them. [Your reputation is built on your guidelines and how well you follow them.]

When you have your guidelines you need to write an application. Make it as short as possible. Really think about each point of information you as for. Do you really need their address? Will you ever send the vendor something in the mail? Maybe not, but a second phone number might be handy. You have to decide. Again, you can look at what other similar craft shows ask for, then tweak it to make it fit your event.

Once you have an application, you have to decide how you will accept applications. Email? Snail Mail? Online?

Your show will need an email account. Even if you don't do online applications you will want to be able to field questions via email. Don't use your personal information for this. (Except your phone number if you need to.) Set up a freebie email - I suggest gmail if you want to use the form builder.

Starting out you may not have a website. You may be able to add a section to your organization's website. But that may be a lot of trouble, so maybe not. For our first several shows we used our church website and basically had a page of information. People emailed or called and we sent them an application via email. They printed it and sent it in with their check for their booth. Then we set up our own website and people printed the app and sent it in. Then we had a form so people could send the application online and pay through PayPal. There are pros and cons for each of these. Let's chat about this. (Seriously, I need to process this again myself. Feel free to comment below. I'd love to hear your thoughts.)

All paper - they print the application and mail it in  with their check/money order.

The POSITIVE: You don't have vendors approved and then stiff you on their booth fees. if the fees are submitted with their application, you can approve them right away. This really saves a headache! It is a mess trying to match up payments with applications.

The NEGATIVE: Vendors don't like to print applications, and getting them mailed is a pain. Vendors have to send in money before they are approved, which means you will have to return some. That is hard for a vendor. So you will field a lot more phone calls and emails. Refunds are harder (you have to get a check cut, etc.)

All online - they submit their application online and pay with an online payment method such as paypal.

The POSITIVE: No paper. No checks. Refunds are easy. Applying is easy.

The NEGATIVE: Setting this up is not so easy. (We will talk about this in another post.) Vendors will apply and not pay. You will have to watch and keep track of  the payments. Vendors who don't have access to computers can't apply.

A mixture - all applications are online but payments can be online or via mail. This is what we have done the last two years.

The POSITIVE: Vendors love it. Applying is easy. You can approve vendors before asking them to pay. 

The NEGATIVE: Setting this up is not so easy. Vendors will apply and not pay. Vendors who don't have access to computers can't apply. But the biggie is: You will have to watch and keep track of  the payments both online and in the mail.

This coming year I am going to update our website to be better for our apps & payment management purposes.  I'm going to allow vendors to apply and pay online or send in the application with a payment. But they can't apply online and send a check in the mail. If they want to send a check they have to print the application and mail it with the check. That was a nightmare this year and we had more vendors than ever not show up. When we went back and looked, every one of them said they'd mail in a check.

[We will not be making this mistake again. We will not have empty booths and vendors moving during set up.]

Here is what we do:

We use Weebly for our website right now. Although we upgraded to a pro account, we still have a pretty basic website. If you choose to have a website, you need to make sure you have good information on your website. [I want to add more information for vendors - links to advice pages and stuff like that. I also hope to add a links page for me of links to websites I advertise the show on. As I add the ads each year, I will link to the specific ads. Hopefully...]

We used Go Daddy to register our name. For my personal website, I use Go Daddy for everything. Weebly is better for some things and Go Daddy is better for others. And I'm sure there are other companies out there to host or register. But I know nothing about them.

We used Google Docs to make our application (it is a fairly simple form) for our website. When someone applies, it sends the responses to a spreadsheet on my Goggle Docs account and sends an email notification so I know to go look at the information.

HINT: I have not made a tutorial about using Google Docs to make an application for a craft show, but there is a fairly good how to on making a form on the Surfing to Success blog: creating-google-form-to-gather-info It is written for teachers, but I think it gives enough good information to get you there!

So we have a new application that really works well. But, when I changed to this form, I didn't know how to make it tie directly to a cart system so the vendor could make the payment. Right now, I get the information and approve the application then send a paypal request for the correct amount. I know how to add a paypal button so they anyone can make a payment, but I don't know how to have it calculate the right amount. [The reason I send a bill is that we had some issues with people paying the wrong amount.] So even this many years out it is still a process and we are still learning.

Next up: Where to advertise for vendors...

Ragamuffin

We watched the movie Ragamuffin Sunday night. [Here is the website for the movie: http://ragamuffinthemovie.com/.] This movie is sold at Wal-Mart and is currently on Netflix. All photos below are promotional pics from the movie website and are property of Color Green Films.

It is the story of Rich Mullins, the singer/songwriter probably best known for his song, Awesome God. I had never known any of his story. Other than a few of his songs, I knew nothing about him.

In this angst-filled movie, his father is harsh and distant. A cold disciplinarian who never said "I love you." He was constantly critical and not supportive of Rich, even when he was famous and touring. Near the end of the movie, you see the father try to call, and you do see snippets of him trying to be fatherly toward Rich, but he cannot speak when Rich answers the phone, and he drives away when it is obvious Rich wants to talk after a particularly moving concert. The viewer has the impression that Rich never knew his father even tried. Rich was told his father loved him by others, but never heard it or anything directly supportive from his father. There were times of acceptance, but never support or true understanding. There was always a 'felt' criticism, even if it was not stated.

This dysfunctional relationship between father and son forms the backbone of the movie. Rich struggles to please his father and similarly wrestles with understanding God as a loving father who might be pleased to call him 'son'. He spends a lot of time desperate for a good father-figure. He talks and reflects on how this blurred the way he saw God.

He finds a girl in college, and gets engaged to her. It seems life is going to change.

But ultimately he is pushed away from her by the choices they both make. This is, of course, a severe disappointment, and another defining moment in his life.

When times get rough, Rich often turns to alcohol and other self destructive behaviors in his quest to escape the hard times and depression. Although he does manage to find some older men who really help him, Rich is lonely and hurting throughout most of the movie. Disrespectful and mistrusting of authority, he constantly goes AWOL and has trouble fitting in.  Ironically, he becomes quite the authoritarian with others on tour with him.

From the movie website,

‘Ragamuffin’ is based on the life of Rich Mullins, a musical prodigy who rose to Christian music fame and fortune only to walk away and live on a Navajo reservation. An artistic genius, raised on a tree farm in Indiana by a callous father, Rich wrestled all of his life with the brokenness and crippling insecurity born of his childhood. A lover of Jesus and a rebel in the church, Rich refused to let his struggles with his own darkness tear him away from a God he was determined to love. As he struggled with success in Nashville and depression in Wichita, Rich desired most of all to live a life of honest and reckless faith amidst a culture of religion and conformity.

Here is my take-away:

This talented musician wanted desperately to please God. He was a student of the Bible, even as a youth. It became his solace. He loved God. He knew he was a Christian. Yet he struggled to know God, to understand God. Throughout the movie, he struggled to love himself and therefore could not "get" that God loved him. He was profoundly moved to realize that Jesus really, truly loved him.

And it is profound. We sing it in a children's song, but it is one of the most profound tenants of our faith.

However, one of the reasons it is a children's song, is that it *is* a basic tenant of our faith. On the way to pick up my son from work last night I heard a man on the radio talk about this very thing. That Jesus loves us, that God desires a relationship with us, is the foundation and beginning of faith. Oh, so important! But spiritual maturity means we grow from there. We know God loves us, we accept the gift he has given. Then we become students of the word. We come to know of God. And finally, as we mature, we come to know God. Not just knowing about him, but knowing Him - the creator, author and finisher of our faith. Having an intimate relationship with our heavenly father. This is the maturity we strive for. But at times seems so unattainable.

And therein is my 'takeaway' from the movie. The thing that hit me so very much is the baggage that held him back. How authentic was his faith. How 'real' his music and his talks. But oh. so. dark. So very, heavy and weighed down with his past. With baggage.

In the movie, Rich's "baggage" with his earthly father blocked his relationship with his heavenly father. It wasn't until he dealt with that baggage that he finally began to feel"free" -- in his own words. (And we feel a collective sigh from the audience.)

Can you relate? Don't we all? Perhaps not to the degree that Rich did. Perhaps we do not claw and fight against depression and loneliness. Perhaps our baggage has not driven us to drink and in turn damage every relationship in our lives. But nevertheless, don't we all have baggage that holds us back?!

In the movie Rich meets a man, a preacher and recovering alcoholic, Brennan Manning, who tells him about being a Ragamuffin. A ragamuffin is a person who knows they are broken and messy, and in need of a savior.

“The sinners to whom Jesus directed His messianic ministry were not those who skipped morning devotions or Sunday church. His ministry was to those whom society considered real sinners. They had done nothing to merit salvation. Yet they opened themselves to the gift that was offered them." ~Brennan Manning

So, knowing our baggage holds us back, how do we unpack the baggage? How do we let it go?

I know a man who constantly astonishes me. He is an amazing Christian. I once heard his mother say "we never got too close to [him] because he was kind of sickly at birth. We figured he would die." Like Rich's father, his parents didn't say "I love you" - maybe not ever, certainly not that I ever heard. They spoke about him in third person. He doesn't have a lot of pictures (especially compared to his younger brother and sister) from when he was young. To add to the injustice, he was treated badly (I'm talking today there'd be lawsuits and jail time) by a youth minister. His family has been slandered, and neighbors have done him wrong. And there are other little things along the way of life that have happened. Yet he seems to have little or no baggage.

How is it that he is not a bitter old man? Why did he not turn to alcohol or other vices? How did he deal with and unpack that baggage? Why doesn't he hold a grudge? Why does he accept himself and feel his own worth even though his parents didn't? Why isn't he more like Rich and so many others I know whose baggage define them?

I'd like to explore that. How it it that some of us hear a criticism or experience failure and latch on to it like a drowning rat finding a floating log? And others see it as a road sign and take the other lane?

One thing is that this man I know got the girl. They married while she was still in high school. 50 years ago. 50 years. They are still best friends. They go shopping together, and hold hands in public. They have worked together for over 30 of those years. They are both strong Christians whom I'm blessed to know. A good wife is important. To find some one who loves and supports you, who values you for you, even when they know all the yucky side of you -- oh, what a gift! It isn't that she was perfect or baggage-free. Her father died when she was 4. Her mother worked and she practically raised her siblings. Dirt poor, step family, dysfunctional. But they worked through it all together. I think that is a major factor -- someone who loves you and is willing to unpack the baggage with you.

She told me how she has worked through some of their issues -- long walks with God. They live out in the country. She still takes walks often. While she walks she talks to God.

And as importantly, she quiets herself to let Him speak to her. She has a healthy prayer life and she can easily be found in study of the Word. But more than knowing what it says, she listens to it -- takes it in, takes it to heart and lives according to it. They both do that. They both have allowed scripture to permeate their beings. It changes hearts, and it melts baggage. And it helps to develop that intimate relationship with God that is a sign of true maturity.

In the movie, Rich is told to write a letter to Rich from John (his father). He broods and struggles over this letter but finally is able to put into words why others told him his father loved him. How could it be? How can a critical man love the one he disciplines and criticizes? It is a beautiful scene. And it is a great suggestion. Perhaps your baggage is best unpacked on paper. Write a (love) letter to yourself from the person who has wronged you. What can God say through them to you?

Perhaps you need to back up, though. Perhaps it is a feeling of unease that you have yet to define. I am fond of the saying, "it is what it is." It is so much easier sometimes to see the baggage other people carry around than our own. And unless we see it, define it, admit it and own it, we can't get rid of it. This may take some effort. Especially if the issue is with another person. Getting the person to tell you what it wrong is hard. Sometimes they can't define it either and they may have a series of events that hurt them, but even after discussing and apologizing and working through the events you still know you have not gotten to the issue. Sometimes you just have to do what you can and let it be enough. Even if it isn't completely resolved. The person may have died or refuses to talk. Maybe your ex is an avoider and bringing up the past makes them so uncomfortable they just can't do it.

Sometimes when we go to unpack issues, there may be some real mental illness at work. If it is mental illness on the part of another person, the first step might be to learn more about their condition. When you come to understand where they are coming from, you may be able to let go of the hurts and wrongs they have done. I have had to be around a person with mental illness who struggled to keep on her meds. When she was off her meds she was rude, bitter and hateful. She lost touch with reality and often convinced herself that an alternate event somewhat loosely based on reality had occurred. In that kind of situation, finding closure and coming to an agreement about things that happened is next to impossible. She really did believe events happened differently. She "remembered" them happening differently. No talking, arguing or discussing would change her mind. It would only frustrate her because you were lying to her. Setting boundaries and always having a friend (witness) with you can help you keep when dealing with them. But in the end, resolution will most-likely only come within yourself.

If the illness is within you, do not hesitate to get help. It was quite obvious in the movie that Rich Mullins had at times severe depression. I wonder if anyone ever defined and diagnosed Rich's depression. Did he take medication? If not, would it have helped? Dealing with mental illness is hard. When it is you, and you see it, and can recognize you need help, that is a wonderful thing. Help is available. Modern medicine, therapists and counselors can really help. Perhaps you need to see a professional. Don't be shy about it. Get help. Don't feel guilty, embarrassed or afraid. If you were coughing up a lung, you'd go see a doctor, right?

Which reminds me of another way to unpack baggage -- talk to someone.

Now, I'm not talking about blurting out and spewing all your past baggage in front of the ladies' class you are visiting for the very first time. OK?! That may not be the vest venue and may not get you the help you need. Although it is likely to get you attention. You will be remembered. No, those poor ladies won't know what to do at all. One might try to help, but most will just be flustered to know the intimate details of your life when they don't even know your name. I mean talking to a friend who loves you and will be honest with you -- who can help you be accountable to an action plan -- now that is a real workable idea. Talking to a counselor, pastor or therapist can help you not only define a your baggage but also deal with deep-set hurts and issues.

I was once on a ladies' retreat and we did the neatest exercise. The retreat was a a beautiful lake house with lots of land and a long walking trail. We were given tiny ,beautiful bags and the first night filled the bags with rocks symbolizing our baggage. We carried them everywhere. Even small bags of rocks get troublesome and annoying. The next day after our Bible study, we walked with our rocks. We talked to God about them. We spontaneously broke into small groups of two or three and we prayed over those rocks. The, as we came back to the house, we threw them into the lake, Gone. They were gone. There was no getting them back. It was awesome. Yes, it was symbolic, but so many real cares and burdens were thrown away that day. Maybe you need to have a touchy-feely-symbolic gesture to help you rid yourself of the baggage you carry.

I've seen people write their sin, hurts, issues and whatevers on paper and literally nail it to a cross, lay it at the foot of a cross and even burn them in a fire. Sometimes doing something symbolic in the physical world can help us get it done in the mental or spiritual world.

What will it take? How will you get to the next level? How will you get rid of some baggage this week? Fee free to share your ideas here. Someone reading this may be looking for a way to take the next step toward freedom.