Movin' On Up...Way up!!

Last week I called Whistler Advertising to see how much it would cost to place an ad on one of their big High Definition screens. All I heard was $ $ $ $ with a bunch of zeros at the end!

I told them a little about the project and what I was wanting to accomplish. I was told I would be contacted back in about a week. Monday came, no phone call. Tuesday came, no phone call. Wednesday brought the same result. I Got. The. Shaft.

Had I just been blown off by the big guys? I felt like it. Thursday came around and I was ready to stand up and call them! It must have been the A.D.D because I totally forgot to call. Anyway, it was about 4:30PM when I got the call. It was the lady from the Whistler Advertising company.

Here's her offer summed up

They are extending me the opportunity to promote the project on their High Definition screens on any of their available featured signs around Tulsa. In order to have your own sign it would cost close to $4,000 a month, which is out of the question.

She figured I probably didn't have that kind of money, seeing as the name of the blog is Trade Me Out of Debt.

Her second offer was a month of advertising for $400! 

Now that was more like it! Here's what $400 boils down to: The project sign (which is being designed as we speak) would be displayed on a 14x48 High Definition Sign.

Our advertisement would be shared with potentially 7 other people. Each ad would show for a 5 to 6 second interval and then switch to the next ad. This means that our ad would show close to 400 times a day for a month at $400 a month!

This is usually only extended to businesses, but since they are an awesome company they are giving Trade Me Out of Debt a shot!

Here's the deal:

I don't have $400 and you probably don't either. Here's what I've come up with: All it would take is 40 people to chip in $10. Or even better 16 people to throw in $25! Or even better 8 people to toss in $50! Or even as basic as 400 people giving $1. $400 is just $15 a day for like 27 days.

Thats it! I know I'm asking a huge favor, and I wish I could say it would be tax deductible, but at this time it's not because I'm not a non-profit organization. All I'm asking is for one month. I really think this would help get the project out there and going big.

Update: We ended up going with a different idea that would pretty much last forever, thanks to a few very kind individuals. What a blessing that was! You will eventually read about it if you continue to read these past posts. 


PS: This is always an option sometime in the future if anyone out there decides they want to make the above mentioned happen. I'm not sure what the prices would be, hopefully not much different. Anyway, I figured I'd throw that out there :) 

The ORIGINAL Trade Mobile!

It's finally here! 

I call it the "Trade Mobile"

The decal is huge, but gets attention and serves its purpose. It can be read clearly from 100 feet away in the daytime and at least 50 feet at night. 

Do you want one of these freaking huge in your face 48x6 inch decals? I can hook you up, and I might even come put it on your car... that is, if you make a trade with me ;) 

They come in all sizes, but I think this is probably the biggest you would want to get, unless you wanted to put one on your personal hover craft or hot air ballon. Then, and maybe then, I could get you a bigger one. 

My buddy Blaine came up with the design (he's creative like that) and Signs Today in Tulsa, Oklahoma made them. I'm not kidding, we can get ANY size made. 

Anyway, back to the Trade Mobile. I'd even be willing to sticker this thing out. Contact me for details. If you are driving around town and see this bad boy, give me a thumbs up and then go tell a friend about the project. 

My wife isn't much of a fan of it, but oh well. I think it would be so cool to have a van or truck and really deck it out! 

                                                                         

 -----Beep Beep-----

Update on the Polaroid Camera: It has generated some offers... 

The best so far: A pack of homemade beef jerky, and a handmade llama hat thingy from Peru. This trading thing takes patience and a drive to not give up. Not everything comes in big packages. You got to take it a day at a time and just keep on trucking.     

I Got Roids...Trade # 1

Polaroids that is

The seed traded for a Polaroid OneStep Close Up Camera 

+

A new box of Polaroid 600 film that has 10 exposures

Do they even make film for Polaroids anymore? After many hours and countless times of being flagged on Craigslist, I was contacted by an old school mate of mine named Ashley that had seen one of my status updates on Facebook. 

I know what some of you are thinking, "How is it fair if you trade with a friend?" Well, I can say I honestly in no way pushed Ashley to trade with me. More than likely she saw the site and felt sorry for me because I am a 28 year old guy at the time of writing this, who is trying to trade a mustard seed. I suppose I should mention that her husband Mark, (the guy in the red shirt) is one of my best buds and he even takes me hunting (which I am no good at). 

We set up a time to meet and the rest was history. I traveled to a far out city in the middle of nowhere called Collinsville (a rural area in Oklahoma) to make the trade. Upon arriving at their home and entering their house without knocking, (we're good friends, we can do stuff like that) I was greeted by two little ones who were eating their oatmeal and were not about to share. 

Since Ashley was busy trying to get the boys ready for bed, Mark took one for the team and posed for the trade. His boy wanted his 5 minutes of fame and snuck in the pic as well.

I wonder what I will trade the Polaroid for?

 Mark suggested I should try to get a cow

Trade Me Out of Debt Goes International!

I just want to say thank you to everyone reading this crazy adventure. We are getting regular readers from all 50 states as well as: Jordan, India, Canada, Spain, Columbia, Russia, Australia, Malaysia, and the Dominican Republic, as well as may more! Spread the word about Trade Me Out of Debt!

If you are new to the Trade Me Out of Debt website I will catch you up quickly; I'm trading up one yellow mustard seed over a 3 year time frame in order to become debt free. Crazy isn't it?

Read "About the Project" and the past post to get a feel for what's going on. 

Don't get too excited about trying to get the seed! It will be officially traded this evening. 

Follow the "Track My Trades" page to see what I've traded up to so far! 

Thanks for reading!

And the Seed Goes To?

Hahaha! You'll have to wait and find out! 

A few more details need to be worked out and then a new chapter will begin. 

You'll be surprised as to what this little thing brought in.

A Letter to The Seed

To my little mustard seed, 

I've gotten so attached to you. So many hours were invested in trying to trade you on Craigslist.

You've gotten me flagged off Craigslist so much, but yet I kept posting you. Everyone thought you were a joke and no one believed in you.

It was not looking good for your adoption and all hope was about to be lost. I've not told you this yet, but soon you will have a new home.

Two really nice Mommies and Daddies are actually fighting over you. Soon I shall tell you where you are going. So soon. I know you'll be sad to leave but and you might even shed a tear, but I shall care for you until our last days.

I'll package you up and make you look like gold. Someday you'll be the center of attention and everyone will want you.

THE END...Sorry moment of creativity :)

Flag, Flag, Flag, blah, blah, blah

I've been flagged on Craigslist so many times!

Moral of the story: Repost, Repost, Repost!

Anyway, I may have two takers on "the seed". One being a youngster I grew up with and the other being a true blue Craigslister.

My friends first offer: One old polaroid camera. Does anyone even remember how to work one of those? Their second offer: One parenting book. Are you saying my parenting skills are lacking or that you are a better parent than me? It's not like you have it that hard with two kids that look alike ;) I'm just messing with you :)

For the record I am in no way persuading my friend to trade with me, as long as you don't count the 100's of Facebook statuses I beat into the heads of my fellow friends and drill the name "Trade Me Out of Debt" into their minds.

You know it's a catchy name, don't deny it. Moving on.

I had my first "real person" phone call from a gentleman off of  Craigslist this evening. An offer seems to be in the works. I think I've said enough, this should be interesting.


Until next time,
          
-----The Mustard Seed Guy-----

"I Want a Faith"

My brother-in-law helped produce this song at a church in Charlotte North Carolina. He also played the guitar and sings on this particular song . This is the kind of faith I w ant to have. I get the chills every time I hear it. Listen to "I Want a Faith" on iTunes and be uplifted and refreshed. It is only 99 cents. You might be able to listen to it for free, I'm not down on all this technology.

God Provides yet again!

I'll keep this short and sweet.

Today alone we received a $50 Target card and two $50 checks. As I've said  many times, there has never been a day we've gone without since I made my big job change in order to spend more time with my family and get my life straight with God. I left a really good job and took nearly a $17,000 pay cut in the process. I don't regret any part of it. Even though we've faced many hardships since then, God has continued to be faithful to us for whatever reasons.  

Therefore I Tell You...

I'm pretty sure I've turned into a night owl. 

I' always intend on going to bed early, but it never happens. I keep telling myself that once I get "X" done I'll go to bed, but it never happens. It's hard because I find myself really enjoying writing lately. 

I never thought I would say that. In fact. if my past high school self were to travel into the future nearly 10 years later, I'm pretty sure I would get a smack across the head. I hated writing as a kid! 

Anyway, back to what I was going to say. This is what I felt God put on my heart tonight. 

Matthew 6:25-34 NIV

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow? They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

Bless and be blessed. Goodnight!

Lets Talk about Faith

This project is about faith and Gods provision. 

God providing? Many times we expect God to provide something huge, but as I have seen personally sometimes it's just one small thing at a time. At work today I was told that I would not be needed for 2 days this week and next week because our demand was going to be down.

It was understandable, but it still has its impacts financially. Trusting God for His provision is so hard sometimes, especially when you hear news like this. When I came home today, my wife told me that her work gave her a $25 Walmart card! It doesn't seem like much, but think about it, God provided $25 that we didn't have. 

Moral to the story: Fight the good fight, and don't give up. Don't let loose of your Faith. God will provide. It just might be in small ways several times, one step at a time.

Craigslist, Craigslist, Craigslist

I just posted this on the Barter Section of the Tulsa Craigslist and of course it has been flagged more times then I can count. I had to create a new email address because I was eternally banned because I had been flagged so many times.

I didn't do anything wrong, I just think they didn't like my mustard seed. I almost forgot about the above picture! I'm pretty sure this was one of the craziest ideas I've ever come up with. 

I actually sat down and carefully placed each seed. What would you trade me for one of my seeds?

Adios guitar!

Have you been wondering what I traded my guitar for? 

I ran across an ad on craigslist that was offering ad spots on different internet radio programs, and they were willing to take my guitar as payment. 

I met with Bill Martin, the founder of FreshStart Fellowship (and Broadcasting) and we hashed out the details. I give him my guitar, and in return I get 60 seconds ads for my blog/trading project.

It will run every 3-4 hours, 6 days a week for 4 months. Isn't that awesome? His plan is to sell the guitar and other items they get from craigslist, in order to fund their hopeful new ministry location in Tulsa.

As an update, I really regretted trading away my guitar. I will just leave it at that. 

Props to Whole Foods! I've Got my seed!

In order to be able to trade a mustard seed, you have to actually have a mustard seed.

I didn't even know where to find one. My wife suggested I try looking at Whole Foods. 

I called them and sure enough, they had some! I hopped in my beat up Saturn and drove on down.

When I got there, I found the manager and told him about my blog, and my trading project and what I was trying to do with it. He was so excited that he gave me the box of Spicely yellow mustard seeds for free! 

I tried one of the mustard seeds yesterday, and it actually tasted pretty good! My wife and I had no idea, but you can use them for cooking. There are tons of recipes out there on the Spicely website, give some a try (after you trade me something for a mustard seed, that is!)

I promised them a shoutout so here goes: Whole Foods is awesome!

Whole Foods may seem unaffordable to some, but they have a wide variety of organic products (which my wife loves), and plus it just smells so good when you go in there.

It's a very calm environment, and clearly the employees are friendly!

They also do a lot in the community, and they take coupons (which my wife also loves...). So go check out your local Whole Foods today! If you are from Tulsa, meander down to 41st and Peoria and tell them the Mustard Seed Guy sent you!

A New Beginning One Step at a Time

I don't know why I always come up with things to write about late at night. 

What makes it even worst is I had some type of allergic reaction tonight and I am loaded up on Diphenhydramine...AKA....your local allergy medicine.

 All that to say, I am REALLY tired. UPDATE! As of tomorrow the DVD player will be gone as well as the Ibanez Guitar. On a different note, I posted the mustard seed on Craigslist, but some friendly person likes to continue to flag me day and night. I'm pretty sure that I've been eternally banned from that site.

Anyway, I'm going to go sleep for the next two days! Peace out yo.

Faith as Small as a Mustard Seed. This came to me in the early hours

 Why would someone want to trade for a mustard seed? 

Good question, I don't know myself. I think it's crazy think that one day, just one little mustard seed can turn into a large and beautiful tree, that feeds the birds of the sky. If you have a desire or longing in life, or that sense of peace within you prompting you to do something then follow it. You never know where you will be led and what you will end up with. Dream big!

This is kind of what I did, I felt a prompting from within to do this project. I have no idea where all this is going to take me. There will be several people down the line that will somehow change my life and hopefully I will have an impact on theirs. All that said, you never know where life will lead you or how you will impact one person that impacts 1,000

I will try to keep this short and sweet, because it is really late and I'm tired. Just ask my wife, she will tell you why. I love my wife to death, but please don't ever put noodles down the garbage disposal again. I am not  a plumber by any means. I don't know why I keep trying to fix things I don't know how to fix. Was the Rodeo windshield not enough for me to learn my lesson?

Anyway, back to what I was going to say. This whole mustard seed thing has really made me think. Having faith in God isn't easy. I don't understand it all. I could tell you countless stories about the missions trips I went on when I was a young lad, in which I saw all kinds of miracles, but yet a few weeks later it seemed like it never happened.

I have experienced God in ways you can't tell me there is not a Lord Jesus Christ. I have seen people healed and lives spared from deadly crashes, stabbings and gunshot wounds. Why would I doubt God?

God has provided for me and my family countless times in many different ways over the years, Why would I doubt God?

What makes it so easy for us to believe all the things we hear on the news, but yet not believe Gods Word when it says in Phillippians 4:19 "And my God will meet ALL your needs ACCORDING to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus."

I worked for an ambulance service for 3 years and I saw a lot of things I don't ever want to see again. God let me take part in saving lives on a daily basis. Some I know about, and some I will never know about until I get to Heaven.

After seeing all that, how can I not have faith in God?

I'm just an ordinary person, not any different than you. Over the last 10 years, I've learned that if you just make yourself available to God and tell Him here I am, broken, use me. He will use you. He will use YOU.

All you have to do is have that faith as small as a mustard seed! God will use you! There are times you will not even know that He used you. I am Matthew, I am not a preacher, or evangelist, professional speaker, songwriter, or professional writer, I am not perfect and I still mess up. I just say what's on my heart. Just become available to God. See What happens

I will close with these few verses that I've been focusing on over the last few months.

Philippians 4:4-9

"Rejoice in the Lord always, I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God.

And the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable---if anything is excellent or praiseworthy ---think about such things.

Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me---put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you."

Philippians 4: 11-13

"I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through Him who gives me strength."

Mustard seeds

He replied, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you. Matthew 17:20


While at work today, I had this thought: times have been really tough on my family since August, many times wondering how bills are going to be payed, how we are going to eat...it has seemed like the past few months God has been trying to teach us is to just have faith.


It's not always easy, but I sure do try. I decided to just start with a mustard seed and move up from there (There are a lot of details that went into this decision so you will have to read the ABOUT THE PROJECT tab to find out how this panned out). 


Who knows what will come of it, but it just came to me at work so I am going to try. Who knows what kind of mountains I can move!