UPDATE: I was not chosen as a finalist, but thanks so much for your support! We ended up with over 20,000 views. Thanks for helping spread the word about Love146 and their amazing work to end child trafficking. For more info, visit http://love146.org
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UPDATE! The Fish announced that they are extending the video count date to August 30th! Keep watching, keep sharing the link with friends! Thank so much for the support!
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So I'm entering a singing contest. This is definitely a first, and honestly quite humbling, but it's for a good cause, so I'm going to need your help! Here's the drill...

104.7 The Fish (Atlanta), and is hosting an "Opening Act" contest for their Celebrate Freedom concert on September 4th. They are asking solo artists to post a video on YouTube, and those videos will be judged 50% on how many views by August 22nd (not much time!!), and 50% by the Program Director at The Fish, based upon vocal quality, stage presence, and radio potential. Five finalists will be chosen to sing live the morning of Celebrate Freedom, and judged by 3 judges. The winner will perform live at the evening concert, and will not only win a $10,000 prize of their own, but can give $10,000 to their ministry/charity of choice. This is what finally motivated me to enter.

I have partnered with an organization called Love146 for a couple years now. Their mission is to end child sex slavery & exploitation. I was so moved when I first watched the video of how they got their name (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IJiWCHpFRs) that I wanted immediately to be a part of what they were doing to make a difference in the world. You can read more about them at http://love146.org/

Due to the nature of my life and circumstances this past year, I haven't been able to do much actively to raise awareness for Love146, but I feel like this is a great opportunity for me to use the gifts and talents God gave me to potentially raise $10,000 of financial support for their mission. Not only have I had a year of starting a new life myself after divorce (ironically September 4th would have been my sixth anniversary), but the chance to bless a ministry with additional means to help children start a new life free from slavery & exploitation seemed like a really practical way I could "dare to attempt something so great for the Kingdom of God that it is doomed to failure, lest Christ be in it," as my pastor, Randy Pope, regularly encourages us.

It's also a blessing to finally share with the world some of the "beauty" that I believe has come from the ashes of my life - one of these new songs that the Lord has birthed in my heart during this season. I chose a song called "In a Blink," which I co-wrote with my friend Duffy James.

If you'd like to be a part of this adventure, please pass this link on to all your friends, post the link on facebook, watch it 100 times a day yourself (LOL), and help me get as many views as possible by August 22nd!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eG8JJkH-ZhU

It's because of many of you out there encouraging/supporting me that I continue to press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Thanks for being part of my life and journey.

Humbly,
Sheri

P.S. To read more about the 104.7 The Fish Opening Act for Celebrate Freedom Contest: http://www.thefishatlanta.com/Article.asp?id=1887765&spid=37173

"But let me tell you something wonderful, a mystery I'll probably never fully understand. We're not all going to die—but we are all going to be changed. You hear a blast to end all blasts from a trumpet, and in the time that you look up and blink your eyes—it's over. On signal from that trumpet from heaven, the dead will be up and out of their graves, beyond the reach of death, never to die again. At the same moment and in the same way, we'll all be changed. In the resurrection scheme of things, this has to happen: everything perishable taken off the shelves and replaced by the imperishable, this mortal replaced by the immortal." (I Corinthians 15:51-57)