Monday, May 05, 2008

Hug it out

The 'Free Hugs (and coffee)' video is done! I was so thrilled to finish it up, although I did have to view it, oh, about a trillion times to make sure it was okay and everything was lined up right. After the DVD was burned, I watched it again. Can anyone say perfectionist? Really, though, I think anyone who spends a large amount of time on a project wants to check and re-check it to see that it meets their own standards.

A couple of notes about the video (which can be seen here or in the sidebar under 'My YouTube Videos')...

When Miles is holding the sign, he honestly wanted to hold it. I never forced that on him. It was very surprising to me that he was hugging people so readily, because he doesn't just hug anyone. I mean, he will some of the time if I ask him to, like giving hugs to someone we know and relatives, that sort of thing. I suppose this was just a good example of him watching us sharing love with people and wanting to do the same. It's scary how quickly children will pick up on what you do and follow suit...but in this case it turned out to be a really great thing.

The one time I look back at the camera and I'm laughing...that was one of my favorite moments. The guy who had just walked by had heard me say, "Would you like a free hug?" and answered, "I can't!" To me that was so funny, and I had turned back to the camera to repeat what he had said, when suddenly he turned and asked, "Why are y'all giving out free hugs anyway?" and I in turn asked (and this is where you see my hand go up in question), "Who doesn't need a hug?" That's when he promptly walked back to me and Miles and decided that he could, after all, take a free hug.

There were so many students involved in the 'free hugs' ministry that day, and I wish I could have given everyone much more time on the video! The problem was that I only had the one camera, and I was trying to get to all the different posts as much as I could, plus watch out for Miles (part of the time). But I sincerely labored over editing all of the footage, and it hurt to cut out hugs that no one got to see, but I had to cut them for time's sake. As it was, I didn't really want to use two songs, but we had so much to show! And picking the songs? That was a monster in itself, but thanks to Casey we finally narrowed it down. I know that not everyone would pick the songs we did...but I think they worked really well, both musically and lyrically.

Okay, I'm getting too technical now. I'll just end by saying that I don't think I ever want our 'free hugs' ministry to end! I think it's something we should do every semester, whether we are taping or not. Really, that's not the point at all...but by taping it and showing it to as many people as possible, I think it sends out a very strong, positive message to anyone who wants to hear it:

God loves you. We love you. How about a hug?

3 comments:

Syndi said...

I enjoyed your video. Miles is adorable dropping his sign to give out hugs. Daniel actually used that first song in one of our videos of the kids. You did a great job! Oh and I haven't been ignoring your emails and comments! I just don't get much chance to respond. I still love you! And I'm sending a hug your way too!

tracey said...

Thanks Syndi! That's so nice to hear. Oh, and I know you're not ignoring the emails...I figure you have a little more to keep you busy than I do! I love you too -- and thanks for the hug! =)

andrea said...

I loved Miles' little *pat-pat* he gave everyone he hugged! Too cute. What a great example this ministry was for him!

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