Country Crooner (Christian Romance)

by Rebecca Lynn Clayson

  "You really are a special girl, Chelsea. When we first talked, I would have never guessed that I would hear you say something like that. I was definitely wrong in my judgment."

  "Thanks for seeing through my rough outer shell, I'm glad that you can see me for who I really am. Now, we need to figure out a good way to raise funds so that we can buy the equipment needed to run the radio station from my dad's house. I'm thinking that we should update everything, especially because he's been running things on old equipment."

  Kurt agreed, "You’re right, if we’re going to make it work, we might as well do it right!"

  "We need to think outside the box. With my experience in online marketing, I think we could do the radio show online. I know a lot about what would need to be done to promote it. This is more than just keeping the radio show going for the local community; we can spread our message even further by using the Internet. If we can figure out how to manage it online, then I will be able to help more from California while you coordinate things locally."

  "I like the way you think! Imagine how many people we could reach with our message if we weren't limited to our small town radio signal. People could tune in from all over the world if we broadcast it online."

  "It will take some work to figure everything out, but I have a few connections in the industry that could probably help us get it all setup. Now, the only missing piece to the puzzle is fundraising. Do you have any good ideas?"

  "What if the kids choir did a show at the town hall, and we charged for tickets? They would love the opportunity to perform, and if we spread the word, I'm sure a lot of people in the community would show up. I've heard so many people say that they don't want the radio station to go under, so I'm sure they would make donations given the opportunity."

  "That's a great idea. We need to get everything scheduled immediately, because we don't have much time. It's important that we stop playing re-runs as soon as possible, so we need to get the equipment setup and start working on a broadcasting schedule right away."

  "I know that you need to head back to California, and we need some time to spread the word about the show. So let's schedule a concert for two weeks from tomorrow – on a Saturday. If you could help me coordinate the marketing, I can put on the show. I can take care of everything from here, or at least find people willing to help. What do you think?"

  "That sounds perfect. We can even do a short radio ad to broadcast on the station over the next week. Mrs. Bullock can help us put that together. It would be a great way to reach out to the community and let them know what we’re trying to do."

  "I think we can make this happen!" Kurt said hopefully, with excitement in his eyes. "It's going to take a lot of work, but it’ll be worth it."

  "I agree; it will be worth it. I wish that I could stay longer to help with the concert planning, but my boss is going to kill me if I don't get back to work this week. I still have another week of paid time off available, so I can use a day here and there when I fly out to help. If I plan a three-day weekend here every month, it might be enough for me to do some in-person work on the radio station. Hopefully everything else can be handled in the evenings while I'm in California."

  "I've said it before, and I'm going to say it again; I'm willing to help with whatever I can. Let's put together a plan for the concert, you can head back to California and I will dedicate all of my extra time to the fundraiser and radio station management. Together, we can get it figured out."

  Chelsea pulled out a notepad and a pen, and started writing to-do lists for herself and Kurt. They were up until 2 o'clock in the morning making plans to put together a fundraiser that would help them earn the money that was needed to put their plan into action.

  *****

  The next morning Chelsea got on an airplane and flew to California to go back to work. Because she had been gone from work for so long, she had a lot to catch up on. She spent long hours at the office the first few days.

  During her lunch breaks and in the evenings she put every moment of extra time that she had into helping prepare for the concert. She wished that she could attend the show the following week, but she knew that she had a lot that needed completed at work and couldn't afford to miss any more time in the office. She decided that she would do the best that she could to support from far away, and trust in the fact that people like Kurt and Mrs. Bullock would be supportive and helpful on the day of the concert.

  Kurt worked tirelessly to help the youth choir prepare for their performance. Luckily, they already had some songs almost ready to go, so they worked on polishing the music they already knew. He also spent a lot of time working to spread the word about the show. Chelsea put together flyers so that Kurt and the kids could pass them around the neighborhoods. The radio station continued to play re-runs, and an advertisement about the show played at least once an hour.

  He borrowed a video camera from a neighbor and started to record some of the songs that the choir was singing in rehearsal. Chelsea had the great idea to upload the music to YouTube to spread the word and get more donations. They uploaded several videos to YouTube, and made a donation button available so that people could donate online.

  One of the videos went viral, and had 10,000 video views within the first 48 hours. The donations started to trickle in, and they hadn't even had their fundraiser concert yet. Both Chelsea and Kurt were hopeful, but still a little nervous that they wouldn't get enough money to keep the radio station going.

  They continued to move forward in faith, knowing that it was all in God's hands. Their motto for the week was "Work like it's all up to you, and pray like it's all up to God.”

  Both of them spent a lot of time on their knees, asking for God's help so that they could make the fundraiser a success. They spent time in personal prayer, talking to God about the show and the fundraiser. They also shared a few prayers together over the phone. They felt the support of God's hand in their lives, and knew that things would work out no matter what happened.

  *****

  The following weekend, they had a phone conversation to make final plans for the concert, which was just a week away. During the phone call, they discussed what would be done if they weren't able to raise enough funds to keep the radio station going.

  Both Kurt and Chelsea agreed that the fundraiser would go to benefit the children, and they would simply keep the radio station going as long as possible. Even if they could only get enough money to manage one more month of running the radio show, that would buy a little bit more time to figure out how to raise more funds to keep it going long term.

  They were hoping that they would get enough money to keep the radio show going for at least a few months, but the worst-case scenario was that they could at least help everyone get a little more closure on the situation by continuing the broadcasting a little bit longer and then putting together a farewell radio show.

  Things seemed to be coming together, and there was a feeling of excitement and anticipation in the air. The community was talking about the upcoming show, and the word quickly spread to neighboring towns and communities. People were excited to see the youth choir perform live, especially because the fundraiser meant that their radio station would keep on playing and there were many people who were hoping that broadcasting would continue.

  Chelsea tried to stay focused on her work at the office, but her mind kept wandering to the children's choir, the radio station, and Kurt. She was finally starting to get caught up on her work projects, but she realized that her heart was not in her job as it had been before she had left to go home for her father's funeral.

  After a full week back at the office, she woke up Monday morning, feeling uneasy about the fact that she was going to be missing the show on Saturday, and about the fact that she was leaving all of the hard work up to other people. She knew that she could do a little bit to help from California, but her ability to help would be very limited from where she was.

  Despite her worries, she went to work on M
onday and did the best that she could to stay focused on her job. All day long, she continued to feel a sense of uneasiness and concern about how things would play out. Was she making the wrong decision by trying to manage the radio station and hold down a full-time job at the same time?

  Tuesday morning, she opened her Bible as she ate breakfast. She prayed to God asking for some inspiration and guidance to know what she should do for the radio station, and she came across this verse:

  Matthew 17:20 And Jesus said unto them, "Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.”

  As she read the verse, she felt the spirit of God and knew that she’d found the answer to her prayers. She got down on her knees and prayed to God looking for inspiration and guidance, and she felt like it was time to take a huge leap of faith.

  Chelsea was terrified because she knew without a doubt what she needed to do, and it would mean big changes in her life. She didn't know the outcome, but she decided to move forward on the faith that if she trusted in God -everything would work out.

  After finishing her prayers and eating her breakfast, she quickly got ready for work and headed into the office. She didn't even stop at her desk, and instead walked straight to the office of her boss and gave him her resignation. She knew that she needed to move back home so that she could run the radio station. It was a scary decision, but deep down inside she felt like it was the right thing to do.

  She felt bad that she wasn't giving a courtesy two weeks' notice, but she knew that she had to do what she needed to do. She explained the situation as best she could, and told her boss that she would help fill in where she could from Idaho until they could find a replacement for her.

  Her boss took the news surprisingly well, although he tried to talk her into changing her mind. She had been such an important part of the company, that it would be hard to replace her.

  Chelsea was pleasantly surprised when he suggested that she work virtually for a few weeks, which would give the company time to find a replacement, and it would also give her the opportunity to keep a stream of income as she was getting the radio station off the ground. They agreed that she would work 20 hours per week for six weeks, and she could choose her hours based on the schedule that worked best for her needs.

  After leaving her bosses office, she went back to her desk and packed up the few personal things in her desk, and then arrived back at home by 10 o'clock that morning and immediately started to prepare for a move. She lived in a small apartment and didn't have very much stuff, so with a lot of work she could get everything packed up and into a moving truck by Thursday night. Then she could leave early Friday morning to make the drive from California to Idaho and be there in time for the show on Saturday.

  She called a moving company for help, and spent all-day and late into the night on both Tuesday and Wednesday boxing everything up in her apartment. The moving company arrived Thursday afternoon, to help her get everything loaded into the truck. Everything seemed to pull together seamlessly, and she knew that God was helping her with the details of her move.

  Her apartment lease had already expired, so she was living there on a month-to-month basis. Technically, she was supposed to give a 30-day notice before moving out. She talked with the manager and told them about her father's death. She had already paid for the apartment through the end of the month, and they agreed to let her go without the 30-day notice.

  She still had a few more details to wrap up with address changes and utility bills, but those were all things that could be taken care of over the phone when she got back to Idaho.

  It would be an adventure to drive from California to Idaho on her own with the big moving truck. She had done it once before when she moved to California for her job, and knew that she could do it again.

  *****

  Friday morning, she got up at 6 o'clock and was on the road within 30 minutes. The day before, she had hired a cleaning company to come over Friday afternoon, and had already arranged with the leasing office to let the cleaning crew into the apartment.

  As Chelsea drove away, she glanced back at her apartment building and knew that she was closing a chapter of her life and moving onto new possibilities. The decisions that she made were drastic and unexpected, but she felt a deep sense of peace about moving back to Idaho. No matter what happened, she knew that it would be ok.

  The long drive gave Chelsea a lot of time to think, and she felt a mixture of emotions as she considered the decision she was making and the new life that she was choosing. Things had happened so quickly, and she felt as though her life over the past few weeks had been a whirlwind of major changes and deep personal growth. Driving in the truck was the first quiet moment that she’d had the entire week, and the impact of her decision really started to set in.

  She would have never guessed that she would be returning to her hometown to live, because she was so excited to get out of there 12 years ago when she moved away to go to college.

  Logically, she couldn't explain why she was making the decisions that she had made, but emotionally she felt like it was right. Deep down in her gut, she knew that she was making the correct decision. She spent quite a bit of time praying about it and asking for God's guidance, and she felt like she was doing the right thing.

  As Chelsea drove, she kept the radio off and spent the time talking with God and praying for help and inspiration. She asked for a blessing on the concert and help to raise the funds that were needed to continue broadcasting. She talked with God about how she could manage the radio station and make it successful. She also spent time praying and pondering about Kurt, and whether it was a relationship that she should pursue.

  Deep down, she knew that part of her was excited to be moving closer to Kurt, but she was also nervous about it at the same time. A few weeks didn't seem like enough time to know if a serious relationship was possible.

  She quieted the questions in her mind, and reminded herself that there was plenty of time to decide what to do about Kurt. Once she arrived in Idaho and they sorted through the details for the radio station, she could face the relationship questions. There was no reason to rush into things, especially because they would be living close to each other.

  She was moving forward in faith, not knowing what the future held. But she had a confidence in God, and knew that everything would work out. Her drastic career change would be for the best, the radio station would work out, and her relationship would sort itself out in time.

  Chelsea didn't know exactly how everything would look, but no matter what happened... it would be fine. As long as she trusted in the hand of God, everything would happen exactly as it needed to happen.

  *****

  Friday afternoon she stopped at a gas station for lunch, and knew that she needed to tell Kurt that she was moving. She had talked to him on the phone a few times since she started packing because they were coordinating details for the Saturday show, but she'd never found the right time to explain the sudden decision that she’d made. She was a little nervous to tell him about her decision, especially since it was completely opposite of everything that she’d been telling him over the past few weeks.

  Chelsea knew that she was really beginning to care about him; all week she’d caught herself thinking about him throughout the day. She wondered about the possibilities of a relationship with him, but had completely written those off prior to making the decision to move back to Idaho. Now that they would be living in the same town, starting a relationship with him would be more likely and much easier. But, the big question in her mind was whether he felt the same way about her.

  She thought that he reciprocated the same feelings of interest for her, although she was confused about the fact that he had withdrawn the last few days before she left to head back to California.

  Chelsea decided that she didn't want to get hurt
by a relationship, so she reminded herself that the reason she was moving back to Idaho was so that she could manage the radio station. If the relationship worked out between them, it would be an added bonus. Deep down she was hopeful that she would be able to have the best of both worlds - both a successful radio station and Kurt in her life.

  As she sat in the gas station parking lot, she picked up her cell phone and called Kurt hoping that he had his phone nearby. Sometimes, it was hard to get in touch with him during the day because he didn't hear his cell phone ringing while the loud carpentry saws were running. She knew that if he didn't pick up, she couldn't leave a message telling him that she was moving. She wanted to tell him so that she could hear his reaction when he found out. So, she decided ahead of time that if she got his voicemail she would just ask him to call her back.

  The phone rang three times as she waited for the voicemail to pick up, but instead she heard Kurt's voice on the other line.

  "Chelsea, how are you doing?"

  "Hi Kurt, I'm good. How are things pulling together for the show tomorrow? Do you think you guys are ready?"

  "It's going to be great, I've heard a lot of positive feedback from the community, and I'm amazed to see how many people have stepped up to help out. I'm hopeful that we’re going to be able to raise enough money to keep this radio station going. The kids are so excited. They’ve been talking to all of their neighbors and friends telling them to come to the show and make donations."

  "That's awesome! I'm really glad to hear that things are going well. You'll probably be surprised to hear this, but I'm sitting at a gas station in Reno, Nevada right now. I'm driving to Idaho."

  "Really? I'm excited to hear that you're coming back for the show. Everyone is going to be excited to see you! How did you convince your boss to give you more time off? I know that you've been so busy trying to catch up after being gone for so long."