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A Leap Of Faith!
by Jim Vilandre
This past year has been nothing short of miraculous...
My name is Jim Vilandre. I am a career singer/songwriter/recording artist from Minneapolis MN. I grew up in the little town in North Dakota called Devils Lake. I knew since I was 3 years old that music was going to be my calling in life. I was always singing and dancing as a child. In fact my older brothers and sisters used to pay me to sing for them. So in essence, my professional career took at an early age!
I began touring the country with several groups as a teenager and have been heavily pursuing music as my passion in life. Toward the latter part of my teen years God really got a hold of me. He radically changed my life. I now see life through the eyes of faith> Specifically faith in Jesus Christ. His love has literally transformed my world. I now sing for Jesus. In fact He is the total inspiration for everything I do. With this powerful transformation came a powerful song to sing. One Sunday evening as I was headed to bed, I was reading my bible. I was reading about how Jesus was hanging on a cross and speaking too the two criminals who were hanging on crosses as well. Each one of the men beside Jesus had a choice to make at that moment. To either believe and live-or deny and die. Literally that whole evening the idea "What are you living for?" was going through my mind. So much that the next morning I called into work because I felt that God was literally speaking to me. From this powerful message came the song "Live For The Line". You see if you look at life as a line that goes on forever- we are just a mere dot in comparison to that eternal line. So this idea was do you live for the line- do you live for the dot? It's a matter of time, it ticks away at the clock. Is your future defined? Or is it a thought? Will you walk in the light? Won't you give it a shot? I wanna Live For The Line... That is what this song is about. Living with eternity in mind, not just today.
But anyway, with this song God opened up so many different avenues to have this song shared. The summer of 2003 Live For The Line- helped me to bring home the top prize in the USA World Showcase. Over 15,000 people competed and by the grace of God, I won! I also placed in the top 56 out of over 6000 songs in the CMT/NSAI songwriting competition. This is where the story gets good. While attending a seminar in Nashville in early March, I ended up stopping by the office of NSAI which I am member, and speaking with Deanie Williams. Deanie was in charge of the competition as judge. She gave such encouraging words and how she really really liked the song "Live For The Line". In talking about it, I asked her if she had any advice to give. She gave me several names of publishers to call. One of them being Niles Borop from Centergy music. I thanked Deanie and then proceeded to call Niles immediately. After speaking with his associate, I asked permission to submit my song as per Deanies advice. He was told by Niles to go ahead and send it to him. I thanked him and went ahead and sent him the song. Within literally a few days, I received a telephone call from Niles saying that he thought my song was great! I was so ecstatic and that he wanted to sign me to a 1 song publishing agreement! After a little bit of research I said yes! I totally praise God for this opportunity and want to take a minute to thank Deanie and NSAI for being a bridge to a lifetime dream that is unfolding. I have been completely humbled and blessed because of my involvement with NSAI. Deanie you are a sweetheart! Niles you are a gem for Jesus! Thanks to everyone at NSAI for being about helping others fulfill their lifelong destinies. I am so excited to see where this adventure will take me. God bless you all! Thanks for allowing me to make this leap of faith!
In Christ,
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