Sentinel, City of Destiny shares with pre-teen boys some fundamental character traits that define the Godly man.
Landel Bilbrey was born in Livingston Tennessee where his adolescent years, during the late 1960's and early 1970's, were very much a "Mayberry" experience. Livingston is a small town located mid state near Dale Hollow Lake atop the beautiful rolling hills of the Cumberland Plateau.
Landel showed a special aptitude for the graphic arts as well as an ear for music at a very young age. Creativity seemed sure to be part of his future. But nearing high school graduation Bilbrey struggled with thoughts concerning his career: Should he pursue a life of art, which appeared to offer less stability, or find a vocation with a more predictable course? His father advised him to consider the path of an engineer, which could potentially supply the financial means to explore his artistic aspirations while at the same time allowing him to support a family.
In 1981, Landel graduated from Tennessee Technological University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering. For the next ten years he worked as a bridge designer for the Tennessee Department of Transportation, and then went out on his own as a part-time road manager for Grammy award winner and Native American singer/songwriter Bill Miller. With the rest of his time, Bilbrey started his own independent engineering business. For the next eleven years he grew his consulting business while exploring songwriting. In the meantime, he established his own BMI music publishing company Bridgemaker Music. Bilbrey then served as the Chief Bridge Engineer for Barge Waggoner Sumner and Cannon, a top 200 Architectural and Engineering firm, for two years before becoming Engineering Manager for Collier Engineering of Brentwood, Tennessee.
Throughout life Landel has used his musical ability to glorify God singing in various church choirs. During the 90's, Bilbrey was part of his church's six-member praise team where he would occasionally solo. Then in the early 2000's, he served for three years as worship leader in a church plant called Lifepoint of Dickson, Tennessee.
"It wasn't until around 2001 that I began to experiment with using the written word as a communication tool which eventually led to the idea for Sentinel." Bilbrey says. "I wanted to create a clear target for which my sons could aim their lives that would provide the greatest chance of success for their future. To me, a life of serving God and one's fellow man defines a successful life. But getting a busy preteen to truly grasp the concept was a very tall order.
Although there were many opportunities and temptations to make bad choices when I was growing up," Bilbrey continues, "What our boys today are exposed to is much more `in your face'. Clothing is more revealing, sexuality is used to sell everything; violence in schools has escalated from fistfights to shootings. And due to a culture saturated in media, information that once was so socially spurned that it had to be viewed in secret is now accessible through the power of the Internet in the blink of an eye."
So, the words as well as the pen and ink illustrations in Sentinel were the product of Bilbrey's love for his sons and a passion to provide a tool that other parents, teachers and caregivers of pre-teen boys could springboard from into conversations about upcoming issues and temptations.
Bilbrey currently lives with his wife, two sons, one dog and two cats in a rustic, log cabin nestled beside a creek near Nashville Tennessee.
