Grace Notes

We had a great time in Texas. Here are a few highlights.

We were blessed to be able to have a little part in a documentary that is being made for girls ages 11-16 on guarding your heart. I really enjoyed getting to know Maddie Crawford (right), who is heading up the project. John Clay Burnnet (center), the cinematographer who filmed Captivated is working with her, and her brother Jonathan (left) is helping. I am excited about their project!

We had a few free days in TX that we spent with the Martins. Here Dr. Martin is witnessing to the waiter at a restaurant. I love gleaning from the Martin’s wisdom and non-stop ministry lifestyle. Some of the highlights of our time with them for me were hearing their little miracle stories of God’s protection/provision, brainstorming about some future conference ideas, and listening to Mr. Martin read 2 Thessalonians and expound on it after meals.

We enjoyed a big meal at Lalo and Dara Gunther’s house. Lalo works for ICR and has been especially focusing his energies into expanding Your Origins Matter. After dinner, Lalo asked my dad to share a devotional. My dad shared from a study he’s been doing recently on boldness. He shared 26 major sources of boldness that God gives to His children. For example, Proverbs 28:1 says, “the righteous are bold as a lion.” Our righteousness (being cleansed in Christ and having a good conscience with men) is one of the sources that gives us lion-like boldness.

Our friends Haley and Natalie were a huge help to us at the booth at the Arlington book fair – one of the larger school conferences in the country.

Natalie and Haley, along with our friend Megan, lead a Bright Lights group in TX of about 70 girls, and we really appreciate all they’re doing to host our upcoming Bright Lights Conferences in the Dallas area this July!

Well … it’s that time of year again! We are actually only doing three home school conferences this year. This week we are doing two conferences in Oklahoma and one next week in Texas. Thanks to Stephen’s ingenious idea of using labeled green bins, we are staying much more organized. [smile]

Multi-functioning box cutter

The conference in Tulsa was Tuesday and Wednesday and it went well! Lots of significant conversations with people.

We ran into our friends, the Kwon family. We first met them at a Bright Lights conference in Omaha. Since that time, Nawon, their oldest daughter (20 yrs old) has run two Purity Conferences in Korea! The Lord has given her a heart for girls in Korea and it’s so exciting to see how He has blessed her initiative!

Avery and Abby, two girls I met at the conference yesterday, are excited about doing more witnessing! They are such a great age to be sharing the gospel with people – I was so glad to see that Lord was putting that desire in their heart.

Last night we had a nice relaxing time eating dinner with the Wilsons (aka Family Man Ministries…) At our kids end of the table we were discussing things like, “So what was the most common question you got asked at your booth?”, life on the road, the adventures of breaking down with vehicle trouble, brainstorming a few future ministry ideas, etc.

Today we set up again in Oklahoma City and the conference here starts tomorrow. Please pray that there would be fruitful ministry with families here.

“Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor; not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality.” Romans 12:9-13

Sarah, Stephen and I flew to our last two home school conferences–one in California and one in Connecticut.

For our last conference, we “shipped” some of our material via suitcase, since we were allowed to check 2 suitcases per person. We had 6 large suitcases, 3 small suitcases, and 3 other carry-ons. Twelve pieces of luggage and only three people makes it a bit harder to get around! I tried to push them all like a little train but it didn’t work. [smile]

We had a rather unique trip to Connecticut, actually. Stephen found a cheap flight from Chicago to Boston, so we drove to Chicago Wednesday night, slept a few hours in the van, and then arrived at the airport at 4 AM to get everything checked in time for our 6 AM flight. After arriving in Boston, we drove 2 hrs. to Connecticut, picked up the rest of our boxes at UPS, set up our booth at the convention center, checked into the hotel, and then spoke at the conference at 5:00 PM. A rather long day. [smile]

One of the highlights of the conference is making friends with young ladies who are interested in discipleship and hoping to start Bright Lights groups.

Sarah explaining about the Bright Lights material.

We ordered a quick digital printing of Will Our Generation Speak? so we could have a box for these conferences. It is definitely exciting to be actually getting them into peoples’ hands! Our large shipment of books will be delivered to our office this Thursday.

The conference hours run until 8:30pm, so sometimes we have an adventure trying to find a place to eat after that. This night we found a little Greek place and had a really nice time there.

Stephen loves getting his picture taken, as you can tell.

We were grateful for the scale in the fitness room at the hotel. [smile] Since suitcases have to be under 50 lbs., we had to do some careful adjusting in packing on the way there and back.

Both conferences (Long Beach, CA and Hartford, CT) were encouraging times. We were grateful to have many encouraging talks with people, and we really appreciate those who are praying. Sometimes I think about all the things that could go wrong but don’t, and I’m so grateful for the Lord’s hand of care, protection, and blessing.

The book is at the printer now and we are very grateful to be finished. I definitely have a fresh awareness of the Lord’s faithfulness to help us do what He gives us to do! Recently I have been thinking about how the Lord is not only a “Beginner” but a “Finisher” of what He calls us to do. “In God we boast all the day long, and praise Thy name for ever. Selah.” (Psalm 44:8)

We had seven home school conferences scheduled for this spring. At this point, we have five down and two to go. We have six Bright Lights conferences planned for the summer (in three locations: Texas, Kansas, Iowa) and I will be announcing those soon.

For now, here’s a little glimpse of what setting up the booth at a homeschool conference is like (3-4 hours sped up to 2 minutes). This set up was in Cincinnati a few weeks ago.

Girls we met at the conference last weekend

This past weekend was very full of activity at the home school conference here in South Carolina. We were giving some new sessions, which always makes everything busier … in a good way … though it is extra pressure. However, we definitely saw the Lord answering prayers, and have lots to praise Him for.

Our temporary office

Our family will be at another conference down here next weekend, so in between we’re taking advantage of some quiet days at our hotel to get some work done! The lobby has been very quiet, which has been great. Exactly what we needed. Sarah has been helping me edit chapters and we are excited to be releasing this book really soon now …

From what we hear, Bekah and Nickie have been very busy keeping up with everything at the office while we’re gone and we are very grateful for them!

Also, we are excited that on St Patrick’s day in our town, Nickie and several friends went witnessing and got into a lot of good witnessing conversations and passed out tracts. See pictures on the Edward’s family blog here.

We just added 2,739 miles to our van and had a very nice trip to New Hampshire.

Home school conferences usually mean lots of cute little kids.

Stephen and a new friend. After we gave a presentation on “family ministry,” several families shared with us about the ministries the Lord had already given them. It was very encouraging to see the “ministry mindset” many of the families there had.

One evening my parents wanted to go to the Red Arrow Cafe downtown Manchester. The rest of us weren’t so sure, but we liked it so much we went back a second time. (Actually, Stephen went back three times, haha) The food was SO good and the atmosphere was a lot of fun too. (Very friendly!) Apparently it’s quite famous and it’s open 24/7, 365 days a year.

My dad wanted to get into a conversation with the men next to him, so he asked them what they normally order for dessert. When He told them we were in town for a home school conference, they said they were lobbying for home schooling and other educational issues in New Hampshire (though they hadn’t heard about the conference going on). Both were glad to meet each other and they had a great talk. I think our waiter (right) was a little intrigued by it all.

On the way home at this hotel breakfast my dad made friends with a Chinese man. He was working on his laptop downstairs while his wife and 2-yr-old boy were still sleeping. Dad told him how we were here for a home school conference, which led to talking about Christianity. He said he’s been going to church with his wife for the past 3 years or so. Upon finding out he was a lawyer, my dad explained how what happened on the cross was a judicial transaction because God is a just God. Later, the Chinese man introduced us to his wife and little boy. They were so friendly, and it was fun to meet them.

When we leave on a trip we never know what adventures or blessings God has prepared…but we do know that when it’s all over what really matters is the people we crossed paths with and the way we interacted with them. People are eternal, things are not. May God give us grace to keep our heart set on loving Him and loving people as foremost priority in our lives.

Another home school conference!

Thursday night we ate dinner at Lalo and Dara Gunther’s house with the Martin family. I’m sure some of you are familiar with Jobe Martin’s ministry or their DVD’s — Incredible Creatures. We have a lot of respect for their family and have been blessed to get more acquainted with them this past year!

With Lalo (right), his wife Dara (left) and his little daughter, Anna. Lalo works for the Institute for Creation Research. (A Christian organization that is on the “cutting edge” of Creation Science research today. We appreciate their unwavering stand on biblical authority. But they have many enemies in our evolutionary world and could use our prayers!) Lalo used to be a gang member and spent several years in jail. Then he got saved and his life dramactically changed. Over dinner he told me several stories of amazing witnessing adventures he’s had – from witnessing in dark alleys in the worst parts of Dublin, Ireland, to drawing crowds at fairs by organizing impromptu skits with the youth group he led and then boldly proclaiming the gospel to the crowds. Just listening to his stories reminded me of how much we will miss out on in life if we don’t forsake our fears and get into the battle for the Lord. We were talking about how witnessing brings an adrenaline high (one that is much better than rollercoasters ). Nothing compares to serving the Lord. (Not suggesting going into back alleys, though…)

Sarah, Stephen and I did a session at the home school book fair called “Preparing Young People for Mighty Works.” We had never done this session together with all three of us before, so we thought it was a little rusty, but we were encouraged by people’s responses. One of the things we were talking about is how we need to be doing God’s work in God’s way–striving for holiness without compromise. As Stephen stated in closing “We think that the church today has replaced the doctrine of separation with the doctrine of relevance. As a result, we have lost our saltiness; we have lost our testimony. In seeking to be culturally relevant, we have become ineffective.” To be mighty for the Lord requires purity and holiness. We are supposed to be different. If we are copying the world or compromising with it we will not be demonstrating Paul’s attitude in 1 Cor 1:20. He did not try to impress the world, but instead he held up the cross of Christ – foolishness and a stumbling block to the world, but the power of God.

Our good friend, Alex, who was a part of the first Bright Lights internship

Saturday night we celebrated Mother’s Day at Pei Wei’s — a favorite restaurant of ours that we go to every once in a while when we can find one. It’s kind of like Panera in regard to prices and ordering, but the food is all Asian (and it’s sooo good).

The trees are in bloom in South Carolina already! (Winter gets long in Iowa sometimes!) I love the accent and how friendly everyone is down here…. though Stephen did say he’s getting a little tired of people calling him “sweetie.” Haha

It was encouraging to see a great response to Sarah’s session at the conference. There was much interest in Bright Lights–praise the Lord for that! I explained about the Bright Lights material to so many moms that by the end of the day I could hardly say it straight anymore.

We met so many sweet families at the conference. It is definitely exciting to see how the Lord is raising up a generation all over this nation that are seeking His ways.

It was a great conference! Things went smoothly and we were very grateful to be there. Lots of good memories and good conversations. Now we head home to regroup and repack for some more conferences coming up soon.

“Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.” (Psalm 107:8-9)

Wow, I am definitely behind on posting! I have a lot to write about, but I think I’ll start with a quick report of our last trip. We just arrived home from the homeschool conference in Memphis, TN.

Setting up

One of the highlights of homeschool conferences is meeting and visiting with so many other godly families.

These girls told us about the small group study they have been doing using Before You Meet Prince Charming

Sarah’s session on “Preparing Young Ladies for their Teenage Years.”

Here Sarah is talking with a lady who has been leading a Bright Lights group for several years in Nashville, TN. She was full of good reports, and it was truly a blessing to be able to hear how the Lord has been working there.

One thing about road trips is that they provide so many new contacts and opportunities to witness. Before the trip, I prayed that the Lord would prepare the people’s hearts that we would witness to along the way. One of the clearest examples of God’s answer to this prayer was an Italian Catholic man who was the manager of a small gas station in Missouri. His station was out of gas, and we weren’t sure why he was even open. There were no customers, and he was just sitting at a table reading a book when we walked in. He rose to greet us and to see what we needed. My dad and I handed him a dinosaur booklet and then we noticed the book he had been reading sitting on his table right next to his ash tray. It was “One Heartbeat Away,” (by Mark Cahill). Apparently, he had been reading the book just before we arrived! (This is an evangelistic book that we often give away to unbelievers—in fact we had some “give away copies” with us in our van.)
Immediately we realized that God must want us to talk with this man. Although he believed in Jesus, he firmly stated that he thinks one must earn their salvation.
“Then who gets the credit?” my dad asked.
“That’s how you earn it—by getting credits! You go to church, you believe, you pray…” he said.
Obviously, he didn’t understand dad’s point. His broken English probably contributed to that.
“If we earned it, then it would not be by God’s mercy,” Dad explained.
That stumped him for a second, but he seemed unwilling to reason. Instead, he held firmly to his “salvation by works” mentality.
Understandably, if someone has been thinking this way for their entire life, it is not easy to change in one 15 minute conversation. But we have a special tool—prayer. God can change his thinking.
He told us he was up to chapter five in “One Heartbeat Away.” Chapters six, seven and eight are about the law and the gospel, so hopefully he keeps reading. Please pray for him!

Setting up! Dad always comes up with creative ways to put up our signs…

We had a wonderful time at the conference and enjoyed meeting lots of great Pennsylvania homeschool families!

Our presentation on “How Every Family Can Have a Family Ministry”

Talking with homeschool moms and dads

Speaking on “Making Brothers and Sisters Best Friends”

Aw, what a fun dad…

Mom talking with other mothers… (Btw, Happy Mother’s Day, Mom! Thank you for the innumerable amount of things you do to keep our family going!!)

Elizabeth Florio, Sarah, Jenny Florio, and Becky Florio. The Florios now run two Bright Lights groups and they have represented Bright Lights several times at the PA Homeschool conference for us. We enjoyed the time we were able to spend with them over the weekend!

Friday evening we ate at Cracker Barrel with the Florio and Moberg families. Michelle Moberg (right) has also just started a Bright Lights group. Here at the girls’ table we got into a great talk with our waitress. I asked her, “Hey, I have an interesting question for you.”
“Okay,” she said.
“Do you think going to Heaven is a free gift or something you have to earn?”
She replied that she believes in a kind of reincarnation where you get reincarnated several times and then eventually end up in heaven.
“So when you finally get to heaven are you in your ‘human form’ again?” I asked.
“Hmm…good question. I guess I’ve never thought about that,” she said.
“Well some people believe that in the Karmic circle you eventually just become sort of ‘one with the universe’ …is that what you believe?”
“Yeah, I think that’s more what I believe. Eventually I’ll just become ‘energy’.”
“Interesting…” I said.
“My relatives and I debate this all the time…but no one really knows so we just always keep going in circles,” she told me.
“Well, it’s important stuff to talk about,” I agreed.
“So what do you believe? I’m curious now!” she asked.
“Well, I’d like to tell you, but I also know you are on the job and I don’t want to take your time…” I said.
“I’ll tell you what,” she replied. “I only have one other table. I’ll go take care of them and then come back!”
“Ok, sounds good!” I replied.
After a few minutes she came back, ready to hear whatever I had to say.
“Well, first of all, I think this world was designed. I think it’s obvious by looking around and seeing the beauty and complexity around us.” I gave some examples. She definitely agreed with that point.
“So then the big question is: Who made us and why,” I said.
She agreed.
“Well, I’ve come to conclude there are a lot of reasons to believe the Bible,” I explained, beginning to list some of them.
“Oh, I’ve read the Bible,” she said. “But I just don’t think I completely agree with it.”
She explained how one thing she had a big problem with is how someone could live a rotten life and then on their deathbed say “I’m sorry” to God and be able to go to Heaven. She recounted how every Sunday afternoon some pastor’s kids come in to eat and they’ve made some really rude comments to her.
I agreed with her that many call themselves Christians but do not act like Christ.
“When people become a Christian, their life should show it,” I said.
She definitely agreed.
“But just because people mess up and make mistakes doesn’t mean that what God told us in the Bible isn’t true,” I told her.
She nodded.
I mentioned how God has to punish evil because He is just and good—but also that the principle of “mercy” is a beautiful thing and God can show mercy if He wants to. Mercy is never “deserved” otherwise it wouldn’t be mercy! And really, we all need God’s mercy. We’ve all broken God’s law.”
“Yeah, and that’s what makes me tend to believe more in the reincarnation thing…” she said, “Because I know I mess up and with reincarnation you have the chance to start over and keep trying…”
We must have talked for at least 15 minutes. I mentioned how ultimately God decides what happens–not us.
Another thing she brought up is how she can’t understand how God seems so “harsh” in the O.T. and then so “mild” in the new.
“One thing that helps me,” I told her “is to look at it this way: Jesus is the exact representation of God. When God became a man we were able to get a better picture of what He was really like.” I explained how in Jesus we see God’s holiness and justice, but also God’s desire to heal and show mercy.
“Hmm, I’ve never thought of it that way before,” she responded.
“But it’s in the cross that we really see God’s justice and love together,” I said. “Because we see God punishing sin—but He didn’t punish us. He punished Himself so He could then give mercy to us.”
I asked her if she liked to read.
“I LOVE to read,” she said.
I gave her a copy of One Heartbeat Away. “It’s definitely Christian and it’s very straight forward,” I explained, “ but I like the way he reasons and logically presents the facts.”
As we were leaving she came up and told me, “My friend was looking at the book in the kitchen and she wants to read it. She said she really liked the way it was written. So now I’m going to have to share it,” she complained, jokingly.
I went out to the van and got another book for her friend. Then I said goodbye to our waitress for the last time.
“You made my night!” she said, giving me a hug, and telling me how much she enjoyed “debating” with us. I told her that we really enjoyed it too. She promised to e-mail me when she finished the book.