Grace Notes

Family News/Homeschool Conferences

Indianapolis Home School Conference

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The past three days have been jammed packed with action as our family has been at the IAHE (Indiana) home school conference!

We are very excited about the new wooden shelves some friends helped us build for our booth. (Quite an improvement to what we had before.)

My dad presented his session, “Learning from Dad”. We noticed how many more dads were at this conference in comparison to most home school conferences. It was neat to see so many couples shopping together–not just moms by themselves. My dad’s session accents on the point of how important it is that fathers play a role in teahing their children– not necessarily “academics” but more importantly the standards and convictions each family needs to have.

Sarah speaking on “Raising Pure Daughters in a Generation of Darkness”.

Things always get pretty busy, messy and crazy inside our booth at the end of the conference…!

Friday night we got together with some of my parents’ friends from college.

Stephen, Sarah and I came along for the entertainment. (And the food 🙂 .) No, actually, it was a very nice evening and it’s always fun hearing new stories about mom and dad. 🙂

Note the above picture was taken inside not outside. Our friends live in an old school they bought downtown Indianapolis and they use it for ministry, a home church, etc. Pretty creative!

Announcements

Mark Cahill Coming to Cedar Rapids!

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We are very excited to be bringing Mark Cahill to speak in Cedar Rapids in just over a month. His ministry has greatly impacted my life, and I’m praying that my city will be impacted in the same way. Each time I pick up his book or listen to one of his messages I get excited about witnessing all over again! I’m grateful for the practical steps and ideas he lays out for the rest of us who desire to reach the lost.


Click here to see an 8-min Youtube of Mark Cahill speaking.

To Download a flyer, click here.
Contact us for questions or more information.

Recent Productions

One-On-One Discipleship Tool

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Have you ever noticed how meaningful a good, edifying one-on-one conversation can be? Although discipleship groups or classes can be great, there is much value in the individualized attention received when someone is discipled one-on-one. With this in mind, Sarah developed a one-on-one discipleship program to use within our Bright Lights group. The older girls went through it with the younger girls and both were strengthened and encouraged. We’re excited to announce that it’s now available for others to use as well. (Thanks to graphic / layout work done by Sarah Smith and Nickie!) It’s called “4:12”, based on three theme discipleship verses: 1 Timothy 4:12, Ephesians 4:12 and Colossians 4:12. We have been very encouraged by the results we’ve seen each time we’ve used this material. It’s designed to help older girls or mothers spend one-on-one time with younger girls studying God’s Word, discussing important areas of life, committing to pray for each other, and holding each other accountable in Scripture memory and other disciplines and projects. For more information see our online store.

Click here to see pictures from the first time we did “4:12” last spring.

Bright Lights Local Group/Family News

Bright Lights / Light Shop Report

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I was working in my little cubicle the other day when I heard a very loud racket. I walked out and found my dad and Stephen in full combat…
They told me they were “testing” the armor they were going to use for an activity at Light Shop.

(For those who don’t know, “Light Shop” is Stephen’s boys discipleship group that meets every time Bright Lights meets. It stands for Leaders In Godliness, Holiness and Testimony.)

Dad and Stephen prepared 24 helmets, swords, and shields.

There were 12 guys in brown and 12 guys in red. The objective was to knock the newspaper breastplate off your opponent. As you can see, the activity was a big success.

Stephen (along with David Jones who helps him teach) taught the young men about Ephesians 6 and how we are in a spiritual battle and need to know our weapons.

In Bright Lights we try to be a little more feminine. 🙂 We’ve been going through a series of lessons on being “daughters of the king” covering topics such as femininity, modesty, inner beauty, joyfulness, etiquette, etc. As daughters of the King, we need to remember Who we belong to and Who we respresent! At one of our recent meetings we gave each small group 15 minutes to create a complete outfit with brown paper and tape. Everyone had a good time, and some of the outfits the girls came up with were pretty impressive!



The theme of the lesson last week was on “pouring yourself out” and learning to die daily for Jesus. (I Cor 15:31) Sarah told some amazing stories of great missionaries and martyrs who went through tremendous sacrifice to proclaim the gospel. Then she emphasized how God values not only the big sacrifices, but also the daily little sacrifices we make in serving our families and those around us. He sees and weighs the heart. It’s not necessarily the intensity of the suffering He rewards (we can’t choose our circumstances) but the response of our heart to whatever He allows. May we, like Paul and Silas in prison, sing praises in the midst of difficulty.

Witnessing Stories

Witnessing at the mall today…

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Today Sarah and I went to the mall to witness. I’ll admit, neither of us exactly felt like it beforehand, but afterwards we were SO glad we did. We were able to get into about six conversations with junior high kids and were able to explain the gospel to over a dozen kids. (We’ve found junior high kids are usually the most open and eager to talk.)

We started most of the conversations by using IQ quizzes. The kids thought they were really cool. Then as we walked them through the 10 Commandments and they realized their sin–and how God had to punish sin in order to be just–many began to get very sober. About six of the girls we talked to especially stand out in my mind. They were anxious to hear the way God provided for us to be “reconnected” with Himself. They told me it made sense and that they had never really understood that before. Many of them indicated they’d be interested in learning more and coming to a Bible study if I start one with teen girls there in the mall, and they gave me their phone numbers.

I was reminded — yet again– of how wrong I am to sometimes assume people don’t want to hear about God! These conversations were exciting. Most of the kids we talked with at the mall had no clue why Jesus died on the cross or what it means for them. One boy said, “Yeah, I knew Jesus died on the cross but I never understood why.”
But once they realized the seriousness of their sin (and reality of hell), they wanted to know! They agreed that God must love them a lot if He was willing to die for them.

As we were talking with one group, one of the girls recognized me.
“Remember? We met at Gordmans last week!”
Then I remembered. I had met this friendly girl at Gordman’s and I gave her a tract as we passed in the shoe aisle. How interesting God led me to her again.
“Maybe it’s a sign!” she said.
“Could be!” I agreed.
At least now she knows the gospel more clearly. This has been happening a lot recently–where I run across the same person I witnessed to at another time. It reminds me that we have a big God who is orchestrating everything. I pray I may be alert to His leading and directions!

Please pray for these kids we talked with… that Satan wouldn’t be able to snatch away the seed but that it will penetrate into their hearts and grow. I instructed many of them to kneel beside their bed as they were going to sleep tonight and talk to God about all of this– to ask Him for the gift of salvation, and acknowledge they believed in what Jesus did for them. Many indicated that they wanted to. Please pray they would and they would start reading their Bibles.

Sorry for the lack of pictures in this post. I forgot to take any. Maybe next time.

Bright Lights Internship/Bright Lights Office/Family News/Homeschool Conferences/Radiant Purity Conferences/Recent Productions/Strong in the Lord Conf.

2009: A Year in Review

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Note: If you can’t see the video clip above it may be that you need to update your version of flash. Click here to update flash.

If you would like to view the video clip in HD click on the "HD" in the upper right hand corner. If you’d like to watch it in full screen version, just click the button in the lower right hand corner.

Creation Museum

Christmas at the Creation Museum

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Nickie Biegler and I volunteered at the Creation Museum for a few days to help with all the Christmas activities. The live nativity–which was actually more like “live town of Bethlehem”– was very well done.

Bethlehem’s Gate

One of the Bethlehem merchants selling her goods…

The story of the child was masterfully told to the crowds by the speaker on the 2nd floor…(Mary and Joseph are in the stable area below but you can’t see them in this picture)

The museum grounds were lit up beautifully


Playing the harp for a Christmas banquet downstairs in the Palm Plaza


The petting zoo, filled with unique animals (with unique personalities), was a big highlight

Elizabeth, Zacharias’s wife (Christian Actress Geri Campbell) told her whole story to everyone in the Special Effects theater. Nickie and I were assigned to outdoor positions so we couldn’t come see it, but my dad was very impressed with the presentation.


Here’s Nickie working “on the line” at Noah’s Cafe…making sandwhiches, wraps, etc. as people order them. This was a fun job. 🙂

“When you are working for the Lord, it never gets boring” one of the ladies in the kitchen told me. I’m always blessed by being around museum staff. There is a unique fellowship that takes place among them as they do their work for the Lord.

If you live in the area, by all means go see “Bethlehem’s Blessings”. There are a few more evenings left: December 29th, January 1st, and January 2nd.

Also, be in prayer for the Creation Museum and their staff. The Lord is using them greatly and they need perseverance and encouragement!

Bright Lights Office

Recent Special Provisions

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As we were gearing up to open our store, it has been encouraging to see God answer prayer and provide. Here are two of those ways:

IMG_6204 Kelly, a good friend from Minnesota, volunteered at the Bright Lights office for several weeks in October and November. She spent hours entering our expanding bookstore inventory into our computer sales software. We didn’t realize what a huge job this was going to be. Kelly “happened” to be here exactly at the time we needed it done.

IMG_6226 How are we going to find furniture for the bookstore?? we wondered. I dreamed of a comfy beige leather couch, but after looking at a few price tags, I knew we’d never buy one. But actually, I did know how we would get furniture. Just the same way we got everything else–on our knees. So we took this need to the Lord.
A couple weeks ago when friends at church asked me how the bookstore was coming along, I mentioned the current need for furniture.
“I need to talk to your dad about that,” a friend, Carlos, replied.
The next day we picked up this beautiful couch from Carlos’ storage unit. Free. And it’s beige and leather… just what I had hoped for. And it matches perfectly with the color of the walls. Carlos also gave us two chairs and some end tables. Wow! Another encouraging reminder that it’s always worth it to wait for the Lord’s provision!

“But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19

Miscellaneous

Big Project Finished

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Our website has finally been “revamped”! This is a project we’ve been working on for a long time. It’s hard to believe it’s actually up. 🙂
See www.brothersandsisters.net

There are new pages, new photos, new resources, and information about our new store, Noah’s Archive, with a gigapan picture to explore (use the tools in the left hand corner of the picture to zoom and pan).

We’re grateful to God for the ways He answered prayer at many little steps all along the way as we were working on this project. Our prayer now is that the website would honor the Lord and provide clear information and resources to strengthen families in Christ.

12-13-09 Stephen taking pictures of Bright Lights material for the website