Grace Notes – Page 60 – Tomorrow's Forefathers, Inc.

Chicken Noodle Soup Disaster

April 14, 2008 Grace Mally7 Comments

My mom made a big pot of chicken noodle soup to take to a family from our church who was sick. As she was taking it to the car…….somehow something slipped. Poor mom, she had been working on the soup all day, and it was really delicious (or so I hear). She screamed really loud (her natural reaction when she spills something) and my dad came frantically running out. I think he was relieved that the problem wasn’t more serious. A few minutes later, Stephen and I pulled into the driveway to an unexpected sight….

We’ve shoveled a lot of snow this year, but I never guessed that I’d be shoveling chicken noodle soup!

I was at a friends house recently and saw a little wooden sign in their kitchen that said “There is always, always, always something to be grateful for.” Even when things go wrong, benefits arise. For example, we learn patience, we have something to laugh about (well, later), we remember to be more grateful for all the times when we didn’t spill the soup, [smile] etc.
If things “go wrong” at your house today, don’t forget to “Give thanks in everything, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” (1 Thess 5:18)

Homeschool Conferences

Our Van Left Without Us!

April 10, 2008 Grace Mally1 Comment

As I type, four of our Bright Lights staff are on the road headed to Illinois for the Peoria Homeschool Convention. We had a busy day packing and sending them off!

Thank you Bekah, Elyssa, Chrissy, and Nickie! We are grateful to God for our great Bright Lights representatives! Hope you are having a good time. [smile]

Stephen configuring our Point of Sales software –making sure it’s all working correctly

Stephen explaining to the girls how to set up the projector for the session they will be giving

Dad packing the van

Dad giving final instructions and directions to Nickie, “the driver” [smile]

Miscellaneous

Our 2008 Schedule

April 9, 2008 Grace Mally4 Comments

Here is our current 2008 conference schedule–at least, what we have planned so far. We’re looking forward to a great year! We are grateful for the ways the Lord has guided and provided thus far, and we are praying that He will be working mightily in the days to come, producing eternal fruit for His glory.

“…we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.” 2 Corinthians 4:7

Below are the conferences my family or our Bright Lights staff will be at, and the titles of the session(s) we will be giving.

April
11-12 Peoria, IL (APACHE)- Bright Lights Staff
Booth: 225
-Training Young Ladies to be Bright Lights for the Lord

18-19 Duluth, MN (MACHE) – Mr. and Mrs. Mally and Sarah
Booth: 308
-Raising Young Ladies to Be Pure in a Generation of Darkness

18-19 Indianapolis, IN (IAHE) – Stephen and Grace Mally and Bright Lights Staff
Booth: 301, 302
-Training Young Ladies to be Bright Lights for the Lord

25-26 Kansas City, KS (MPE) – Bright Lights Staff
Booth: 1108, 1109
-Raising Young Ladies to Be Pure in a Generation of Darkness
-Training Young Ladies to be Bright Lights for the Lord

May
2-3 Lansing, MI (INCH) – Mally Family
Booth: 67
-How to Start a Bright Lights Group
-Learning From Dad
-Peace Treaties in the Living Room
-Raising Young Ladies to Be Pure in a Generation of Darkness

9-10 Arlington, TX (Home School Book Fair) – Mally Family
Booth: 200
-Peace Treaties in the Living Room

23-24 Orlando, FL (FPEA) – Grace Mally and Bright Lights Staff
Booth: 212
-Training Young Ladies to Be Bright Lights for the Lord

June
6-7 Des Moines, IA (NICHE) – Mally Family

-Credentials Without College
-Knights, Maidens, and Dragons
-Making Brothers and Sisters Best Friends
-Peace Treaties in the Living Room
Preparing Young Ladies for their Teen Years

6-7 Naperville, IL (ICHE) – Bright Lights Staff

-Training Young Ladies to Be Bright Lights for the Lord

24-25 Bemidji, MN (Bright Lights)
Radiant Purity Conference

27-28 Bemidji, MN (Bright Lights)
Strong in the Lord Conference

July
8-9 Kansas City, KS (Bright Lights)
Strong in the Lord Conference

11-12 Kansas City, KS (Bright Lights)
Radiant Purity Conference

August
11-12 Lansing, MI (Bright Lights)
Strong in the Lord Conference

13-14 Lansing, MI (Bright Lights)
Radiant Purity Conference

15-16 Lansing, MI (Heart of Homeschooling Conference)

September
6 Singapore (Bright Lights)
Strong in the Lord Conference

10-13 Melaka, Malaysia (Bright Lights)
ATII/Bright Lights Conference

16-18 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (Bright Lights)
Strong in the Lord Conference

20 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (Bright Lights)
Radiant Purity Conference

22-24 Melaka, Malaysia (Bright Lights)
Strong in the Lord Conference

27 Singapore (Bright Lights)
Radiant Purity Conference

If we are in your area, feel free to inquire whether we are available for a presentation
at your group or church. Also, you can see our Presentation Page for a list of our messages.

Bright Lights Local Group

Dads at Bright Lights

April 5, 2008 Grace Mally11 Comments

We invited all the dads to come with their daughters to Bright Lights last night. We all enjoyed having the dads there. 🙂 We showed a video called The Return of the Daughters. This professionally made documentary addresses the God-given role of young ladies, gives vision for how girls can use their single years for the Lord, and shows in a beautiful way the blessings and benefits that come when a young lady honors her father and seeks to make him successful. The video was very well received, and my dad said that the 30+ fathers who were there had a good time of sharing afterwards while all of us girls divided into discussion groups downstairs. It created some special fellowship to have a whole group of like-minded fathers watching it together with their daughters. It’s exciting and encouraging to see many strong families in our community.

For an activity, all the dads had to draw a picture (with their daughter’s verbal help) of something related to their occupation. We taped them up on the wall afterwards for everyone to look at. It was funny to see the little cartoons they all came up with.

Family News

Chicago Bible Quizzing Tournament

April 1, 2008 Grace Mally13 Comments

Last Saturday, Sarah and my dad accompanied me to my last WBQA Bible Quizzing Tournament of the year. The tournaments are always intense, very competitive, and lots of pressure…. but also enjoyable (at times). 🙂 It’s like a sport, except it’s mental and not physical. Quizzers have to build their “memory muscles” to contain lots of God’s Word.

A strategy timeout during the finals

I love Bible Quizzing! (As my family knows, I don’t say that when I’m cramming right before a tournament… 🙂 ) but really, I am SO grateful for the way quizzing has helped me to memorize God’s word and for the way my parents have enouraged me to involved. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

Witnessing Stories

Learning from the wise…

March 28, 2008 Grace Mally4 Comments

I am learning that one of the best ways to learn how to share my faith is to glean from the wisdom of those who have been doing it for years. Since I’ve recently been asking the Lord for wisdom and training in witnessing, I was delighted with the amazing way He provided for me today.

Last night, Sarah, my dad and I drove into Darien, Illinois (where my dad grew up) for a Bible Quizzing Tournament this Saturday. This morning, we decided Panera sounded good for breakfast. Just as we sat down with our bagels—surprise!—some good friends walked in, not knowing we were in the area. After warm greetings, we invited them to join us for breakfast.

Immediately they began sharing some recent witnessing stories. Since I kept asking, they kept sharing, and wow—was I encouraged! They shared for 2 hours straight about the incredible ways the Lord has led them in sharing the gospel. From hosting neighborhood children’s events to making friends at local restaurants and stores…they shared example after example of times the Lord brought seeking souls across their paths. I wish I could share it all with you now but I don’t want to make this blog a newspaper.

Later this afternoon, we ran into another good friend and, upon hearing my desire to gain insight in witnessing, he graciously agreed to share his “fishing” advice with me. He goes out “fishing” everyday and is always sharing stories about those that he has led to the Lord. I felt so privileged to have this appointment with this hero of the faith and I bounced dozens of questions off him. One of the major things I learned was how powerful simplicity is. The devil wants to make the gospel look complicated and scare us away from attempting to share it. But Jesus said, “Unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven”. (Matt. 18:3)

Family News

Family Times…

March 23, 2008 Grace Mally8 Comments

Here I am with my cousin, Stephanie. Do we look alike? (We don’t think so.[smile] )

Stephanie and I went out for coffee yesterday afternoon and had a good talk about witnessing ideas. Here’s a good idea she shared with me that I thought I’d pass on to you:

When you are at a restaurant, tell your waitress, “Hey–we are just about to pray for our meal. Is there anything we could pray about for you?”

It’s often difficult to get into a good conversation with waiters or waitresses so I am excited about trying out this idea.

When you are the youngest ones in the family, no matter how old you get, you never outgrow the “kid’s table” at family gatherings. [smile]

This afternoon, when my family arrived home from church we were all really hungry. Funny how that happens when you don’t have much food around. It’s been a busy weekend and unfortunately we didn’t have anything planned for Easter dinner.
Dad wanted oatmeal, so Sarah started to make baked oatmeal but then she found out that we didn’t have enough oatmeal so she substituted rye flakes. [smile] (My mom often mentions how she appreciates that Dad is so easy to please when it comes to food…)

However, we decided that oatmeal just wasn’t enough 🙂 so we tried to find something else. We remembered that we had a couple steaks in the freezer. After thawing them, we had a little family discussion about whether we should grill outside (in 30 degree weather) or broil them in the oven. We decided to broil them. Unfortunately, they started on fire in the oven and set off our fire alarm, etc. It’s a good thing our family likes steaks well done.

It turned out that we had a very nice (Easter) Resurrection Day dinner and a relaxing Sunday.

Bright Lights Office

Planning at the Building

March 20, 2008 Grace Mally3 Comments

Almost everyday we continue to have discussions and make plans about the ministry building. There are lots of decisions to make!

Discussing layout plans

Can you see the little piece of popcorn in the air? (Nice, Stephen 🙂 )

Here is our current “office” at the building. Pretty fancy, huh?!

We have been very grateful for the help from Ben Weieneth (at laptop). He is a homeschooling friend of ours who has an interest in architecture. His dad gave him the “homeschool assignment” of drawing floor plans for the building. He drew up some very nice, detailed floor plans and showed them to us.

The very next morning, when we applied to get a building permit, the city requested drawings from us. My dad knew just who to call! We were grateful to the Lord for his provision.

Tracy Jarmon, (bottom left) is our “contractor” and a very good friend of our family’s. He has spent hours and days working at the building and discussing plans with my dad. He has so many good ideas and he understands what we are trying to accomplish. I don’t know what we would do without him.

Witnessing Stories

St Patrick’s Parade Report

March 17, 2008 Grace Mally11 Comments

We just arrived home from the St. Patrick’s Parade about an hour ago. It was rainy and cold, but that didn’t keep everyone away! It was funny seeing lots of people wrapped up in their fuzzy blankets waiting for the parade to start.

Some friends from our church and Bright Lights group came with us and together we passed out about 2,000 tracts. It was a lot of fun! –Especially since most people smiled and thanked us, sometimes asking for more. We also got into several good conversations with people.

A real highlight for me was listening to the stories that were told at a coffee shop afterwards. We sipped our coffee and hot chocolate and listened to reports. My dad told a story about how he had talked with someone for a long time and then they prayed to accept Christ, (!!!!) and Sarah explained about an interesting talk she had had with a young Mormon who was really open and interested in what she was saying.

My friend Nickie got into a talk with a lady who called herself a “born again Christian”, but didn’t really know the Lord. So Nickie asked her, “When you say ‘born again’, what does that mean to you?”
Her response was a confirmation to Nickie that this lady didn’t really know what she was talking about–she just knew some Christian terminology.
“Well, would you like to know what I believe?” Nickie asked.
“Sure” she said.
Nickie explained the gospel, and she was very receptive.
“Do you have a Bible?” Nickie asked.
“Yes” the lady answered.
“I’d suggest reading the book of John,” Nickie said.
“John? Ok.” she answered affirmitively.
Nickie left her with a tract entitled “How Can We Know We’ll Go to Heaven?”. (By the way, I’d recommend this tract–it’s very clear and informative.Click here to read it.)

If any of you passed out tracts today we would all be encouraged to hear about it! Please post a comment and share…

Family News/Miscellaneous

Report

March 15, 2008 Grace Mally3 Comments

Recently we have been finishing up the Making Brothers and Sisters Best Friends Coloring Book. We have been retracing and fixing pictures and doing last minute touch-ups throughout the final draft.

Projects are always harder to finish than you think! You know how it is…there are always more improvements you could make, but eventually you just have to call it “done.” Tonight we kept rewording the text on the back cover…but I think we just finished it. *Finally!*

We’re thankful that finishing this coloring book is a whole lot easier than finishing Before You Meet Prince Charming was!

Yesterday afternoon, Stephen went through and did all the little games and puzzles we added 🙂 and checked to make sure that all the Scripture references were correct.

We just received an e-mail with a final draft of the cover from Jeremy Fisher, the graphic artist who designed the cover of our two previous books. This time I don’t think we have any more changes to send him! Amazing.

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