We decided to enter via our front doors this morning.
“This week’s snow is most in three decades” – Des Moines Register
Guess what just arrived?
We are thrilled to announce that the Bright Lights CD is now available!
When Rachel Wissmann asked me back in April at the Omaha Bright Lights Conference if we had ever considered making a Bright Lights CD, I told her it was one of those projects I wasn’t sure if we’d ever get to. But–when she offered to help with it–that was a different story! I presented the idea to my family and our “family meeting” on the issue ended very quickly as we all agreed the offer was too good to turn down.
The Lord answered prayer beyond our expectations in the production stages of the CD. It is our continued prayer that this CD would have a mighty impact in people’s lives!
Below is a little “taste” that Stephen put together.
[flv:http://tomorrowsforefathers.com/files/smile_song.flv 480 368]
For more information or to order a copy, click here.
Also, if you think of it, the Wissmann family could use extra special prayer this month as they are serving Him in Branson, MO.
“Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.” Psalm 145:3-4
Friends
A few nights ago our good friend Bekah (in blue sweater) invited us all over to her house for her 21st birthday party. We are all old friends because almost everyone in the picture has been involved in our Bright Lights group here in Cedar Rapids, IA for the past 10 years, and has traveled together to help lead at multiple Bright Lights conference trips. We have lots of adventurous and unique memories! Serving the Lord together ignites some of the best times of fellowship. I’m so grateful for these lasting friendships.
Leader’s Training Attendees
We want to express appreciation to each of you who were praying for the Leaders Training. It was a great week. Like any conference, it was tiring and had its stressful moments… but things went very well. Sarah mentioned that she could definitely tell people were praying for her. The Lord answered many specific requests. We had a sweet, encouraging, spiritually-minded group of young ladies who attended. And it sounds like quite a few more Bright Lights groups will be starting.
The sessions seemed to go well, and …. drum roll please… the video worked, too! 🙂 From everything we can tell, it seems like the recording went very well. Stephen was able to edit as we went, so there is very little “post work” that has to be done. There *is* a little editing to do because of a few minor mistakes, such as the times Stephen fell asleep during sessions and woke up while falling off his chair :), etc.
One of the activities during the training was to divide into small groups and, as a team, creatively present one Bright Lights lesson. The group pictured above did a great job teaching the Bright Lights lesson on “Keeping a Clear Conscience,” and we all enjoyed the way they illustrated how a girl will act in various situations depending on whether she has a “clear”, “guilty” or “dead” conscience.
Leaders Training Report
Stephen and Sarah giving their “Credentials without College” Presentation. (About life purpose, developing a ministry mindset, and having a bigger vision for your life.)
Tomorrow is the last day of the leader’s training. The taping has been going pretty smoothly. We are grateful for all Stephen’s “recruits” who have come to help tape, and for the patience of all the girls attending the conference.
Abby Kramer shared about what the Lord has taught her through leading her Bright Lights group in Minnesota. She came to a Leaders Training six years ago and has been leading a group for several years now. She had a lot of good insights to share.
Actually, Sarah has asked several Bright Lights leaders (mostly from this area) share a session, and each one has been very mearningful.
Each morning my dad leads a Bible study (we call them “Wisdom Seaches”) with the group. One of my favorite mornings was when we talked about the story David and Goliath. We discussed what the “giants” are in our day. What are the giants in our country that are defying the living God? We need more Davids to fight the Lord’s battles and conquer these giants.
There are not many activities that are as satisfying as studying the Word of God together and learning from each other’s insights.
Bright Lights E-mail Account Lost
Pictured here is my computer hard drive in the freezer. It died last week and Stephen tried everything he could think of to get it to work again (including freezing it) but nothing worked…it’s gone.
We’re thankful that many files were backed up elsewhere, but we did lose my whole e-mail account from the past 6 months–which includes all of the Bright Lights e-mails.
If you’ve been trying to contact us recently please e-mail again! Thank you!
Mountain Top Experience
On Thursday, in between conferences, we had a great time hiking in Grayson Highlands State Park.
I can’t tell you how refreshing it was to be out there in the woods!
God blessed us with a beautiful breezy day and I sort of felt like I was walking inside a beautiful painting. One of the highlights of the day was just spending more time with the others in our group. We don’t always have much time to talk while running the conferences.
It was so beautiful Lauren just couldn’t quit hiking –even after her shoes wore out!
It was fun to get acquainted with the friendly free-range ponies in the park. They were so cute.
After we were all tired and hungry, we enjoyed a great lasagna dinner out on the Stam’s back deck. The Stams are the family who hosted both the Strong in the Lord Conference and the Radiant Purity Conference (which I’m going to post about next) in Bristol. They have a wonderful family and we so appreciate all the sacrifices they’ve made to bring these conferences here!
Projects Underway…
Days have been pretty productive here at the Bright Lights office recently! This is Sarah and Daniel’s “spot.” As you can tell, they are both working very hard…on projects that can get somewhat tedious. Daniel is working on editing video from the Radiant Purity Conference (we are planning to make the DVDs available so families or Bright Lights Groups can host mini “video conferences” in their areas) and Sarah is working on a Bright Lights Songbook to go along with the new CD. We’ve been wanting to get these projects done for a long time, and we are SO grateful to the Lord for providing Sarah and Daniel’s skilled help! (Oh, and my stuffed monkey is also enjoying the company…)
Creation Museum
Stephen, Sarah and I will be speaking on Making Brothers and Sisters Best Friends and playing our harps at the Creation Museum on May 26th. If you live in the area and would like to come, see here for details.
Trip to the Creation Museum
Last weekend we took a group of about 35 from our church to the Creation Museum in Cincinnati. It was a great trip! We never get tired of spending time at the museum… 🙂