The Radiant Purity Conference in Bristol, VA. The girls were very responsive and soaked up the lessons like a sponge.
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What would a conference be without skits?
No hectic moments backstage, no missing ques and come-ins, no messy bins of skit props, and no bloopers to laugh about afterward…
In our “modesty panel,” we share lots of tips on how to put together modest outfits.
Here’s a true “behind the scenes” picture… Since Daniel recently edited the DVDs of the Radiant Purity Conference we did in Omaha last April, Sarah recommended we watch the skits as a “refresher” to help us with our acting. We are excited about our new DVDs… 🙂
We’re so grateful to Lindsay, Sarah and Loren who spent many hours in the church kitchen providing healthy meals for all of us (on top of all their other responsibilities and the hectic conference schedule). You may notice the large stack of Grandma cookies; we bought those for snacks for the conference attendees and…*smile*… we found we had a few too many. So let me just warn you, if you see any of our staff in the next few weeks, don’t offer them a “Grandma cookie”.
One morning while we were in Virginia, we were able to meet up with a lady who has been in contact with us regarding translating Making Brothers and Sisters Best Friends into Bulgarian. It was exciting to hear stories about what the Lord is doing in Bulgarian families! She showed us one of their most recent projects– a Bulgarian translation of The True Story of Noah’s Ark.
After both conferences in Virginia were over, we, along with several of the families who helped to host the conferences, sat around eating pizza and listening to testimonies and stories from the week. It was a very special time for everyone with lots of laughter and tears.
After our time of sharing, the guys packed the trailer…
…while the girls cleaned the church. Hannah (left) a former Bright Lights intern, is the one who hosted the conferences in Bristol. Thanks again, Hannah, for your initiative and all your hard work! 🙂
After all the work was done Saturday night, we gathered around the piano and sang. It takes a while to wind down from the excitement of a conference and singing praises to the Lord was a great way to conclude the week.
“O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever…He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions. Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing.” Psalm 107:1, 20-22
Hi Grace! I’ve been praying for you and the others who are helping with the Bright Lights videos, conferences, etc. 🙂 When you have the time, could you share some of the tips with me about wearing modest attractive clothes? Thanks!
Love,
Christy
Hello Christy! Thanks for your prayers.
Sure, here’s a few tips about finding “modest, attractive clothes”:
1) Pray about it.
2) Get advice from your parents.
3) Follow what’s “classic” as opposed to what’s “in.”
4) Shop at second hand stores. I try not to spend too long shopping, but I run in and out every once in a while and I often find something.
5) Remember that “fit” is important.
I usually look for long flowy skirts, and nice-fitting blouses with collars and belts.
Remember that we have an special opportunity to bring glory to the Lord by the way we dress!
God bless!
Grace
Hello Grace!
Sounds like your time in Virginia was such a blessing!
I enjoyed seeing the slideshow of skits…oh! I love seeing them at the conferences!
Thanks for sharing all the photos and notes about the conference!
Have a very pleasant day, delighting in the Lord!
Elizabeth
Thanks for the tips! I’ll remember them when I’m looking for something to wear.
Making your own clothes is good too because you can design them. In the slideshow,
I’ve seen the very nice skirts the girls wore (skits). Do they sew the skirts they wear?
Christy
Wow! It looks like you all had a lot of fun! I want to come to a Bright lights Conference sometime! Are you all going to put one on in Oklahoma?
Hey Cynthia,
Nice to hear from you. 🙂 We’d love to do a conference in Oklahoma sometime. We normally just go where we are invited, if the Lord works out all the details. One possibility is we could do a trip south next year and do 2 conferences in OK and 2 in TX. We’ll just have to see what the Lord works out. Hope you and your family are doing well–including your new little brother. 🙂
Love,
Grace
Grace, I LOVE all of the pictures!!!! And I’m so glad there aren’t any of me. lol
The slideshow is awesome. You should tell Stephen that he should look into getting a job as a photographer, ’cause he does great! 😉
Any word on how the Ohio SITL conference tapes look? I’m praying that they turned out!
Hello Grace. I was curious to know if you got all your skirts at second hand shops. I’m looking for a denim skirt but can’t seem to find one. Also, it appears all of you are thin and healthy – what are you tips for healthy eating?
Such fun memories! Gotta love those Grandma cookies! 🙂
Hi Jessica,
I know it’s super hard to find skirts sometime. I’ll often just run in and out of second hand stores and just quickly glance through the skirt rack. And pray.
Tips for healthy eating? What a fun question! In general I just try to eat what makes most sense (natural foods as God made them). Homemade whole wheat bread is a staple in our family. I also love fruits, vegetables and yogurt. But you probably wanted to hear something a little more original than “eat fruits and vegetables” so I’ll mention a few other tips.
-replace salad dressing with salsa, marina sauce, olive oil, guacamole, etc.
-Replace sugar with honey and white flour with whole wheat flour
-Replace veggie dips with hummus
-Replace milk chocolate with dark chocolate 🙂
-Make frozen yogurt as an alternative to ice cream (you can make it in a crank ice cream maker…)
-Make kefir and use it in smoothies with frozen fruit
-Fast
-Replace spreads with natural peanut butter and almond butter
-Eat brown rice with stir-fried vegetables
-Replace store-bought cereals with homemade granola
-use butter vs. margarine
-Exercise, and use the time to pray and meditate on Scripture
I’ve learned that (for me, at least) it’s not too difficult to “retrain” taste buds to enjoy (and even begin craving) healthier foods. Normally people simply want what they are used to.
I also think an important key is to keep busy serving God and others so that food doesn’t become too much of a focus.
God bless you! 🙂
Grace
Very nice posts, Grace! They made me smile and laugh a lot, seeing the skit photos and thinking of all the memories. See you soon!
Hey Grace,
I have been following your blog ever since i stumbled upon it whilst i was actually searching for Malaysian food bloggers… i think it was your mission trip that linked me to your site.
Im actually living in Sydney, Australia and as a youth group leader and its been most difficult to teach the young girls here about modesty and dressing appropriately (its like in one ear and out the other), they even wear short shorts (or maybe they are called hot pants in the US?) in the middle of winter (which is about 18C here)!. Do you have teaching materials that we perhaps could use (it’ll be cool if you guys came to Australia for a Bright Lights conference!) that would help young Christian girls think more about dressing modestly?
Your site has been really encouraging, especially your witnessing entries, its amazing how God works in people and answers prayers…
Feel free to contact me on my email 🙂
Kay
Lovely pictures!! Where did you get those outfits? 😀