Three trips to the Dallas, Texas area, a trip to the panhandle of Florida, quick visits to Georgia and Alabama, and too many conference calls and meetings to recount. Things continue to move forward as we see our books reaching homes through an ever increasing network of stores, catalogs, churches, schools, and individuals. We don't even want to look at the odometer on the car anymore.
We have just returned from our most recent trip to Dallas. We were honored to be invited to participate at an annual Conference for Children's Pastors. The conference brings together the leaders of church ministries to children from most of the 50 largest Southern Baptist churches in America. It was great to meet these dedicated leaders and see their commitment to reaching children all across the world with the message of Christ's love for every child.
We were able to begin developing relationships which will allow us to see our books find their way into many of these church ministries. What an incredible opportunity the Lord has opened for us! I just keep coming back to the fact that it is God's grace that has allowed us (myself, others working with me at Cane Creek Publishers, and our business and ministry partners) to experience all of this. It has not all been easy. There have been disappointments, setbacks, struggles, and closed doors, along with all of the new and exciting opportunities. In it all, we have seen God's hand at work.
What is most rewarding is to hear about children who are loving the books and whose lives are being changed. Earlier this week, I had two really neat experiences with parents of children who have copies of our books. The first happened when I was visiting at a public school. A parent that I know, but had not seen in a couple of years, came up and greeted me. He went on to share how much his children had enjoyed "The True Night Before Christmas". It seems it is one of their favorite books. He had received one of our original books back in 2008. The book is now an important part of their family's Christmas tradition. A few days later, I was at a meeting discussing how our new "Dorothy and the Good Shepherd" book will soon be used in Day Camps for children in Kenya. One of the pastors in the meeting shared how his little girl "loves" the book about "the loaves and fish" ("The Night Before Jesus fed 5000 Men). He told us how she comes in carrying the book, almost every night and wants it read to her again, and again, and again. His comment was, "if you want a testimony about your books just let me know, I'll be happy to share - anytime".
I cannot explain how exciting, and at the same time humbling, it is to hear these kind of stories. Praise God for what he is accomplishing through His grace in our lives. I pray that I never fail to appreciate the "wonder" of how God ever chose to use me to share His story with others.
I have one final story to share. Earlier this week we were returning from Texas. We had driven over 17 hours "none stop", except for gas and food we ate in the car. I had a meeting to attend, here in Western North Carolina, the very next day. We had started just after noon in Dallas and now it was almost 6:00 the following morning. As you can imagine we were "bone tired". It had started to rain and we were about 10 miles from home. All of the sudden, as I pulled out from a stop sign, I felt a strange sensation and heard an unusual sound. Almost instantly, I realized we had a flat tire. The trunk was full of luggage and books. We stood in the rain, moving boxes and suitcases so we could get to the jack and spare tire. As you can imagine, I was thinking - Why? Why here, why now, why us?
I took out the jack, got down on all fours (in the mud) and slid the jack under the car. Joyce was standing behind me holding an umbrella that was not big enough to keep either of us dry, much less both of us. About that time a car pulled up behind us in the dark. I didn't know whether to be happy or afraid. I had no way of knowing who was in the car or whether their intentions were good or bad. A tall, rather slim, bearded man walked toward us. He was wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt. He only wanted to help. It turns out that his aunt was one of Joyce's closest friends from her years of teaching school. He had not recognized us. He just thought we might need some help. He got down in the mud with me and worked with us until the tire was changed, and everything was back in the car. Then he followed us, until we made the turn onto the road where we live. Matthew was his name. He was on his way home after having worked all night at a local manufacturing plant. He even invited us to come to his church this Sunday. Once again - God's grace!
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