Whitney arrived in the wee hours of the morning. More family is enroute and will arrive today. Many friends arrived overnight and more are coming. There is growing anticipation and enthusiasm in our home as this weekend we will celebrate a combination of our 25th Wedding Anniversary and the release of "I Would Die for You, One Students Story of Passion, Service and Faith."

Saturday, many will gather at our home in the afternoon to join us in celebrating these landmark events in our lives. Sunday, we will give testimony in our church (Parkview Baptist) about the book. They have asked us if they can pray over us, the book and for God to bless it's use in His Kingdom work! How blessed we truly are for such things to occur.

Sunday morning, Walker Moore (founder of Awe Star) is preaching in these same services. Sunday afternoon, he is leading an "Equipping Conference" and I will speak in a breakout session.

Today, at 11:00 AM Central Time, I will be sharing in our 5th or 6th radio interview, about our book. It has been very encouraging to be able to do so. I have been remiss in not offering the call letter of previous stations so that you could find them on the internet and listen. However, today's interview does not have such options on their website. This interview will occur in Central Florida. I will try to keep you apprised of future opportunities.

The early word we have on our books circulation is encouraging. We have begun to receive testimonies from around the states of how God is using it, one life at a time, to bring about change. You have seen and heard some on this website (if you read the comment section). I cannot begin to express how excited and hopeful we are that God will use this to help change a culture steeped in materialism and self interest, and help direct believers into a deeper walk of obedience. Each of us can impact our world, one life at a time. That is the only effective way to do it.

www.revellbooks.com now has a free downloadable Discussion Guide to accompany our book. You can print this off (from the page with our book on it) if you choose. It is 32 pages. I confess to you that I don't usually have a lot of use for such things. We have been impressed at the writing of this one. It is a good companion to our book, and will provoke significant thought when utilized.

God has made many provisions for His glory to be revealed in the wake of losing BJ. The testimony that has resulted is one we only want to see point people to Christ. We realize that we each have much responsibility in continuing to fight the good fight. It would be very easy to ease up, and focus inward.

This is not what the Word teaches us to do. This is not how our son lived his life. This is not how our Father in Heaven would desire to see us live. We cannot afford to relax at such grievous losses in our lives. We each much seek to invest ourselves wholly into our walk with Him. As we do, He changes us, and we in turn can have impact on others. It does require us to step out of our zones of retreat and comfort.

If you knew your own innermost thoughts and writings were one day going to be opened up to the world, would you think and write differently? Would your current course in life bring glory to the Saving one?

BJ was in love with Jesus and lived to see others become so. There was nothing contrived in what he wrote in his journals. Just the deep longings of an obedient heart and life.

I want my own heart to beat that way. I want to be so in love with Jesus that my thoughts are not of myself, even when I have significant need.

I want to celebrate who Jesus is to me above all the other glories and accomplishments that may come in life. There will always be plenty of failure to go around. I cannot afford to get bogged down in what I do wrong...rather, I need to focus on what He is doing, where He is at work, and let Him handle the details.

This is doable. If it were not, there would have been no point in God sending us His one and only Son as a sacrifice... to show us the way by how He lived His life. He calls us to do the same. I will fail Him, but I am in!!!

dad