Tuesday, August 12, 2003

7:49 PM Happy to report that 54,000 copies of An Anchor for the Soul were delivered to Oak Park last week and are now safely in storage. Just today we received a note from a retired Chicago firefighter who writes:

I send a quarterly mailing to 85 retired Chicago firemen, mostly non-believers. I sometimes include a book in with the letter. I would like to include the above book in my fall quarter mailing. Thank you and God bless you and your ministry.

We reprinted the book (with the kind help of Moody Publishers) for prison ministry and for ministry opportunities such as this.

7:44 PM Just received my copy of American Scandal by Pat Williams, senior VP of the Orlando Magic. Subtitled “The Solution for the Crisis of Character,” here are some chapter titles to whet your appetite: “A Nation in Crisis,” “Searching for an Honest Man,” “Do the Right Thing,” “Never Give Up,” “A Tiny Thing Called Work,” and “Someone is Watching You!” The book reads easily, yet contains a powerful message. Very motivational and encouraging. Would make an excellent gift.

9:01 AM Mark returned about 1:30 AM from his summer youth internship in Oregon. He drove all the way from Cheyenne, WY to Oak Park yesterday—almost 900 miles. We kept calling him every hour or so starting about 8 PM just to make sure he was awake. When I called him at midnight, he said that a State Trooper had pulled him over because the car swerved while he was reaching for a bottle of water. The trooper searched the car and gave Mark the “touch your nose” and the “walk a straight line” tests. When the trooper asked him to recite the alphabet backwards, Mark started laughing and said, “When I’m sober, I can’t even do that.” In other circumstances that might not be the best answer, but the trooper knew that he hadn’t been drinking so he chuckled and let him go with an admonition to drive safely. As Mark said, it makes for a good story plus it kept him wide awake for the last two hours of his long trip home.

8:58 AM Here’s the Legacy Campaign prayer request for today: “Pray that we will always rejoice in the Lord and be joyful in our Savior (Habukkuk 3:17-18).” On Sunday I poked my head into the gym and saw that it has been almost completely gutted. The stage has been removed and the floor completely taken apart. Lynette Hoy’s office has been demolished so that the whole area is one enormous open space. The former missionary apartment has been demolished as well. The tear-down phase is almost complete, which means that the new construction begins soon. We hope to have the renovated gym open for use by October 1, with the complete project finished by mid-November.