What a year it has been for us and for FamilyLife! It seems impossible that we are only a couple of weeks away from celebrating our one year anniversary here in Little Rock. How time flies when you’re having fun, and we are having a blast! Of course, beyond finally getting to move here after two years of support-raising a lot of other big things have happened. I just want to praise God for what he has done in our lives and in this ministry. Let me list just a few of the highlights:
- June 6, 2005 We move out of our home in Moore, OK
- June 13 We report for our first day at work at FamilyLife
- August 30 I (Butch) am asked to serve as Director of Information Services
- October 28-30 The OKC Weekend to Remember reaches near record attendance
- October 31 I’m charged with leadership of a major strategic project.
- March 31, 2006 Major deadline on strategic project is fulfilled—decision reached
- May 2 President’s Cabinet gives unanimous approval to our recommendations
- May 5-7 Tulsa WTR is sold out, Dallas WTR sets new attendance record (3,877)!
In the midst of all of this, our Weekend to Remember conference had one of the best years ever! Approximately one-third of our conferences totally sold out, over 88,000 attended, and most importantly over 2,000 people accepted Christ as their Savior! We’ve seen significant growth in so many areas of theministry that it is clear that FamilyLife is touching a vital need in our country.
One of the great joys that I have is to follow-up with many who’ve recently attended a conference. Let me share some of the comments I’ve personally seen:
“This conference is a new start for my wife and I. We both have said for
years that we are going to be more spiritually involved with one another and our
family. However, time came and went. NO MORE. Our actions are and will be ‘new’
today for our family.†– Tulsa, OK“It opened my eyes to the way I’ve been treating my wife and family. It gave
me and showed me the things I’ve been doing wrong so I can fix them and make it
right in our family and relationship. Thank you for my relationship with my wife
back.†– Denver, CO“Wow, we’ve had a great weekend! I’ve learned to stop blaming my husband for
ALL of our disagreements and look at my own selfishness. Most importantly, rely
on God and his power in our relationship. Thank you all so much for a wonderful
conference—Denver, CO“This conference brought to our attention the important goals that we need to
focus on in our marriage and family. Otherwise, we could have been guessing for
a looooong time at what we needed to focus on. Now we have the knowledge and a
plan to create a lasting and wonderfully positive and Godly legacy for our
family†– Denver, CO“Impossible to describe. We need it. We came. We learned to become husband
and wife again. We brought things we need to fix into focus. We proved to
ourselves we could love each other again. We leave energized to take our
marriage to great heights.†– Denver CO
There are so many others. These are just the ones that I’ve personally gotten to talk to! God is definitely touching lives through this ministry and as we list things to give praise for, near the top are all of you who are helping make it possible. You played a part in each of the changed lives I’ve quoted as well as all the other families and souls that were saved! Thank you for making a difference!
