We love you so much! We are grateful for the gift the Lord gave us in you, and we delight to see your joy for Jesus!
As a side note of trivia, this is the fifth Maxwell birthday so far this year on the road, and we might likely still have one more to go. 
“But thou, O man of God . . . follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness” (1 Timothy 6:11).
Went very well! The Lord brought a great group of people out, and it was such a blessing to be able to share with them. We look forward to what the Lord will do tomorrow.
Thank you for praying!
Sarah
“Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight” (Psalms 119:35).
We’re here in New Orleans, set up, and ready for this weekend’s conference. We would appreciate prayer for the hearts of those attending. A report on last night soon!
Sarah
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord” (Colossians 3:16).
Yesterday we drove from Star City, Arkansas to Petal, Mississippi. It was quite the bumpy ride! We arrived safely in the afternoon in time for a smooth setup. It seems that our first setup is always a bit rusty, but after that things go much more smoothly.
We always enjoy seeing different things as we drive. Yesterday, we saw a field that was being burned. We also saw many fields being harvested. What a beautiful reminder that we are to pray that the Lord will send out workers to harvest!
“Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest.” (Luke 10:2)
Daddy is such a good driver to drive on such narrow two lane roads!
Burning field.
Anna
Dad and Mom praying before the conference.
Our conference in Oklahoma City went well. Before the conference, we enjoyed a visit from our cousin Mark who lives in the area. We hadn’t seen him for a while so it was nice to have some “catch up” time!
It was a joy to see the group the Lord brought to the conference. As we talked to people, our hearts were very encouraged in what we saw God doing in their lives through what was shared! Even though it was a late addition with only time for two weeks of publicity, the turnout was very good. Mom was able to see a friend that she had met through email when the Managers of Their Homes book first came out. They had had contact off and for the last 11 years and were finally able to meet face to face.
We’re driving right now in Mississippi, and we’ll be doing a conference near Hattiesburg tonight!
Anna
Dad's room was full.
Book tables were busy.
Hearts Session
Even Joseph helped at the book tables.
Precious
Reading Moody books
“Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind” (Philippians 2:2).
We had quite a round of storms go through the area Monday night before the conference. But, praise the Lord, the storms dissipated, and people came out for the conference.
We were so grateful to have had another opportunity to share our hearts! This was also the first evening Joseph and John gave Christopher’s Success or Failure session, as they are preparing to give it now that Christopher is getting married.
Mary and Anna
Mother/daughter talk.
Dad gave his session in a cozy setting, almost like a living room.
Jesse keeps a great eye on the sessions.
Talking
The Guys
Thank you for continuing to pray for us–we are so grateful! We’ll be driving today to Star City, Arkansas, to stop in and say “hi” to our friends. Tomorrow, we’ll be headed to Hattiesburg, for our conference there in the evening.
Sarah
“So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom” (Psalms 90:12).
Rainbow
As we were finishing our conference setup yesterday, a thunderstorm began to build in the area. One and three-quarters inches of rain fell in a little less than an hour. As the storm cleared, we saw a beautiful rainbow. I grabbed my camera and took several photos, but only as I was editing them, I noticed the double rainbow. They say, here in Texas that everything is bigger, and this was no exception. It so reminded me of God’s promise to mankind that He would never flood the earth again.
Joseph
“I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. . . . And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that [is] upon the earth.” (Genesis 13:16)
Practicing.
The evening went very well! It was such a blessing to share through music and testimony.
Praying in the bus before the service.
John talking.
Singing...
Daddy preaching.
Talking
We just finished our Wichita Falls conference, and next, we’ll be headed to Oklahoma City for the conference, which will be Tuesday evening!
Sarah
“If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister” (Colossians 1:23).
We wanted to post our schedule and map of our upcoming two weeks. We would love to meet you!
Speaking Schedule
“To preach the gospel in the regions beyond you…” (2 Corinthians 10:16)
It was a warm, Friday afternoon for set up, but there were many helpers to move around chairs and set up rooms.
Who is this, and what is the person doing?
Friday night dinner--a family, who reads the blog and has come to two of our other conferences, provided dinner for us.
Friday night's music
With excitement, we shared through music and testimony. I love watching families as they enjoy the music!
Cute little guy enjoying music.
Joseph
Listening
Building a Vision
Then, Saturday morning arrived. After a good night’s sleep, we were refreshed and ready to begin our day. It’s our goal to be in the church, setting up at 8 a.m. on Saturdays, which allows us enough time to get things set and not be rushed .
I enjoyed watching vehicle after vehicle roll into the parking lot and families unload and come in. The sessions in the morning went by quickly, and with fifteen-minute breaks, we stay busy at the book tables and those who are speaking getting to the next session. It was a delight to see so many little children and babies: of every size, age, and temperament .
Dad and Mom were blessed to talk with many moms and dads after the conference.
Hearts were open and receptive, and it was such a blessing to speak to these families! We saw several families we’ve seen before and met many new friends (including Moody fans ).
Sarah
A mommy with her little ones.
Hearts Session
Christopher
A twin
Preparing Sons
Father and Daughter
Listening to John and Anna's session
A familiar sight at a conference
Jesse helping at the book tables.
The busy foyer
Talking
Little girl
Winding down
Helping
A father brought his two children over and wanted us to share what life is like without TV, because he was planning to get rid of theirs! Praise the Lord! Joseph offered much encouragement.
We met friends of friends .
Joseph
We ended the evening at our coordinator's house with dinner and family Bible time.
Tonight, at 6:30 p.m., we’ll be sharing with a church in music, testimony, and preaching.
Sarah
“So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom” (Psalms 90:12).
It was a wonderful, incredible conference. More pictures and details later.
Singing...
Little girl
“That I may come unto you with joy by the will of God, and may with you be refreshed” (Romans 15:32).
We are here safely in the Austin area, and last night’s sessions went very well! We are looking forward to rest of the conference today. Pictures and an update later.
Sarah
“Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass” (Psalms 37:5).
Pictures: from Wednesday! Major preparation day.
4:57--time to get up and exercise.
Bible time next!
We had a delivery to arrive around 9 a.m., so Mary made cookies in the midst of everything else to give to them!
Although we didn't have a garden this year, John bought several jalapeno plants, and we've enjoyed the spicy peppers to put in cheese dip .
The bus needed to be loaded. Jesse's giving a hard pull, and Joseph is giving an equally hard push.
Some still had computer work to do.
Many things to pack.
Audios to compile.
It was easy to find someone to hold Bethany.
Tiny fingers on an uncle's finger.
The day was chock-full of packing, loading the bus, mowing the lawn, running errands, bringing things over to our friends’ who ship Titus2.com orders while we’re away, and many other items as we prepared to leave.
But, what a relief it was to climb into the bus and be on our way!
Thank you for praying–we are so grateful. We are stopped here in Denton, Texas, for the night, and we’ll drive the last few hours tomorrow to Buda (outside of Austin).
Sarah
“He only is my rock and my salvation; he is my defence; I shall not be greatly moved” (Psalms 62:2).
Ah, after many hours of preparation, we are excited to be on the road again! We left around noon, and we will drive until about 8:45 tonight. We are looking forward to this weekend’s conference in Austin.
More pictures to follow later today.
Sarah
Praying
“Our soul waiteth for the Lord: he is our help and our shield” (Psalms 33:20).
…blast off!! We have been packing, packing, and yet still more packing. Lord willing, we will be hitting the road around noon. We’ll update more once we’re on the road, but for now here’s a few pictures from last night!
Everyone loves to hold little Bethany!
In Christ,
Anna
“O sing unto the LORD a new song: sing unto the LORD,
all the earth.” (Psalms 96:1)
“Hello from Chile!
We are a missionary family serving in Northern Chile, South America. We have many of your books and have used MOTH for several years. I am writing to let you know that today our family attended a multi-denominational worship service in a very small village in the Andean foothills. During the singing time, they were using a Powerpoint presentation and a picture of your family – with the Golden Retriever in the middle of you – holding hands and praying in front of a “Families for Jesus” trailer flashed up on the screen! Since we are familiar with your products and blog, I was so excited (and rather surprised!).Just wanted to let you know that your family is bearing witness to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ even in Chile!
Many blessings,Bryan & Deana W.”Praying, a Picture from Our First Year With the Blog, September 2006
Sunday, we were able to go on a walk together as a family. Sadly, Melanie and Bethany weren’t able to come with us, but they met us at GiGi and Grandad’s house after the walk for more talking time. We treasure our time together before we leave for our next trip.
It was a beautiful evening with a refreshing breeze.
Walking, talking, laughing, and just enjoying each other!
"I love to go on walks!"
Sometimes my uncles do "uncle things", and then I laugh and giggle.
"I like to run!"
"And other times I like to take BIG steps!"
In Christ,
Anna
“…for the joy of the LORD is your strength.” (Nehemiah 8:10)
In the midst of trip preparations, we’ve also been busy with lots of wedding sewing! We have almost completed the bridesmaids dresses, and Mary finished Abby’s flower girl dress yesterday. Through sewing these dresses, we have learned many new sewing skills! Things like the laser level have come in handy for our sewing. Just recently we used it to help with the hemming of one of the dresses. Meanwhile, the boys have been working on getting the bus ready for our travels south. Our air conditioning on the bus hasn’t been working very well, so Joseph has been working on the ductwork to make it more efficient.
Using the laser level to hem up the dress! This picture is showing "the setup". We had to have the person who was getting their dress hemmed stand on books until the line was on the correct spot where we wanted the hem. If we wanted it longer, then we would add more books. If shorter, then we would remove a book or two too the stack.
In this picture, the dress is covering the books that she's standing on! Mom placed the pins on the line that the laser level marked. Then she folded the fabric up to where the pins were - making the hem... Afterwards, we completed the hem by sewing it in.
All the little detail work = many hours of hand sewing!
Mary did a wonderful job making the flower girl dress.
Joseph has been working on fixing our air conditioning in the bus! He has been quite the mastermind to figure out what was going on.
John has been working on the mechanical side of the bus. He does a great job at keeping Ole' Uriah running.
Lord willing, we'll be leaving Thursday. Right now we have an air leak that causes the bus to lean when we stop. We have earnestly begun praying the Lord would reveal where the leak is. Would you please pray with us?
Anna
“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.” (Proverbs 3:5)
Almost daily in our mail, we receive testimonies from moms who have gained new hope from Managers of Their Homes. This one today, touched me, and I wanted to share it as an encouragement to what the Lord is doing and also as a prayer request for this dear missionary wife, who is facing challenging situations.
—Sarah
“I’ve been wondering how to get organized since I met organized people in college fifteen years ago, and only now are the pieces starting to come together, thanks to your book. I’m looking at how to get started homeschooling my two kids, with outreach ministries, a husband with cancer, and no family or other homeschoolers around in this foreign (to me) country. To me, it looks like a mountain–huge–but your book is helping break things down into manageable steps. I know the Lord has answered prayer and is meeting a great need for me through your book. We look forward to seeing good results in our home & ministry on this mission field. Thank you so much for your faithfulness! May I learn to be as faithful! –A missionary wife”
For many months now, our family has been having a weekly prayer time on Sunday evenings. It usually takes an hour to go around the room as we pour our hearts out to the Lord. Recently, Mom began keeping a journal on her computer of what the prayer needs were. She reads whatever the requests had been the week before, and then we discuss what the answers are that we’ve seen. Then, we share new requests. Amazingly, week after week, we see answer after answer filling in. It has opened my eyes to how many things the Lord has answered, and how ungrateful I’ve been in the past!
Are you aware of all the Lord is doing in your life? If not, maybe you would be blessed to begin a family prayer journal! I remember one request heavy on all our hearts Sunday night, and the Lord answered it quickly. Praise the Lord!
We did have another stop just confirmed yesterday, Crawfordville, Florida, for Tuesday, September 21st. Crawfordville is about 30 minutes south of Tallahassee. We have another stop possibly pending as well.
And yes, what’s a blog post without pictures? Those middle-of-the-night driving-through-the-night, though, are the ones I can’t quite get a good picture. We had an old, dead tree fall over this morning, so Jesse and Joseph took care of it. It was Jesse’s first time with the chainsaw.
Sarah
“For ever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven. 90 Thy faithfulness is unto all generations: thou hast established the earth, and it abideth” (Psalms 119:89-90).
Jesse
Joseph
A powerful tool
