by Betsy Castleberry

The grass has turned green, tulips and daffodils are blooming, and the class of 2009 is graduating! My brother is among the graduate pictures on our refrigerator this year. It’s an exciting time, as you close a chapter and turn a new page, wondering what the next season of life will hold.

Yet with the graduating comes the age old question – “What are you going to do now?” Everyone asks you the same question, from friends and relatives to the cashier at the grocery store. It can be hard to know how to answer, especially for those of us who want to get married and don’t really desire a career.

You’ve finished high school, and now you move into the transition period between graduating and marriage. How should you use your time while you wait? It seems everyone but you knows exactly what you should do. You should go to college – you’re smart and should use your talent. Or you should get a job. How about a mission’s trip, or volunteer work? Maybe you should work in the home. It’s enough to leave your head spinning, but can I add my small word of advice?

Don’t do something simply because someone pressures you, or because you feel if you don’t decide on something the moment you graduate, you are wasting your time. It’s perfectly fine to graduate without knowing what you’re doing next. Isn’t that freeing? Why is it we want God to be on the world’s time line and to show us what we should do the day we turn eighteen? There is nothing wrong with telling everyone that you’re waiting for the Lord to give direction. It shows wisdom and a heart that truly wants the Lord’s will instead of satisfying the world.

Perhaps God has opened doors and shown the way ahead already, so that you know what you’ll be doing after you graduate. You may face opposition from people who don’t think you’re making the right choice, or try to persuade you otherwise. Yet if you truly feel God is leading you, follow Him with all your heart! I love what Chuck Swindoll says. “My job is not to defend or explain the will of God. My job is simply to obey it.” We don’t have to worry about others understanding or supporting us in what we do. If it’s His will, we simply obey.

“In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and His shall direct thy path.” (Proverbs 3:6) God blesses the heart that seeks to do His will.

©2010 Young Ladies Christian Fellowship. All Rights Reserved.

It’s more than a holiday. It’s more than a day for picnics and parties, for days at the beach. It is more than barbecues. It is a day to remember, and to honor those who have given their lives for their country. It is a day to realize and to understand the cost of war, the price of freedom. As many have said, freedom- any kind of freedom- isn’t free. We must remember this, and thank God that we are still free in this country.

We live in a generation where war has touched nearly every family in one way or another. There are few of us who have not felt the sting of war in our own hearts. It has brought separation, worry and tears, it has made heroes, and it has shown the true characters of others. It has called for bravery and courage in ways that many may never know. Some of these men- our husbands, brothers, sons, never came home to the family who loved them. They left an aching gap that can never be refilled, yet the memory of who they were will never die in the hearts of those they left behind.

Whether or not we agree with war, whatever may be our speculations as to what the real reason behind it is, it is our duty as fellow countrymen to support those who have gone away, to encourage them, to pray for them and it is our duty to remember those who gave all and the families, the wives and children who they left behind them when they fell. They may need to know that they are not alone. Today, we’re all here together as Americans, as fellow countrymen of any nation who has faced war. Today, it is the beginning of Memorial Day Weekend.

On Monday, May 25th, 2009 at 3:00 pm in your local time, it is the Moment of Remembrance. It is a moment of silent reflection, while the taps play, on the heroes and loved ones lost in every war.

Enjoy the weekend, enjoy the sunshine and the beauty that God has surrounded us with. Treasure the moments with your family, but stop and think of those who are not home, of those who have an empty seat at their family gathering and remember them in prayer to God.

And if you have the ability to bless some of those families in some other way, don’t forget them this Memorial Day weekend.

Listen to The Taps online.

Read about the History of Memorial Day in America.

Read other patriotic posts

• Soldier’s Wife
• Proud to Be An American
• The Future of America

©2010 Young Ladies Christian Fellowship. All Rights Reserved.

©2010 Young Ladies Christian Fellowship. All Rights Reserved.

The Harris twins were on FamilyLife Today talking about their book Do Hard Things (read my review here) and raising teenagers:

…parents need to have the wisdom to say that, you know, “We raise our children, we do shelter them, we do protect them,” but it’s just like when you raise, you know, a tomato plant. You start it in the greenhouse, but if you leave it in the greenhouse, you’re going to get greenhouse tomatoes. You need to know when it’s time, you know, when the roots have been established and you can move it onto the field to bear its fruit in the field.
-Brett Harris from a familylife.com transcript

I told my dad, “They used your tomato plant illustration on FamilyLife Today!”

My dad likes to say that a child is like a tomato plant. In the same way that a gardener keeps a tomato plant in a greenhouse, to protect it from the harsh frost and hot sunshine, homeschooling parents are keeping their children in the “greenhouse” of the home, to protect them from the negative peer influences, while they establish their roots in faith and family.
-“Homegrown Education” from ylcf.org

No, they didn’t exactly quote Mark Glaser, logger, homeschooling father of four. It’s not like he’s copyrighted tomato plants or anything. I’m sure the Harris twins know enough about gardening to come up with that illustration on their own. But since my dad has been frustrated by some rather derogatory comments about homeschooling from the FamilyLife hosts through the past few years, I knew he’d be glad to hear his point made on their program.

My conversation with Daddy soon shifted to politics, our garden, and how it almost frosted here on the farm last night. Hands-on experience with hundreds of tomato plants these past few years could easily provide a few more “tomatoey” illustrations.

Like the way the plants grow with the sunshine but need shade to make the fruit ripen. And the dozens of little suckers that have to be pruned, so that the plant doesn’t branch out so far it is unable to produce much fruit.

And don’t tell the Harris twins, but people come from miles around to buy our “greenhouse tomatoes.” The key is that our tomato plants are grown in the dirt. They aren’t hydroponic tomatoes (rooted in water) nor the dreaded “DNA tomatoes” a customer referred to yesterday (I think he meant genetically modified, and our tomatoes aren’t that either). We open the doors and sides of the greenhouse to let our plants see the sunshine and wind. But the fact that we protect them from the harsh cold is the only reason we have tomatoes to sell when no one else’s are ripe yet, and when everybody else’s garden has turned brown from frost.

Maybe the illustration for our lives is that while we are in the world, we are not to be of it. Just because I’m an adult now, in my own home, with my roots firmly established, does not mean I should expose myself to everything that’s available in the media of television, internet, and music. As a Christian I am to guard my heart and mind. And in this world, that often involves a full-time “greenhouse effect.”

But that’s what Do Hard Things is all about. Rebelling against the norm might mean throwing out the television for some. For others, it might mean staying home from that party or respecting your parents’ decision to educate you at home.

When my parents began homeschooling me twenty-some years ago, they got a lot of encouragement from seminars by the twins’ dad, Gregg Harris. I’m sure Alex and Brett would agree that “Do Hard Things” was not their own idea. It grew out of the way they were brought up.

“The Rebelution” is not just for teenagers. It’s for parents, too. Raising our children to raise the bar in life, do the hard things, and produce beautiful fruit in a hostile climate. Just like tomato plants. Just like my parents did.

Thanks, Dad and Mom, for raising us like tomato plants.

©2010 Young Ladies Christian Fellowship. All Rights Reserved.

©2010 Young Ladies Christian Fellowship. All Rights Reserved.

©2010 Young Ladies Christian Fellowship. All Rights Reserved.

Some of the list I’ve thoroughly digested, but far too many titles I’ve but the smallest acquaintance with. Thus I’ve chosen some of the top books Allen and Reynolds listed to tackle in the near future. I’m a bit intimidated but also determined. If I can consume over 15,000 pages of material on a single subject (yes, I admit it, I did!) in the last several months, then I can certainly press through 1000 or so pages of Cervantes or Dostevsky. Right?

I’ve set a challenge for myself that I know is do-able, but will stretch me. My hope is to have finished these books before the end of 2008. Would any of you like to join me in reading? Almost all of the books mentioned are available online so purchasing the book is optional. If anyone wants to join in, I’d enjoy the company.

The Challenge: Choose ten books which will stretch you, preferably from either Hugh Hewitt’s list or something similar (more ideas below). Comment or email me your list. Anyone who makes a list and makes it through even part of it can share what they learned, what they liked, etc. Every month I can post an update on how everyone is doing. Some of you will likely put me to shame, considering how distracted I get with other things these days.

I have to admit, Brothers Karamazov is what scares me the most right now. It’s so…long. For anyone who remains unconvinced about the worth of such a huge time investment (not to mention such a huge amount of mental work!), David Allen White commented on why we should read the great books of history:

But one of the things I, at least, think most people should do in the time that they spend on this planet, is have a sense of the greatest that’s been given to us. A life itself is the greatest gift, to have an immortal soul is extraordinary, but in beginning to understand what that means, I think you’ve got to turn to the greatest writers who can give you some sense of what it’s all been about, why you’re here, what it means and where you’re going. And that means you’ve got to delve into the great writers.

JM Reynolds’s perspective:

We need young men and women with souls that are good, true and beautiful. And if we’re going to form souls that are good, true and beautiful, we can’t begin with our own souls, because all of us are in process, too. The great writers know how to shape us morally, to get to goodness. They know how to help us find the big ideas, the truths that never change from culture to culture. And they know most importantly how to make us beautiful, so that we don’t fall into the trap of thinking only things that work matter. We need beauty in our lives as well.

We dumb down education because it’s easier to be stupid than it is to be smart. These books aren’t immediately fun to read, though they’re fun for the rest of your life in an intellectual sense. And so let’s face it, most college educators and most high school educators in particular are anti-intellectual in an intellectual field.

There are dozens of other books that can be classed among the most beautiful of all time. Below is my list of some the beautiful books I have read that are available on The Literature Network. These are the classics everyone should read at least once in a lifetime; these are the classics you cannot read just once.

Are all of the above books or my recommendations below pleasant books? Certainly not. The first time I read the first chapters of Jane Eyre I hated it. Hugo’s books are some of the most difficult reads I’ve ever attempted (but made easier if read aloud with a roommate at 2 am as we did :smile). All of these books are at your fingertips; I’ve linked to free copies online for each and every one.

Try Aesop’s Fables, Louisa May Alcott’s An Old Fashioned Girl and Little Women, Hans Christian Anderson’s The Little Match Girl, portions of Arabian Nights, Beowulf, and Jane Eyre. You must read something by Robert Browning, Emily Dickinson, O’Henry, Longfellow, Martin Luther, Tennyson, P.G. Wodehouse, and Beatrix Potter. Every girl will love Burnett’s A Little Princess and The Secret Garden (and why not the short story Sara Crewe while we are in her area?).

Read some Father Brown by Chesterton, Wilke Collins’ The Moonstone, and Robinson Crusoe and lots of Dickens: A Christmas Carol, a Tale of Two Cities, and Little Dorrit.

Some of my all-time favorites are The Three Musketeers, The Hound of the Baskervilles, Wives and Daughters, Wind in the Willows, The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Or Les Miserables), MacDonald’s most well-known classic The Princess and the Goblin, Anne of Green Gables, Polyanna, Merry Adventures of Robin Hood, Black Beauty, The Twenty-Fourth of June, Ivanhoe, Five Little Peppers, Heidi, Treasure Island, Freckles (and everything else Porter ever wrote!) and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

Finally, dip into Journey to the Center of the Earth and Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass (ed. I’d add the poem Jaberwocky in also). Whew!

©2010 Young Ladies Christian Fellowship. All Rights Reserved.

At the same time, though, we must be very cautious to be in the world but not of the world. I see the book Understanding The Times by David A. Noebel as a wonderful resource for studying the major worldviews of our time. While reading that book, it speaks of Humanism, Marxism, and Biblical Christianity. I like this because in such an instance, I am learning about other philosophies that are contrary to the Bible and it helps me to identify them as lies, and to refute them. This, I believe, is the proper way to study opposing ideologies. I would say that such study is important if not crucial to surviving all that the world will throw at a person in college and in any other way the devil may try to get us.

One subject of study often affected is English. In many English programs, ‘classic’ books are read. Many books that are considered ‘classics’ deal with different facets of worldview, and yet they are not read with the thinking that the author is trying to influence your worldview. We ought to be reading these books with Bibles lying open beside them. The children’s song that says “Oh be careful little eyes what you see” must include the books that we read, no matter who recommended them, or what class or subject they are for.

I am concerned that the subjects many homeshoolers study (including any kind of book on any subject) have potentially been taught (or written) from the perspective of the study of knowledge for the sake of knowledge. This is the beginning of setting ourselves up as little gods. We can easily begin feeling that we can use our minds to think and work ourselves out of any difficulty we may experience in our lives. In this case, the devil has won and we have placed God on a shelf or in a very small box. This is clearly the root concept of all worldviews that oppose Christianity. I have seen the effects that such studies have had and are having on many students my age or a little older, and quite honestly, it gives me rise for great concern. When speaking such, I am talking about my peers that I associate with, not some imaginary situation that I think is happening.

“See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ” (Col. 2:8).

Here’s something to think about. How many times during each worldview class session or worldview curriculum book that you read on your own or study of classical Greek writing or English class discussion of a book, etc, has the Bible been used? Greater than 5? Less than 2? Ever? In each case that the Bible was used, was it used in a positive light for compare and contrast? How do your teachers / books view those that have good knowledge of the Bible but little or no knowledge about Plato or Machiavelli? Are they admired or belittled? If you could ask God which one He would want you to memorize for your life, which one would He answer? Aristotle’s teachings on justice? Or the place where such ideas really originated, Deuteronomy? If you find yourself opposing God’s principles as you “learn to think”, who moved? You or God?

“O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called “knowledge,” for by professing it some have swerved from the faith” (1 Tim. 6:20-21).

At the beginning of this article, I said that “I have seen this first hand in many friends and acquaintances”. Those “friends and acquaintances” are for the most part those that have been through intense worldview classes as well as many college students attending Christian colleges. It also includes some that have taken intense English classes where “classic” books were read, as well as in-depth History classes. Many of those I have seen that have taken such classes, or studied such writings, have not gone beyond the first step of relying on their reasoning ability over dependence on God. But still, that any have taken the first step causes me a great deal of uneasiness. As I said earlier, that first step is all it takes.

I would like to recommend a very thought provoking book, No Retreats, No Reserves, No Regrets. It is written by nine different Christian authors, all very good authorities on Biblical Christianity and worldview. Each author wrote one or two chapters on different sub-points within the subject of worldview. Don’t worry though, it is only 250 pages, not 900 pages like Understanding The Times! In all my reading, that book really was the best (barring UTT itself).

Speaking directly to students: I am very concerned about how your worldview studies will mold or have molded your mind if it is not being tied back to the Bible every step of the way. I urge you to pray about and consider this very carefully.

Kristi Joy is a highschool student and lives in Virginia. She has been homeschooled since birth, and has great interest in the study of worldview, writing, politics and music performance.

©2010 Young Ladies Christian Fellowship. All Rights Reserved.

©2010 Young Ladies Christian Fellowship. All Rights Reserved.

When I read Here are Ten Commandments for political involvement (missing the numerologically questionable six), I had to share it with you. Dr. Reynolds’ L.O.S.E. position papers are brilliant. I usually don’t thrill at satire but these are quite good.

©2010 Young Ladies Christian Fellowship. All Rights Reserved.

From the moment I found out I was expecting William, I was excited about ‘someday homeschooling’ him. My parents gave me a wonderful gift in home education, and I want to pass that gift on to my children. It isn’t something I had to ‘decide’… I always knew I would homeschool. What, pass the joy of teaching on to someone else? Unthinkable!

I have just begun to realize, however, that I don’t have to wait until William is four or five to begin homeschooling. I want to create for him now an environment of learning. I no longer have to fantasize about that one room schoolhouse… I can make that dream come true, right here in my own home.

But, really, what can you ‘teach’ a seven month old? God has fully equipped them to reach certain milestones, like crawling, on their own, with very little help. But I have to provide a safe place for him to be able to discover this. An environment that fosters his natural abilities. When I was in Romania, the babies in the hospital had very little time outside of their cribs. As you can imagine, most of them were very behind developmentally.

I want to foster other things in him, as well: A love of music; an appreciation of good literature; a love for God’s word. We listen to classical music every morning. I read to him a chapter out of the Bible every afternoon. I discovered my old “Winnie-the-Pooh” storybook the other day, and we have been enjoying this classic by A.A. Milne. Does he understand what I am reading? Probably not, but he loves the time we are spending together none-the-less, and he is being exposed to the things his daddy and I feel are important. There are endless ways to expose your little one to the wonders of God’s world, from nature walks and camping trips, to live music in your home.

And if ever I am at a loss for ideas, there are wonderful resources on the internet and at the library. Letter of the Week is a site I recently discovered through a friend, with ‘lesson plans’ neatly laid out for babies 3-12 months of age.

For those of you waiting for your turn in the adventures of motherhood, it is never too early to begin planning and collecting educational resources for your future little ones. And for book lovers like me, it is just one more excuse to fill those shelves.

- by Elizabeth Jackson

Photo copyright 2007 Amanda Wells.

©2010 Young Ladies Christian Fellowship. All Rights Reserved.

Homeschoolers:

Civilized, not Socialized

©2010 Young Ladies Christian Fellowship. All Rights Reserved.

How far away was the college from your home?

The other side of the Atlantic!

What was it like (what things were very hard to get used to, at first)?

Absolutely, but actually the hardest thing to get used to (besides the increased work load and need for time management) was the adjustment from a people-oriented life to a study-oriented one. Both my spiritual gift (serving) and my upbringing (as a pastor’s daughter) make it an intensely frustrating switch. However, my dad encourages me that it is a season…and that it is preparation for further usefulness, and I think he is right.

Did your relationship with your family change in any way?

Not any more than any other assignment that took my away from home and kept me too busy to interact with them as much as I’d like.

If so, how? (Did you “lose your place in the family” and feel like an absolute stranger if you didn’t see your family as often as you used to?)

No, thankfully I can pick up where I’ve left off pretty easily. It helps that I do keep going back home in between adventures…and staying for several weeks or months when I do.

Do you regret going to college and wish you would’ve just stayed home (serving and preparing to be a wife and mother)?

No, I don’t regret it because I believe it was God’s idea, and that the best preparation for the future is to obey Him today. (He is my real – and life-long – teacher and “academic advisor” who chooses exactly the life lessons I need). I love learning, and the learning I’m doing has greatly enriched my understanding of God, the Bible, and myself. I still miss little people, baking, and being at home relationally and spiritually, but I suspect that if God ever blesses me with my own family, I will be a more grateful woman simply because I’ve learned (by missing them and by meeting those not ever blessed in this way) to value the things I grew up with more deeply than ever before.

That said, I’d strongly caution anyone going to college who (a) doesn’t have a specific need for the training (b) doesn’t have the blessing and prayer support of her family and church and (c) doesn’t have a solid Biblical grounding and a maturing personal relationship with God. As homeschoolers know, there are lots of ways to learn without ever leaving home. Hopefully that’s our passion and our privelege, wherever we are. My younger sister, Kate, is a living example of this as she lives with my Grandma, works at a cafe…and constantly reads, thinks, and learns from random sources all around her simply because she loves to.

Do you have any advice for young ladies who are considering going to college or for those who are going to college soon?

College is not the “real world.” It’s a season. Be a good steward of the opportunity, but keep focused beyond it to the life goals that God has given you…and don’t forget that you have a body and a heart to nourish, as well as a brain.

©2010 Young Ladies Christian Fellowship. All Rights Reserved.

©2010 Young Ladies Christian Fellowship. All Rights Reserved.

Picture: My amazing family celebrating Carson’s achievement. Left to right: Natalie, Taylor (21), Carson (18), my parents, and Sawyer (16).

©2010 Young Ladies Christian Fellowship. All Rights Reserved.

One of the topics I write and share a lot about is a concept I believe in so much. It is waiting for God’s perfect timing and choice for my husband, instead of playing the dating game with its endless cycle of going out and breaking up (which is just training teens for a pattern of divorce when they get married!). For me, waiting instead of dating means that I’m waiting on God to bring “Mr. Right” into my life.

At 16, I’m not ready to get married yet (so as Joshua Harris has said, why shop when you can’t buy? We need to be willing to pass up something good now because it’s the wrong time, believing that God will give us better when it’s the right time. (Josh Harris) Right now I can enjoy friendships with guys—but viewing them just as brothers in Christ, not as potential boyfriends.

So many campaigns and programs today are dedicated to saving yourself for marriage—and that’s great. But what are we doing to get off the broad pathway that leads to such sin? It doesn’t help to say “How far is too far?” That’s approaching it from the wrong direction. We tend to view purity as a line in the sand—and in seeing how close we can get to the line we end up walking right into sin.

But we’re not supposed to get as close as we can to compromise—we should be running in the opposite direction like Joseph did. My purpose in writing is to exhort my fellow teens to get off the road that’s leading us to sin! If we don’t set our standards and boundaries ahead of time, in moments of temptation we are not going to be able to make decisions with the future in mind. This society lives too much for the pleasure of here and now, with little thought for consequences in the future. We need to raise a higher standard than this. I really like this quote from Joshua Harris: “This country will not survive another generation of Christians that fit in!”

I write a lot about homeschooling, too—having been homeschooled for my entire life, I’ve come to believe firmly in it. And a big purpose for my writing is to encourage other homeschoolers. Yes, Christian school can be a good thing—I’ve seen some good results from public school, too—but I would still choose homeschooling for my kids.

It has greatly reduced the negative peer pressure my 14-year-old brother and I would normally face, and has given us time to focus on and be grounded in what is all-important—God and His Word. It has also given us more family-togetherness—we have a 4-year-old sister and a 2-year-old brother, whom we get to spend lots of time with. Homeschooling isn’t for everybody, but I would highly encourage it!!

An Amish man once said, “I do not believe that the Amish way of life is the plan of salvation. I do believe that it is a real help to me in living in conformance to God’s will.” The same can be said for homeschooling, waiting instead of dating, and many other things—they aren’t the only way, but are a real help for families trying to live their lives in accordance with God’s will.

So that is my purpose in writing—encouraging others in living differently for Jesus. What’s yours?

In “Chariots of Fire,” Eric Liddell said, “When I run, I feel God’s pleasure.” You know, Eric didn’t run for man’s approval. He didn’t follow the proper “rules” of running—he kept his eye on the goal. Eric ran Olympic races, and the race of life, for God’s approval only. May we remember in our writing that God is the only one we have to look to for approval. Don’t compromise truth so that a book or article will be more widely read or appreciated. If you’re proclaiming the Word of God, not everyone will like your writing. You may have some strong opponents to your message. Just keep in mind that God’s pleasure is the only thing that matters.

I pray that God will bless each one of you as you serve Him through writing. As we do this thing we all love—writing—may we feel God’s pleasure, knowing that He made us writers for a purpose!

©2010 Young Ladies Christian Fellowship. All Rights Reserved.

Charles Ryrie writes:

Theology is for everyone. Indeed, everyone needs to be a theologian. In reality, everyone is a theologian–of one sort of another. And therein lies the problem. There is nothing wrong with being an amateur theologian or a professional theologian, but there is everything wrong about being an ignorant or sloppy theologian. Therefore, everyone should read theology.

©2010 Young Ladies Christian Fellowship. All Rights Reserved.

A TeenPact public speaking lesson.

Government is like a baby sitter. A babysitter is instituted by Mom. Government is instituted by God.

A TeenPact civics lesson.

“For the purpose of this bill goose shall mean any bird with a long neck that goes honk and hunter shall mean any person with a long stick that goes bang.”

A TeenPact bill.

“What do you believe is the role of government?”

“What is your definition of justice?”

Questions with which TeenPact students stump State Representatives.

A circle of people in the Governor’s office. Half of whom are under 12 years old. Taking turns praying for the Governor and his family.

They move to the House of Representatives. Praying for the men and women who serve there.

A TeenPact prayer walk.

Changing lives to change America.

What TeenPact is all about.

©2010 Young Ladies Christian Fellowship. All Rights Reserved.

Every year, we laugh, we sing, we tease Will. Every year, there are inside jokes and deep questions. (That first year, Steph’s question was, “What is truth?”)

I’m going to miss hanging out with Will’s TeenPact friends. I’ll miss our traditional staff dinner with homemade ice cream and lots of laughter. But most of all, I’ll miss the encouragement and inspiration they are to me: watching these young people, on fire for God and passionate about changing their country.

Tomorrow, I’m going to walk into the capitol rotunda and see young people in dresses, suits, and ties once more. I’ll listen to my little sister argue for her bill on creating an official Logger’s Day. And watch my little brother present his bill at his first TeenPact one-day class (he wants to legalize pumping our own gas).

I’ll listen one last time as my big little brother Will speaks to the TeenPact class. Then I’ll hug my new friends goodbye. And look forward to the time when I can take my own children to TeenPact someday, Lord willing.

On Wednesday, while the rest of the TeenPacters ate lunch in the cafeteria, I went to Subway with Stephanie. Will, Emily, and Stephanie were in a lot of state capitols together through their years as interns with TeenPact.

This year, however, Steph wasn’t staffing the TeenPact class. She’s a married lady now. And she brought her six-month-old son David to his very first TeenPact class.

So begins a second generation of TeenPact, another generation changing lives to change America…

©2010 Young Ladies Christian Fellowship. All Rights Reserved.