"We are not guaranteed tomorrow..."

Our big conference for November was held on the second weekend in Minneapolis. We saw over 300 juniors and seniors attend from all over the Upper Midwest region to hear about eternal perspective and how to make Godly decisions about their future as they approach graduation. This professional conference prepares students for life after college. Whether God calls these students to be teachers, engineers, farmers, lawyers, or vocational ministers...we want these students to know that their first calling is to love and serve God. We challenge them to be a witness of the Gospel and to build God's kingdom no matter what they do for a day job!

Life Options is close to our hearts because it is during a Life Options Conference our senior year at ISU that we clearly heard the Lord's calling on our life. A couple weeks before the conference, we had an amazing opportunity come up to buy a dairy farm in Hawaii. Tony had a double major in Animal Science and Dairy Science and when this opportunity came up for this farm, it was a dream come true! We had booked tickets and connected with the owner of the farm and planned on flying out the week after our Life Options conference. During the conference, we clearly heard the Lord calling us to join staff with Campus Crusade for Christ. We were excited to hear so clearly from the Lord, but also disappointed as we really wanted this farm to be our calling! The farm would have been a great fit for us and was doing so well (it had a contract with Meadow Gold Ice Cream) that we could have retired in 10 years and then went into the mission field. But, during the conference the speaker said something that we just couldn't get out of our heads...he said, "You are not guaranteed tomorrow, so do not put off something that you should do today for another time." We did fly to Hawaii and check out the farm (it was wonderful and a perfect fit for us), but the whole time we were there, we just kept hearing those words..."you are not guaranteed tomorrow." So, we passed on the farm and said yes to the Lord. It has been 11 years since that decision and the road has not been easy, but we can look back on it and know that we were obedient to the Lord and to his calling...and, we still live by the motto that we are not guaranteed tomorrow!