Daily prayer: Father, we who believe and are redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ, can never thank You enough for the things You have done for us, things so undeserved yet You gave YourSon, Jesus, to demonstrate Your love and acceptance of us. The voices of a million angels could not express our gratitude,for all that we are, and all we ever hope to be we owe it all to Thee. All glory be to You, our God and Father, for all that we have is due to Your gracious and benevolent love for us. Amen.

* Rest of the first date story in Brooksyne's words:  How could I not de-board the bus when my former boyfriend and his mother drove into our college campus 180 miles from Tulsa, OK. (His mother desperately hoped we would patch up our differences, as she had expressed on numerous occasions  that she hoped that one day I'd be her daughter-in-law.) They wanted to surprise me for my birthday. The fuller story is that I had broken off my two year relationship with him before I left for college two months earlier. God had deeply impressed on my heart the desire for vocational ministry in my high school years. My former boyfriend's lifestyle had changed about six months earlier.  He had started drinking and running with the wrong crowd. Therefore, his choices ended our long relationship and I had begun to prepare for ministry by attending a Bible College.

Stephen was pretty burned by his first jilted date with me (understandably) and we dated other fellow students until the following spring. By then we were studying each other in the dining room (always when the other wasn't looking) and it was just a matter of time until we gave it another try in late spring. We dated the next two plus years and married after our junior year, completing our education during our first year of marriage while also pastoring a little country church in Fair Grove, MO. I'm thankful for God's leading in our lives and learned years later that my former boyfriend ended up being an alcoholic for over twelve years until he got his life turned around. One never knows but I'm glad God saved me from such a heartache as I'd seen the devastating toll of alcoholism on my mother who was raised by an alcoholic father and others throughout our years of ministry. To be obedient to the Lord's leading when you have to give up something or someone is very difficult, but following God's plan leads to great reward - and I have been blessed tremendously by the mate God gave to me, now for 48 years.

Brief History of our Daily Encouragement Ministry (for newer readers)

On Monday, October 21, 1996 I sent an email out to Nigel and Laifong, a young couple who attended the church we served in New England. The first message simply and quite shortly read, "Hopefully each of you were in church yesterday and received fresh strength from the Lord and His Word. Unfortunately, then, even as now, some had forsaken this important element of growth and discipleship. As we see the Day of Christ's return drawing ever closer may we be encouraged. Whatever you do today remember the main thing: "Thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might" (Deuteronomy 6:5)." That was it!

I never set out to start this ministry but I sent another one the next day and the next... and just kept going. And here we are 28 years later! And Nigel and Laifong are still on our list!

For the first several years the messages were just a short challenge sent as a simple text email with no photos or music supplements. The mailing list grew as messages were passed along and as I met people who were interested in receiving a daily encouragement email.

Our goal is still expressed in that very first message; to encourage followers of Christ.

Here's a brief timeline:

Support: We are thankful for those who have supported our Daily Encouragement ministry with their financial offerings over the years. The time devoted to all phases of this ministry is about 3-4 hours daily for each of us, but of course it varies from day to day. Last year we received support from some 100 different contributors. Some give monthly, others periodically and some one-time. If any reader would like to consider an offering to our ministry financially information is here.

Brooksyne's Note: As we share the history of this ministry I am reminded of our Lord's faithfulness and the diverse giftings He gives to those He has called. It is extremely humbling to us that God's Spirit speaks to the hearts of men and women all around the world through our daily messages. When we got our first computer over 30 years ago in 1993 we would never have imagined how the internet (did we even know that word then?) would give us a means to reach people all over the world with daily encouragement and Bible teaching. It continues to be a very fruitful means for us to share messages from God's Word as they are lived out in our normal daily lives. Your prayers, feedback, and support spur us on and challenge us to remain faithful in this writing ministry now in our senior years.