Burnett Family

We had the wonderful opportunity to go to the annual ATI conference in Big Sandy again this year! Our 8th time. This is one of the biggest highlights of our year. It’s kind of a booster for us, and it’s a very encouraging, refreshing week…getting to hear amazing speakers, singing in choir, playing in orchestra, catching up with friends, the Chinese restaurant (tradition), ALERT cadets, and we were all so excited that Caleb got to come down for the last two days! =)

Abbie and Hannah played O, the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus. It was beautiful! 

Maggie taught Children’s Institute this year for the first time and really enjoyed it!

Hannah was on the COMMIT staff team again. All the COMMIT girls did a presentation at the end for the first time ever (I think) – they sang Be Thou My Vision. 

Benjamin was in ALERT cadets and thoroughly enjoyed it…as usual. How could you not enjoy huge water balloon slingshots and rappelling? ;)

  
I sang in the student choir. :)

Abbie played in the orchestra.

Somehow, we ended up without any pictures of Carinna, but she was there too! Due to being sick on Monday, she wasn’t able to teach CI with Maggie, but attended student sessions and choir instead. Caleb came down on Thursday evening to join us. John-Clay was in CO at the World Changers’ Summit. Mom and Dad worked the Character First! booth and attended sessions.

Probably the message that stood out to us the most was given by David Gibbs who preached on doing the impossible. God doesn’t just call us to do “great things” – He has given us the power by His Spirit to do impossible things! It’s so easy to put God in our human box and forget that He is so ABLE to do beyond what we ask or think. It starts with us asking Him to do the impossible.

Praise the Lord for such a blessed time together as a family!

We had a fabulous whirlwind of a weekend in Texas!

Buzzing down the road for the Saturday night, SAICFF. closing ceremonies!
Family road trips are the BEST. We (kids) always have an itch to go somewhere.

Mr. Randy Putz, our fabulous host – putting up a total of 14 people for the night is no small task. We always enjoy his kind, full-of-joy fellowship.

Of course, John-Clay had been in San Antonio for the whole week, attending the Film Academy along with the Henline family and their friend, Emily. J-C said the Academy was the best ever – plenty of practical instruction and challenging messages.

The week is always key for networking with other Christian filmmakers. It’s encouraging to see how much independent Christian filmmaking has grown and improved in just the past 9 years since the film festival began!

John-Clay’s main project last year was making the documentary, Captivated.
Phillip Telfer was the producer of the film, which was a semi-finalist at the festival.

This was our third year to drive down for the closing ceremonies on Saturday night! Sooo excited. =)

Doug Phillips – President of Vision Forum Ministries

Special music for the evening was provided by Charlie Zahm

We were thrilled when the Henlines’ film, The Forgotten Martyr: Lady Jane Grey, won the Best Young Filmmaker’s Award and was also runner-up for Best Short Film!

Captivated was up against 15 other documentaries, so we weren’t sure whether to get our hopes up for an award or not. We were pleased when Captivated won runner-up for Best Documentary and was a finalist for the Best of Festival Award! =)

In actuality, the best award of all was the feedback received during the week from the many people whose lives have been greatly impacted through the message of the film. Praise the Lord! That’s a work that only HE can do.

Courageous deservedly won the Best of Festival Award! Stephen Kendrick gave a meaningful speech, honoring his dad for the powerful influence he has been in their lives. One thing that really stands out among all these filmmakers is their passion to do what they do for the glory of God, that He might be lifted up and seen for Who He is!

What better way to end the night than by bringing down the house with the Orange Blossom Special! Personally, the harmonica was my favorite. :)

Remember the Dorninks? We were so happy that seven of them were able to stop for a night going and coming from the film festival. They joined us for our bi-weekly volleyball practice at a church gym, which was super fun!! Sorry, no pictures of that. We were pretty busy playing, losing, and winning. :)

Discussing guns, I think. :)

My dear friend, Melody – we can talk for hours! And every time I’m left challenged, encouraged, and hungry for the Lord. That’s a good friend for ya. ;)

The Moms.

Spoons! A favorite around here.

 
Benj got a lot of basketball time out of Dustin and Kelly, much to his enjoyment.

Somehow, the length of the Dorninks’ visits seem to expand…and grow…and carry on…(not because we tempt them with homemade ice cream or anything).

On their way back from San Antonio, they planned to drop in from 10pm – 2am (yes, you read that correctly). But it so happened, they got an early start and expected to arrive by 7pm instead. Then, their mini-van broke down in Waco, and we weren’t sure if they were going to be able to come at all. :( Van got fixed, they arrived at midnight and decided to stay the night! (Nachos are a great midnight snack meal, by the way.) Wellllll, when their departure time of 11am rolled around in the morning, we said, “Is there any way y’all can stay longer?” A few phone calls made, and the rest of the day was spent with them until we sent them off with a blessing at 10pm that night. =D Good times!

Good friends = willing to ask meaningful questions, talk deep, and truly desire to build each other up in the Lord. The Dorninks definitely fit that list. We shared some great discussions together, and I know our family was really encouraged! Hopefully, we’ll find an excuse to meet up again soon. :)

There’s the re-cap for you! With the calendar as full as it is, I’m sure we’ll have more to tell you about soon. :)

Thanks to all you blog readers for staying in touch! We appreciate each one of you and pray that the Lord will really be the treasure of your heart as you walk through life with Him.

John-Clays’ most recent film project, Captivated, is contending as a finalist this weekend at the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival! He served as the Director of Photography, Editor, and Assistant Director on the project.

Synopsis:
Everywhere we go we are surrounded by screens.
Have we entered a techno utopia or a virtual prison?

Should we be celebrating unreservedly
or should we be cautious and skeptical?

Is it the greatest leap in productivity
or the biggest setback from the things most meaningful in life?

Has today’s connectivity drawn us closer to one another
or strangely more disjointed?

Is our social experience richer and deeper
or more shallow and artificial?

Is it all of these things or none of them?

Discover insightful answers to these questions from media experts, church leaders, and inspiring individuals and families from across the country.

Most importantly you’ll discover how God’s word addresses the unique media challenges we face today.

John-Clay is in San Antonio right now attending the Film Academy and is giving us reports of great feedback on the film.
Lord-willing, most of us will be heading down to join him on Saturday for the closing ceremonies! Very exciting. :)

Besides the anticipation of the film possibly winning an award,
we are really looking forward to meeting all the great people he has worked with on recent projects.

So, stay tuned for more exciting updates in the very near future. :)

The Northwoods staff with Eric Ludy – we had such a fun time fellowshipping with the staff there! They are a great team with a servant’s heart.

On Saturday morning, Eric Ludy preached two more messages – Wrestling Prayer and Hero Training. The Lord especially used the one on prayer in a powerful way – we didn’t want to stop listening! Just imagine what would happen if each attendee got a true grasp on effectual, fervent prayer!

Eric graciously agreed to do Q & A during his last lunch with us before heading off to the airport. :)

Our family with Eric

More times of prayer…

By now ya’ll must realize, we played a lot of volleyball…on the very last night, we had 8 teams of speed volleyball going at once! It was a blast! =)

Saturday afternoon, we had break-out sessions. Mrs. Kathy Fagala shared with all the women…

…and Mr. Wayne Fagala shared with the guys. It was a blessing to be able to talk heart-to-heart and glean from their wisdom!

(Check out the convertible truck in the background. :)

That evening we all went down to the lake and had a cookout. I think the pictures will give you a nice idea of what a special and refreshing time we all had together.

 
Singing around the campfire was really special.

S’mores = YUM.

 
The NWCC director surprised us with fireworks at the end of the cookout! We just had to sing the Star Spangled Banner. :) We then moved to the Lodge to continue fellowship and … volleyball, of course!

Bob Norvell preached the final message on Sunday morning, encouraging us to live as the tabernacles of God.

Caleb did a great job managing the sound booth – thanks, bro. ;)

Hannah was very happy to have 2 of the young ladies from her Journey team there.

=D

Saying good-byes…

Journey Reunion 2011

To God be the glory!

Here’s a go for a recap of our preparations and first night of the Journey Reunion!

Northwoods Conference Center (NWCC)

This place is stunningly beautiful in all seasons of the year…especially fall!

 
We arrived on Tuesday evening, ate chicken fajitas on the dock with the staff, got settled into our rooms, and loosened our stiff joints with invigorating volleyball…the first of many games to be played. :)

Wednesday: It was so nice to have a whole day to set up and prepare – everything was a “calm busy”.

There was LOTS of cleaning to be done, centerpieces to put together for the dining room tables, bouquet for the podium, and this and thats. :)

I loved how these centerpieces turned out = rustic elegance. :)

We even managed to squeeze in time to get our annual family pictures. Might as well take advantage of such a beautiful location while we’re there, right? We know from experience that it’s much more efficient to have someone else behind the camera, instead of using a tripod, running back and forth to check the pictures, etc., so we were grateful that Chad Paine helped us pose and snapped the pictures for us! Sorry, you don’t get to see any of them, yet. :)

Thursday: The cleaning crew worked hard to finish up all the last details, we set up the registration table, and people began arriving!!

***YEAH!!!****

By the way, John-Clay did an AMAZING job designing the website, name tags, schedules, and all our promotional materials!! Everything looked classy, professional, and fun. :) Thanks, J-C! We’ll definitely “hire” you again next time. ;)

It was rewarding for us to see the excitement on people’s faces as they arrived, so happy to be there! Several had stories of miracles God worked that allowed them to come. He is so good!! What a blessing to reunite with old friends.

After so much anticipation over the last months, weeks, and days, it’s hard to explain how thrilling it was for the Journey Reunion to BEGIN! =)
That evening, Bob Norvell preached for our first session of the weekend. His message was a fitting exhortation on evaluating whether we have active revelation of God in our lives, and to be Samuels (and Samuelas :) in this world.

God worked in special ways to allow the Fortune family to be there. They served in many capacities throughout the Reunion, including ministering to us in song.

Dr. Gothard, who began the Journey to the Heart ministry five years ago, led everyone in an hour of prayer. WOW! It was a precious time with the Lord and each other as we all knelt and communed with God.

We could sense immediately from this first night, a beautiful spirit of unity that lasted throughout the conference. This special group had invested their time and money to get away and seek God.

Everyone wanted to be there.
Everyone wanted to go deeper.
Everyone wanted to seek God with all their heart.

And as He promised, He richly rewarded us! (Hebrews 11:6)

“But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in
the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.”
Jude 1:20-21

More to follow! :)