SPEAKER_03: You're listening to this week's edition of The Road.
SPEAKER_20: Well, good evening and welcome to The Road with an alternate ending here.
SPEAKER_20: So let me welcome you to our Forge and Lighthouse graduation.
SPEAKER_20: Tonight we're celebrating the accomplishments and the achievements of these middle school young men and young women.
SPEAKER_20: And we've had a busy semester with your middle schoolers, and we're going to get into that.
SPEAKER_20: And so tonight's flow and service is going to feel a little different than we normally do it.
SPEAKER_20: Tonight's about honoring the achievements and the hard work of these young adults behind me.
SPEAKER_20: And let me be the first to say that it's been my personal privilege to work with these young men and their parents.
SPEAKER_20: I'd like to give you guys a hand.
SPEAKER_20: So thank you.
SPEAKER_20: And Michaela and Kaelin will be sharing about the Lighthouse project and also these young women.
SPEAKER_20: It's been a pleasure to get to know them over this last year in flagship, and I know the moms.
SPEAKER_20: And just we're so lucky to have the quality of parents and even the kids that we do here at the road.
SPEAKER_20: So it wasn't a lot of repairing, it was more preparing for these for these kids.
SPEAKER_20: So that was it's been excellent.
SPEAKER_20: Um I'd like to thank Nathan Hawkins for our pyrotechnics tonight.
SPEAKER_20: Thank you.
SPEAKER_20: Thank you, Nathan.
SPEAKER_20: Uh, we do have a permit for this.
SPEAKER_20: Um that's probably not true.
SPEAKER_20: Uh also like to thank Mick and Kaelin.
SPEAKER_20: Uh, they've been my counterparts through this process and through our eighth grade program, and they've worked with these young ladies, and we built curriculum, and we've walked closely together through this.
SPEAKER_20: This time I'd like to introduce kind of what the forge is.
SPEAKER_20: And the problem is that I have far more like cues up here than I do even when I'm given like a regular message.
SPEAKER_20: So bear with me, I've got things all over the place.
SPEAKER_20: I'll try not to get lost myself.
SPEAKER_20: Um, and I have to keep track of the time so we get through things quickly.
SPEAKER_20: Our mission and vision from the beginning of the Lighthouse Project in the Forge came under the umbrella of our middle school program flagship.
SPEAKER_20: Last fall I began talking with Pastor Steve, and I approached Scott Heiler as well as Michaela Adams about the concept that God was putting on my heart and how we needed to initiate our young men and young women as they move kind of through those troubling middle school years into early high school and some of those things, and how we do that well, because our country doesn't do that well.
SPEAKER_20: Our goal was to help guide them into exploring and understanding and initiating the masculine and feminine hearts within our eighth-grade students during this past semester.
SPEAKER_20: In an ever-changing culture and landscape that's fraught with confusion and ambiguity regarding gender, we encouraged and trained our young men and women, our young men to be strong, courageous, men of honor, warriors for the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_20: And our young women to be beautiful, kind, godly women of virtue and purity.
SPEAKER_20: The core verse for the forge was built on 1 Corinthians 13, 11.
SPEAKER_20: It states this When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child, but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
SPEAKER_20: Globally speaking, other cultures have identified this as a critical time for them, for these young people, as they mature mentally, both mentally and physically.
SPEAKER_20: And it's the time when other cultures have their own rites of passage.
SPEAKER_20: We look to our Hebrew cultures for the Bar and Ba mitzvahs, and even to some degree here in the States, we do have confirmation classes, but nothing that really calls out that masculine heart of a man and the feminine heart of a woman, and really reveals back to them their core values, gives to them a creation.
SPEAKER_20: So why the forge?
SPEAKER_20: We decided on the forge for the boys because a forge takes raw material and adds other elements, and through a heating process of fire and pressure, you get something that's useful.
SPEAKER_20: It comes out a tool or a weapon.
SPEAKER_20: And so from here we thought we could take and mold these young men, speak into their lives, and go from there, and then they would come out emerging, ready for kind of the next challenge in the next season.
SPEAKER_20: The absolute need in our culture is created by a void, because we don't have that right now.
SPEAKER_20: And I have something I want to read to you guys real quick, and it comes from a book.
SPEAKER_20: When I was getting into this program, I probably had about six or seven books out there on this very subject about how we initiate our young men today and what we've lost through the generations.
SPEAKER_20: Our military does a really good job in creating identity, and even the Marines sempre fidelist, you know, always faithful.
SPEAKER_20: They know that once they graduate, they'll always have an identity in that.
SPEAKER_20: But we haven't done that well as a church specifically, and we try to create this community.
SPEAKER_20: And in that, rituals and rites of passage and initiations reach deep into the heart of a boy and touch what theologians call the Imago Dei or the image of God.
SPEAKER_20: The part of our humanity that bears the mark of God and speaks to our inherent value, independent of our utility or function.
SPEAKER_20: This comes directly from the book Wild Things, The Art of Nurturing Boys, written by PhDs, uh Stephen James, co-authored with uh David Thomas.
SPEAKER_20: And in their book, I'm just gonna read a quick passage here for you guys.
SPEAKER_20: If we don't create rites of passage for our boys, they will find their own.
SPEAKER_20: If we don't mark their passage into the fellowship of men, they will create experiences that make them feel like the men they belong to become.
SPEAKER_20: A rite of passage for a boy can be anything from smoking pot to sleeping with a girl to racing drunk or breaking the law in some way.
SPEAKER_20: The rise of inner city gangs and our culture is a direct result of the absence of fathers and the resulting failure to properly initiate boys into men.
SPEAKER_20: Gangs have all the central components of initiation, and boys are ushered in through male community around a common ideal ideology for the sake of something larger than themselves.
SPEAKER_20: But tragically, the common threads of this community are violence, confrontation, and abuse.
SPEAKER_20: And I like the way Richard Rohr puts it.
SPEAKER_20: A truly initiated man lives inside a sacred universe of meaning.
SPEAKER_20: And that's what we've tried to do with this program.
SPEAKER_20: We've tried to make it intentional.
SPEAKER_20: So, how do we do this?
SPEAKER_20: We wanted to build a framework where fathers would invite their sons into the world, into their world, to experience adventure, handle, handling dangerous things that we were often told to as boys not to touch or be around.
SPEAKER_20: Essentially show them dad's tools and move away from boys' toys, which our boys' toys often emulate our dad's tools.
SPEAKER_20: We also did this by encouraging them to become, do this shoulder to shoulder, which is how men interact and we learn from each other.
SPEAKER_20: The father's a key role in initiating the son's heart, not only by deed, but being intentional in their action and speaking words into the heart of the boy about manhood.
SPEAKER_20: The curriculum of the Forge was based on the five aspects, as well as the Lighthouse Project.
SPEAKER_20: The five aspects platform is where we build the core elements of the doctrine of the program.
SPEAKER_20: And there's three parts to every aspect.
SPEAKER_20: It's intended to, it's first created by God, then it's destroyed or shattered by sin, and then it's restored again by what Christ did for us on the cross.
SPEAKER_20: Those five aspects are covered in detail in our semester, and the boys had a chance to go through with their fathers and go through each curriculum, and we took a month to cover each section.
SPEAKER_20: The first one was Lord of the Earth, where we discovered our identity at creation to rule over our own domain, given to us at the creation.
SPEAKER_20: The husbandman, caring for the things given to us in our domain.
SPEAKER_20: For now, it's our world that we're in as young men, and one day we can transition into a family and a wife and kids.
SPEAKER_20: And that is how we live out Christ's message and salvation, the idea of sonship that's put on our hearts.
SPEAKER_20: We come to Sage as the fourth, there we learn wisdom, learning from our life's lessons.
SPEAKER_20: And finally, glory of God.
SPEAKER_20: Being aware of your whole heart, fully alive and abiding in Christ.
SPEAKER_20: We took fathers' clinics and we had one a month, and inside of the bookwork, we invited these boys that we were trying to graft into manhood up into adventure.
SPEAKER_20: So we had everything from firearms training where they came in, and I had an outside brother come in and give us detailed instruction on proper care, storage, use of firearms, and then we went to a firing range and we got to demonstrate and apply those lessons learned.
SPEAKER_20: From there, we went into knife sharpening and then we had automotive care, kind of the basics of how your car works, you know, oil, gas, changing tires.
SPEAKER_20: What do you do if you get a flat tire?
SPEAKER_20: We had a pretty unique experience because one of the fathers here is a rancher and practices animal husbandry on a daily basis.
SPEAKER_20: And so we had a chance to go out there and we had to we got to really learn, these boys got a chance to really learn what um from farm to table really looks like.
SPEAKER_20: From the caring and nurturing of the animals to bringing them up and what that looks like, and then going from the farm to the table.
SPEAKER_20: And the ladies helped us take our efforts to the table.
SPEAKER_20: And so from our events, uh, which you'll see a slideshow in a minute of the semester, that'll give you a bit of a more uh better job than me telling you, kind of a video of what they have accomplished and what they went through.
SPEAKER_20: These ladies took that, prepared a meal, and invited these young men back to the table to enjoy the spoils of the slaughter, if you will.
SPEAKER_20: We also worked with uh woodworking.
SPEAKER_20: They did a project with power tools, learned how to do, and again, handle dad's tools, not a boy's toys.
SPEAKER_20: Then we went out and we culminated this semester with a skeet shoot at the first annual Ford Shooter's Cup.
SPEAKER_20: And the order in which these boys are seated before you now is pretty much the order in which they finish the event.
SPEAKER_20: First, in the beginning of the semester, I gave the boys a bookmark, because we like bookmarks at the road, and I thought let's keep in the in the theme of bookmarks.
SPEAKER_20: And it has the light verse on the front, and on the back, it was basically requirements to finish the class.
SPEAKER_20: Finish this semester.
SPEAKER_20: They had to sign a commitment letter.
SPEAKER_20: I'll get to that in just one second.
SPEAKER_20: They had to go through every aspect of the study and present at least one aspect in front of their peers, in front of a classroom setting.
SPEAKER_20: In May, they were challenged to go through Proverbs day, uh, each chapter a day with their dads.
SPEAKER_20: They had to do a character study.
SPEAKER_20: And part of tonight is they're gonna come up and they're gonna share their character with you, uh the character study they did and how it tied back to the aspect.
SPEAKER_20: And then they had to participate with the Rhodes Summer Mission, which was a Springs initiative.
SPEAKER_20: And every one of these guys has gone through the forge and they're coming out a little bit smoldery, but I think better for the wear.
SPEAKER_20: And uh it's my uh sincere honor to be here honoring these guys and these women tonight.
SPEAKER_20: The commitment letter they read, or that they wrote, and I and I challenged each one of them.
SPEAKER_20: I said, before you come to the forge, you guys are gonna sign a contract, probably for the first time.
SPEAKER_20: You're gonna sign it, and I'm gonna hold you to the principles herein.
SPEAKER_20: And I'm gonna read it to you here because they get it back tonight.
SPEAKER_20: It started looking like this.
SPEAKER_20: And when they get it back, it's gonna look kind of something like this.
SPEAKER_20: We went camping and we forgot to pack.
SPEAKER_20: Never mind.
SPEAKER_20: I'm not gonna go there.
SPEAKER_20: Sorry.
SPEAKER_20: Um I, Ryan Steyr, by my honor, give my word and commitment to not only enter into the forge, but also see it through to its completion.
SPEAKER_20: I agree to the term set forth herein and will pursue God's path before me as he reveals and initiates my masculine heart.
SPEAKER_20: I'm ready to begin my journey to manhood and gain a deeper understanding of godly masculine strength and courage.
SPEAKER_20: I'm prepared to walk this path with my Father and Jesus Christ as my guide.
SPEAKER_20: I will honor, respect, and obey his leading through this process as I complete the required elements in the curriculum.
SPEAKER_20: I promise to honor and respect my fellow brothers in the forge and adhere to the code of ethics and conduct.
SPEAKER_20: I vow to honor, love, and respect my mother and my father, my brothers and sisters, as I recognize Christ's complete and total love for me.
SPEAKER_20: I will model the core values of the forge in my home, at my school, and with my friends and brothers.
SPEAKER_20: With the whole armor of God, I will confront evil, pursue justice, I will love mercy and honor authority.
SPEAKER_20: I will learn from my mistakes, repent for my sins, and walk with integrity as a man answerable to God.
SPEAKER_20: I recognize and humbly accept that I am made in the image of the one and only true living God, Yahweh Elohim.
SPEAKER_20: I know that I am saved by his mercy, forgiven by his grace, and washed clean by his blood.
SPEAKER_20: He has put his sonship on my heart, and I am adopted into his kingdom.
SPEAKER_20: Jehovah Jirah will be my spiritual guide, and I will trust in him to reach me or to teach me about my whole heart.
SPEAKER_20: I further acknowledge that I will love the Lord with all of my heart, all of my spirit, all of my mind, and all of my strength.
SPEAKER_20: Every one of these young men signed this contract, and I'm here to tell you, despite what their parents have said, they've adhered to that contract.
SPEAKER_20: So, no.
SPEAKER_20: We're proud of you guys, and this is for them tonight, and it's for the ladies as well.
SPEAKER_20: So at this point, we're gonna queue up our semester video of the forge and take you through a little journey of what they've been in and been into.
SPEAKER_20: Thank you.
SPEAKER_05: If I told you my story, you would hear hope, they wouldn't let go.
SPEAKER_05: And if I told you my story, you would hear love that never gave up.
SPEAKER_05: And if I told you my story, you would hear light, it wasn't light.
SPEAKER_15: And why I chose leadership is because I think, in my personal opinion, that leadership is so uh important in today's age, and uh we always are going to need leaders, and uh in and if anything's going to thrive, it's going to start with the good leader.
SPEAKER_15: And why leadership means so much to me is because my parents have always taught me to be a good leader and to lead by example, and have always told me to uh always remember to lead.
SPEAKER_15: Um and so when we went through the five aspects, uh we got to study um the uh different leaders and we got to see kind of how they live, and we got to see how each and every one of them had different uh had always a Jesus in their lives.
SPEAKER_15: And we got to see how they always led with and when they didn't know what to do, they always went to Jesus, and we got to see that.
SPEAKER_15: So with that, I'm gonna welcome up my dad.
SPEAKER_01: Josh, when you were born while we were in the hospital room with you, God gave me your name.
SPEAKER_01: I had never thought of this name ever before.
SPEAKER_01: God spoke it into my spirit, or Joshua or Caleb.
SPEAKER_01: Joshua is from the Hebrew name Yeshua, meaning Yahweh is salvation.
SPEAKER_01: Joshua and Caleb were two of the twelve spies sent into Canaan by Moses.
SPEAKER_01: They were the only two of the twelve who believed that the land of Canaan could be conquered.
SPEAKER_01: When the spies went into the promised land, they saw that the land was inhabited by giants, men of renown with fortified cities, and they told the men of Israel that they were not able to go up against these people.
SPEAKER_01: But the Bible says of Joshua and Caleb that they had a different spirit about them, and they had a different response to the situation.
SPEAKER_01: This is what the Bible says of them after the bad report from the other side.
SPEAKER_01: But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephanah, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes, and they spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, The land we pass through to spy out is an exceedingly good land.
SPEAKER_01: If the Lord delights in us, then he will bring us into this land and give it to us.
SPEAKER_01: Only do not rebel against the Lord, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread.
SPEAKER_01: Their protection has departed from them, and the Lord is with us.
SPEAKER_01: Do not fear them.
SPEAKER_01: None of the other spies, nor the men of Israel who were fearful, ever entered the land.
SPEAKER_01: Joshua and Caleb had a different spirit.
SPEAKER_01: Because of that spirit, both of them were able to enter the promised land and possess their inheritance.
SPEAKER_01: Joshua, Caleb.
SPEAKER_01: God gave you your name because you've been called by him to be a leader of men, marked by a different spirit.
SPEAKER_01: You've been called by him to be a conqueror.
SPEAKER_01: You, my son, have a different spirit.
SPEAKER_01: I have seen it through baseball, school, setting up our massive tent at hunting camp, serving and leading the kids at negligence, hard work and helping those less fortunate at the Springs Initiative, your love and protection over your sister, your diligence and chores, especially the chickens.
SPEAKER_01: And now, as you have studied and prepared through the fortune, the word I would use to describe the spirit over your namesake.
SPEAKER_01: Joshua and Caleb, and over you, my son, is the word courageous.
SPEAKER_01: Josh, God is making you a man of courage.
SPEAKER_01: God is forming a wholehearted disciple through a courageous heart.
SPEAKER_01: It takes a courageous heart to do the right thing when others don't.
SPEAKER_01: It takes a courageous heart to say no when everyone else is saying yes.
SPEAKER_01: It takes a courageous heart to stand up for what you believe in when others stay seated.
SPEAKER_01: It takes a courageous heart to spend time reading God's word and praying when you could be watching TV.
SPEAKER_01: It takes a courageous heart to tell the truth when others are lying.
SPEAKER_01: It takes a courageous heart to lead by example.
SPEAKER_01: It takes a courageous heart to not follow the crowd but take the road less travel.
SPEAKER_01: Josh, your mother and I see you becoming all of these things.
SPEAKER_01: You are a man with a courageous heart.
SPEAKER_01: For your blessing, gift, I've chosen to have a ring made for you.
SPEAKER_01: It is made of fortified steel and is enwrapped by a chain.
SPEAKER_01: Inscribed upon it are these words from Joshua chapter 1, verse 9.
SPEAKER_01: Have I not commanded you be strong and of good courage?
SPEAKER_01: The Lord your God is with you wherever you go.
SPEAKER_01: And across the top of the chain is the word courageous.
SPEAKER_01: Josh, as you wear this ring, may you constantly be reminded that you are a courageous leader and that the presence of the Lord is with you.
SPEAKER_01: Bless you, my son.
SPEAKER_22: Hello, I'm Levi Perkins, and my character study was on courage.
SPEAKER_22: And I chose that, I know it's kind of bad timing going after them, but so I chose that because we have to have courage to face our everyday life.
SPEAKER_22: We have to have courage to stand up to the devil, and we have cur we have to have courage to keep going.
SPEAKER_22: And just like Joshua, when he was called to lead Israel into the promised land, when he had courage to come back and to go against what all the people were saying after he was a spy into the promised land, he was granted by God to lead them later on.
SPEAKER_22: And so courage isn't just about doing the right thing, but it's also about giving the glory to God.
SPEAKER_22: And so our last aspect in the book is giving the glory to God.
SPEAKER_22: And that's very important for us because we aren't doing it alone.
SPEAKER_22: And so it takes courage for us to say that someone else was helping us and lifting us up as we were going along.
SPEAKER_22: And so on that note, I'd like to welcome my dad, Sean Perkins, of.
SPEAKER_21: Levi, it's been wonderful to watch you in all that you've done over the past year, of how you've set yourself to studying the things of how to be a man, how you worked hard in school, your first time in football, working through injuries there, and in growing in so many ways in the things you do at home.
SPEAKER_21: The three things that I'll identify that I've particularly seen in you is taking initiative, showing compassion, and having perseverance in each of those things.
SPEAKER_21: As I watched you conduct your study without me ever having to ask you to do it, you were always ahead on it, digging into it, ready to go when we sat down to discuss it.
SPEAKER_21: You've shown compassion in helping out with those younger than you in the next-gen program, and stepping in to lead there and to pass on the things that you've learned.
SPEAKER_21: And you've shown perseverance in carrying through with all of that, and finishing your studies and going beyond what you're asked to do, and finishing up uh in so many other areas and tasks that have been given to you.
SPEAKER_21: What I'll say to you is those are things of your family heritage, and things that uh we strive to be as Perkins, and the gift I have for you is something that you've received a similar one of before from within the family.
SPEAKER_21: But this is a silver dollar from about 150 years ago.
SPEAKER_21: And I chose this for several reasons.
SPEAKER_21: First off, this is from your grandmother, Alice Gossett, and it passed down through uh our family to uh your grandparents, actually your great-grandmother, passed down through your grandparents, uh George and Barbara Perkins, to me.
SPEAKER_21: So this is literally a piece of our family heritage.
SPEAKER_21: And the things that I learned from my grandma and from her husband, Pope Gossett, I learned from Pope, who was a genuine cowboy, how to do the rough and tumble things of being a man.
SPEAKER_21: He taught me how to ride a horse, how to rope a calf, how to shoot a gun.
SPEAKER_21: My grandma, Alice, his wife, taught me what a loving wife who stands beside her husband through decades and decades of hard work looks like.
SPEAKER_21: She taught me how to live in righteousness, but not to be overly righteous and to be standoffish from people, but how to live a genuine life.
SPEAKER_21: And your grandparents, George and Barbara, your grandfather George taught me how to live as a man who works hard, loving his wife all of his days, how to welcome a son as a friend into adulthood.
SPEAKER_21: Your grandma Barbara taught me what a woman of value looks like who knows how to love her husband all of her days.
SPEAKER_21: The other aspect of this is it has external and internal value.
SPEAKER_21: It says one dollar on it.
SPEAKER_21: And when it was minted, you could trade it for one dollar's worth of stuff.
SPEAKER_21: But the silver in it is intrinsically worthwhile and of value, just as you.
SPEAKER_21: People will look at you and ascribe some level of value to you.
SPEAKER_21: But internal, for what you're made of, God sees that and ascribes his value to you.
SPEAKER_21: So in all of that, I speak of your family heritage as great-grandson of Pope and Alice Cossett, as grandson of George and Barbara Perkins, and a son of the Lord God Jehovah, the Most High God.
SPEAKER_21: I love you.
SPEAKER_00: My name is Caleb Zimmerman.
SPEAKER_00: Um I was a part of the Forge program, and I did my character study on wisdom, and I chose Solomon for wisdom because he really sticks out in the Bible, and he's really an example.
SPEAKER_00: And um I think wisdom is something that in these days people lack wisdom, and it's something that people need more wisdom.
SPEAKER_00: Um, and I just think people these days lack a lot of wisdom.
SPEAKER_00: And um Solomon or wisdom matches up with um sage in the five aspects of study.
SPEAKER_00: And you it um in the sage it kind of says it kind of shows that as you get older and you mature more, you have more wisdom, and um I think Solomon is a great example for wisdom.
SPEAKER_00: Um, and with that I'd like to welcome up my dad, Vernon Zimmerman.
SPEAKER_12: Well, Caleb, you make me proud to be your father.
SPEAKER_12: Um your name, Caleb Isaac Zimmerman.
SPEAKER_12: Um, you also have a biblical name.
SPEAKER_12: Um you have a heritage in the scriptures, the Old Testament, Caleb was a man who didn't go with the crowd.
SPEAKER_12: He was a man who stood out and stood for what he believed to be right.
SPEAKER_12: And when we chose your name when you were born, it was after going through a period of our lives where we also recognized that we need to stand for what is right and not just go with a crowd.
SPEAKER_12: So your name symbolizes things that God did in our life, and I trust that you will carry that heritage throughout your life.
SPEAKER_12: You are a young man who has a whole heart, you're a whole-hearted person, you're very loyal, and you bring joy to all those that you bless.
SPEAKER_12: So I have chosen a gift for you, and the gift that I've chosen for you is a samurai sword.
SPEAKER_12: A sword represents a fighter, somebody who stands and is willing to get out of their comfort zone, willing to go and do battle.
SPEAKER_12: And you have the heart of one that's willing to do battle.
SPEAKER_12: You're one who's willing to stand for what's right.
SPEAKER_12: And when you look at this sword, I hope it can be a reminder to you every time that you see it, but what you've gone through.
SPEAKER_12: This is a samurai sword with a Damascus blade.
SPEAKER_12: It's gone through the forge, it's gone through the heat.
SPEAKER_12: So there's a lot of things about this that you can relate to things that you will face in life in the future.
SPEAKER_12: And as you do that, I trust that you'll remain faithful and true to your heart and remain wholehearted.
SPEAKER_20: Um, like I'd like to take a real quick intermission and introduce um a person that's missing from our team right now that helped me and walk beside me.
SPEAKER_20: I wanted to give him a chance to brush his teeth, but my brother Colonel Scott Heiler is joining us.
SPEAKER_20: It's about 4 30 in Afghanistan, Scott's time, so in the morning, not evening.
SPEAKER_20: Um, so Scott walked this journey with me with these boys, and we started talking early on about it, what it looked like, and he and he wanted to take his young men through this at their last duty station in Alabama, and they were uh they came to Colorado Springs, and then we had the opportunity that the timing was gonna work out, and Scott was all but finished, and they actually finished before he got deployed, but he deployed in June, and uh he and Benjamin walked through the whole curriculum and program um already.
SPEAKER_20: So, but I want him to just share a few words about his experience with the Forge and speak about the boys, and then Benjamin's gonna come up and share his character study, and then Scott will share his piece.
SPEAKER_20: So thanks for joining us, brother.
SPEAKER_18: Hey Ryan, thanks.
SPEAKER_18: Uh it's really an honor for me to get to to be here and uh to be a part of this, and so I thank you and and Greg for helping to set this up.
SPEAKER_18: And uh I guess I just wanted to start by saying thank you to to you, Ryan, and to Michaela, for uh for putting this together for for all of our kids.
SPEAKER_18: Um I think this program is phenomenal.
SPEAKER_18: Um, I think it's so important, especially in our culture today, uh, with all the mixed messages and and bad messages that people get about what it means to be a man, what it means to be a woman.
SPEAKER_18: And so this was really a great opportunity to be able to show these young men and women uh what it means to be a godly man or a godly woman.
SPEAKER_18: And so um it's I I just think it's so valuable.
SPEAKER_18: And um it's been fun for me to be able to watch these boys uh come together, uh, get to know each other.
SPEAKER_18: Uh, I've got to see them work together uh on all the different projects and uh the different events that we did, um, and then just get to see them teach each other about the uh the character traits as we went through this program and and getting to see them pray together uh and talk to each other about what's going on in their lives.
SPEAKER_18: And so uh I'm just very hopeful that uh that this time that they've gotten to spend together has helped them to develop relationships, to learn about who they are in God, and um just to get them started on the right foot in their journey to being uh again uh young men that uh that are good, strong Christians and have a solid foundation in who they are in Christ.
SPEAKER_18: So uh I just I'm so glad to have been a part of this, and uh, it's been awesome.
SPEAKER_18: So uh that's that's all I have to say about that.
SPEAKER_18: Benjamin, uh look forward to hearing what you gotta say here, bud.
SPEAKER_14: Okay, so once again, I'm Benjamin Heiler.
SPEAKER_14: And so my for my character study, it kind of has three parts.
SPEAKER_14: So the first part is what I was talking about was husbandman, and then how my dad has used that aspect in his life.
SPEAKER_14: And the second one was kind of like that too.
SPEAKER_14: It was savior, same deal.
SPEAKER_14: But the third one, and the one that I really want to focus on is sage, because I think all of us know people who have been sages to us, and none of us would be where we are without them, and that just we wouldn't be where we are without them, and that it's just so important to become a sage and to get to know people who can be a sage to you, because what they're doing is just giving you their wisdom that they've learned.
SPEAKER_14: And so what I wanted to say was to um thank a couple people who have been sages for me.
SPEAKER_14: Um, my dad, Mr.
SPEAKER_14: Ryan, Mr.
SPEAKER_14: Steve, Mr.
SPEAKER_14: Steve, and there's another Steve from Alabama who's my Sunday school's teacher.
SPEAKER_14: So, and then Mr.
SPEAKER_14: Greg Key, who's also from Auburn.
SPEAKER_14: And those people who they've just taught me so much about who I need to become in God and how to become a godly man, and all the things that I need to put in motion to do that.
SPEAKER_14: Thank you.
SPEAKER_14: Ann, what you got?
SPEAKER_18: Alright, so so Benjamin, I'm uh I'm incredibly proud of you for the work that you've done throughout this year.
SPEAKER_18: Um, it's been awesome to watch you do so many new things and uh go through these new experiences, uh, lots of stuff that you and I have never done before and got to do for the first time.
SPEAKER_18: Uh I'm excited to see you stepping into this new role as a young man, and I've really seen evidence of your development over this past year.
SPEAKER_18: Um I see three things in you in particular.
SPEAKER_18: One, your leadership, um, your ability to step up and uh and take the lead, uh, whether that's through Next Gen or at our house.
SPEAKER_18: Um I see lots of of the seeds of leadership beginning to develop in you.
SPEAKER_18: I also see a level of maturity.
SPEAKER_18: Um, the maturity that you have in uh understanding who you are and how God is there to help you at all times, and your willingness to lean on Him is amazing.
SPEAKER_18: And then finally, your caring for others, um your ability to look out for other people, um, to take care of your mom now while I'm gone, uh, and just to be a person who is understanding of others' needs and and looks out for what they are looking for and what they need.
SPEAKER_18: And so the gift that I gave to Benjamin before I left was a Swiss Army knife, and uh it's engraved with his name, and um, to me, that knife symbolizes uh the tools that you have available to you, and you know, they're right there with you.
SPEAKER_18: Uh, and so the Swiss Army knife has lots of different tools, and God has given you uh lots of different tools that are right there at your disposal, and so I hope that uh you will keep that uh forever as a symbol of the fact that God is always there for you, He's always there to provide whatever it is that you need uh no matter what situation you face.
SPEAKER_18: And so, Benjamin, I'm proud of you.
SPEAKER_18: I love you, and uh I'm so happy that you were able to get through this program and we were able to do a lot of it together.
SPEAKER_18: So I love you, bud.
SPEAKER_04: Hi, my name is Landon Hasselt, and my character study is based off of integrity.
SPEAKER_04: Something that, likewise, with all these others, it's very lacking in our culture today.
SPEAKER_04: People aren't standing up for what they know is right.
SPEAKER_04: And I have three people who are in the Bible that I chose to be my character study: Ananiah, Mishhael, and Azariah, more commonly known as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
SPEAKER_04: These three showed great integrity and wisdom when they followed Daniel in not eating the food that they were offered from the king.
SPEAKER_04: Later on, they showed integrity and wisdom by helping Daniel through the hard time that they were all experiencing.
SPEAKER_04: They were very likely gonna die if they didn't come together and pray and have a time with each other.
SPEAKER_04: They also showed, in the most dramatic fashion, integrity when they were thrown into the fiery furnace.
SPEAKER_04: They refused to bow down to the idol because they knew it was against their law and that it would show that they no longer believe that their God could protect them.
SPEAKER_04: It would show that they've given up.
SPEAKER_04: I do not think that God wants any of us to have a lack of integrity, and I think he wants all of us to be able to live for his purposes.
SPEAKER_04: So without further ado, I would like to introduce my father, Steve Hassell.
SPEAKER_19: All right, Landon.
SPEAKER_19: First off, I just gotta say, awesome job on your character study.
SPEAKER_19: Um I'm not surprised just because I've as we have homeschooled you and continue to homeschool you and see what you do each and every day.
SPEAKER_19: Uh your mom and I are so proud of you, what you do academically, um, gosh, what you do around our our our little homestead with the animals, um just how amazingly capable you are, all the things that you can do at your age, um just it's it's phenomenal.
SPEAKER_19: Um, without any hesitation, whether it's giving taking care of, okay, Landon, I'm not gonna be there, you have to take care of all the birthing of the lambs, and boom, you do it.
SPEAKER_19: Just your your big heart, whether it's with your many brothers and sisters, or with just neighbors, and how you're willing to help out like Mr.
SPEAKER_19: Chris and Ms.
SPEAKER_19: Christiane, and you're willing to go out and clean alpaca pens and do it just to help them out.
SPEAKER_19: I mean, you you are an amazing young man, uh, again, that your mom and I are extremely proud of.
SPEAKER_19: And this process is but a step in your progression as a man.
SPEAKER_19: Um it's a big step, um, but it's it's just one of many that are yet to come.
SPEAKER_19: And a lot of that comes down to decisions that you will make in the days ahead of whether or not you're gonna continue to walk out that manhood as all the boys are.
SPEAKER_19: And I have full confidence that I know that you will, because you've already proven that to us in many ways, that you're gonna make those right decisions as you progress and grow and become the man that God is calling you to be.
SPEAKER_19: Um I can so easily as I'm listening back through the five aspects, I can so easily see that are are personified or you giving the example of that, each one of those each and every day in all that you do.
SPEAKER_19: And and and I'm so excited to see what God has in store for you in the days ahead.
SPEAKER_19: Um it's it's it's fun to me this year as you're going into speech and debate.
SPEAKER_19: Can you not see him as a speech and debater?
SPEAKER_19: Yes.
SPEAKER_19: Um you will do a phenomenal job with that as you continue through your high school studies, um as you do all the different things that you do.
SPEAKER_19: I know that if I'm gone and and away from home, you are the man of the house, and mom and the rest of the kids are in good hands.
SPEAKER_19: Because that's the man you're becoming, and I appreciate that.
SPEAKER_19: Um as your mom and I were kind of going through gosh, what do we get him for this?
SPEAKER_19: It was hard to say because you have so many knives.
SPEAKER_19: Um you have so many other weapons that you've made.
SPEAKER_19: Um he's been lately carving uh batons and some other name and and burns burning etching into them.
SPEAKER_19: It's just amazing.
SPEAKER_19: So we thought we would get you something that was something that you could wear that spoke about your process of what you've gone through, your faith and commitment to God.
SPEAKER_19: It's also got the verse on there for the forge, the 1 Corinthians 3.11.
SPEAKER_19: And we thought we'd get this as something that you could wear just to help remember all that you've done and what you're continuing to do.
SPEAKER_19: Your mom and I love you, and we are extremely proud of you, and we are excited for all that God has in store for you.
SPEAKER_19: So thank you, buddy.
SPEAKER_19: Love you much.
SPEAKER_16: Okay, well, I'm Noah Gilson, and I did my character study on respect because it's an underlying fundamental thing throughout the entire five aspects study.
SPEAKER_16: Because no matter what, the leaders and the godly men that we learned about, they had to have respect for God and their the people around them.
SPEAKER_16: Because if they didn't, they would lose the respect from their peers and they would slowly start drifting away from God.
SPEAKER_16: Because if you do not respect him as powerful and as all-knowing as he is, you're not gonna know the true wholeness of what the faith truly is.
SPEAKER_16: That's my dad.
SPEAKER_17: And my name's Doug Gilson, just known as the dad.
SPEAKER_17: Um, um, I know you've heard some of these stories, and not, and some of the people who know us have heard this, but your mother and I went through many years wanting to have children, and we weren't able to.
SPEAKER_17: And we thought our life was going to be that way with no children in our house.
SPEAKER_17: Um God surprised us many years into our marriage, and it was a wonderful surprise to a point to now that I'm so proud of you.
SPEAKER_17: Um this is a week, this centrality is about a week early because today is I've had 4,993 days to be marveled by what God did bringing you into our lives.
SPEAKER_17: If it was next week it'd be even 5,000.
SPEAKER_17: But um 4,993 days.
SPEAKER_17: Um but God has brought you into our lives, and ever since you were little, we were able to see things that we thought were godly character in you.
SPEAKER_17: Um we remember back when you were two, three years, three, four years old, you would walk up to people who were sitting maybe in an airport or on a bench, um, and you would say, They look sad, and you would go up to them.
SPEAKER_17: We saw early that sense of compassion.
SPEAKER_17: I see it grow and grow.
SPEAKER_17: I've seen it in how you handle the children and the younger umes in our taekwondo classes when we're helping teach those classes and how you've gathered around them and show them the way and help them.
SPEAKER_17: I've seen you just our neighbors and things of people that would not be children or that would not be wanting to work work with or be friends with, and you've befriended them.
SPEAKER_17: So I just see that heart of compassion in you.
SPEAKER_17: I've watched you grow.
SPEAKER_17: This whole forge experience has been great for me because I've grown in it seeing how other fathers uh interact with their children.
SPEAKER_17: I've seen how you interact with the group, I've seen you grow in your maturity.
SPEAKER_17: Um I'm looking at this week alone.
SPEAKER_17: We've homeschooled you since day one, and this week you were actually going to uh a high school, and just your excitement and you coming back, things that we thought, oh, he's not gonna like that, he's gonna have trouble with that, and you have come back just full force saying, I want to do this, I want to be that person, I want to go to school, I want to meet new people and new friends and stuff.
SPEAKER_17: It just has brought joy to us to see you take steps that we being human, I think maybe that's not what he he should be doing or that he would like.
SPEAKER_17: But God has put things into you that we're just starting to see unfold.
SPEAKER_17: And I'm just so proud of you.
SPEAKER_17: And the gift I chose actually is twofold, one for the present, one that symbolizes the future.
SPEAKER_17: The first one is a ring.
SPEAKER_17: And um we always talk about rings, even in the marriage ceremony, we talk about rings that are circles and there's no bro, there's no end to it, and the forever love that a husband and wife have for each other.
SPEAKER_17: But we can look at that and apply that to God.
SPEAKER_17: Um this ring I want you to look at as it's unbroken.
SPEAKER_17: It's to remind you that God's love is never ending for you, and the love of your mother and I for you is never ending.
SPEAKER_17: On the ring, there's a cross and the symbol of a sword, reminding us of what we did here in the forge.
SPEAKER_17: And then scripture verse in there, talking about a man of God, and scripture verse from Timothy 6, 11, and 12.
SPEAKER_17: And then you'll see how it fits perfectly into what we were learning in this uh these last few months in the forge.
SPEAKER_17: So that's your first one.
SPEAKER_17: The second one I just wanted to try not to lose it this time.
SPEAKER_17: No.
SPEAKER_17: Usually he takes my rings and then it disappear.
SPEAKER_17: Uh the second gift is something for the future because we what we've learned, what we we want to instill in you is that um there's always a place to go to know to see what God's um planned for you.
SPEAKER_17: And it's actually a compass.
SPEAKER_17: Um it's uh something we'll uh I would hope you have, take with you, keep with you, and it'll remind you that the true north in our lives should be always looking towards the Bible and looking towards God for what He wants, what He has already planned in your life and what he wants you to pursue.
SPEAKER_11: So you are so I'm Michaela, and I did the Lighthouse project, which was the counterpart to the forge, um, with these ladies.
SPEAKER_11: And when Ryan and I decided this is what we wanted to do, I kind of went to Kayla and I was like, alright, how are we gonna do this?
SPEAKER_11: So Kaylin was always there helping me plan.
SPEAKER_11: We we spent many nights just praying, what are we gonna do?
SPEAKER_11: What are we gonna do?
SPEAKER_11: Um and when we were thinking about what we would call this, um, we settled on the lighthouse project because a lighthouse um is a very pretty thing.
SPEAKER_11: People go on vacation, they take pictures of it, but it's also um it's very sturdy.
SPEAKER_11: You know, there's years and years of waves that hit it and they last, they're still standing.
SPEAKER_11: Um, but they also they have a light that comes from inside of them and sets them apart from the rest of the world and it gives them a purpose.
SPEAKER_11: Um that's really what we wanted for these girls.
SPEAKER_11: We wanted um to instill those values in them.
SPEAKER_11: And we centered our program around the Bible verse, Proverbs 31, 25, which is she's clothed in strength and dignity and laughs without fear of the future.
SPEAKER_10: So when Mick came to me and was like, hey, Brian's got this great idea.
SPEAKER_10: Do you want to be part of it?
SPEAKER_10: I was like, Yeah, let's make this happen.
SPEAKER_10: So two of the things that we really wanted to make sure we had in the program was we wanted this to be a platform where the mothers could come alongside their daughters because mothers are the best examples or our God-given example of what a godly woman is.
SPEAKER_10: So we really wanted to make sure that that was a part of our program.
SPEAKER_10: And then we also wanted this not just to be we want this to be a time not just where a bunch of friends got together, but where we were making allies, where the girls and us were building relationships that we're gonna value for the rest of our lives, and they know they can trust each other, they know each other's stories, they were really bonding over this and making those connections.
SPEAKER_10: So as we were walking through this program and kind of what do we want that to look like?
SPEAKER_10: We spent a lot of time praying about it, and as the program started to evolve, God kind of started taking it in different directions than we thought it would go.
SPEAKER_10: So we ended up adding a princess story, which we felt like was really important because it challenged all of us to look at ourselves through God's eyes.
SPEAKER_10: He looks at us as his daughters, as something cherished as a princess.
SPEAKER_10: And so we really wanted to make that a part of this program and challenge all of us to how does God see me as his daughter, as cherished, as a princess.
SPEAKER_10: We also did a prayer walk around Colorado Springs.
SPEAKER_10: We had eight points that we picked out from Manitou to Falcon, downtown Colorado Springs, um, to the Air Force Academy.
SPEAKER_10: We tried to pick really kind of spots that really hit each section of what Colorado Springs is.
SPEAKER_10: And we went around and we got to spend time praying at each of those spots, and we had a great day, and a lot of good stories came from that day.
SPEAKER_10: We had a wolfing out at my parents' house where they got to come out with their moms and kind of have just a fun night of laughter and playing and just kind of getting to relax and have fun together.
SPEAKER_10: And then the next day they got to see my mom kind of walk through taking care of animals because we have a ranch out there, so they gotta look, they gotta help take care of the animals.
SPEAKER_10: What does this look like?
SPEAKER_10: Um, they got to see my mom how she processes the wool.
SPEAKER_10: So from shearing to cleaning to spinning and knitting, they really got to walk through that and kind of see what it is to make a home, how you can use the resources around you to make your home something um beautiful and fun and creative.
SPEAKER_10: And then we did a dinner at my house.
SPEAKER_10: We took the lamb that the boys butchered, and the girls made and hosted this amazing meal for the Forge and for all the parents.
SPEAKER_10: And they they were in complete charge of it.
SPEAKER_10: They hosted it, they did an amazing job.
SPEAKER_10: It turned out so good.
SPEAKER_06: Um did amazing with that.
SPEAKER_10: It really did.
SPEAKER_10: Believe me, I had a few bowls of that stew, and and the bread was so good.
SPEAKER_10: Um and then we had Melody come out to um the Adam's house, and she showed us kind of um how to work with colors and all kinds of fun girl stuff, and how to care for your skin, and what just kind of how to take care of your stuff.
SPEAKER_10: Uh your stuff, your body, yourself.
SPEAKER_10: That was great.
SPEAKER_10: Um so that was a really fun night of laughter, kind of like that, and just a really crazy night of getting to just have fun and be girls.
SPEAKER_10: So we would like to thank um Melanie for coming out and doing that with us and sharing her wisdom and her knowledge with us.
SPEAKER_10: We'd also like to thank my mom, Shawnee Hasso, for letting us use her house, well, and my dad for letting us use the house for the dinner, and um for teaching us about the wool thing and the sheep and letting us be part of that.
SPEAKER_10: We'd also like to thank Ms.
SPEAKER_10: Danny for letting us use your house for all of our devo nights and really opening that up to us.
SPEAKER_10: And we'd like to thank me and Michaela would really like to thank Ms.
SPEAKER_10: Phyllis, um, Miss Tiffin, and Amanda for coming alongside of us and whenever we had questions or weren't quite sure how to teach something, like how do we teach this in a way that's understandable in the best way, and for um helping us walk through that so that we could grow as teachers and mentors as well.
SPEAKER_10: Thank you.
SPEAKER_11: All right, so I'm gonna give you a little bit about each of these girls.
SPEAKER_11: Um, you'll hear more from their parents, but I just want to give you a little bit.
SPEAKER_11: Um, each of them in their own right is a leader.
SPEAKER_11: Um I know Sydney and Sienna volunteer almost weekly downstairs in Next Gen.
SPEAKER_11: Um they also volunteer in their schools, leading kids there.
SPEAKER_11: Um and Amber, whenever we're not too sure about something, she's usually the first one to volunteer to say, yeah, I'll try that first.
SPEAKER_11: Um and she's also she coaches her own soccer team.
SPEAKER_11: So um each of these girls is a leader in their own right, but they are very unique.
SPEAKER_11: There's a video or there's a picture in the video that you're gonna see.
SPEAKER_11: They're all sitting on a half wall, like up at Fox Run.
SPEAKER_11: Um, and we really like that picture because their shoes just really go into who they are.
SPEAKER_11: Just it's that's their personality.
SPEAKER_11: One of them's got huge heels, one of them's barefoot, and one of them's got tennis shoes.
SPEAKER_11: It's just that that is so them.
SPEAKER_11: Um so Amber, everything she does is to the very best of her ability.
SPEAKER_11: And when she makes her mind up to do something that you can't, there's no stopping her.
SPEAKER_11: She's she's got it.
SPEAKER_11: So um, but she's also a truth seeker.
SPEAKER_11: She would come into Devo Nights and she would have a list of Leah and I we went over this, mom and I we went when we have a question about this.
SPEAKER_11: And some of these questions, Kayla and I would look at each other and be like, well, let's think about that for a minute.
SPEAKER_11: Like they weren't like simple questions.
SPEAKER_11: She was after the truth every every time she came in.
SPEAKER_11: Um Sydney is very spontaneous.
SPEAKER_11: She likes having fun and she's always going out on adventures.
SPEAKER_11: I see pictures on Facebook of we were here today and we were here today, and um, she really loves the world around her.
SPEAKER_11: Um, but she's also very caring about the people around her, and typically it's her heart goes out to anyone who's forgotten.
SPEAKER_11: Um the Christmas drive that we that you all saw this Christmas, um, that was Sydney.
SPEAKER_11: She texted me one night and she was like, I want to do this.
SPEAKER_11: And I said, Okay.
SPEAKER_11: And I took it to Ryan because I didn't have time to do it, and Ryan didn't have time to do it.
SPEAKER_11: So we said, Sydney, you've got to build your own team and you you've got to do it.
SPEAKER_11: Um I will copy and paste onto the website, but we we don't have time.
SPEAKER_11: And she organized everything.
SPEAKER_11: She called this shelter, she set up what can we bring, what needs to be wrapped, when can we drop it off, all of that.
SPEAKER_11: She built her team.
SPEAKER_11: Um, and that's just that's what Sydney is.
SPEAKER_11: She's very driven to help her community.
SPEAKER_11: Um and Sienna, like that, um, is very oriented towards people, but hers is very unique because she will do anything for your family and for her friends and for people in school, and she's very focused on how she can help people she loves.
SPEAKER_11: Um, she's very positive and joyful, but when Sydney asked her, um, and I can say this because I know her, but when Sydney asked her to do the Christmas story, uh, the Christmas drive for the kids, um, I know Sienna was very grateful to be able to help the kids and stuff, but she she said yes because she wanted to help Sydney do what she does.
SPEAKER_11: And that's very Sienna.
SPEAKER_11: Um so she's just very loyal and very joyful.
SPEAKER_11: Um so Kaylin, I know we threw a lot at you guys, and you guys handled it very well.
SPEAKER_11: And we're very proud of you guys.
SPEAKER_11: Um and when you guys sit down, we have stuff for you.
SPEAKER_11: And this is a little scrapbook thing we made, but it's got letters from your moms, it's got letters from us, it has your princess story, and it has that document you signed at the beginning because they also had to sign the document.
SPEAKER_11: So um we have we've got a video for you for the Lighthouse project.
SPEAKER_08: I thought it was a great way to get involved with the church, and I met new people, Cindy and Sienna.
SPEAKER_08: They're like my closest friends now, and I have two amazing leaders that aren't gonna be my leaders anymore, but I'm happy that I can go to them still.
SPEAKER_08: Together we did pretty great stuff like the prayer walk and our devo nights, it was really fun.
SPEAKER_08: Um my princess story, it was more off of society's view of a princess and what it's like to be a godly princess, if that makes sense.
SPEAKER_08: Umciety's view of a princess, she's pretty, she's pretty much perfect, and it's one person ruling over everybody else.
SPEAKER_08: And a godly princess, it's not one person ruling over everybody, it's anybody and she's not chosen, it's anybody who is gonna be the woman that God created us to be.
SPEAKER_08: Um, I want to finish off by thanking my stepmom Leah um for going through this with me, and I want to invite her up to say a few words.
SPEAKER_23: Um my name is Leah Bowens, and Amber, I was really blessed when you came into my life about six years ago when your dad and I first met.
SPEAKER_23: Um, from the day I met you as an eight-year-old girl, I was impressed by your strength, your physical strength, your emotional strength, and your incredible determination.
SPEAKER_23: When you're met with a challenge, you always go above and beyond, whether it be during a heated soccer game, a challenging assignment at school, or stepping up as a leader when it's needed.
SPEAKER_23: You are a hard worker and you persevere just like your dad.
SPEAKER_23: But your heart is what's behind all of this.
SPEAKER_23: I've seen your heart in action over the past several months that we've done this program together.
SPEAKER_23: You came to me a few months ago and asked what I thought of the idea of you getting a purity ring.
SPEAKER_23: You explained that you wanted to show your commitment to following God's plan for you, and in your own words, you wanted to try to cut down on sinning, which I thought was cute.
SPEAKER_23: I've watched you earn babysitting money, then immediately put a portion of it into the offering box.
SPEAKER_23: I've also seen you worshiping more passionately.
SPEAKER_23: Your heart has been growing, and I've seen a desire in you to become a godly woman, like we've studied in the aspects.
SPEAKER_23: Ezekiel describes the glory of God's presence in a vision he had as being the color of amber or glowing metal.
SPEAKER_23: My vision for you would be that you would be a strong and glowing godly woman for Jesus that would reflect his glory and his presence.
SPEAKER_23: And your dad and I made a gift for you, and it is a lantern that he actually wired.
SPEAKER_23: And turned into a lamp that you can plug in and made the base of it.
SPEAKER_23: And I inscribed I inscribed the bottom of it with some verses.
SPEAKER_23: And one of the verses is John 1.5, which says, The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.
SPEAKER_23: I just wanted to recognize her mom, Jeanette, who is here tonight too, and just thank you because she's been there for all the 14 years that Amber has been alive.
SPEAKER_23: So love you.
SPEAKER_07: Hello, my name is Sydney Heffernan, and this last year I have had the privilege of participating in the eighth-grade Lighthouse program.
SPEAKER_07: Now I'm not going to lie, this program was not a walk in the park.
SPEAKER_07: I faced many challenges, but overall I am glad I had the opportunity to be in this program.
SPEAKER_07: I made new friends, stepped out of my comfort zone, and overall grew as a daughter of God.
SPEAKER_07: When I first started the program, I did not really know what to expect.
SPEAKER_07: Michaela had been my small group leader for the past four years, but I felt that this year was going to be a different year from the rest.
SPEAKER_07: I turned out to be right.
SPEAKER_07: The Lighthouse program was something I really needed to be engaged in.
SPEAKER_07: For the first time, I could not just sit back and listen.
SPEAKER_07: One of the things we were asked to do was write a story about how we became daughters of the king, and these were called our princess stories.
SPEAKER_07: When Michaela and Kaelin told us about this project, I realized that I had never thought of my life in this way, as a princess who was adopted by the king.
SPEAKER_07: Over the next few months, I thought about my childhood as a fairy tale, and the story slowly started coming together.
SPEAKER_07: I realized that my short life of 15 years had more action and plot twists than I had known.
SPEAKER_07: For me, it was difficult to turn my life into a princess story, but I worked through it and I saw a unique tale emerging.
SPEAKER_07: Eventually, I summed up all 15 years into a love story about a girl who was adopted by the one true king.
SPEAKER_07: The Lighthouse program also included going over the five aspects of femininity with our moms.
SPEAKER_07: Before this program, my mom and I already had a close relationship, but going over this book definitely gave us more to talk about.
SPEAKER_07: We both really enjoyed reading the book together, and I learned so much from it.
SPEAKER_07: Many times after going over an aspect, I would go to school and notice how different most girls my age are raised.
SPEAKER_07: I realized that I wanted my life to point directly to God.
SPEAKER_07: I wanted him to talk to me and to use my life for his purposes.
SPEAKER_07: One of my favorite memories from the program was our prayer walk around Colorado Springs.
SPEAKER_07: Besides the fun of driving around the city with my friends all day while we obnoxiously sing, I loved praying for each individual spot.
SPEAKER_07: My favorite location was the bridge over I-25 going out of Monument Valley Park.
SPEAKER_07: At this location, something really amazing happened.
SPEAKER_07: As we walked out onto the bridge, we all noticed a teenage girl sitting on the side with headphones in her ears, but none of us mentioned her.
SPEAKER_07: We walked out onto the middle of the bridge and left her alone.
SPEAKER_07: As we were praying for drug abuse and homelessness in the area, I was thinking about what else to pray for.
SPEAKER_07: When all of a sudden, my thoughts were interrupted by a voice that was not my own.
SPEAKER_07: The voice said to pray for the girl.
SPEAKER_07: So instantly, without even thinking, I opened my mouth to pray.
SPEAKER_07: At the exact same moment, Sienna also began to pray, so we both stopped and she let me continue with what I was going to say.
SPEAKER_07: I prayed for that girl, and whatever she was going through, God would be with her.
SPEAKER_07: When I finished and told everyone what just happened, Sienna told me that the exact same thing just happened to her as well.
SPEAKER_07: As we left, we saw the girl get up and leave the park.
SPEAKER_07: Even though I do not know her story, I do know that that was God speaking directly to me.
SPEAKER_07: The Lighthouse program certainly opened my eyes to a whole different world.
SPEAKER_07: I grew in many ways and realized that I am the daughter of the star breather and what exactly that meant.
SPEAKER_07: I am so glad that I joined the program, and I know that this is the final page in a special chapter in my life.
SPEAKER_07: I am excited to move on to new things, but I am truly going to miss flagship.
SPEAKER_07: I have made many memories that here that I will never forget, but now it is time for me to continue my journey.
SPEAKER_07: Thank you.
SPEAKER_07: Now I would like to invite my mom, Jennifer Heffernan.
SPEAKER_02: Sydney, you delight me.
SPEAKER_02: You have brought so much joy into my life by simply being you.
SPEAKER_02: Watching you turn into a young lady has been one of my greatest pleasures.
SPEAKER_02: From the moment I first held you, I was enraptured.
SPEAKER_02: I was in love.
SPEAKER_02: I never wanted to put you down, and really I never did.
SPEAKER_02: From that moment on, you were almost always in my arms.
SPEAKER_02: When you were a little girl, I'd watch you dance in your princess dress.
SPEAKER_02: And then I'd ponder your beauty, your purity, and your sweet spirit.
SPEAKER_02: Before I knew it, it was time for kindergarten.
SPEAKER_02: Oh, how I cried letting you go.
SPEAKER_02: I wept for the better part of a week.
SPEAKER_02: It's famous among the moms at school to this day.
SPEAKER_02: Oh well.
SPEAKER_02: I loved you and I wanted to be there to help you and protect you.
SPEAKER_02: But we got through it.
SPEAKER_02: That, and I was honestly stunned by the reports I got from your teachers.
SPEAKER_02: You excelled at everything you did.
SPEAKER_02: And you still do.
SPEAKER_02: I've been right there beside you as you've had your heart broken by people you've trusted.
SPEAKER_02: I watched as those experiences gave you discernment, strength, and wisdom.
SPEAKER_02: I've been so proud by the grace in which you carry yourself despite the enemy's attempts to put you down.
SPEAKER_02: I'm so proud that you know who you are and your unwillingness to compromise.
SPEAKER_02: Sydney, you are amazing.
SPEAKER_02: Your beautiful heart is kind and gentle, and God has blessed you with such wisdom, and as your mom, as we enter a new chapter, one in which I'm ready for, but yet I'm not.
SPEAKER_02: I know you are holding on to Jesus through all this world brings, and that brings me a certain peace.
SPEAKER_02: I know God has a future planned for you that is even greater than you can imagine.
SPEAKER_02: Sydney, I can't tell you how blessed I feel.
SPEAKER_02: I treasure the relationship that you and I have, the conversations we have, and the bond we share.
SPEAKER_02: I love you so much.
SPEAKER_02: So as I was trying to decide what uh to get for you, I chose a necklace specially made for you.
SPEAKER_02: And it's funny that one of the verses you picked in your speech was um Psalm 33.6 because this necklace has a verse tone on it.
SPEAKER_02: It's got uh Psalm 33.6, and it says daughter of the star breather.
SPEAKER_02: So I want you to wear that and remember who you are and who your father is.
SPEAKER_02: And I love you so much.
SPEAKER_13: Hi, I'm Sienna Adams.
SPEAKER_13: Um over this past year in my program, a lot has happened.
SPEAKER_13: I got really close with these girls.
SPEAKER_13: Michaela included.
SPEAKER_13: If you guys don't know, she is my sister.
SPEAKER_13: Um I watched Mick turn into an adult and grow.
SPEAKER_13: Um Michaela's my sister, but also has been my leader for the past four years.
SPEAKER_13: I barely knew Amber, and now we are best friends.
SPEAKER_13: I started my middle school journey with Sydney, and now I now I've ended it.
SPEAKER_13: Now we're going into high school and it's insane.
SPEAKER_13: We also got really close with the guys.
SPEAKER_13: Without them, we wouldn't have had this counterpart.
SPEAKER_13: I liked getting here early and talking about ideas and things with them.
SPEAKER_13: We all finished middle school together, and it's we're closer than ever.
SPEAKER_13: I have a lot of memories for my year, like us three girls getting way too excited about being able to put a tent up by ourselves.
SPEAKER_13: Um also when we had the dinner together, we got to watch each other fall off the zipline.
SPEAKER_13: That was fun.
SPEAKER_13: I saw different sides of these guys I didn't know existed.
SPEAKER_13: Um I realized we're all so special.
SPEAKER_13: I also made inside jokes with Ms.
SPEAKER_13: Hassel and Mick trying to breathe fire, or midnight landon feeding his food.
SPEAKER_13: Um, and even saying we all all we need to survive in the wild was a couple of hassles.
SPEAKER_13: Um Mr.
SPEAKER_13: and Mrs.
SPEAKER_13: Hassel are the best for letting us come over so many times and just invade their household like they have enough kids to deal with.
SPEAKER_13: Um we had the dinner there, and the guys killed the lamb, and we made the dinner with it, and the dinner was incredibly fun.
SPEAKER_13: I learned how to use a spinning wheel, and that's a lot harder than Ms.
SPEAKER_13: Hasselt makes it look.
SPEAKER_13: Um we traveled all over the city and prayed together.
SPEAKER_13: We had the springs initiative and our lock-in, where our leader broke his foot by jumping down the staircase.
SPEAKER_13: Thank you, Nathan, for teaching us it's just a game.
SPEAKER_13: Seriously, don't do that.
SPEAKER_13: Um, some incredible things happened.
SPEAKER_13: I heard God's voice on our prayer walk, and that was just a really big eye-opener.
SPEAKER_13: He told me to pray for the girl we saw on the bridge, and that was incredible.
SPEAKER_13: It was just uh we spent a lot of our time writing the princess stories.
SPEAKER_13: It was a challenge to write this because I don't really like talking about me.
SPEAKER_13: I like listening and trying to fix people's problems.
SPEAKER_13: I'm not yeah, that's just not me.
SPEAKER_13: Um so this project really stressed me out, but it paid off.
SPEAKER_13: I made a really good story and I fell in love with it.
SPEAKER_13: This group also gave me the confidence to try it for my school cheerleading team, and that paid off.
SPEAKER_13: I am on the cheer team.
SPEAKER_13: This past year I learned a lot on modesty in my own domain.
SPEAKER_13: I have seen that we are a lot stronger than most people think.
SPEAKER_13: Like the verse for flagship, 1 Timothy 4.12.
SPEAKER_13: We didn't let our age prove how strong we were.
SPEAKER_13: Um I have also learned that as girls wouldn't be friends without Christ.
SPEAKER_13: If we had just met in a school, we wouldn't be in the same stereotypical group.
SPEAKER_13: Sydney would be in the drama club.
SPEAKER_13: She's an amazing actor.
SPEAKER_13: And I don't know if you guys have seen Amber play soccer, but it's incredible.
SPEAKER_13: Um I'm a cheerleader.
SPEAKER_13: By stereotypes, we wouldn't have been friends, but Christ brought us together and we are sisters.
SPEAKER_13: I learned a lot this past year, and I hope the next year's students have as much fun and learn as much as we did.
SPEAKER_13: I don't think I could ever forget this journey with my sisters, brothers, and especially my father, Christ.
SPEAKER_13: So now I'm gonna welcome my mom, Dan.
SPEAKER_09: I have the unique privilege of having my daughter and my daughter in this as the teacher.
SPEAKER_09: So I got to sit back and go, wow, okay, we can do this.
SPEAKER_09: If she could pull this off, surely we can pull this off, right?
SPEAKER_09: So then they came up with this idea, and I told her, I said, I'm not a speaker.
SPEAKER_09: I can sing and whatever, but I don't do this.
SPEAKER_09: So I said, I'll write it out and I'll try to stick to the script.
SPEAKER_09: And Sienna said, please don't dance.
SPEAKER_09: So I said, okay.
SPEAKER_09: So I wrote it out, and there's no dancing, just so you know.
SPEAKER_09: Sienna Star.
SPEAKER_09: What a joy you are to everyone around you.
SPEAKER_09: God blessed this internal introverted family with our social butterfly.
SPEAKER_09: Your love for Jesus shines through you just like your name.
SPEAKER_09: Watching a room light up in the next gen just because she walks into the room warms my heart.
SPEAKER_09: Your gift of seeing others who may be hurting no matter how young or old, and just being there for them is truly amazing.
SPEAKER_09: You are a cheerleader, and not just at school.
SPEAKER_09: I love watching you cheer others on and cur and encouraging them to do the right thing so they can be the best them they can be.
SPEAKER_09: You are so confident and caring.
SPEAKER_09: You are bold, but very tenderhearted.
SPEAKER_09: Your joy is my joy because I know that your joy comes from the Lord.
SPEAKER_09: Your energy is contagious, and I'm so excited to see all that God has for you.
SPEAKER_09: Thank you for letting me dig deeper with you along this journey.
SPEAKER_09: And you know, I especially love that part about the Spike nerd oil.
SPEAKER_09: I had so much fun taking pictures with you and all the girls.
SPEAKER_09: The dinner you and your friends prepared and shared with the young man and all of his parents was a very time, a time to cherish.
SPEAKER_09: And thank you for always being you, no matter what.
SPEAKER_09: I chose this gift because I just don't know what to give this girl.
SPEAKER_09: She's just so happy and go lucky, and we wanted to make it special.
SPEAKER_09: But as we were walking around the store, Randy says, uh, look at this box.
SPEAKER_09: It looks like lighthouse material.
SPEAKER_09: I'm like, you're right, it does.
SPEAKER_09: So Daddy picked the box.
SPEAKER_09: But I wanted the box to remind you of all that you have learned through this lighthouse project, through your leaders, including your sister, and your new friends who will be your sisters forever.
SPEAKER_09: And your sister helped me pick the necklace, that's a star, like your name, to remind you to always be his light shining.
SPEAKER_09: I love you.
SPEAKER_20: I think that Michaela and Kalen gave these ladies uh public speaking lessons, but that was fantastic.
SPEAKER_20: Good job, gentlemen.
SPEAKER_20: You guys did well.
SPEAKER_20: They did a little better.
SPEAKER_20: But it's good.
SPEAKER_20: And I failed you in that, I'm sorry.
SPEAKER_20: But um so thank you.
SPEAKER_20: I want to just real quickly just say thank you, everybody.
SPEAKER_20: I know this is a little bit longer than a normal service, but we thought it was important, and we thank you for your participation and being a part of this and witnessing and just celebrating with these young folks.
SPEAKER_20: The next part of our um ceremony is really the capstone of the Forge and the Lighthouse Project.
SPEAKER_20: It's where they're gonna receive their father's and their mother's blessings.
SPEAKER_20: And I'll go in a little bit about what that looks like.
SPEAKER_20: Um it's a special blessing these students are gonna get, and they're gonna hear it from their parents, and it's gonna speak a native language to their hearts, words that they've never heard before in some cases, and it will speak deeply into them and give them a strong foundation and just kind of cement everything that they've done here.
SPEAKER_20: They're gonna receive verbal affirmation of their core identity, they're gonna have affirmation of their unique talents, and that you are and will forever be loved by God.
SPEAKER_20: You're his beloved.
SPEAKER_20: Gentlemen, you guys have formed allies for this.
SPEAKER_20: You're not walking alone.
SPEAKER_20: It's been our pleasure to be with you.
SPEAKER_20: We will miss you as you transfer to the next season with Telios.
SPEAKER_20: Ladies, you did bring up uh joy and light up the room when you were with us, and so we will miss you and thank you for bringing your special pizzazz to the flagship.
SPEAKER_20: I'd like to thank Greg and the sound team tonight and Greg for coming yesterday.
SPEAKER_20: Thank you guys.
SPEAKER_20: Uh Ben on projection.
SPEAKER_20: If it wasn't for you, brother, this would have been a little dry.
SPEAKER_20: So thanks for the videos and cueing us up.
SPEAKER_20: So it's good.
SPEAKER_20: Um, at this point, if the families would like to make their ways uh make their way down to uh the front here, and then at this point too, um family members that are here that want to be a part of that, I encourage you to join your families down here.
SPEAKER_20: I'm gonna invite the worship team up, and we're gonna have uh some music playing.
SPEAKER_20: At this point, this will be kind of the intimate session where the family is gonna do their prayers uh with their young men and their young daughters.
SPEAKER_20: So, gentlemen, if you'd like to make your way down, ladies, please.
SPEAKER_20: And while they're doing that, um I'm gonna share with you an example of something that they're gonna hear tonight, and this is just kind of a go-by, but it might not be too far off.
SPEAKER_20: May you love God and others well.
SPEAKER_20: May you trust, obey Christ our King by absolute surrender to Him, and may you live in purity and holiness, yet cling to and receive the grace of the cross when you fail.
SPEAKER_20: May you one day understand the suffering and true costs of being a disciple of Christ, yet choose to follow him anyways.
SPEAKER_20: May you find other brothers and sisters in Christ for whom you will stand by and fight for their true identities.
SPEAKER_20: And may you believe in and embrace God's good plan for your life and live out the noble and glorious purpose for which you were created.
SPEAKER_20: I bless your years.
SPEAKER_20: You have what it takes to fulfill everything God called you to do.
SPEAKER_20: I bless your health and physical strength, that you are prosperous and that you be in health even as you even as your soul prospers.
SPEAKER_20: I bless your mental strength.
SPEAKER_20: May God bless you, your appreciation for the process of seeking revelation and keep your mind sharp all the days of your life.
SPEAKER_20: I bless your spiritual maturity, that you may have many personal encounters with our living God.
SPEAKER_20: I bless you socially, that you experience and build true friendship and a good name, which is more valuable than great riches.
SPEAKER_20: I bless your life's work and the work of your hands.
SPEAKER_20: May these years truly serve you as a holy preparation for heaven.
SPEAKER_20: I bless your courage.
SPEAKER_20: May you never fear to accept new challenges and the test limits and test the limits of your God-given gifts and talents.
SPEAKER_20: My son or daughter, there are only one perfect father.
SPEAKER_20: And he will never leave you or forsake you.
SPEAKER_20: No matter the choices you make, no matter the life you live, and no matter the successes, no matter the failures, and no matter the legacy you leave, I will never leave you or forsake you, my son or daughter, in whom I am well pleased.
SPEAKER_20: My son and daughter, I hope you will hear these words from the deepest place in your heart and soul, because these words will forever be true.
SPEAKER_20: I am proud of you.
SPEAKER_20: I believe in you and I love you.
SPEAKER_03: You've been listening to The Road.
SPEAKER_03: We hope you have been blessed by today's message.
SPEAKER_03: To connect with us further, visit theroad.org.
SPEAKER_03: If you are walking through a difficult time, we want to pray for you.
SPEAKER_03: Go to theroad.org, click on the ministries tab, and go to our prayer page to send us your prayer request.
SPEAKER_03: Thank you for tuning in today.
SPEAKER_03: Be sure to listen to the next edition of The Road.