CMYK, illustrations, and decisions

So once again, time has completely gotten away from me- how DOES that happen?! The last few weeks of madness trying to tie up loose ends with Iris (the Spanish proofer) has come to a close, she left to visit friends for a week before returning to Mexico. She's a bit unsure if she wants to do that since there will be few Christians in her area for support and encouragement if she stays there. That said, I'm a mere 3 courses away from finishing the Spanish CtP work! However, the Basic Bible Truths in English has been *something of a mess for a while and I've been pulled off of the Spanish for a while to work on English. Actually, I even got to work in 4 COLORS for a few days! This is a big deal- don't get me wrong, I've become quite fond of my 2 color work these 4 months (yes, 4 months, 4 1/2 now actually) and I've even developed an intimate understanding of just how much cool stuff can be done with a mere black and process cyan . . . BUT to be able to choose which ever color my little heart desires has been quite enjoyable :) Marianne is working on the new catalog of all the SLM materials, and it's in the works for many of them to get a cover make-over, so time was of the essence for the new cover to show up in the catalog even if it isn't on the books yet.

*something of a mess- Evidently about 2 years ago a designer was contracted to give the BBT series an overhaul, but from what I've read about his experience working on the lessons, he didn't quite understand that SLM is a missions organization and NOT a Christian publishing company- there is a big difference. And so unfortunately most of the work, while very modern, would never look nice coming off of our 2 color web press. That's where the fun and challenge in design here come in for me: to design something that has a fresh, more modern feel, while recognizing the capabilities of our less-than-modern press and tailoring the design accordingly. Additionally, while we have the covers for each of the 8 lessons in the series, we only have the finished body for 2 of them. So this is the new adventure I have embarked on . . . to honor the design decisions that WILL look good on our press and to fix the stuff that won't- and to have it all still look like it was done at the same time. The REALLY exciting part will come when I get to lessons 3-8: because we don't have his interior work for those, I get to re-draw ALL of the illustrations for them! The illustrator in me can scarcely contain herself!

In other news, I'm slated to speak to the middle school and high school students in Sunday School at a church in Eatonton on Sunday. Their entire missions conference this year is centered around SLM and Judy Strausbaugh, our human resources director, wants me to show some of my work from college and here at SLM and explain how I got my degree at a secular school, but with a heart to use it for Christ somehow and how God brought me here. I'm excited, hopefully I won't wander down any rabbit trails in the process and I'll speak slowly enough for them to understand. I think it's important for people everywhere, but especially kids getting ready to figure out what God wants them to do with their lives, to realize that missions work is not just going to Africa, it's also designers that work on the materials they teach with and builders who help out missions organizations with offices and headquarters and orphanages around the world. It's the IT guys that make sure our computers keep functioning so the women in the order room can send courses to the right people. It's also our pressmen, who do the actual work of getting God's Word down on paper where more people will get to read it than they could ever verbally tell in a lifetime. Those kind of missionaries aren't talked about much, but we network with our brothers and sisters in Christ around the world who ARE traditional missionaries and we try to provide them with tools that will make their difficult task easier.

Well, that's about it from the deep south ;) I hope you are all doing well and I am excited to hear about the revival services!

Busy times= so much to update on!

Hey there everyone! So as the title implies, I've been BUSY!! But it's been a good thing. The weekend following my last update, I rather reluctantly agreed to babysit for a marriage conference one of the larger churches down here was holding. You know how I am- Susan at the mission came up to me and asked for help and I couldn't say no :) I ended up with two young helpers and sixteen 3-6 year-olds on Friday evening. However it was amazing to see how God enabled me to take charge of all the interesting situations that came up as I ran into them. (Like the the 3-year old girl that kept taking off her pants and pull-up) So what I was originally dreading, for lack of feeling entirely competent, God used to show me it was His strength and abilities, not my own. All He really wanted from me was my willing obedience and diligence.

After busy evening, I'm back to continue my update during Friday lunch! I just received a card from my WONDERFUL small group at Mount Calvary- thanks again guys, I feel so loved! And FYI I'm really glad to hear everything worked out with the banners- yikes! The computer worked really hard, but sometimes it gave up and required a bit of prodding from yours truly, so I consider it something of a miracle that they went off without a hitch. I finally got the chance to start re-drawing some illustrations! Most of the previous old bitmaps I've dredged up from the depths could be spruced up with a bit of color and an altered line or tweaked anatomy here and there, but I finally ran into a few that just needed a fresh approach- and it was fun to draw people again! We're moving as fast as possible right now because today was technically supposed to be Iris' last day here, however she thinks she'll be staying next week too. She's still praying about the possibility of God keeping her here, but being Mexican, this would require a working visa rather than a tourism visa, and after looking into a religious work visa, she discovered she would need to be a member of SOL for 2 years for one to be valid for her. She is looking into working as an interpreter for a local hospital so she could at least stay in the area. God can do all things, so I am confident that if He wants her here, a visa could be produced quickly, however, if she cannot obtain an extension on her visitors visa long enough to get the working one, she will have to return home.

They finally started the addition to the print shop! There are trucks rumbling around just beyond my office wall as I type, I believe the footers are down and they are packing dirt around them now. Yesterday morning Michael and I also worked out the PDF settings necessary for me to save my InDesign files so they can be put into his impositions software to be ready for the rip- time consuming, but a big step and we discovered some great software shortcuts that look promising in the time-saving department for the future. Good news considering by early next week I hope to have 3 series imposition-ready- YAY!! Which is the other reason the print shop addition is so exciting at the moment: as soon as it is finished, we can set up the CTP and actually start printing plates so all the courses I've been re-designing for the last 3 1/2 months can actually be printed!

Sunday school was just amazing on Sunday. I'm not sure quite why I'm so amazed, because I've always believed children who have the Holy Spirit residing within them are far more capable of digesting spiritual truths and asking difficult, thoughtful questions than adults usually give them credit for. We're using the Scripture Press materials and the 9 and 10 year old class is learning about Saul and David and the application has a lot to do with interpersonal relationships- a pretty important topic at their age- I forgot how brutal they can be verbally with one another! The other teacher, Susan, allowed me to teach the lesson, and basically I got up and told them the story of David giving the men an equal share of the spoils after they avenged the burning of Ziklag. And an amazing thing happened: they sat quietly and listened! Then one of the girls, Charity, asked, " What happens if two armies trusting the Lord fight each other?" I think David Ober has made comments before on the profound nature of a child's questions, and this was a prime example- I told her that it will be God's will for one to win and one to loose, like trying out for the lead in the musical, only one can get it, but it's still God's will either way. Then she asked about her dad. Chris Williams teaches the college/career Sunday school class and just seems to have a real heart for God, his wife is just a wonderful lady, and here is their daughter asking why, for the last 2 weeks God had allowed her father's heart to beat at a dangerously fast pace, which the doctors seem to be at a loss to completely control. She wanted to know why, when her family was seeking Christ and her friend's family was seeking Christ, He would allow this to happen to her family, her daddy, and not to her friend's. wow . I looked at the other teacher and I was speechless for a few moments. I was overjoyed that she should be asking such deep questions, and at the same time at a loss, because WE ask those same tough questions as adults. The only thing I could tell her was that God wanted to teach them something through this that He can't teach them any other way, but it was REALLY hard to look into that sweet innocent face and say that to her, just one more reason heaven will be so great someday! I'm so excited to go teach Sunday school again this next week, I really want to see God move in their hearts and lives, it is such a blessing if they can learn how to seek answers to real questions in God's Word at a young age, and that is one thing I hope to instill in them- so I covet your prayers- I think that prayer above all else, is what accomplishes these things.

Well, I've written you all a small novel, so I'd better sign off for now- I hope all is well with you, have a GREAT mission's conference! And do greet Cristudas and minister to him when he comes with Bill Shade- he's from India and lives very close to the daily violence the whole nation faces, both amongst the Buddhists and between the Buddhists and the Christians, his wife and children are back in India alone while he's here seeking help from our churches.