Iowa and the Celtics

This past weekend, I was hosted by the Quad City Creation Science Association (QCCSA) in Davenport, Iowa. I gave two presentations on Saturday at a hospital and then spoke during the Sunday school hour at a local church. Helmut and Thea Welke head up the QCCSA and also work as Video Conference Coordinators (VCC) for Answers in Genesis. They said there were many new faces at the event on Saturday. Several people thanked me for sharing my personal experiences of dealing with my mother’s death and infertility in my presentation, “Why? Answering Life’s Toughest Questions about God and Suffering.” While it isn’t easy to talk about such personal issues, it is important to be equipped with biblical answers for why there is death and suffering in the world (the problem is sin) and how God can use these situations in our lives.

Bagpipe and drum corps

Both the pastor of the church and I used Romans 8:28 (we had not planned this ahead of time) to speak to the issue of how God worked in our lives concerning infertility. After five years God allowed him and his wife to have a baby. God gave my husband and me a child through adoption. God answered both prayers in different ways. Infertility is a result of the curse, and thus, a bad thing—but God was able to work it out for good. The pastor said (and I agree) that even if God had chosen not to give them a child, he was assured in God’s promise that His plan and purposes were best.

I had a great time staying in Welke’s home, sampling some Iowa beef and pickled herring (a German favorite), and attending a local Celtic festival with them. We got to hear several bagpipe and drum corps, watch a sheepdog herd sheep, and view a pole-tossing contest. The poles are 19 feet long and weigh 120 pounds, and a few guys did manage to get the pole over. It is definitely a contest of strength and agility.

Pole-tossing contest

I’ve included a few pictures (please excuse the quality, as these were taken with a cell phone). It was a nice change of pace to sample some of the local life at an event.

This will be a busy week as we host the Answers for Pastors conference in Kentucky beginning tomorrow. I will be speaking four times to the pastor’s wives. Then it is off to Indianapolis for the True Woman Conference where almost 6,000 women are expected to attend. Look for the AiG booth if you are coming. We have lots of material to hand out and some amazing prizes to give away.