The moment I heard her voice on the phone today I was immediately grateful. It was Caroline.
I’ll take you back to April 8th, 2010. Elton Jr. Pete and Linda and I had just finished setting up our booth at We Choose Virtues’ first-ever trade show! If you know Pete’s work then you know it was the most amazing booth there! We had worked on it for weeks, crammed it carefully into our SUV and drove it 1400 miles to Southern California. I was so nervous and excited!
Across the aisle from our booth us was an executive marketing firm. They did web design and every possible form of advertising for large corporations and had many education accounts. The lady in the red pants-suit was Caroline. She was professional, critical, focused and amazing.
“What are you doing?” she asked bluntly. I started to explain We Choose Virtues. She nodded her head and went back to setting up her booth. She had a front-row seat to hear us preach about the Value of Virtue to the early-childhood educators that flocked passed our booth. Some were thrilled to see the idea of character back in schools; others were appalled that anyone should have the right to tell another human being how to behave at that level. One lady scowled at me and asked gruffly “Does it work?” and left before I could answer!
As the hours wore on and we hadn’t made a single sale, my head was spinning with disappointment. Was there NO market for our products in the secular education world?
Caroline chose this moment to casually cross the aisle and stand in our booth, at first saying nothing. Then “This message of choosing virtues”, she said, “It is needed desperately in America! Do you realize that?” Then she started to cry. She talked about her concerns for our country. She told us that she had chosen not have children of her own because she has seen how violent and vile this world is. She said that she had listened to us for two days and couldn’t contain her excitement over our vision. “I know what I’m talking about!” she said, “This is a message whose time has come! Don’t change a thing!”
Mostly because of Caroline, we left California very encouraged.
So, here we are three years later. It has been an amazing journey and hearing from Caroline flooded my heart with gratitude for what God has done! On the phone today she expressed her joy that the message of choosing virtue is going strong in a world that is in so much need. She said “My generation did absolutely nothing. I hope yours will, and I hope its in time.”
Godly character really is a message that our world needs NOW. Everyone who teaches it, preaches it and passes it along is part of the healing the Caroline is longing to see.
Will you take the challenge?