As a grade school and junior high student, I looked forward to getting report cards. My personality and learning style worked well in the classroom, and the grades almost always looked pretty good.

My grades in high school and the first year of college didn’t hold up so well. General studies classes, like math and economics, didn’t play to my strengths. Even in those downyears, I liked the feedback. Knowing where I stood compared to a set standard and knowing what I might do to bring those grades back up was comforting.

When my student days ended, I learned that getting such feedback in “real life” wasn’t as common or as clear. But in our work on Worldwide Challenge, we get specific feedback twice a year through two contests we enter.

This month, the Evangelical Press Association awards were announced at the association’s convention. We won three photo awards and we earned an Award of Merit for the magazine as a whole. The judge’s summary said, “This magazine’s strengths are its strong writing, editorial mix and pacing, and the crisp, contemporary feel of its inside pages.”

Anne Marie and I also got great feedback from our 14 students on the Writing for Life training we did during the convention (shown in this photo). We even led two additional sessions that we hadn’t planned when time slots opened for them. And as the association’s new president I led the annual business meeting and a board meeting.

Thanks for your prayers for those two parts of the EPA convention. And thanks for your prayers for Bethany. She is still looking for answers regarding her mix of health concerns.

Over the next few weeks would you pray for Anne Marie and in our communication roles at Cru? We’re finishing writing and editing an upcoming issue of the magazine that includes two of Anne Marie’s articles. And we’ve started planning our first few 2016 issues. International travel requires long lead times so our writers and photographers can arrive at the right time of year. Please pray, too, for Michael and Bethany as they finish their semesters, with finals April 29-May 5.

As always, we’re grateful for your role in our lives and ministry.