Dear Diary,

    Hi. Today I decided to write down some thoughts about our first year here at Heartlight. I don't have that much experience with diaries…Flowers for Algernon and The Diary of Anne Frank are about as far as I've gone. But it has become important to me to chart out where we were, where we are, and maybe a little of where we're going. Important because it reminds me who's in charge…

November, 1995
    I got a crazy idea. I had been on the net for a few months, and I was growing increasingly dissatisfied. Bad design and a famine of meaningful content were dragging me down. I started thinking of putting this HTML stuff I was learning to better use. Then one night the idea came. It took awhile to work it out, but for the first time in my life I felt clearly called to do something.

    The idea? Create a ministry of information (and that's what I would later name it, The Ministry of Information) that put people in touch with resouces they needed. Spiritual resources to strengthen them, encourage them and empower them. Take hold of the fundamental interconnectedness of the Web and wire Christians from all over the globe into a support network. Publish in ways no traditional magazine could.

    And so I started. But it didn't take long to realize I had no content. Design? Sure, I could work that out, but truly Christ-centered content in the quantities I needed was beyond my ability. My fledgling ministry sputtered.

    Simultaneously, across town, Phil Ware felt called to minister on the Net as well. He had been publishing a weekly newspaper column and radio spot called "Heartlight" for several years, but had been forced to discontinue the radio side because of the growing costs of using that medium. Looking around, he saw great opportunities were opening up on the Internet, and he started to code some early pages. Quickly, he realized that he needed help. Content? He had plenty, but he also wanted design, layout and HTML that worked well. His fledgling ministry sputtered.

January, 1996     I forget just how it happened, but one day I was on the phone with Phil Ware. I had visited Westover Hills and had heard Phil preach, but this was my first chance to really talk to him. Phil talked to me about creating a web site for Westover Hills, and mentioned a bunch of articles called "Heartlight" that he wanted to put up as well. He mentioned that he had recordings of himself reading them and I told him about a new technology I was looking at right then called "ToolVox" that would let him put them on the Web. It seemed a good fit and we talked about implementing it for his site. He asked a lot of questions, most of which I responded to by saying, “I don't know…but I bet I can figure it out!” It was a phrase I would find myself repeating many times in the coming year.

April, 1996
    Phil is a very talented guy, and one of his talents is setting ludicrous deadlines. April 3rd?! The design wasn't polished, the supply of articles wasn't locked down, but somehow we managed to publish our first issue April 3, 1996. And we made the next deadline as well. And the next. I'm not normally the most punctual of people, but every Tuesday night (and frequently Wednesday morning) there I was making the next issue ready. God simply wouldn't allow us to fail.

    40 visitors in the first week was a little discouraging. But we kept at it, and by the end of April we had around 100 people visiting us every week.

    I'm convinced Phil doesn't sleep. There's no way any human could do what he does—minister to so many, teach classes, prepare sermons, dream up ways to keep me busy—and still get a healthy 8 hours. Nevertheless, by this time I am more and more sure that God is fully responsible for our meeting and collaboration. In a normal situation, if you put two highly motivated, highly opinionated, somewhat wacko people on the same project, they will filet each other. Throw in a little exhaustion and stress and it gets really interesting! But somehow, Phil and I never argue, never insist on our own way. Maybe it's because we both have a strong sense that we're not doing this for ourselves. Phil once said, "We don't minister, we allow God to minister through us."

May, 1996
    In a tired moment I coin the term "webminister." Infinitely pleased with myself, I immediately make it my email address. Phil gripes because he wishes he thought of it first. :-)

June, 1996     We complete a redesign of the site. The new format includes a Special Feature, a reorganized file structure and a radically different interface. I need to do this again in April of 1997, but look at the picture and you'll see why I may put it off another month!

July, 1996 through March, 1997
    Smooth sailing, comparitively. All we did was add RealAudio, concentrate on promoting ourselves, churn out the weekly editions, and secure some funding. Oh, and I switched jobs, got absolutely no sleep, and had my in-laws come to live with me. Phil dealt with deaths, counseled couples, ministered through illness and more. The thorns in our flesh reminded us that we shouldn't be putting our ministry on cruise-control quite yet.

    Increasingly dissatisfied with the service from our Internet service provider, we began to investigate purchasing our own server. In late December, we started putting together the computers which (any day now) will be serving Heartlight and our other projects.

    Currently we're working on electronic greeting cards with Heart Gallery images, a new discussion board system, greatly improved chat capabilities, more mailing lists, RealVideo, and expanding our RealAudio music selections. And of course, we won't forget the core of Heartlight: encouraging, uplifting content that focuses on our King.

From now on…
    Heartlight is a comparatively small operation, but we have big dreams. I firmly believe God put those dreams there and put in place the elements necessary to make them a reality. Without the support of our families, our employers, our readers, and the almighty God, none of this would be here.

    Heartlight's first year has flown past in a blur of stress, exhaustion, confusion and hard work. But at the same time, and more importantly, it has been a year of growth, of maturing, of dedication, of love. I thank God everyday for putting us together, for making this happen and for giving me that crazy idea.

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	HEARTLIGHT(sm) Magazine is a ministry of loving Christians and the Westover Hills church of Christ. Edited by Phil Ware and Paul Lee. Copyright © 1997 Heartlight, Inc. HEARTLIGHT and the flared heart design are service marks of Heartlight, Inc.