Holy Moments

Very seldom in our lives are any of us fortunate enough to witness what one could call a “Holy Moment”, or be a part of an event that changes the trajectory of our lives. During our existence as Five Stone Media, we’ve been fortunate to be a part of two such events..

At the respective ends of the red arrows are John Turnipseed and me. Literally a moment away from John sharing his story to this group of men, and me being nudged to tell his story. That’s how it all started, the moment Five Stone Media was born, at this campfire in Wisconsin. Left to right in the blue circles; Five Stone Media co-founder Mark Bierle, supporter Michael Johnson and Five Stone Media co-founder Raymond Pruban. The first Turnipseed film was created from that night.

For awhile, it looked as if we might be done with this project, but God showed us otherwise, as our 2nd Holy Moment came in the form of this email from Louisiana:

“I am Assistant Warden at an adult male state prison housing 942 offenders. In the last 6 months we began receiving teenagers who had been adjudicated as adults, most being from the New Orleans area. We were discussing childhood and the importance and impact actions toward children have and I played this DVD. Those kids were riveted. Your DVD speaks louder than my words could ever do. At first their reaction was, “is that the end?” and “Oh, man, it can’t end like that.” But then I told them to hold on and we went straight into the interview. This completed the story. These seventeen, eighteen and nineteen year old felons really enjoyed the film. I incorporated it into a lesson on loving and helping children and honoring and helping your parents. There was total silence during most of the film, with each one of them identifying and understanding the emotions and drama being played out before them. The interview portion solidified the message of the film and touched their hearts. Thank you for this resource. It is making a difference in the lives of young men needing a wake up call. The social epidemic of parents not doing their duties or being abusive, which leads to destructive lifestyles of the children, such as shown in this life story, is so prevalent in the lives of teenage offenders. I applaud you for giving them a way out- Jesus Christ. Only eternity will identify the true impact of your influence.”

To this day, we’re not quite sure how the film landed there, but that email prompted us to say “we cannot be done with this” and get to work to create Turnipseed films 2 and 3, Second Chance and Legacy. And in short order, we met publisher Carlton Garborg, who wanted to publish the Turnipseed story, Bloodline, followed by the production of the Lifeblood® video curriculum series for men and women.

If you’d like to find out more about the work of Five Stone Media and our Lifeblood Video Curriculum, www.fivestonemedia.com is the website, and my email address is steve@fivestonemedia.com