Acknowledgments
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
To Apple for the MacBook Pro and the iPod Nano.
To Dawn Eden for befriending two inexperienced teen bloggers and encouraging us to keep at it. That meant the world to us.
To the original rebelutionary bloggers who helped launch the movement in 2005: Tim Sweetman, Alex King, Jake Smith, David Ketter, Kristin Braun, Chloe Anderson, Travis Henry, Karen Kovaka, David MacMillan III, Cody Herche, and Marshall Sherman.
To Justice Tom Parker for modeling wisdom, integrity, and humility as a jurist, and for taking a risk by allowing two young men to shoulder real responsibility.
To the staff attorneys at the court for believing with us that sixteen-years-olds can do hard things and for mentoring us through the internship.
To Rebekah Guzman, who lifted our spirits with her enthusiasm and support in the early days of book proposals and tough decisions. And to her husband, Ben. We’ll never forget the games of miniature golf, spades, and find-the-German-restaurant.
To Fred Stoeker for all the book advice and writing tips. To Shannon Ethridge for being a prayer warrior and for taking our proposal to Multnomah.
To Steve Cobb, Dudley Delffs, and Ken Peterson at WaterBrook Multnomah. Thanks for believing in a book by two inexperienced first-time authors. To Kevin Loechl for reviewing the contract.
To our editor, David Kopp. You believed in this project way back in March 2006 and kept pushing to make it happen. You’re the best of the best. Thanks for helping us take the book to the next level. To Heather Kopp for helping us break down the wall of over-familiarity and find the hidden structure in our rough draft. This book would not have happened without you. Thanks for all the incredible memos.
To Cheri Colburn for heroic line-editing. Your input and polish did wonders. To Julia Wallace and Laura Wright for managing the final details. Thanks for making sure all our t’s were dotted and our i’s were crossed.
To Alice Crider, Brian Thomasson, and Jessica Lacy in Multnomah editorial. To Joel Kneedler and Melissa Sturgis in publicity. To Tiffany Lauer, Ginia Hairston, Allison O’Hara, and Amy Haddock in marketing. To Carie Freimuth, Lori Addicott, and Steve Reed in sales. To Kristopher Orr and Mark Ford in graphic design. To everyone else at WaterBrook Multnomah whose names we don’t know. It was your excitement that was the deciding factor in our decision to write this book with Multnomah. We couldn’t be happier with our team.
To Jane Rohman, John Bianco, Nicole Devin, and Molly Hamaker for their tremendous work as freelance publicists for the book. We’re amazed by what you do.
To Evie Schmitt for handling hundreds of e-mails and freeing us up to write. Thanks for the “It’s the Book, Stupid” posters. Classic!
To Paul and Jennifer Hartung for the photo on the back cover (www.jennlynnimages.com). You two are like magicians behind the lens. Thanks for making it fun.
To the Menucha Retreat Center and all its staff for being like a second home during key stretches of the writing process. To Phyllis Thiemann for opening Brickhaven Bed and Breakfast to us and for feeding us lunch.
To the teens whose inspiring stories we couldn’t fit into the book: Chloe and Petra Anderson, Carly Deburgh, Anna Lofgren, Jordan Schaefer, Kaytlynn Clemons, Chris Field, Haley Allen, Felicity Shepherd, Claire Halbur, Betsy Olson, Charity Edwards, Elisabeth Rifeser, Matthew Champlin, Chelsea Rankin, Adrienne Gilbert, Rebecca Moon, Elisabeth and Kirsten Gruber, Naomi Van Calster, Cornelia van Oostrum, Garret Boon, Martha Heimsoth, Chelsea Convis, Heather Gundlach, Josh Donegani, Katy Owens, Elizabeth Probasco, Naomi Nelson, Caleb Rivera, Sydney Lubin, Victoria Cuneo, Rachel Ramm, and Samantha Loftus, to name a few. A big thank you to all of you. Your stories energized us to finish the race.
To our stellar Forum Team on TheRebelution.com who held down the fort while we were out writing. A big thanks to Mark Hutchins, Jonathan Field, David Boskovic, Alex Poythress, Nathan Sleadd, Hannah Farver, JoAnna Talbott, Kristin Braun, Daniel Osborne, Lindsey Wagstaffe, Isaac MacMillen, Elisabeth Thomas, Brittany Cronin, Tim Heaton, Irene Lee, Rebekah Shinabarger, Beth Magnuson, Stephanie Olsen, Holly Donahue, Carl Gray, Ryan Farrington, Kierstyn Paulino, Abigail Snyder, Heidi Mull, and Nicole Hearn.
To all the rebelutionaries online and at our conferences who prayed for and believed in this project. You are the movement. Keep pressing onward and upward.
To Daniel and Peter Fender for helping to make the writing process more than just writing. Thanks for taking the time to seek the Lord with us, pray for us, and encourage us in our walk with Him. You inspire us.
To our entire church family at Household of Faith. You’ve watched us grow and seen our many faults. Thanks for your faithful prayers, support, and counsel.
To C. J. Mahaney, Steve Whitacre, Mark Dever, and Jeff Purswell for your steadfast commitment to the gospel. Thank you for your timely exhortation and for communicating your concerns to us with both hope and love.
To Randy Alcorn for everything. You invested countless hours guiding us through every critical step of the publishing process and kept us focused on eternity. You always made yourself available, despite your countless other obligations. Your counsel and support was invaluable. You went above and beyond. We can’t give you enough credit.
To our incredible younger siblings for freeing us to focus on the book and picking up the slack inside and outside the home. Sarah, we’ve watched our little princess grow up into a caring and capable young woman. Thanks for doing all the important things, big and small, to help make everything we’ve done possible. You’re a gem. Isaac, your faithful service to the family and to us is a blessing. Thanks for being our right-hand man on all our projects. James, your faithful and earnest prayers put us over the hump, buddy. Thanks for giving us all the love in your seven-year-old heart and for all the shoulder rubs and big hugs.
To big brother Joel and wife Kimberly for cheering us on from the beginning and for jumping into the editing process to give helpful input. Thanks for being such faithful counselors and friends.
To big brother Josh. Thanks for taking the time for long phone calls whenever we needed to talk. We’ll always look up to you as an author and a man of God. Your investment in our lives through your example and counsel has been challenging to us as brothers and inspiring to us as young men.
To our parents, Gregg and Sono Harris. Your commitment to wisdom, hard work, and the Word of God forms the bedrock of how you have raised your children and how you have directly impacted hundreds of thousands of others. Dad and Mom, your investment into this book was huge. Thanks for staying up late into the night to finish edits before deadlines, neglecting your to-do lists to meet our needs, and for faithfully pointing us to the Cross. Mom, thanks for always caring more about our souls than our success. Dad, so much of this book is informed by the ideas you’ve been teaching since before we were born. We can’t wait for your next book.
To our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. This book is for You and only because of You. Time and time again we have watched You orchestrate events in ways beyond what we could have ever imagined. We deserve Your wrath—and yet You freely give us grace.
Soli Deo Gloria!