Testimonials

"We have been married 14 years & never have we done anything together to serve the Lord's people. My friend basically stuck your DVD series in my face & said, “You've got to watch this!” My husband & I did. In fact, we still are for the 2nd time around. Just yesterday my husband said, "We are supposed to call couples so we can pray together." This is not the "norm" for my husband. To invite people into our home so we can talk & be transparent...Wow! We look forward to God using our miracle in marriage to help other marriages not fail but succeed God's way! Amen!"

Our home group is predominantly married with teens, but there are some divorced and singles and retired. What we liked about TIP is that it wasn’t the usual fill-in-the-blank video presentation.

Because of my lack of understanding the importance of respect, I purchased your “Mother and Son” book.  We adopted our son as a newborn.  We have always been honest with him about his story and now at 8 years of age he is beginning to ask some hard questions.  Your teaching is helping me to allow my boy to talk about his birth mom and ask questions and cry tears.  I don’t think I could have done that with the grace and kindness needed if I didn’t understand his need for respect.  Respecting my husband and my son is healing them.  It is amazing to see."

Good evening. Our church in Berwick, PA just finished our weekend of Love and Respect. What a refreshing time. My wife and I have a healthy, Christ centered relationship. We both feel that we are very blessed by the examples we've been given in our parents as well as the temperaments we both have. However, having heard the teachings/speaking of Emerson and Sarah, we both agree that your ministry is one so many more people need. We needed it as a refresher, an uplifter, a challenger to reset the clock and ensure we're staying fresh in commitments to Christ and each other. Thank you so much for all you do. We pray that your ministry grows and that we'll be able to do what we can to share with others how much we received from it. God bless you.

I have to admit that I am not great at either the love or respect talk!  So humbling.  And yet, this book really gave me incentive to try to be better, with concrete examples that I desperately needed.  I love my two teenage sons, and I've yearned to be a good mother to them, but wasn't sure how.  This book told me how, and is changing my relationships with them.  It is slow, because I do not change easily, but I am persevering, and better is BETTER!

Thank you for teaching me about respect and what it truly means in my life. You’ve given me the courage to be respectful to those around me, even when they get on my nerves. You’ve given me the tools to have confidence and through Christ all things are possible. I can take that home and be respectful toward my mother and to lay the foundation so that someday my mom will also know Christ. I opened myself up in ways that have been laid on my heart for some time. I can begin again.

"Can’t wait for the next one! Love it so far! This goes side by side with everything I’m learning about being a strong Christian women. This is all very new, but I love it, and it’s working"

"You have given voice to what I have been feeling over the last 15 years of our marriage. Frustrated at not being able to verbalize my feelings, I withdrew and stonewalled until I would blow up. Your simple truths rang true with my heart. The section on sexual tensions has been a reflection of where I am...Thank you for giving me hope."

The Illumination Project does a wonderful job making it clear that relationships are worth it, there is a way for them to work, and they don’t have to fail if both people know how to avoid pitfalls like the crazy cycle. And it was especially great knowing that it was all backed up by Biblical principles. There is a way that God intended for relationships to work, and it’s not even all that difficult to understand! It was incredibly encouraging, even for a single guy like me.

I really didn’t get into the journal until week 3. I thought it was cute and I knew it had won awards, but I didn’t see the point. I had already committed to going to the dinners and to the group, why did I need to go through the book? But I was wrong. It is full of so many funny and good things—there will be something that speaks to you, a little gem that will reveal it truly was a good use of your time.

When my son gives me his insight I say, “I really respect what you have to say,” or “I respect the way you handled that situation.” Or “I really respect how you are taking initiative to get things done and follow through with . . .” These things have made my son smile like I have never seen. I talk more about respect with regard to sporting events and showing respect for other opponents. My son knows without a doubt that I love him . . . now I feel he knows that I value him and his ideas, which I may not have done so well in the past. . . . Thank you so much for sharing God’s message.

The Love & Respect message is so practical and meets everybody where they are regardless of age, gender, or marital condition. Having Emerson deliver a keynote at our global leaders conference was a huge hit and had leaders in tears, inspired, convicted and clear on next steps. He covered a ton of ground in 1 session that will make a lasting impact. CEOs left with a bigger vision for God's call upon their marriage as well as a passion for seeing those they lead understand the insights of Blue/Pink, Love/Respect, and cycles of life and joy.