October is a month for learning. The first week was the 2-day Catalyst Conference held in Atlanta. Catalyst is a leadership conference for those who love the church. The theme of ‘Fully Alive’ marked the amazing preaching and teaching from other church leaders and culture movers and shakers:
“I don’t have to figure it all out before I go all out.” – Andy Stanley
“Lead with who you are rather than what you know.” – Miles Adcox
“Comparison either makes you feel better or worse and neither honors God.” – Craig Groeschel
“I can’t please everybody, but I can please God.” – Craig Groeschel
“Grow up! Ministry is not for children or babies.” – Dr. Henry Cloud
“As you discover yourself in a new way on the Enneagram journey, you’ll also find you are paving the way to the wiser, more compassionate person you want to become.” – Ian Morgan Cron (On the Enneagram journey, I’m a 7…which means I don’t like to dwell on Good Friday and every day is Easter. Yep…that’s me.)
“We are not created to be everything for everyone.” – Christine Caine
“Choose what to bomb.” – Jon Acuff (Intentionally decide what you will not worry about.)
“Whatever grows produces energy.” – Dr. Caroline Leaf (lots of research about our mindset…so interesting)
“Most experiences fade. What sticks? Pits and peaks.” – Chip Heath (think college and Disney World)
“Truth without love is harsh. Love without truth is lies.” “Those coming up behind us are not our replacements, they are our reinforcements.” – Lisa Bevere (Be in partnership with those younger than I.)
“My greatest legacy is not to pastor a big church, but to raise children to love the Lord Jesus.” – Choco DeJesus
The greatest insight of the event is that I am one person, created by God with certain (not all) gifts and strengths, called by God to please Him (not everyone) in the local church, and empowered by God to go all out (don’t hold back) in the areas He has given me influence today (be fully alive and fully present.) This event makes me think alongside others who are thinking through the filter of Jesus and the local church. The music and preaching is like a feast for my soul. It causes me to lift my head and heart from the daily to the eternal.
Highlight: Watching my friend chase down and compete in the Catalyst community app scavenger hunt while I saved seats and held onto the stuff she won and collected. Ordering breakfast at Chick-Fil-A and hearing the server call out the name of Jesus when our order was ready because that’s the name we gave to the order-taker. My friend’s hip replacement frequently gets the security guys to pull out the scanner wand so my part is to encourage the security guys to consider a body search. We got to hold a parrot and take pics with a baby kangaroo at lunch!
The second week of October involved another 2-day event to become a Wonderfully Made Trainer. Information can be found here.
Highlight: Listening to my colleagues acknowledge the 95% of the time I looked at my shoes, thanks to lots of anatomy visuals and vocabulary, yet being totally committed to being a champion for bringing this fabulous resource for parents on faith and sexuality to the local church.
My next steps from those two learning events:
- Schedule a shared-event with other churches to offer a Wonderfully Made weekend event next March as I meet with other children’s ministry leaders next.
- Finish reading “Irresistible: Reclaiming the New that Jesus Unleashed for the World” by Andy Stanley….THIS is fascinating history on the temple, the church, and how we got the Bible.
- Read “Learning to Lead Like Jesus” by Boyd Bailey.
- Read “The Road Back to You: an Enneagram Journey to Self-Discovery” by Ian Morgan Cron & Suzanne Stabile
Next week I’ll share the third week of training focused on teaching people to feed themselves as disciples of Jesus so we can share the journey.
When is your next season for learning?
“I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts.” Habakkuk 1:1