Coming out of hibernation

The good ol' blogs been silent for awhile. I decided it needed to be when I started to hang out more with it than with Jesus. But, I'm back. Probably less frequent, but back.

I've discovered the coolness of the deck of my apartment. It's become Jesus' and my favorite place as of late as I discover what it looks like to be a better discipler than leader. Long story, but maybe I will post what the Lord helped me to spill out on the computer screen a week or so ago.

I've also discoved the coolness of Logos Bible Software. One of our board member's wife gifted me with the Gold Edition. It was like a kiss from Jesus himself. The discounted price is a grand and it's supposedly the largest electronic theological library ever assembled with $11,700 in equivalent print editions. I don't know if its claims are true, but the software is off-the-hook. It's taken my Bible study up about a thousand notches. Having it reminds me of something God laid on my heart a few years back, which lines up with what He's laying on my heart now .... hmmmm, wonder if I should do something with that.

Profound Leadership Day

What a great leadership day...full of wisdom. It began with MC "Envelope Moments" with Jeanne. Won't share why, but this is a special day each year. Her message was golden. The notes are below, but my favorite line was "Your gift-set will be ready for ministry long before your character, your endurance, your wisdom, or maturity will be."

Then after a little afternoon work, it was off to a post-NYLC meeting with Mike, an incredible man of God, full of wisdom regarding business and Jesus ... then dinner with some of the NYLC team ... then sat in on the MC meeting with Mike where he shares his wealth of experience whenever he's in town.

Leadership Nuggets from Jeanne, the queen herself, this morning...

• An envelope moment is when you feel another person or circumstance are in control of your life and you feel powerless regarding the outcome
• A loss of relationship with the Lord isn’t sudden, it is a slow process that goes bit by bit
  Most of the time it will be, “wow, feels like a curveball hit my face”
• It takes more faith to have a right response and trust God when circumstances don’t go as planned than to go along merrily when they go as planned
• People and circumstance will make or cause countless decisions that will cause pain in your life
• Never confuse man’s decisions with God’s directive
• Unforgiveness is like drinking a poison and expecting someone else will die
• You need to get nervous when the coaches in your life get quiet
• The degree to which you are able to trust God with heavy envelope moments is parallel to the degree of anointing on your life
• A goal of “finishing well” may not be impressive to people, but is to God
• Do not focus on the why of the envelope, but rather on the what
  Not, “Why Lord did You do this?”
  You probably won’t ever really figure out the why
  Say, “Lord what can You do with this in my life?”
• Success in life comes not from holding a good hand but playing a tough hand well
• Never let a good crisis go to waste
• Faith doesn’t mean its always going to be pretty
• Never doubt that ultimately God is bigger than any envelope in your life…SO much bigger
• Plan B can become plan A when envelope moments occur if your spirit and heart are right
• The Father heart of God wants to take care of you when you go through hard things
  During those envelope moments, refuse to give in to the narcotic of self-pity
• Be above society and don’t get the victim mentality
• All of life really is suck it up, because if you don’t suck it up, it will eventually suck you up
• Many people build their identity off of what people did wrong to them
• Compassion is the adrenaline for acts of mercy
• Self-pity is a narcotic that leaves its addicts wasted and alone
• SELF – Satan’s Exact Location Forever
• There is a difference between compassion and picking up another persons offense
• Finish the race with the wind in your face
• The object is not getting over the finish line, the object is getting over the finish line with a spiritual passion and the fire still burning in your heart (illus. olympic marathon athletes in old days)
• A double minded man is unstable in ALL his ways
• Your gift-set will be ready for ministry long before your character, your endurance, your wisdom, or maturity will be.
• Don’t turn a deaf ear to the messages when you say you want coaches in your life
• Don’t be too quick to be done or you will forfeit all who you could be
• In God’s economy no sin is worse, the problem is some sins cost more
• Story of boy opening the cocoon too early to see the butterfly but the butterfly wasn’t fully formed and developed so it ended up crippled and couldn’t fly
  All the other kids had their experiments done and all that was left was his
  He saw the rip and made it bigger
  The boy didn’t want the caterpillar to strain and work an go through this hard ordeal so he snipped it to make it easier, it seemed better at first and the butterfly had come out, but really it wasn’t done growing
  Relate to this
  The only thing that gave the butterfly the strength in its wings to gain the altitude was the struggle
  Only through difficult times do your wings ever find the strength to fly
  If you want to be real good you won’t take your wings until you are saying to people around you and say, “Am I really ready for this?”

Leadership nuggets from our amazing board Mike (caught without a pen on this one...stink!). Three memorable ones...

• Come September, after the summer, will the team come back stronger or weaker? Will you be stronger on September 1, than you were on June 1? Challenge, spiritually what are you going to do over the summer to get better? It was meant as a challenge to the students, but because of some staff changes, I'm owning it for myself. We are going to the team approach for teaching our MC clasesses and I'm on the rotation. Game on. I'm pretty excited to get back behind the music stand on a more consistent basis.
• Some are given the vision, while others are given the provision (for the vision). I think there is a sermon in there ... "pro" vision ... "for" vision.
• Some of you think because circumstance changed, that God changed His mind.

That's one for the books

Aaron Hill, one of our MC students, let me rip off his notes from the Leadership Lessons that Jeanne taught a couple of days ago. In it was a quote from another MC student, Adrian Taylor. I thought it was a pretty profound leadership one. In my paraphrase, it was "when the coach goes quiet, that's when you should worry."

Here are some of the other notes Aaron took (they're kind of random, but some real golden nuggets in there):

Give the why behind the what
Don’t let there be negative perceptions of the people
Don’t freak out but have faith and wisdom in finances
Use the situation to make everyone better
Start out saying that’s its all going to be all ok then go to the worst then to the least worst
Don’t do it when it's convenient to you
If you treat people right, God will treat you right
Bring the info. In a clear tangible way
Set your people up for success and failure.
Live a life with Jesus and integrity and go above and beyond.
Present a solution with a problem
There is a God outside of Master's Commission
Many ministries mean well but the picture they give is that if they aren't with them they wont be ok
Don’t make people feel less or stupid
You may feel the pressure but don’t show it
The Lord lets you learn how to do the small stuff then you can build to the heavy stuff
Each year get a little better
A great leader assesses a situation then takes care of it.
Masters will take care of the church because without the church there is no Masters
A good leader looks into the future to see what the enemy could use as grounds.
Bring the news, but mentor as well. Show how to present it as a good leader.
Make the meetings comfortable. Have a voice tone that this is important but you're not in trouble.
To get respect you give respect
Always give a strong finish
You impact others around you by the attitude you have
God's plan for your life is bigger than the mistakes of men.
Deal with it, feel it and go on. God is bigger than the mistakes that the executive team can make.
We are more rewarded now because we handled things well
Don’t pace yourself by other people give your personal best!
It gives more hope when a leader can say that they get worried
Every good leader knows first they've got to sort things out in their own head before they make everyone else ok
The longer you walk with Christ the less faith it takes to have faith.
The more you walk with God the more faith you will have because you have seen God come through so many times.
Answer questions before people have them
When I'm yelling you're ok but when I stop talking then you should worry.
Character will always out weigh charisma
Churches normally applaud charisma not character
Security is built by a loving mom and dad and you
All wise parents know there has to be disciplines. That gives your children security.
Don’t judge others unless you are judged
Live a life that is not perfect but is so Christ like it is tough to disrespect you.
Remember Jesus Christ is inside of you watching and listening to the media you listen or watch

May they remember

Just came out of a 2 1/2 hour meeting and watched my hero/mentor "do her thing" masterfully. She is a brilliant communicator, leader and wife to her hubby. The meeting was full of teaching moments ... and I mean FULL of them. Having lived a lot of them, the only words that kept going through my head are "that's good"..."that's real good." Unfortunately most of the MC students haven't lived them to know their true value. My prayer is that when they are in the midst of the twists and turns of life, they will remember.

Marking Moments

Walking through marking moments in life with young men and women hungry to hear from Jesus has to be one of the greatest privileges in life ... those marking moments are some of the sweetest and, sometimes, the most painful.

Twitter

Ok, signed up for Twitter months ago ... now I am going to try and use it.

Cleveland Hospital

I've spent the last two days at the hospital in a waiting room. They've come a long way, but I still hate them. Cleveland Hospital is cool in many ways though ... they have a Subway and McDonalds (along with a bunch of other food places in it). It's kinda of a hospital and art gallary all wrapped up in one.

Modern day medicine is truly a miracle that I am grateful for. Wendy came through surgery with flying colors. The pain medicine is making her sick to her stomach though, so please pray for her. A long road to recovery is ahead for her, but she's stubborn enough to do just fine. I've got a thousand and seventeen things I need to be doing, but I'm sooo very glad that I am here. It's been great hanging out with friends the last few days.

Accidents, Cadre and Open Heart Surgery

Jeanne totalled her car on Saturday and tried to break by putting her head through the windshield. It didn't work. I've never seen two more swollen black eyes in my life...no exaggeration. To let you know what a warrior I work with, she still did the 2 day Cadre on Monday and Tuesday (11 hours on Monday and 14 hours on Tuesday). Cadre plane tickets had long ago been purchased, so the thought of canceling on 35 youth pastors didn't seem like an option. So, I watched my boss and friend nail it despite the intense pain. She was 110% fully there and fully on. Impressive.

I jumped on a plane after I made sure the majority of the Cadre guys and girls had made their way back home. A friend of mine is having a five hour open heart surgery where they will stop her heart for two hours to replace two valves. I think I already blogged about it, but there are 5 families I am committed to do life with from Indiana, along with my family, for eternity. Wendy's is one of them.

Hurricane Clean Up

Getting everything back on track after NYLC is a little (stress little) bit like cleaning up after a Hurricane. For the month prior, everything got put on the back burner. Now that we are home, everything is red hot front burner stuff. We have 4 conference call, 3 Cadres, a Spring retreat and 2nd year iterviews over the next six weeks, including all the clean up from NYLC. Exciting days are ahead. We have over 200 new Source and YLC subscribers, along with over 200 people interested in the Cadre.

On a side note, we had Reunite tonight to celebrate the MC students coming back from Spring Break. Glad to have them back in the house. It's way too quiet here without them.

On a final note, I hate power surges/outages. As a result of Friday's storms, we blew the ethernet chip in our motherboard and have no access to the Youth Leader's Coach storage area. UGH! I don't know who the Kernal is, but without the Ethernet chip he won't load. So much for surge protectors. Plus, battery back-ups are of little use when you don't plug the stupid thing into it. The cost of silly mistakes drive me insane.

NYLC 09 - Fully Between Someone Else And Jesus

The conference was a smashing success. How do I know? Because countless have told me. And after spending part of my vacation watching it, I know why they are saying what they are saying. It's funny, but there is so much work to do in the moment...to make what is happening around the people seem effortless, that I didn't catch most of the conference. It can be disheartening if you let it...that is until you ask yourself the question of "why do you do what you do anyway?" There is a time for it to be "fully between you and Jesus," but then there are times you make the sacrifice for it to be "fully between someone else and Jesus." That's what NYLC 09 was for me. However, it wasn't without countless personal highlights, like...

1. Watching youth pastors get real honest on some tough issues using 2,000 key pads that registers audience responses.
2. Watching Jeanne be able to do what she does best without much concern for the details that our team had well covered.
3. Doing my two breakout sessions despite the fact that I lost 80% of my voice day one.
4. Praying with people on Wednesday night at the conclusion of the evening service.
5. Watching the MC Atlanta team in action. Wow, they were off-the-hook impressive.
6. Seeing what a difference the Cadre makes when it comes to a conference. The day after the conference was truly like a family reunion with all of them. However, typically you're ready for family reunions to come to an end, but I wasn't ready for this one to.
7. Seeing some typically quiet MC Atlanta students rise up and own some things that were ginormous ... they nailed it.
8. Each night I would steal a few seconds away and go to the top balcony area where there were these cool side sections. From there you could see countless worshipping...most with hands help high, while others were praying. It was a site to behold and the mental Kodak moment of the conference for me.
9. Hanging out with my sister, Carole, Chris and Karen. I miss them. They were and still are my armor bearers. Hopefully, I am for them as well.
10. Knowing the impact the conference had on the "youth ministry teams" present. There are times when it's just plain good for your team to hear someone else say the exact same things you've been saying. Plus, it's good to steal away three days for teams to be together when nothing else is pulling at you (or them) and all the work is being done by someone else. I remember the impact a trip my team took at Granger to a Saddleback youth conference. I loved being able to provide for others what they provided for me. Also, the diversity of the speakers (Ed Young, Judah Smith, Chris Hill, Greg Stier, Craig Gross, etc.) ensured the different personalities on the team would connect with at least a few of the speakers, if not all.

After the conference, and months of sleepless or little sleep nights, we went on a five day cruise. Sounds glamorous, I know. However, I literally slept 17 hours or more each day for 4 of the 5 days. Sounds like I'm exaggerating, but I so am not. Crazy...I know. I think I was on the verge of exhaustion and didn't know it. I could tell it in my emotions, but no place else. That's a whole lot of sleep for someone that typically sleeps 4-6 hours tops a night. It was good for my soul and great preparation for this weekend when I've set aside time for it to be "fully between me and Jesus."

Leavin' on a jet plane

Leavin' for Dallas at 6 a.m.
Whohoo.

You know you're close when...

You know you're close to your big event when....

You can look at weather.com and the dates of your big event are in the 10 day forcast...77 and sunny baby! Lord Jesus, please make it so.

It Is Finished!

We are in a mad dash to get some product done before we leave for NYLC. The last 2 1/2 days I've been writing small group discussion guides for Jeanne's DVD curriculum covering the sex chapters in her Uncensored book. It covers the topics you seldom, if ever, hear in the church world. I wrote 7 small group guides covering porn, homosexuality, lust, pre-marital sex, masturbation...yep, even that one....,God's intent for intimacy and how to live a life of sexual and emotional purity. My discussion creating skills were diffently challenged, especially in the midst of all the other NYLC and Cadre prep going on those 2 1/2 days. There is now about a 4,000 pound weight off my shoulders. The titles you ask...

Guy Meets Guy, Girl Meets Girl
Solo Sex
The Dragon Of Imagination
Don't Set Off The Fireworks
Chew And Spit Romance
Where Are You Getting Your Sex Education?
The Masterpiece
The List

I am a freakin' idiot

So after I posted this morning, I jumped off and went into the sanctuary to pray with the MC students. Well not exactly "with," we all pray individaully...some stand, some walk, some sit, some are in the balcony, some on the back row, some on the front.

Mornings are not usually my prayer time, but since I was up, I thought I'd join them. I think it was my first time in there at the same time this year. I was inspired and encouraged, yet at the same time told myself how dumb I was for not being more intentional about being in there at the same time as they are.

My boss champions me, so much so that when I told her how much I felt like an idiot, she tried to cover for me. She said, "Mornings are just not your most exciting hours. Your rhythm matters." While she is sooo very much right, my desire to be with them and model for them trumps my hatred for those early daylight hours. Today, tomorrow and the next 2 1/2 months will be sponsored by the word "intentional."

It's 8:30 a.m. and I love that sound

It was actually a little before 8:30 just a few minutes. As I sat outside my office, I heard the sound of voices, laughter and all out fun. The MC students were pouring in for the day. It's after 8:30 right now and as quickly as they came in, they are gone. They start their mornings here in the sanctuary in prayer. It's a non-negotiable in this place, the time is set-aside, the time is given (of course once in the sanctuary, they have to choose how focused they are). I love this place! My mind just raced forward to the middle of June, when the sound of 80 plus students won't be here for the summer...when it's so quiet you could hear a pin drop. I dread those days. I'm not sure I could ever go back to business (youth ministry) as usual...go back to the days without MC or interns. The raising up of the next generation of church and business leaders is good for my soul. It brings life to these aging bones.

Just thought you should know

I have been starring at a screen for days, my eyeballs are about to burst into flames. T-15 days until game day! The question is can I cram 5 months worth of work into 15 days. Ummm...probably not, but giving it a shot.

On a side note, the day after the conference, at our Cadre reunion ... it's gonna be flippin' sweet. Two days after that, I leave on a 5 day cruise. I'm ok with that.

Now Those Are Some Great Stats

Right now 112 of 269, 42% of first year Cadre members are coming to NYLC '09 at the end of the month. Even better, 70 of 117, 60%, of second year Cadre members will join us. I can't wait to see the numbers in regard to how many are connected to them. Once we get the data on those that used the Cadre Codes to register, I will give you an update. As I said a few months ago, the world has yet to see the impact Cadres can having on a conference...let alone the world. Multiplication at its finest.

Below is a picture of what God laid on my heart many months ago (I don't say that lightly, for I know that's a huge statement). It all started my last day of Oasis, when 1,066 middle school students and leaders squeezed in together for a roof top photo. Somehow that blob of people in 2 minutes accidently formed a picture where most people who see it say, "Did you try to make it look like the United States." Ummm, no.

Where did that come from

Life is crazy busy with NYLC...crazy busy. As I posted on my facebook, it feels like I'm being chased by a dog and he's gaining on me. I am ridiculously excited about the conference at the end of this month, but have SOOOOOO very much to do within the next 20 days...it's not even funny.

However, first things first, we had to take time out for our annual church business meeting...can you say LOOOOOONG, but necessary...I guess. Anyway, Jeanne comes over right before we start and says that Pastor wants me to say a few words about our cost saving efforts. I say, "really?" (insert a reluctant tone of "I really don't want to, please don't make me do this"). She says, "Judy, he's proud of what you, Vicky and Sobrina have accomplished." "Ok." So, about 15 minutes later, I stand up and say something like, "Our nation has hit an economic iceburg. As you know, when it comes to iceburgs, you don't wait until you're upon them to try and turn the ship ... we saw it coming and have and will continue to analyze line by line where cuts can be made ... here are a couple of examples..." Anyway, all that to say, I love the iceburg anology, just can't remember where I stole it from.

Group Conference

Here's a couple of observations:

Group puts on a great conference period.

Just got back from the Friday night session where Kay Warren brought it! She's AMAZING. It's so cool to watch someone with all out passion and vision. She talked about being disturbed, afraid and ruined for Christ. Seriously incredible stuff. I will post my notes of her tomorrow. I typed them on Lucy's PC and for some reason my Mac is not playing friendly with the jump drive. Glad our MC girls were able to see another incredible woman of God on stage. It's not that they are rare, it's just rare to see them in that capacity.

I sat behind our Master's Commission gang with a couple of the girls. They rocked today in Jeanne's breakout session. They were fidgety up until Kay (I think because they sat all day), but when Kay started talking they were all ears.

A new portion of our store front went live today and ten minutes later we previewed in on the screen for all of about 3 minutes. While short, got great, great, great feedback from the breakout participants

Jeanne's session was incredible. I love the work she puts in behind it. It literally takes the team of 16 of us to pull it off. After four decades, I love that she chooses not to coast.

Group has these cool little pins to put on your lanyard and the most comfortable sack chairs ever. They create a great environment.

Speaking of environments, Group is great at creating network ones. It's been awesome seeing some of the gang I've met throughout the years.

Josh and Matt seriously make the most funny videos ever. Total weird transition to it tonight though...still very funny. It left me pondering this thought in my head, "Where do I stand on altar calls? Right now, I think AG does way too many of them and everyone else not nearly enough. It's as if one is scared not to do it and the other scared to do it. Weird, I know. It's messing with my head...a little.

I've had a total of 5 hours of sleep the last two nights, going to bed...over and out.

10 Random Things Floating In My Head

1. Pastor's (pastor's don't have first names in the south) mother passed away over the weekend. Her funeral was today. The funeral was very old skool and beautiful. Would loved to have known her.

2. Taught Life Lessons for second year Master's students yesterday. Totally had a great time.

3. Learning about merchant accounts and payment gateways. Which word best describes this learning: cool, ugh!, confusing, expensive...all the above.

4. Leave for the Group conference tomorrow. We are taking a fun team of MC students with us...should be a blast. Jeanne's breakout group is full and they are having to move people out. Cool problem. The team made 250 tokens for it last night. Word on the street has it they finished at 4:15 a.m.

5. Our new section of the store should be up next week. Brett did an amazing job! Him and his wife are the bomb.

6. Finalizing some details for our conference next month today. Nothing is as easy as it should be.

7. I have so much work to do today that I don't think I will be going home tonight...it makes me sleepy just thinking about it.

8. The Kindle 2 is the coolest.

9. My cell phone has 8 messages on it and my office phone 13. I need to check them all and want to check none.

10. I'm tying this at my desk while I sit here in a dress...a rarity.

Kid In A Candy Store

Just got my new Kindle 2 today...way to go AMAZON...underpromise and overdeliver (I wasn't supposed to get it until March). Gotta go play. Over and out.

Eight Secrets To Weight Loss

Me writing this post is a joke. It’s way too early for me to be writing about any “secrets.” But, just in case my theories work, I will risk writing prematurely. Why? In hopes that in some way, shape or form saying this out loud keeps me accountable. Also, because a friend asked me how I am doing it today. So, here you go…

1. Conquer the Dew. First, the departure from Diet Mountain Dew to Vitamin Water and G2 was a huge boost. It’s not a secret to weight loss (it actually adds calories), but it’s the CONQUERING OF THE MIND. No one in their right mind would think I would even attempt such a feat. Most of my closest friends would have told you Diet Mt. Dew ran through my veins, not blood. After I made the switch, I felt like I pretty much could conquer anything. Have I totally eliminated “soda” (you know, gotta adjust with the culture…in the south they don’t say “pop”)? Heck, no. I still love McDonald’s Diet Coke or a bottle of something. However, I drink one a day vs. a six pack of Diet Dew.

2. Comfort food. When I’m stressed, it truly releases the pressure valve a little. Today, was a great example. The work load is almost overwhelming right now. I anticipate it to be all through NYLC and the Cadre Reunion (i.e. April 2). I am a little addicted to the adrenaline rush, but when I’ve got so much work to do that I am almost paralyzed to do anything, comfort food helps. So, I indulge, but nothing like before. Today it was a pint of cookie dough ice cream, but that’s it for the next 4-6 days. However, if I want to, I will allow myself to sneak one of the little mini ice cream cones from Jason’s Deli when I eat there. It’s about 4 inches tall, but makes me feel like I beat the system. In the past, I think I tried to eliminate ALL junk food, which was stupid and increased the likelihood of feeling like a failure.

3. One meal a day. I know, you think that’s dumb and unrealistic. It would be if that’s all I ate, but I don’t. When the hunger pains hit at other times, I fill the gap with apple sauce, peaches, pickled beets (I know…weird, right?) and other vegetables. I hate, hate, hate salad (seriously, hate), so that’s not an option for me. In regard to the one meal, it’s whatever I want. I love Chinese, Jason’s Deli, Subway and McDonalds, so I eat it. If I denied myself of what I love, there is absolutely no way I would lose weight and ever have a chance of keeping it off. I know myself. In fact, the thought of going without the food I love made me not even attempt weight loss in the past. I don’t believe in the roller coaster methodology (i.e. starve yourself of what you love, lose the weight, start eating what you love again, only to gain the weight back), it depresses me to even think about it.

4. The reality of hunger pains. I guess I had not taken the time to ever realize this or maybe I just forgot, but you know when you’re so hungry you feel like you have to have food right now? You don’t. Sometimes if you drink something or do something, they go away without you realizing it. I don’t go a whole lot longer without eating anything because I do believe it’s your body’s way of talking to you, but I do wait a bit. Why? It’s that whole conquering the mind thing. If I eat the moment I feel hungry, my mind has a tendency to CREATE more of those “I’m hungry” moments before they really exist.

5. Delayed exercise. Last year when I tried to get more fit, I started with exercise and decided “I would adjust my eating habits later, after I got the ‘exercise thing’ down.” That was dumb. All that I did was gain two pounds. Sure I might have lost some fat and gained muscle, but looking at the scale ticked me off and I gave up. Just in the last couple of days I began walking again. But, I really needed the shot in the arm on the scale side first. Lowering food intake, at least for me, will always drop pounds faster. I’m smart enough to know I need both but also smart enough to know trying to start both at the same time is hard. Last year was a great attempt, but I just had the order backward, instead of exercise then less food, I needed less food then exercise.

6. Periodic motivation. I remember a line I heard Oprah make a few years ago, “food will never taste as good as how being thin feels.” The thought of giving it a shot, motivates me…so does watching a periodic summary of an episode of The Biggest Loser on hulu.com. I have no time for tv, but the little snippet of the episodes help.

7. I already know I will fail. I know I will fail a day here and there, maybe even two or three in a row. However, I'm determined not to let a day or two of failure result in me being a total failure at even trying. I'm bent on not beating myself up when I fail, but making the CHOICE to try, try again.

8. Sleep. I don't even like to admit this, but I can't deny it. The more you sleep, the more you lose weight. Lack of sleep leads to weight gain. This totally bites because I think sleep is overrated (I'd rather take 3 naps than sleep a long period of time), but it looks like I might be wrong. I literally can lose a pound if I sleep six consistent hours, even though most of the time it won't totally stay off throughout the day. I find that both interesting and frustrating.

So, there you have it. I started to try and shed a few pounds around January 15 (a little late start to New Year’s Resolutions). I’m now up to 17 lbs. which is far more than my goal of one pound a week. I think the first few pounds have come off easily because they haven’t been there for that long. However, I think the next ones will be a whole lot tougher since I’ve carried them for years.

Only time will tell if this even remotely works and/or is sustainable. However, if I can do this during peak season when it comes to workload, I think I just might be on to something.

Choices

This week we made the final edits on Jeanne's book. It's brilliant in so many ways. The words, however, that stood out to me time and time again were: "choice", "choose", "chose".

Choice is written 35 times in the NIV Bible
Choose 66 times
Chose 42 times

One of the most pointed verses that sticks like glue in my head is, "choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve"
(Joshua 24:15).

Among other things, life really is a series of choices. Choose wisely!

Today's A Price Break Day

The freight train is rolling ... we're well over 1,000 registrants for the National Youth Leaders' Conference and heading toward 2,000. What an honor! Big, big deal!

A Great Day

Today was AMAZING ... long ... but AMAZING!

10:30 - 12:00 JEANNE TIME
I started off by coming in early for Jeanne time (10:30 a.m. is early when you leave at 3:30 a.m.). It's an hour and a half every Thursday morning that the MC students have with Jeanne, mostly focusing on a mix of character and leadership development. It was off the hook. One of the many profound things she said is...

"You want to be a leader who walks with such integrity and authentic love that it makes it hard for anyone to rebel against you." Good stuff.

We closed by talking about NYLC. She asked Anne and I to talk at the end. More and more, I love the one word quick sermon/coaching session...followed by a few lines. My word today was INITIATIVE. In a nutshell, in the coming days we will be peddling just as fast as we can. Because even with NYLC coming up, we will still have church, Oxygen will still happen and Master's Commission will go on in the midst of it all.

I challenged them to...
Take the initiative to fix a token that you see is messed up, even if you weren't the one who made it (we're about to head into token season for NYLC).
Take the initiative to flip off the lights given the economic crunch all around.
Take the initiative to bring the van seat left out in the rain back in.
Take the initiative to do things with excellence...to go the extra mile.

If you can get the initiative thing down, you will be a better employee, husband, wife, parent...

12:00 - 1:00 EMAILS, EMAILS, EMAILS AND CONFERENCE CALL PREP

1:00 - 3:00 CADRE INVICTUS CONFERENCE CALL
Jeanne talked about helping the ladies in your life be all they can be. Great stuff. The guys asked great questions.

3:00 - 3:30 SET UP A VOICESHOT
Reminded all the Cadre peeps that after tomorrow the price goes up for NYLC.

3:30 - 7:30 NYLC MARATHON MEETING

8:00 - 1:30 a.m. JEANNE, BETHANY AND I COMPILED THE FINAL ILLUSTRATIONS FOR JEANNE'S NEW BOOK
"Finding God when He feels far away" will hit the shelves at NYLC. It's been a mad dash to get the editing done in time. As I drew stick figure after stick figure, all I could think of is "Mark Beeson could do sooo much better." He's the Stickman Master. I hope the artist who has to make sense out of all of our drawings does better than we did.

We entered the board room at 3:30 p.m and left at 1:30 a.m. Literally, we only came out to use the bathroom and watch the final run though of a human video for this Sunday at church.

Kindle 2

Some people buy Wii's, some clothes, some cars...my toy of choice is the Kindle 2. Ordered it today, should get it in March.

It's my reward to myself for shedding the 15 pounds I put on in the last 15 months. That works out to about $25 for every pound. I'm very generous to myself.

The Race Is On

41 days and counting ... counting every one of them.

The race is on to be ready for our conference. What lies between now and then are two national conferences that we are trying to ramp up for. Group's conference is at the end of this month and should be AMAZING and James River's is next month. We are peddling just about as fast as we can to have part of our new store front up by then. After a 2 1/2 conference call between Brett (our incredible web designer), Josh, Jeanne, Chris and myself, I think it just might happen.

Tomorrow night at 9:45 p.m. we are doing the final edits on Jeanne's new book that will be hot off the press for NYLC ... Finding God When He Feels Far Away. Crazy hours for everyone else, primetime for me! Can you tell our schedules are filling up fast?

Snap...Literally!

Nearly 40 first year ladies Cadre came to the ATL to enjoy some spoiling and get some coaching. Ladies Cadres are composed of male Cadre members' wives and female Cadre members. Right out of the gate, I knew it was going to be a fun time...and that it was, all but about two hours of it.

Envision this, we walk right next to Jeanne's house to take a picture by this grassy open area near the lake like we always do. There is a fence there and, as they were lining up for the photo, a couple of them jump on top of it to create a taller row. When I see them do it, it was no surprise, they always do. Then, I say out loud to a couple of people near me, "some day that fence is going to break." I didn't think break, break...just crack. Not two minutes later, it didn't crack, but it broke, broke. What I didn't realize was the drop behind it is at least nine foot straight down. Four girls fall forward and two back. One of the two goes all the way down...doing a few flips along the way. Honestly, had she not landed right, she could have died. At the bottom is a cement slap. Well, thank you Jesus she didn't die, but ended up with a beat up elbow and whole lot of bruises, including a major one on her heel requiring an ankle brace. I honestly think God healed it in route to the ER, I would have laid money her heel was broken, if not shattered. I had a deja vu moment when we were trying to assess her injuries. It wasn't quite like the guy who broke his leg at camp that I talked down from going into shock on the way to the hospital, but it felt like it. I was nice and calm on the outside, but totally freaking out for about 15 minutes on the inside. When she began to shiver and her eyes started to roll a little, I just kept talking and asking her questions about life and ministry. She is an incredible young lady, she was back from the hospitial within a couple of hours and ready to roll for the evening session.

To top off the day, Old Red (our 15 passenger van) needed a jump start before the girls left to go home for the evening. I tell Robby, "if she dies in route, don't jump it...it's probably the alternator and you'll kill the battery." Robbie takes off and 3 minutes later I get a phone call. It's living up to it's FORD reputation once again - Found On Road Dead. Three of us jump in our cars to the rescue. Two hours later I'm back at Jeanne's house making "new" pick-up plans for morning at midnight.

I always say the impact of Cadres are in direct proportion to the difficulty it takes to pull them off. This was no exception. Apart from those few moments, it was an AMAZING couple of days. I had the greatest journey group ever, in fact we are working on our own little reunion in Dallas next month.

Here is a snapshot from a few of the lines one friend wrote today, "Words cannot express what the Cadre, Masters, you and Jeanne mean to me... Our youth service last night was so awesome. I can feel a boldness in me like never before and it comes from Jesus and what you guys are imparting into my life."

I am grateful for all the post Cadre notes of encouragement that come in. It's a big deal and reminds me every push to get itineraries in, every transportation run, every housing reshuffle and every kink in the schedule is sooooo more than worth it.

Oh, by the way, it was the alternator.

Diet Mountain Dew Free

It's been almost 3 weeks without a Diet Mt. Dew, just want those who thought I might fall out and die to know I'm still alive. I had no withdrawals...crazy I know. The #1 question people ask is "do you feel better?" First, I never felt bad, I did it for kicks (I know weird sense of humor). Second, if I did feel bad and didn't know it, I feel no better. However, I must confess I have had about four Diet Cokes in that time frame while out at restaurants.

For My Indiana Family and Friends

It's currenty 15 degrees in Atlanta and with the windchill feels like 1. It is currently 2 degress in Indiana and feels like 2. Now is your time to rub it in...it "feels" colder in Atlanta than it does in Indiana. Hurry, you don't have much time, it's supposed to be in the 60's all next week.

14 Months Ago

14 months ago my dad died ... 14 months ago my quiet times with Jesus were buried with him. I remember someone whom I love screaming at me in tears and pain late the night before I preached his funeral, "Where was your fu$%in' Jesus when he put the noose around his neck...where was he Judy!?!?" I had all the right answers for him that would have made all of my current and past spiritual mentors proud. But deep inside, I really wasn't smokin' what I was sellin,' as Rob Bell would say. I didn't get it anymore than he did. All the "right" answers, while right and true, didn't help...not even kinda...not even a little bit.

For the last 14 months I've done a lot of great things FOR God and read a lot of great books ABOUT God, but didn't have it in me to read GOD'S WORD for myself. You might be thinkin', are you telling me you haven't cracked the Bible in 14 months? Nope, not for myself anyway, not once...I did for some messages and Sunday School lessons, but I'm not sure that counts. It took the difficulties of last month to come to the end of myself, at least I think I'm there. Have I prayed? Yep...good Christian prayers, saying the words I know to say. I tried to do what I knew to do despite how I felt (that's what I've always taught), but it wasn't working so good for me.

As I posted, the last week my office has been like a revolving door late into the night, students coming in and chillin' in my office just to talk. (While I may not have cracked my Bible, I have become a better listener and question asker...most days). A couple of times, while they were talking and I heard myself give some great "Godly" advice, my mind swirled elsewhere. Believe it or not, it was a prayer..."God help me not to be the poser I currently feel that I am." So, with resolve, I've been spending time with Jesus each day. The first two were like trying to kick myself out of the grave, but tonight the wall I built around my heart began to crack.

Here's what I was reminded of in James this week so far...

Consider it pure joy my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. (When I read that, I didn't find it fun, funny or even inspiring...I wasn't off to a good start)

If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. (found comfort in that, so I asked God for it)

But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. (totally could relate, felt pretty battered)

But each one is tempted when, by his own evil desires, he is dragged away and enticed.

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. (when you're not right with God, you jump to anger much quicker)

Do not merely listen to the Word, and so deceive yourselfs. Do what it says. (hmmm, great advice, easier said than done by far)

If anyone considers himself religious and yet doesn not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. (big statement)

Don't show favoritism (period)

Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?

Mercy triumphs over judgment!

What good is it, my brother, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?

Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?

"Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God's friend. (How cool would that be! I hate the song "I am a friend of God." Each time it makes me think, am I?...would He really call me that?" I guess you can sing it in hope and faith.)

We all stumble in many ways. (what an understatement)

It (the tongue) corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire... (take junk thoughts captive, do not let them come out of my mouth)

The very moment you separate body and spirit, you end up with a corpse. Separate faith and works and you get the same thing: a corpse. (I had the works down the last year, didn't do so well on the faith...felt pretty dead, thus pretty true statement)

Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or DENY the truth. (I always caught the don't boast about it, but not sure I ever caught the "or deny the truth." While not sure it pertains to bitter envy or selfish ambition, this verse reminds me about how confessing things out loud disarms them...probably why I published this post).

19 Months Later, Still My Hero In Ministry

I started working for my boss and friend 19 months ago today. I'm not going to lie, I didn't expect my mentor and hero to live up to my expectations. I know better than to put people on pedestals. However, 19 months later, I am grateful my respect for her has done nothing but grown. We've lived a whole lot of life in 19 months, to the point it feels more like 5 years. We've experienced some of the highest highs and lowest lows. Two words that best describe her were spoken by her son years ago, they are "blasted consistent." Consistent in her call, love, devotion to Jesus and commitment to be there for her husband, family and staff. I remember her once saying that one of her goals was that "those who know me (her) best, would love me (her) most."

I consider myself a low maintenance employee, which can be ones greatest blessing and greatest curse. But, one of things that Jeanne's taught me by watching her life is that sometimes when you most need encouragement, no one will realize it so you just have to ask for it ... so I did. January was a rough month for me, because of the added stress of the flood, budget, refinancing the church, board meetings and rebidding contracts on the church side, everything on the Youth Leader's Coach side got behind. I felt like I was juggling a dozen balls in the air at the same time and was dropping them all...not really, but it felt like that big time in my head. So, I asked to go out for a quick coke, but instead she gave me a two hour lunch and helped me clear my head. Because she's fought the battles, she can speak about to the ministry mind games like no other ... the mind games no one ever talks about. Through it all she's been faithful and "blasted consistent"

The Revolvoing Door

Last night was a trip and reminded me how much I love our students at MC Atlanta. My office was like a revovling door from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m., as one student left another would come to hangout and talk. First it was Jorge, then Rey, then Scotto, then Phillip and then when we had a power outage Nathan, Daniel and Scotto came in and chilled for awhile. I called it quits a little after 2 a.m. before my lamp died (it is plugged into this big old surge protect that operates as a back up battery for my computer). My relational tank was on full when they left ... I talked with one about his friend, another about youth ministry, another about family and another about his outstanding work. All the conversations were amazing but the two most memorable ones were with Rey and Daniel.

Rey got a whole years worth of youth ministry training in one week. One of our middle school students threw a fist at youth group last week. Instead of handling it myself, I coached Rey through it. He did an incredible job from talking to the boys involved to the mother of the kid who threw the fist. He felt the victory of one of the student really hearing him and, as a result, making positive choices...and the defeat of the other who really didn't get it. Rey is an amazing leader and will rock the world as a youth pastor some day (actually he really is one now, but someday will have the official title).

I had never really had much of a coversation with Daniel until last night. I learned about his wonderful parents, how his family is rallying in difficult economic times and that his church home back in North Carolina is Steven Furtick's Elevation Church. Daniel is an amazing young man full of optimism and Jesus. I am feeling the need for a road trip to North Carolina with a carload of MC'ers soon.

They are all incredible young men of God that if I had a kid, I would want them to hang out with. Right now we are in the midst of Experience where we showcase MC Atlanta to 60+ potential students next year. The hallways have been full of energy all day. Tonight is quiet though, our students are back in their apartments spoiling our guests like only MC Atlanta can spoil them.