Last week a few friends and I were commiserating over some of the perils of being single. Maybe commiserating is the wrong word. We were just commenting about how our lives didn’t really match our childhood dreams with “the” husband and “the” 2.0 kids. And while the journey we find ourselves on can be challenging and lonely at times (especially the random Sunday evening), life remains abundantly full and quite satisfying.

The next day, the following devotional arrived. The encouraging words written by Kelly and “Big Momma” had gone through a series of forwards before making its way to my inbox.  They struck a chord with me, so I thought maybe they’d strike a chord with you too. And Kelly kindly gave me the permission to share.

“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.” I Corinthians 2:9

Well I have talked to lots of you recently and it seems to me that this phase of life is hard on everyone.  Letting go of the security of college and friends and doing really big life decisions for the first time is a hard thing.  All of us seem to be waiting on something….to find “the one”, to get a better job/house, to get married, to be good at what we do, to have babies, to get over bad things that have happened to us. (more…)

Sometimes God is hilarious. Hilarious in the way He orchestrates encounters, the way He satisfies needs before they are even voiced, the way He moves people in and out of our lives like actors in a beautifully written play, the way He forcefully prompts us when we are just a little too hesitant for His taste. Hilarious.

But here I sit so distracted with life, so hell-bent on being serious, that I forget to laugh along. I neglect to completely enjoy the wonder of His plan unfolding.

But fortunately today, He opened my eyes to the humor. And I stopped and laughed with God.

What a wondrous moment of fellowship we shared. (more…)

Today was one of those days where I learned new things. I love learning new things. And maybe some of you love learning new things too, so I am sharing them with you so perhaps you can share in my “knowledgeable bliss.”

1. Mashable lists Michael Hyatt as one of the most influential twitterers shaping the world of publishing.

In my personal opinion, Hyatt should be number 1, but I know that I am probably biased. (He is my boss and does sign my paychecks.) But I am glad others are taking notice, because he should be commended for the work he is doing to transform Thomas Nelson and our industry.

2. Tweepml exists.

Tweepml is this amazing website that allows anyone to EASILY create and share groups of Twitter users. Once someone builds a list you can add a relevant group of friends with just one click. Seriously you must try it.

And be sure to check out the groups I created today: Thomas Nelson Employees, Thomas Nelson Authors, and Women of Faith & Revolve Speakers.

3. Bit.ly is just as cool as Tr.im, if not cooler.

What is bit.ly you ask?

If you are looking for a way to abbreviate URLs be sure to register. It not only gives you visibility to how many people have clicked on your links, but also conversations that are happening about your links.

And that is all you are getting for today.

Now your turn, what did you learn today?

I feel like I go through seasons where everyone I know is talking about “StrengthsFinders.” And thankfully this is one of those seasons, because I love, love, love talking about Strengths. (Check out Spence talking about them here and Jenni talking about them here.)

Here’s more information about StrengthsFinder from Strengths.Gallup.Com

Here my top five Strengths:

Focus
People strong in the Focus theme can take a direction, follow through, and make the corrections necessary to stay on track. They prioritize, then act. (If you want to drive me completely crazy, just tell a long drawn out off-subject story during an important meeting.) (more…)

As I said, Catalyst overwhelmed. The whole conference was amazing. But for me, one moment stood out. One moment broke my heart. And thankfully they caught it on video. So grab some kleenex, set aside eighteen minutes, and watch this. I promise you will be glad you did.

Catalyst 2009 Compassion Moment from Catalyst on Vimeo.

Something about Jimmy’s story broke my heart. But it broke my heart in a good way. Is that possible? Because Jimmy’s story reminded me that I can make a difference, I can help put an end to poverty in the world. But I need to DO SOMETHING.

I am still processing through the moment Catalyst so beautifully captured, still processing how I can make a difference in the lives of the children I sponsor through Compassion and WorldVision, and still processing what I should do with the knowledge and understanding that there are 143 MILLION ORPHANS in the world.

What did you learn from Jimmy’s story?

I am a QUITTER and I am proud of it. I know that sounds odd because quitting is typically shameful. But I am not ashamed, not now.

You see quitting is unnatural to me. I have always stuck with things to the very end, always felt too responsible to bail out of commitments, always worn myself out with impracticable commitments.

But not anymore, because today I proudly said, “I QUIT” to a volunteer commitment that had been hanging over my head and exhausting me. (more…)

I went into Catalyst with some incredibly high expectations. And I did not leave disappointed. I left exhausted, like every ounce of me (body, soul and mind) was stretched to the absolute limit, but not the slightest bit disappointed. Brad Lomenick and his team have certainly figured out how to produce a WOW event.

As you can imagine, I need some time (like a year) to process everything I experienced, but here are some quick highlights:

• Hanging out with friends, new and old at Brad Ruggles’ Bloggers Meetup. The event was a wonderful testament to how powerful social media in building community.
• Hearing some strong and passionate Christian voices like Matt Chandler, Reggie Joiner, Andy Stanley, Dave Ramsey, Louie Giglio, and Priscilla Shirer. Each left their “mark” on me.
• Worshiping with 13,000 believers. One of the most moving moments of the entire conference was when Todd Fields led us in his beautiful rendition of It is Well.
• Spending time with my boss, Michael Hyatt, and his daughter, Megan, and the entire Cross Point Church staff. I am so blessed to have all these people in my life and I am thankful for every moment that they invest in me.
• Watching a grown man in a leotard dive (or more accurately perform a belly flop) from 35 foot high platform into a baby pool. Don’t take my word for it, you can watch it here.

And some quick pictures:

More details about Catalyst ’09 aka #cat09 to come. I promise.

If you attended, what were some of your highlights?

On Tuesday afternoon I am headed to Atlanta for Catalyst ’09.

I can not wait. This will be my first “full” Catalyst experience (I attended the One Day this Spring) and I can’t wait to soak it in.

The Catalyst Conference is the largest gathering of young leaders in the country, but it pains us to call it just a conference. Catalyst is more than just a three-day event – it’s a movement, a convergence, an experience where you find yourself fully immersed in learning, worship, and creativity. Catalyst brings people together – the influencers, the do-ers, the cultural architects, and the change agents who will reclaim our communities and culture for good.

Catalyst has been described many ways but once you’ve experienced it, you’ll call it what we call it – pure leadership adrenaline.

Here are a just a handful of the things I am excited about:

1. Spending a few days away with friends and colleagues. We have about ten folks from Thomas Nelson attending and the entire CrossPoint Church staff will be there not to mention other fun friends that I don’t get to see enough like Megan Miller and Jessica Esch. (more…)