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| Kent Singletary at MOMENTUM - great vision-caster! |
I went to Nashville this week. Saw very little of the city - mostly sat in a conference room for three days. But there were some great benefits to this trip. In no particular order, here they are:
- Road trip with Brian Hughes. All you need to know is this: donuts, crazy driving, several moments of purely hysterical laughter and constant starvation. Seriously, the guy is FUN.
- Road trip with Susan Hughes. It's obvious that God is good, because he gave Susan to Brian. She is calm, cool, collected and incredibly wise. Also, tons of FUN - but without the donuts.
- Road trip with Tony Stoddard. Serious, careful, maintainer of vehicles and lover of Dairy Queen. Seriously, the opportunity to spend over 10 hours in the car each way with my husband was a major win. Haven't seen much of him lately, so this was a nice second honeymoon. With Brian and Susan along for the ride.
- Sneaking into Jon Acuff's office after a tour of The Lampo Group. I didn't touch anything, just breathed in the fumes of funny.
- Being around a workplace that honors God and loves people as it does business. Brilliant and inspiring.
- Hearing a message of hope and freedom centered on money - still rocking my world. I am fascinated and am starting to see that God has been setting me up for this. Still processing.
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| Jon Acuff, in his office. Sort of. |
- Walking in the room to see Michael Easley. He is a minor celebrity in the Christian world - former president of Moody Bible Institute, now a teaching pastor at a big church in the Nashville area. But to me, he's the former pastor of Grand Prairie Bible Church, a preacher who sat with me in his office about 25 years ago and asked me one hard question, three times. I lamented my circumstances at the time - confusion, some failed relationships, a lack of focus and purpose - and he said, "Let me ask you something: Is Jesus the Lord of your life?" I mumbled something about church attendance and singing in the choir, and he asked the same question again. I responded with the proud assertation that I didn't even work on Sundays before 1PM - and then he asked again: "Is Jesus the Lord of your life?" My life shifted that night when I surrendered my way to God's way, unable to shake the persistence and truth of his question. I traveled to Nashville in my role as a pastor - a leader - at my church, and I ran smack dab into the guy who pushed me towards Jesus way back when. There's been a lot of water under and over the bridge since then - but that moment - and that question - were pivotal in my life. I wouldn't have been there this week if Mike Easley hadn't been there in Grand Prairie 25 years ago, willing to ask a hard question and offend me. He did both, and I will be eternally grateful.
More about the trip, what we learned and what we'll be sharing in the future - but let me assure you of this: God has put us on a path towards something that will completely transform not only our church but our community. This is
the thing; it's what we've been waiting for. It was confirmed for me several times, in several ways.
I'm ready.
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| Dave Ramsey on air |
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| The entrance to The Lampo Group Office |
3 comments:
Yay Jon Acuff! :)
It's pretty astounding to think about God working through someone...saying something profound, perhaps hard to take, perhaps inspiring, perhaps off the cuff...and it turns your life around FOREVER. And it puts you on a path that only God could have carved out for you. That is something worth reflecting upon, each of us. Glad you had a very tangible reminder in seeing your former pastor. I'm sure that was a God-appointment in Nashville.
Michael Easley is getting kind of creepy for Case/Stoddard folks... didn't I tell you that I ran into him backstage at Moody when I was playing a conference there?
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