the window: Catalyst 2011

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Catalyst 2011

Refreshing. Renewing. Fun. Those are the words that are Catalyst for me. 2 days in ATL with 13K other church lay and staff leaders. There is SO much out of the last two days that to try and break it down for you would be a short novel. So I'm gonna bullet point things that stood out to me.

*Andy Stanley: "Do for one what you wish you could do for many." Burn out and struggling with how to fill the relational needs of 15 people at the same time...a lil bit of what my struggle has been with Crash. First session was an immediate answer from God.

*Phil Collins session had one point that totally stood out for me. He said, "Life is people." Following hard on the heels of the idea of burn out and feeling pulled in many directions is the thought of priorities. I'm an ambitious person but if I look at the world and the end of my life having a successful business and a certain level of fame isn't really what I think God wants for me, or to be honest what I want for myself. It was a good reminder to pull back and where maybe church had been coming in second to work, to rearrange that a little bit.

The 8 of us CRASH girls were the coolest kids there, obviously and being the relational creature that I am the conversations with my ladies = heart filled.

* Jo's face cream jar that resembles mayo
*Andy walking out of the hotel on morning one and responding to the cheerful clerk's good morning with, "so you know where we're going". haha. Nope.
*Speed dating with Melissa for 6 hours
* Challenging the boys back at the Ridge to a plank war. More on that later.
* H&M. H&M. H&M.
* The Cupid Shuffle with Faith and Angie and a hundred of my new friends.
* conversations with all of them that went deep places that were good for us and for our walk with Jesus.

My favorite speakers were definitely day number 2. Mark Driscoll!!!!!!!

* Fear Not. every time God says fear not, it's followed with I am with you.

* Fear of anything or anyone except God is a form of idolatry.

And Priscilla Shirer was so good. She just made me want to stand up and do something amazing for God. Immediately.

*Hillsong NYC was there the first day to be the worship leaders. Ok. Can I be perfectly serious and tell you that I had to pray during the worship to be able to focus and separate myself from the fact that Joel Houston is freaking gorgeous. Freaking gorgeous + Aussie accent = every single woman in the room distracted. Putting Joel aside, the worship was everything you expect from Hillsong. And praising God with 13K people is pretty powerful.

The fall out from Catalyst for me, that I think will be the most lifechanging will be that I finally said yes to what God's been asking me for a while and I'm on the teaching team for Crash now. That's scary for me not in the sense of the teaching or the speaking, but in the time commitment aspects. But that is obedience too, life is people. And maybe God is changing my focus from my business being central to my business being a source of fuel for ministry. Still thinking that one through.

I love my church. I'm overwhelmed with thankfulness for Blue Ridge for the ways God has used them in my life. The people I love and love to serve with and the teaching that feeds my soul. Here's a few more pics from the week, plus a sample of our planking. Sometimes silly is fun. :)