Willow Creek

I (Josh) recently went to a conference for my work in Chicago. It was an unbelievable time of worship, refreshment, refocus, and growth both professionally and personally. Here are some pics of where I went. The guy in the pic with me is one of my leaders, Mark Smith.

Can't see much but there's the stage.
The coffee shop. Woman in center holding coffee was one of the conference main speakers and is at a mega chuch in DC.
The book store.
 A wonderful depiction of what color all of the trees are in Illinois.
Me and Mark with about half of the Willow Creek campus in the background
Oops duplicate
Worship leader.....incredible! Right up there with Tomlin, Hall, and Crowder

 

Here are some pics of what's been going on.

For Breleigh

A video for Breleigh.

'Reset' button

Wow! My kids are growing up. Adjusting to life with 2 kids has been hard but we're making it through and will carry on as we have. I got a call this week letting me know that the wife of a former boss of mine died unexpectedly. Of course this was a shock and since I'm a minister, I guess people assume there's some protocol ministers follow when someone dies. Well, I'm not aware of any protocol I'm supposed to follow except to make sure the bereaved know the they are being prayed for and to, if necessary, sit in the "ashes" with them.

What this news did cause me to do is wonder what the woman was thinking before she died. She had 3 grown children and I wonder how many times she thought back to when her kids were small and she was doing everything she could just to make it through the day. Yet, despite the all of the struggling, and all of craziness, she found a way to be mommy to these little kids. The grit, determination, fortitude, and stamina it takes to raise a child in the world of yesterday was found in the fabric of her being. I've never met the woman in my whole life but she raised 3 kids which in my book makes her worthy of remembrance. 

This entire situation immediately focuses my attention on my 2 blessings from heaven. How many moments have I let slip by because I was too "busy"? How much time have I wasted be "doing" things in life? We are not guaranteed tomorrow and the one thing that we can take with us when we cross death's doorstep is our relationships. What a wake-up call! 

Lastly, a great way to sum up what this woman's death has meant to me is it has hit my 'reset' button. Tomorrow is a new day, tomorrow we can start anew, tomorrow our lives can touch others in a positive way. May God be with me as the things that are important to me come to the forefront of my life and the things that will fade in eternity pass away.

In memory of Talula Hawk 8-26-08

New Pics cont.

New Pics

Rhetoric and Cadence

The study of rhetoric and cadence is increasingly attracting my interest. My occupation requires me to do many things including writing to an audience of 2,800 people and at times speaking to audiences totaling 1000. So...rhetoric and cadence are in essence part of my job. There have been time when I have been criticized for my public speaking (mainly the cadence part) and there have been times when I have been complemented on my ability to put together well thought-out sentences (rhetoric). I am young when it comes to this area, but that just fuels my desire to learn how to captivate audiences and move them to a place they rarely visit.

Recently I have been watching the best drama ever filmed, The West Wing. Aaron Sorkin in my opinion is a master writer. The speeches President Bartlett delivers, especially during re-election in season 4 are nothing short of magical. 

"We did not seek nor did we provoke an assault on our freedom, we did not expect nor did we invite a confrontation with evil." "Yet everytime we think we've met our capacity to meet a challendge, we look up and find that our capacity may well be limitless."

I'll get better I know...I just hope that I'll eventually move people to the place they rarely visit and when they get there I can say to myself "well done".