Alive and Well

I'll just give you a quick run-down in this post but later I'll talk in more depth about the last 10 days of my life.

We went to Orlando for the National New Church Conference. It was billed as the first of it's kind... a gathering of hundreds of potential and current church planters. Overall the conference was okay... It was geared more towards new church planters than it was for those of us who have been out for a little while. Ben already touched on this with his blog...but I became a huge Mark Driscoll fan this week. More on that later.

As for the conference... I wish they had more time for the speakers and I wish the speakers took Driscoll's lead in straying from the topic. It appeared to me that the bulk of the speakers were told to share their story of how they got into planting and maybe one or two hurdles they had to overcome to plant (again, great for someone considering planting but not much more than a warm story for those who have done it already). Anyway... Gene Appel from Willow Creek was a great closer to what was a who's who cast. I would have loved to hear more from these guys. I would have loved hearing some of their preaching and less of their story... I can read that online... Anyway... the conference was good for what it was and for who it was targeted.

MY FAVORITE PART of the week was simply being away. I told a friend that by day 3 I was fighting the desire to be back to work... I had to push through that temptation and just chill with my family. Once I did get past day 3, it was amazing. My body thanked me and my mind was able to relax. I recommend at least a week away to EVERYONE! Get away and seriously unwind... it's worth it.

I also appreciated hanging out with Ben Arment... The legand. Ben and I are in the same convention so we've kept up for the last two years or so. He was one of the men I sat down with when I was trying to discern God's calling on my life with regard to planting a church. In his wisdom he didn't give me any direction... (nor did the other two men) but rather just talked with me and pointed out his experience and pushed me to rely on the word and God's calling. Since that weekend at a small coffee shop in D.C., Ben has been a huge encouragement to me. This week was no exception. Thanks Mr. Arment.

A few places we went:
City Walk
Downtown Disney
The Outlets
Millineum Mall
Cirque du Soleil
Disney's Magic Kingdom

A few places we ate:
P.F. Changs
Hard Rock Cafe'
Bahama Breeze
Celebration

Now tomorrow evening I'll travel up to D.C. for the Buzz Conference. Should be fun.