We had an awesome time in Orlando last week! John and Jen were already vacationing in Florida so the hubby and I met them in Orlando at the National Church Planter's Conference.  I have always wanted to go and I was not disappointed.

I sat so close to Louie Giglio & Mark Batterson that I could have reached out and touched them! Awesome men of God that have accomplished incredible things for the Lord's Kingdom!

I also bumped into and got to hug one of my favorite mentors and encouragers, Dan Sutherland!

There were over 3000 pastors there from all over the country and around the world and when we all took communion together, WOW!  The Holy Spirit filled the sanctuary in such a powerful way that I couldn't stop the tears from flowing!  Amazing!

One of the best parts was the very last speaker of the conference, Francis Chan.  He is such a spirit-filled man!  So incredibly humble and broken for God!  I thought He was the greatest inspiration of all because of the great humility in which he speaks of his relationship with Christ!

In obedience to God, he just resigned from his HUGE church and has no idea what God will lead him to next.  He just wants to be totally broken and open to God's leading.  For him to walk away from all his success at this point in his life is truly AMAZING!  To Christ be the glory! 

I saw some speakers / pastors that seemed so full of pride and arrogance!  And then they would brag about how humble they were.  Huh?  I wasn't convinced!  Our country wants to make superstars out of people, even pastors!  And many pastors fall into the trap of believing they are some kind of superstar.  Sooo not good!

We are all called to be servants of the only One who is really GOOD!  We are by choice called to be slaves of the Great I AM! What an incredible privilege! We are called to lay down our lives in order to serve His Kingdom & purposes!  There is no room for pride in all that.  There is only humility!

When God first called me to plant this church, He asked me if I was willing to be a failure in the eyes of the world in order to be a 'success' in His eyes?  I was so scared of failure!  But God wanted me to learn that the way He defines success and failure are totally different than the way the world defines success and failure.

The only way for anyone to be truly successful is for them to be obedient to doing whatever God has called them to do.  It's just that simple.  It's not about success as the world defines it.  The question all of us should answer is this:  "Are YOU being obedient to doing what God wants you to do?"

If the answer is yes, then there is no other definition of success that is true or that will matter at the end of your life.  I believe that is the question Jesus will ask all of us.  Did you do what I asked you to do?  Yes, or no???

At the end of our lives, it doesn't matter one bit what the world thinks of us.  All that will matter is what God thinks of us.  Does He see Christ in us?  Do our lives reflect the light and love of our Lord and Savior?

No matter what you've accomplished or how many times you've failed, that's the only question that REALLY matters!

Yes, God has blessed our church and my ministry in more ways than I could have ever imagined.  I am so excited to be a part of His amazing redemptive work! But whether I serve in a growing church or I serve Him in ways that no one ever sees but Him, the bottom line is my peace comes from being obedient to doing whatever He calls me to do!

Listening to Francis Chan made me think, wow, he wants to go back to doing what I get to do every day!  He's had enough of being famous and being the big superstar.  He wants to get back to the simple every day serving the LORD stuff.  I want to learn more and more of what it means to be a simple servant of Christ and not focus on anything else!

The best part of what I do as a servant/ pastor is that I get to see Jesus in the lives of others every single day!  It's like walking on water with Jesus. Yeah, it's a little scary at times when those storms come up out of no-where!  And many times I've begun to sink down just like Peter!  But everytime I've cried out: "LORD, SAVE ME!"  He's always reached out His hand and pulled me up and said: "Daughter, why do you have so little faith?"

The answer is:  I don't know!  I'm humbled! He deserves so much more from me after all this time.  I know it happens because I lose my focus at times and I become afraid, just like Peter.  Fear truly is the enemy of faith.

But Jesus never ever lets ME down, and He NEVER let's go! 

And His grace STILL AMAZES ME!!! (link to one of my favorite songs!)

To Him be the GLORY forever and ever, AMEN!

Your Grace Still Amazes Me

My faithful Father, enduring Friend
Your tender mercy’s like a river with no end
It overwhelms me, covers my sin
Each time I come into Your presence
I stand in wonder once again

CHORUS:
Your grace still amazes me
Your love is still a mystery
Each day I fall on my knees
Your grace still amazes me
‘Cause Your grace still amazes me

Oh, patient Saviour, You make me whole
You are the Author and the Healer of my soul
What can I give You, Lord, what can I say
I know there’s no way to repay You
Only to offer You my praise

It’s deeper, it’s wider
It’s stronger, it’s higher
It’s deeper it’s wider
It’s stronger, it’s higher
than anything my eyes can see