I attended the Global Leadership Summit this summer for the first time in a number of years.
I really debated going because I am no longer in any formal leadership roles, but to be honest, my
heart gets going faster when it comes to this topic and so, my husband and I went together. As per
usual, there was a truckload of information in just 2 days. It's always like drinking from a fire hose,
but this time I was able to take a step back and look for the 2 big ideas that stood out to me.
They were very easy to find and even now to remember. Funny how much I have needed these 2 ideas this September. The first was a session I truly enjoyed about the power of introverts and the
fact that it is not a shameful thing to be introverted, just a challenge. The word that stood out was
Frenzy and how that is not what I want in my life or particularly in my writing world. I do not want this quiet gift in my life to get cluttered, loud or lost. I enjoy this place in my heart and I am learning to embrace it and have to continually set aside fear while I am here. Fear that I will lose the joy, fear that someone else will take over and fear that a demand for perfection or performance will creep in. These are the same fears that often kept me from writing at all, while my fingers itched to hold a pen and I was distracted often, because I was writing in my head, yet afraid to let it out. I am realizing that Frenzy is a choice and not a consequence of allowing myself to write. I am grateful to be able to embrace introversion and push away fear. I will journey on and be quiet about it!!!
The other most important idea that is resonating in my heart and mind is the word Famous. Louie Giglio was the closing speaker at the Summit and he put into words for me, something that I have struggled to name and walk with in my life. Often, in the Bible or in writings I read, the authors talk about living to glorify God and I want that in my life. It's a word that we either overuse or misuse and it has lost its saltiness in my thinking. Giglio began to talk about his life's passion and that was to make Jesus the most famous one in his own life. To think about making Him known for His awesomeness and living like that. That hit a target in me. That's the "today" version of glorifying God and living with that in mind. Famous! How much do I read about celebrities, or dream about my kids being known for their giftedness and wanting to express to the world how great they are? The idea that makes my heart sing the most, is making God famous in my life, so that people know that He is the center of my world and all good things in my life are simply gifts from One who loves me well and is worthy of all my admiration and devotion. Famous! What a great word!
Even as I write, I am laughing because Frenzy describes my outside life and Famous is what I am most definitely not! The speed of life this September has been nothing short of astonishing. We have had major car troubles, kids' stuff, engagements, illness and noise all month. I am finding that I have no answers for anything, other than to pray for strength and wisdom and step into the day. When I fall into my bed at night, I am grateful for the grace given to get through the day and exhausted by the sheer magnitude of all the lives swirling around me and the hurts and cares that each one is facing. Mean girls, prolonged illness, consequences of bad choices, rejection, pressures to perform well, money shortages and weariness of heart. I want our home to be a place of peace and protection before they head back out there, but to do that, I need some extra gifts of grace, wisdom, humour, and strength to face all the cooking and laundry that is required! God is so good and when I am in bed at night, I can see His hand on so many situations that I was merely surviving and yet He gave words and eyes to see what was needed in that moment. Those gifts are His peace in the midst of the frenzy going on all around me. He has a method in all this madness!
I will carry on. There is no other options. Not when I know the Famous One, who conquers Frenzy and is above all else, worthy of the Fame that only He can handle and most definitely deserves.
Just thinking.
