This past week Bret and I had the opportunity to head to Atlanta to attend Catalyst '08 with 12,400 of our closest friends. Catalyst is a conference for church leaders. Talk about a mind-boggling, adrenaline filled couple of days. Here is a brief recap of our journey.
Growing up, I remember my elementary school friends talking about their favorite restaurants (McDonalds, Taco Bell, etc.). Mine was always without a doubt, Houston's. Locat
ed on West End in Nashville, this restaurant represented more to me than just a place to eat. Granted the food was unsurpassed, the memories associated with growing up eating there hold a special place in my heart. From birthdays, to basketball games, the last day of camp at Vandy, to tough test weeks at LU... anyone close to me knew that a trip to Houston's made Lanie's world a better place. Unfortunately, the Nashville Houston's shut down a couple years ago. Although my family was devastated, we have managed to make it by arranging special trips to the locations still in operation. We ate at the one in Ft. Lauderdale the week we got engaged, the one in Memphis for my bachelorette weekend, and now the one in Atlanta on our way to Catalyst. Bret was sweet to have reservations for us as we got into town. The spinach dip and club salad tasted just like it always did. It got our trip started right!
We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn (thank you Hilton Honors), within walking distance of the Gwinnett Center Arena.
We arrived early to get some seats and meet up with the other crew from Homewood. Even before the sessions began, the energy was amazing. People came from all 50 states and 15 different countries to come. There is an entire staff of people that plan all year for this event. Check out the website at:
http://www.catalystconference.com/They have a phenomenal line-up of speakers planned every year. They have a knack for bringing together authors and experts in their field, whether it be business, research, church planning, or marketing to share insight on the topic of "Together." Some of the names on this year's schedule were:
Andy Stanley ................Dave Ramsey
William Paul Young
(author of The Shack)
... Jim Collins, Franklin Graham, Seth Godin, Craig Groeschel, Steven Furtick and others.
The sessions were sprinkled with great worship times and performances by big name Christian artists like Steven Fee and Jon Foreman (the lead singer of Switchfoot).
They also have a lot of creative ways to have fun. Each year they have broken a new Guinness World Record. They also have over the top ways of illustrating messages... like driving an actual school bus into the arena or bringing a live elephant, donkey and pig out on stage. They also have great technology and put together awesome videos as the conference progresses.
Another neat opportunity Catalyst offers is a chance to learn more about great mission efforts and charitable organizations. Works like the
410 bridge,
Hoops of Hope,
Call + Response, Compassion International, hurricane relief and others shared moving stories of the way God is moving through these programs.
Jeff Foxworthy was there to share about his experience in support of the
Daraja Children's Choir of Africa. These kids travel to the states on tour each year and performed at Catalyst. They had one of the most moving displays of faith, hope and sincere energy for God that I've ever seen.
We also got to share discussion time with our group from Homewood. As a result we got to know those couples on a much more personal level.
Here is a picture of the girls:
Wendy (due in December), Me, Alyson, Jennifer, and Beth
God blessed us so much with the opportunity to experience such a spirit-filled few days. I would love to tell you more about the messages that were shared, but obviously this blog is too long as it is. I encourage you to pursue ways to stretch and grow your faith, your relationship with God and your marriage. God will surely bless those efforts.
Love and peace!
