The Summit

Have you ever climbed a mountain? Have you ever been pushed by the elements so much so that you wanted to retreat and retreat quickly? Have you pushed through those elements and made it to the top?

Literally speaking, I did this back in the summer of 2004 hiking up the mountain to Bonanza Mine in Alaska with a dear friend, Lynn (54 year old woman who smoked me). I remember the feeling once I reached the top (and I FINALLY caught my breath)---I was high. My adrenaline was pumping, I was trying to take in the masterpiece that laid out before me and I wanted to remember every single detail: the smell, the feel of the cool breeze, my legs aching, the true blue of the sky. It was life changing. Our trip down proved to be just as challenging in very different ways. The slip of our footing on the loose rocks, the grind of my boots against my falling off toe nails and the last bit, our trip through some brush that had thorns. Once we reached our home, the high returned while sharing what we had just done with all of our friends.

Well friends, I had this feeling once again this last week going to another Summit. Since being hired on at EBC in both roles, I have heard about the most favorite thing of the year-The Leadership Summit. Heath and I have toyed around with attending this on our own the last couple of summers, but never made it. I had NO idea what I was in for. None. The Leadership Summit happens out of Willow Creek Church in Chicago and we are a MN satellite that hosts around 1000 leaders from the area. It is a faith based gathering, but many MANY leaders in non-ministry positions attended. Even one of our own Kid-O-Deo volunteers who owns a garage door business! I have been to a fair share of workshops over the years in the public education field. Needless to say I was a little wary of going and listening to speakers for 16 hours when I had so much other work to be done. I had little faith in what I could take away from something like this both professionally and personally.

There is no way I can encapsulate everything that happened to me or my team in those two days, but I would love to share a few highlights a little selfishly to relive the high!

1. Bill Hybels-I so enjoyed listening to this man speak. I have heard mixed reviews on Bill and his church therefore had my guard up, but I am finally glad I have had the opportunity to listen to him myself and learn from him. He is a phenomenal, humble, authentic leader that has one of the strongest convictions to reach others for Christ I have ever witnessed. He is the senior pastor at Willow Creek and I so enjoyed worshipping with the Willow team-it was amazing to see God rocking the house!

2. Gary Haugen -This man single handily rocked my boat forever more. This man through God has fanned a flame that has always burnt inside me but has been dampened for a few reasons in the last years. He is the founder of International Justice Mission. He put some challenges forth on my heart that I hope to take action on in the very near future.

3. Three Mn Homeboys-Efrem Smith is a pastor in North Minneapolis at The Sanctuary church. He was a hilarious speaker, but opened my eyes to some leadership aspects that I will probably be wrestling with for some time to come. But I DEFINITELY want to check out hip-hop Sundays (3rd of the month) with Alicia and The Boys. The former CEO of Medtronic was there, Bill George. He really gave me some take aways that I feel I can implement right away with little effort. Brad Anderson the CEO of Best Buy was also interviewed and out of all the sessions, I felt he gave the best nuts and bolts to leadership of the whole two days. All of these men are Christians leading right here in our area that try hard to bring their faith into the way they lead every day. Inspiring!

4. Craig Groeschel's (Sr Pastor at LiveChurch.tv) session on "IT" was out of the ball park! I can't wait to take in church via the web with this guy. I was challenged on my leadership through scripture A LOT during these 90 minutes and I can't wait to continue digesting it.

5. Catherine Rohr-WOW! If you click to any link about anything, click to this one. This woman has impacted me for life. Her obedience, her sacrifice, her fire...I am inspired!

6. Being with my team. The women I work with here are some of the hardest workers I know. They inspire me. They challenge me. They make me laugh. They tolerate me and my craziness. Our team is ever changing in Kid-O-Deo with a new staff member coming on board and one leaving-but for those two days, we were together learning about and worshiping God together.

I will forever treasure my Summit experiences professionally and personally. It has impacted me greatly to change the trajectory of my life for very different reasons. Mainly, I took a break from the mundane details to be inspired and filled up. I have a list of people I would love to invite to join me at the top next year, but if this intrigues you, let me know so I can add you that list. I truly wish somebody would have personally prompted me in the last summers to at least check it out once. Let's climb a mountain together, let's be challenged and push through. August 6-7 2009!