Staff Wives at Catalyst
My first day at Catalyst dawned REALLY early – doors don’t open until 8am but our Catalyst veterans knew that we needed to be there in line by 6:30. It was a little chilly waiting in line but the Catalyst people had a great cover band playing, free coffee from Land of a Thousand Hills and general excitement. As it got closer to go time, we unveiled this year’s “head on a stick” – Nicole and Jonathan! Our enthusiastic waving and cheering with them earned us a spot on the recap video on day 2.
When the doors opened, a few of the guys charged in to get decent seats in the arena while the rest of us walked around to some of the vendors and got lots of free t-shirts, water bottles, and other goodies. In the arena, we opened with some singing with the North Point worship team and it was SO cool to be worshiping with 13,000 people. Andy Stanley was the first speaker and he talked about what makes a leader. I loved what he said when he said that sometimes, it’s more important to make a difference than make a point. After Andy, Pat Lencioni spoke. He’s a business leader who spoke about how to make and create healthy teams based on trust. After that was lunch at Subway with the group – much cheaper and faster than trying to get something on site. The afternoon sessions featured Perry Noble, Christine Cannon, and a few other interviews. My favorites were this researcher who wrote a book called Quiet: The power of introverts in a culture that won’t stop talking. I found her ideas fascinating particularly in the context of the classroom where we value extroverts and almost subconsciously deem quiet students as less than adequate. I bought her book and am loving it so far 🙂 Christine Caine was powerful also, she focused on inter-generational leadership “If you don’t honor those who came before you, you will forget that there is a generation coming after you.” By the time the last session was over, I needed a serious brain break – my head felt like it was going to to explode from all the information and emotion I had taken in. Brad, Rachel, Josh and I escaped to some balcony (with our $8 pizzas) to try and have some quiet to debrief. That night Francis Chan spoke and we finally went to bed around 11:30.
Friday morning we didn’t have to be there quite as early but still EARLY. That morning we heard from Craig Groschel and Matt Chandler. That afternoon we heard Geoffrey Canada and Andy Stanley again. Geoffrey is the guy who has done so much educational reform in Harlem with the creation of some fabulous charter school. I really admire him and understand his passion for wanting to rebuild communities by creating hope through education. I even got to meet him afterward!
We headed home on the long drive at about 5 o’clock. We made it home by about 4:30, Josh stayed awake by rapping. I don’t feel like this post has done the event justice – just know that it is an amazing, life-changing experience and you ever have the chance, GO!
Adventures with the Morgans 