NEXT!

Two weeks ago, I started Leadership Class at HPC and it has been phenomenal! It's only the 3rd week and I feel like I have learned so much already. A lot of it is not necessarily a revelation of things I didn't *know* so much as it's helping me to see them more clearly
It has been a very revealing class for me, personally. I am seeing major areas in my personal walk that I really need to work on!

Today, they talked about NEXT-LEVEL LEADERSHIP and I have enough notes for 10 blog posts -- it was so great!
Ann Morrow spoke to us about how we can be content, but not be satisfied, and this is a good thing! We should always be seeking to improve -- always asking Jesus to take us to the next level, spiritually.
No matter what "season" your life is in right now, learn to embrace it and seek to learn all you can from it -- whether the circumstances are good or bad. Embrace it with joy and without complaining; otherwise, you will not learn anything and you'll never move to the next level. This makes a lot of sense to me.

Often, life can hit us with circumstances that we never dreamed or imagined... and we often don't have a say in how things play out. But when we don't have control over the EXTERNAL, we do have control over the INTERNAL: Our response to what we are going through.
We can either choose to remain in the "victim" mode and kvetch and complain
OR
we can choose to accept the lessons and training that being caught in such a situation affords us.
If we choose to learn from it, there is a good chance that somewhere down the line, we will find that we are better equipped to handle another situation better, because of what we learned from this one. That may be hard to believe in life's toughest moments...
It's difficult to see the beauty in our darkest hour until another challenge illuminates the positive change in us.

So, will you stay where you are, or are you ready to move forward?

First Day of School!!!

This is too funny; I am like a giddy schoolgirl! Elevate classes start TONIGHT and I am so wired -- and I haven't even had my Red Bull yet today... ;)

Remember when you were little and your mom took you shopping for new crayons and notebooks and pencils for school? Remember how excited you were seeing all the new things -- fresh and ready for use -- still pristine in their boxes...? That's how I am right now. Last night, I packed up my old leather backpack (leftover from Graduate School 10 years ago!!) with my Elevate binders, my new notebooks, pencils, and pens. And I've been so antsy all day today; I can hardly get any work done.
I think it's weird that I would be this way; I hated school until I got to college. Really; I never enjoyed school; dreaded it every year. When I got to college, my trepidation turned to JOY when I realized it was NOTHING like school and I loved it so much, I spent 6 years getting my undergraduate degree. :) Of course, changing my major 3 times didn't help, either. Anyway, I will post tomorrow about my *first day of school*. Maybe by then I can actually FOCUS & tell you what it is I'm doing and why. :)