On the Horizon

Now that Worthy 2013 is behind us (such an odd feeling), we must look forward. A week ago today, a few of the leaders and I met for the first leadership meeting post-retreat, as well as some fellowship time. After a trip to the pond and a Menchies frozen-yogurt run (a few of the girls exclaimed "Can we do this for every leadership meeting!?"), we got to work.

First up on the agenda was going over the evaluation forms from Worthy 2013, and after synthesizing the feedback we discussed possible improvements for next year's retreat. Earlier departure times, longer worship with an outside band, more preparation and handouts for each session, more small group time and longer breaks less often, a price increase, Bible study ideas, as well as a few things I'll keep under wraps (some things are a surprise for Worthy 2014!) flowed out of us and onto a big dry erase board set up in my basement. After that hour and a half of planning, I'm already excited for next June's retreat and am looking forward to how the Holy Spirit will move among us as we prepare for Worthy 2014.

Next we moved onto the upcoming Leadership Summit in August (the 17th to be exact! See below for the registration form if you're interested in attending :D). Akin to so many times in the past 13 months of planning for Worthy, I had never planned a one day retreat before, so we started by staring at the list of 8 possible topics scrawled on the dry erase board. The girls passed around my copy of The Catalyst Leader by Brad Lomenick, perusing the pages and choosing topics they liked, as I tried to hammer out a possible schedule. We settled (tentatively) on four 2-hour sessions with meal breaks and a 'siesta' break from 2-3pm, and ending with an hour and a half to two hours of worship. Leaving planning for the Leadership Summit there until the next leadership meeting, and being that it was 11:15pm, we decided to take a food break.

After munching on chips, animal crackers, and too many gummy worms, we refocused (as best we could at that time of night) to discuss Worthy as a ministry in general. From staff-intern mentoring, support-raising presentations at our churches, to a lot of calendar planning (leadership meetings, monthly fun events as well as promotional events), we concluded the meeting portion of our evening with smiling faces and joyful hearts. There truly isn't, in my opinion, anything like when you get a room full of young women whose hearts all burn for the same thing. It's truly incredible.

As I have set out this week with my list of 'to-do's' for Worthy, amidst work at The Father's House and a summer Public Speaking class two nights a week, I began to understand what so many have said about your heart being revealed in the little things. It's one thing to be extremely passionate and on fire about Worthy and the vision God has given me for it while on retreat, and it's quite another thing to carry that passion and vision with me day in and day out, fitting a few e-mails or half a chapter of The Catalyst Leader in in-between reports and speech drafts. I'm starting to learn what Brad talks about when he says "It's not the short sprint that shapes us but the perseverance in a particular task. Be faithful in the small things. Our character and who we are as leaders is mostly created by how we behave and grow when no one is watching" (The Catalyst Leader 144).
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WORTHY Summer Leadership Summit Registration Form