Here’s today’s Friday Fun:

• Mick woke me up at 5:30 a.m. to go outside
• Couldn’t go back to sleep so indulged in a fiction book for 45 minutes
• Blueberry bagel and Teavana English breakfast tea for breakfast
• Ran 8 miles with Ashley in Percy Warner Park; I’m nursing a sore calf muscle but did pretty well
• Went shopping with Ashley for staff trip; I can’t wait to share details soon!
• Catching up on some work this afternoon
• Meeting my sister for dinner at La Paz and then to see Made of Honor – total girl night… I’m so excited!
• Best of all, Merlyn comes home tonight after being gone ALL week!

What did you do today?

There has been a battling waging in the Catron house lately.

I have been accused of being a thief.

A thief of the covers during the night.

I live with a detective, so he can make a pretty compelling case, HOWEVER I have proof that I am not the thief that he claims….

Please note Exhibit A:

Side A:Side B

Side A is Merlyn’s side of the bed. Nice and tidy because he is out of town this week.

Side B is my side of the bed immediately after getting up this morning. Notice how the disruption of the covers is confined to ONLY my side of the bed. Wouldn’t a true “cover stealer” take advantage of all of the covers?

I rest my case.

What’s your recurring domestic war?

Yesterday I had the privilege to hang out with two young women that attend Cross Point. One of them I just met this week, the other I have been getting to know over the last couple of months.

They are both single 20-somethings.

They are focused and purposeful – one just opened her own business, the other is headed off to NYC for an amazing internship and then headed to grad school.

One is going through a break-up, the other is just beginning a relationship.

They both love God passionately.

They both are skeptical of the church. They each in their own way experienced some junk in the church growing up that has made them question God, question their faith, question the church, question religion.

They have doubted. One rebelled.

They both have renewed hope in the church because of their experience at Cross Point and that makes me so excited!

I believe these ladies represent the feelings of their generation. They are looking for a faith that is real, a little raw and a lot honest. They want to see the church practice what we preach and LOVE people first. They don’t expect perfection… in fact they loathe the facade of perfection. They know Cross Point won’t get it all right and that is ok as long as we don’t pretend to. They don’t expect the people at Cross Point to be perfect, they just want to see us striving to be Christ-like.

These young women give me hope that this generation is not as lost as some have feared. They are just trying to find a place where faith is authentically lived out.

I’m proud that Cross Point has become a place where this generation is finding renewed hope in the church. I’m humbled by the responsibility we have to create such a place.

Is your church a place where the disenchanted can find new hope?

I read this post over at Gifted for Leadership and it reminded of a journal entry I made after watching Mary Poppins with my sister over the holidays. (FYI – Jes and I loved Mary Poppins as a kid so she bought me the 40th anniversary edition a couple of years ago.)

I’m kind of a geek in that I find a leadership example in nearly everything… even Mary Poppins.

Here’s why Mary is supercalifragilisticexpialidocious:

• confident
• firm, but fun
• direct, but not the “b” word!
• no nonsense
• friendly, pleasant, happy
• not stressed
• not a people-pleaser
• comfortable with who she is and the role she is supposed to play

What do you love about Mary? Come on, I know you love her too!

This week has been insanely busy already and it doesn’t look like it’s going to slow down much. Fortunately I love my job so I kind of feed off of the intensity.

Here’s a run down of today:

• Weekly breakfast with Pete
• Programming meeting with Matt, Jarrod, Chad, Butch & Pete to plan the services for Nashville and Dickson
• Staff meeting followed by staff lunch at US Border Mexican and cake for Chad’s birthday
• Several meetings with staff and an elder
• Our monthly Board of Directors meeting was tonight – I always enjoy the lively discussions with these guys!

Days like today remind me of what amazing people I am privileged to work with. They stretch me, they challenge me, they encourage me, they support me, they make me laugh, sometimes they make me cry, but they always make me better.

Who do you enjoy working with and why?

By they way… you should tell them!

Great leaders create great problems.

If you’re not willing to create problems; you’re not willing to lead.

Leaders create problems by changing expectations.

Many churches that have been stagnant for years do not consider themselves to have any real problems.

Only when a leader begins to call them out of the status quo does it begin to be perceived as a problem.

Erwin McMannus

What problems are you creating?

Pat Rowland spoke today at Cross Point Nashville about “Leaving a Legacy”. Here are some highlights:

• Scripture reference was 1 Samuel 1:10-13, 28 about Hannah
• Legacy is not just how you are remembered, it is about how you have affected those around you
• Legacy doesn’t come just by chance
• Memories alone won’t have the same impact as the legacy you create

Oh and I have to mention that the highlight of the day for me was my husband singing the Sanctus Real song “Legacy”. I know I’m a bit biased but he is a rock star, isn’t he?

Seriously though, what are you doing to leave a legacy? How are you building into the lives of those around you?

Since I work Sunday through Thursday, I enjoy Fridays and Saturdays off and since Merlyn is working on Fridays, Fridays have become my designated “fun” day… a day for me to do whatever I want to do while the rest of the world is working.

Here’s some of my Friday Fun for this week:

• Ran 5 miles with Ash
• Met the running team (Rachel, Shelby & Ashley) for a post race breakfast get together
• Went to Teavana – one of my absolute favorite stores – and got a new supply of Roobios Orange tea and Mrs. Earl Gray tea
• Got some new lip gloss at Whole Foods Body
• Bought a running skirt – I’ve been wanting one of these for awhile – they are so cute! (I’m always looking for an excuse to keep me motivated to run… this should be good for a few extra miles this week!)
• Doing some laundry… I know that doesn’t sound like fun, but my sick, twisted A type personality finds great joy in getting stuff crossed off my list!
• Reading!
• Going to dinner with my husband since his softball games were cancelled

“The local church should be the best organization to work for in the city. It should be the best run organization because we have a product that we believe will change people’s lives forever.”

Andy Stanley made these statements at the Drive Conference this week and I wanted to spring off my chair and shout a big AMEN! (Those of you who know me well, know there was really no chance of that happening, but if I were wired that way, I just might have.)

Anyway… his comments reminded me of a paragraph that I wrote when I first came on staff at Cross Point. I came from the business world and when I first started talking to Pete about working on church staff I had some difficultly seeing how my gifts and skills could help the church.

This is what I wrote:

I believe the church can be the dominant organization/source of affiliation for individuals. By providing exceptional opportunities for community, personal and spiritual growth, technical training, leadership development, etc, the church can become a dominant influence in a person’s life. It should be the source of inspiration and belonging that people long for. It should equip people for the workplace. It should be the place for people to explore their gifts, talents and dreams.

The church should be well-respected by the community because of the value of it’s leaders and the contributions of it’s members to society. It should be the premiere volunteer organization. It should be the organization that all other businesses in the community look to for leadership and excellence.

What do you think? Do you think the church can have this kind of influence?

Just read THIS!