Thanks for checking out the blog, yo! Below are all of my notes from the main sessions of the You Lost Me LIVE! conference that took place on Tuesday, January 31. I will blog about my takeaway and thoughts tomorrow but today, I thought I would just share the content. 

I am also giving away a hardcover edition of the book You Lost Me and two issues of Bittersweet*zine. How do you win? Simply share this post via Twitter or Facebook and drop a comment with why you want to win! It’s that simple. I will pick a winner on Thursday, February 2nd at 4:00PM (EST).

INTRODUCTION

by Mark Batterson // @markbatterson

“The days are done when it’s okay to get an A in biblical exegesis and an F in cultural exegesis.”
“My greatest failure has been that I have failed to lead our church in prayer corporately…”
“It’s not about relevance, it’s about incarnation.”
“I’m done brainstorming, it’s about prayer-storming.”
Arthur Mckenzie Story: battering ram vs. camping outside the walled city
“I’d rather have 1 God idea than 1,000 good ideas.”
“Prayer is the difference between you working for God and God works for you.”
“Pray like it depends on God and work like it depends on you. Game over.”

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Great title, right? I know, I know – I can be awesome sometimes. 

As many of you know, Hannah and I have been fundraising to join students on a spring break missions trip to Mexico. I have actually never been to Mexico and we had never been on a mission trip together. I was looking forward to brushing up on my Spanish and anytime I can eat carnitas and it counts as part of ministry, count me in! As we all got back on campus, we began to discuss the trip and the details.

Unfortunately, we ran into some obstacles. We didn’t have as many students sign-up as we had expected. Our team’s skill set didn’t match the projects available. There were more staff going than there were students.

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Okay, I know I am a little late to jump on the bandwagon for “end-of-the-year reflective posts”. I promise, it has been on my mind (and my task list) for over a week. As Hannah and I talked through last year, we still couldn’t believe everything that happened. It was a big year for us. We experienced God’s faithfulness, provision and peace in ways that we never had before. To be honest, I don’t even know where to start (and I probably forget a handful of things)…

After months of prayer and fasting at the end of 2010 and in the beginning of 2011, we felt that God was asking us to take a step of faith and to leave our jobs at Family Life Church so that we could minister to college students in Washington, DC. We love the people at the church and the staff team, so it was a challenge. Yet, as we told those around us of the transition – we found nothing but supportive people who offered their prayers and their resources to make this thing a reality. In those moments, we were humbled and honored to feel the love of so many. And it was in that time of transition, that as a couple, we really learned how to hear God’s will and discern his direction. I never want to forget that lesson. It wasn’t always easy but the hours we spent in prayer and fasting, were well worth it. I pray that this year, we continue to keep our hearts and minds open to how God would like to use us. It is all to easy to create a plan for ourselves and then ask God to bless it. Since I love plans, that is a big temptation for me.

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