"We're not our failures or our successes. We are our love." Storyline Conference

Storyline Day Two was filled with possibly even more great take aways than Day One. I've put all my notes here by session and added some of my own thoughts. It's lengthy but full of spectacular content.

Donald Miller

Great characters redeem their challenges

We resonate with the "all is lost" scene in movies because we've all faced it ourselves

God is in the business of redeeming our negative turns

How is this benefiting me as well as being something to mourn?

All lives are beautiful... but I think some lives are lived with more meaning than others. I want you to figure out how to have a more meaningful life.

Joseph's story has positive and negative turns just like any of ours

+Joseph has a dream

- Joseph tells his brothers

- brothers leave Joseph in a well

+ Joseph is rescued

- he's sold into slavery

+ Joseph gets to run Potipher's house

- Potipher's wife tries to seduce Joseph and gets him in trouble

+ Joseph meets the baker and cup bearer 

- Joseph is forgotten in jail

+ Joseph stands before Pharaoh and presents his plan

- Joseph is reunited with his brothers

+ Joseph's plan to survive the famine works

+ Joseph is reunited with his family

You have to say, I've made some mistakes, but that can't name me or keep me from changing and growing

God's in no hurry-- he's way more interested in your character development than your comfort

Where is your pain bringing you? How do we make this into something beautiful?

How can you become a wounded healer?

What is God trying to do? He's saving lives

Maybe if we want to partner with him we need to channel our passions into saving lives

Forgiveness is accepting the burden somebody has given you while no longer holding anything against them

The pain won't go away, but you'll no longer be a victim

What will the world miss if you don't let God redeem your failures?

"For what then matters is to bear witness to the uniquely human potential at its best, which is to transform a personal tragedy into a triumph, to turn one's predicament into a human achievement." Viktor Frankl

Scott Hamilton

I was unwanted and put up for adoption. Then I had an unknown disease and was in the hospital for four years. I found ice skating and I failed over and over again. I lost my mother to cancer. 20 years later I got diagnosed with cancer. 

The fear is overwhelming and excruciating. I was living never ending, repetitive tragedy.

I started to feel like I was pulling my life together and then I had to tell my wife I had a brain tumor.

I was watching Kristi Yamaguchi's program one night, she's always the most beautiful and flawless skater. I saw her tilt in her triple lutz and fall. But she didn't fall, she just kept on skating. You couldn't see any failure on her face, she finished perfectly. And I learned something so important that night-- don't give that 1 second of failure any value. 

When I go back and look at my life with that perspective I see things differently. I had two loving people adopt me. I learned to survive on my own. Every failure taught me how to get back up.

As deep as I've dug down, that's as high as I'm going to go

If we focus on that low and that failure we can't move

Those failures are actually opportunities in your life to take you to a whole other place

I'm blown away by God's grace and his mercy. The good things in my life all came out of something that was tragic and devastating. 

Storyline had Tom's coffee all day long and plenty of pastries and muffins. I was happy to find Katie, Abby and Audrey with a little feast of snacks. 

I was so excited to randomly run into Kelsey Jenney, YL staff that has spoken at two Fall weekends for HSE YL. Once I told her where I was from she remembered that we were the group that had to leave early from Timber Wolf last winter because of the massive blizzard. I ended up getting to sit next to her later that day in a writing workshop breakout session. 

Shauna Niequist

In each season of my life I need a word or a phrase to guide me. Right now that phrase is, "Do your thing with great love right now."

I had wandered off course, not like 1000 miles, but enough that it's starting to make a mark. I was choosing efficiency and multi-tasking over peace and grace.

20 years ago you would have said, "She's funny. She's silly." But 2 years ago you'd say, "She gets stuff done."

We long for vibrant, connected, rich, creative lives but then we discover that we've burned out.

I'm inching my way back to present, to connected. I'm leaving frantic and hurried and saying "yes" to everything behind. Now I'm redoing my math and saying "yes" where it matters. The tricky part is deciding who you'll disappoint. I really want people to think that I can handle it all.

I'm in this season of learning from everyone-- the taxi drive, the other mom at preschool, the mailman. Anyone who has something to teach me. I was at Bob and Maria's lodge and one of their traditions is to throw candy at the kayakers as they paddle by. 

I'd begun to be the super responsible candy thrower who only does it at reasonable times when it's safe and all the kid's homework is done. Then I became the kind of person that makes fun of people who throw candy.

God used two extraordinary people to return me to the vision of the person God made me to be.

This last season of my life has been a journey back to connection, to love.

DO-- anything worth doing. Whatever you want to do, it's work and that's ok. There's great honor in doing work. Staying inspired is part of the work of being a writer. It's part of my job to live an inspired life and I love my job. When you expect it to be easy you set yourself up for failure.

YOUR THING-- There is a supernatural thing that happens when you decide to just start being yourself. The God who loves you made you on purpose with a purpose. 

Pay attention to yourself the way you would pay attention to someone you have a crush on. Notice everything. Become a great student of your own self. What made me feel really alive? What was I supposed to like that I actually really hated? What makes me excited?

Ask for help from people around you. Sometimes it takes some one else to make us realize what they're seeing.

Then just try stuff. Lots of stuff.

Your "thing" might last your whole life or might just last a school year. Then you'll find a new thing.

WITH GREAT LOVE-- "How you do anything is how you do everything."

Nothing wonderful and durable gets made out of anything but love. Not envy or anger or bitterness or competition.

What you build must run on love because it's the only sustainable fuel.

Only do what you can do on love. Even if less stuff gets done. If this project will make you start running on anxiety then say, "No, I'm sorry, I can't do that."

RIGHT NOW-- I would like to eliminate words like "mani pedi" and "vaca" from language. If you have time for both of those things then you have the time to say the full words. I hate anything -pocalypse, whatevs, get my _____ on.

And we should eliminate "some day." It's a mirage, a myth. It makes us think we'll be ready when we start but you'll never be totally ready.

The world is full of people with a million excuses of why they can't do their thing right now. It's doesn't have to be done all at one. If you let your dreams float away, they will.

If you've wandered from who God made you to be, an inch or really far, what would it look like to get back to the vision, to the path God gave you.

Dear God, I pray for open eyes and open hearts to get back on the path you were created for. Be courageous enough to do that right now. Help us to be brave and listen closely to your voice. Walk with us. Pick us up when we fall. Cheer us on when we make progress.

Ben and I got to eat Chipotle for lunch with Katie and Abby. We thought we'd score $3 burritos with costumes but sadly that deal didn't start till 5. Still we got to devour burrito bowls and talk about dream jobs and all of these speakers and joining the Broadway Commune of YL staff some day. 

We had time to explore Willow for awhile when we returned. Ben and I wandered around the Care Center, the best part of this church. They've created this beautiful place where people from Chicago and all over the state can come to be cared for. Not only do they have a full grocery and clothing store where people can get things for free, but they offer dental, medical, legal and education help. They do care repair and give away free cars to single moms. They are loving people without limits in real and tangible ways. It's so, so cool. 

Ben and I got awesome seats for the last session of the afternoon-- right across the aisle from Bob Goff. When I went to take a picture with him he had to answer his phone, because he never lets people go to voicemail. He is so incredibly good at being attentive to whomever he is talking to. He never does handshakes, just hugs. When Ben and I told him we do YL he said, "YL guys are heroes."

I was beyond excited to get to meet Sweet Maria, Bob's wife. In his book he writes about stalking her early on by leaving PB & J sandwiches on her car window every day until she noticed him. She's an incredible wife and mother. Bob has mentioned before that Sweet Maria never travels with him so I was shocked that she was here at Storyline. She thought it was so funny that I would want a picture with her.

Donald Miller
The stakes of living a great story are really high. Humans are the only thing that get to participate in their own growth.

Bob called me and he said, "You know what, you're really good at relationships," and that was the start of believing things had to change.

Great characters take action. Great stories happen when we are courageous enough to believe the world needs our story.

Great stories change the narrative. We have to create this story we want to live and step into it.

What if someone picked up the DVD of your life. Would they know what your story is about?

At every Storyline conference I've told this story about my friend Ben. We were friends for awhile before I learned his whole story. He won a local metropolitan Opera contest and went on to be the greatest opera high tenor in the world and working in Paris. He chased his dream. Can I play you a clip of him singing? (We listen to one of Ben's pieces.) Yesterday, I looked out into the audience and you know who I saw? Ben! He's here!

Being engaged in the act of singing is redemptive for me.

Great stories move through the fear. 

Resistance creates lift. If there's no resistance it'll never get off the ground. 

Jesus gives us an invitation to a very difficult story. I wonder when we tell our stories if they could be the kind that tell stories of bring light into dark.

I rode my bike across America. It took 7 weeks. It was going to be awesome. I was going to blog about it.
4 hours in I was like, "This sucks."
5 weeks in I was like, "The Pacific Ocean is a myth. It doesn't exist."
When we made it to Delaware we threw our bikes in the ocean. We were never going to ride them again. Two friends of mine, a husband and wife, rode the whole way together on a tandem bike. I remember seeing them hug as we finished. They were writing a beautiful story together.

Someday we won't be here. Our story will be over. And we'll stand before Jesus and he'll say, "Well done my good and faithful servant." That's the kind of climax I want.

There's a saying that, "writers love to have written." I think it's true that we love to have lived. I want your life to be a page turner.

Toy Story 3, the greatest screen play of all time, is about these toys that were created to be loved by their master who they've been separated from. They want to know if they still have value. They even go to hell and the devil is a teddy bear. 

"Write every day, line by line, page by page, hour by hour. Do this despite fear. For above all else, beyond imagination and skill, what the world asks of you is courage, courage to risk rejection, ridicule and failure. As you follow the quest for stories told with meaning and beauty, study thoughtfully but write boldly. Then, like the hero of the fable, your dance will dazzle the world." -Robert McKee

Bob Goff
I set out to live my life surrounded by the people who will be surrounding my bed when I die.

I went to this thing at Disney World with all of these Christian radio stations. They sent someone with a limo to pick me up. I never take limos but I thought, "What the heck." So I got in this limo and I was talking to the driver and I said, "If someone asks me about Orlando I'd tell them everyone is nice because you're so nice." You know how that works? If you meet someone mean on a trip you think the whole town is mean too. 
I want people to meet me and you and feel like they just met heaven. 

The driver told me he's been driving for 25 years and he'd never been in the back of one of them. So I said, "PULL OVER!" and then I drove him into Disney World. It was a riot! And when we got out of the car I gave him a medal, I carry all these little medals around, and I pinned it on him and I said, "You are brave and courageous."

Let's tell people who they are and who they're going to be. We're not our failures or our successes, we are our love. We're all turning into love.

I rented this janky little plane and flew to LA. I just went 8000 feet the whole way over the tallest mountain top. I wanted to be safe. But when I got there I met these jet plane fliers who told me they came all the way here so they could fly through the valleys. They wanted to get better.

Jesus didn't tell anyone to play it safe. We need to be better, more humble.

So when I was starting to land only 2 of the 3 landing lights were on. I didn't know what to do. I could keep circling the field forever or try to land the place.
So I got the nose really high and then waited for the back wheels to land and prayed that I wouldn't die. But then it was all ok. The light was just bad on the control panel.
You've got the lights you've got-- just go land the plane. 

Isn't falling in love awesome? But the hard work is to remain in love. How do you become the person God made you to be? Remain in love.

I got invited to speak at this conference called Promise Keepers. I bought this 8 ft bass fish that you fill up with helium and control with a remote. And I got this kid to launch the bass from the balcony during my talk. All these men started watching the bass and then looking back at me and then looking at the bass.
That's the problem! We've got one eye on Jesus and one on the bass in the room. We've got to get rid of the distractions.

So I was thinking about how Jesus made himself more available. I had my phone number put on the last page of Love Does. I get about 100 calls a day. And I never let people go to voicemail. You want to know why? People want to know if all of this is true.

Go make some moves. I don't need people to think that I'm cool anymore. Jesus leads people to Jesus. 
We've got to stop comparing ourselves. God doesn't compare what he creates. I'm kind of wonky. You go be you.

We'll never honor Christ if we forget to honor each other. I don't think people follow vision, I think they follow availability.

My boundaries are: Everybody. Always.
But that doesn't work for Sweet Maria. She has her own boundaries. Go figure out yours.

Go. Try. Fail. Don't fail by just watching and waiting. Just try something! Heaven's leaning over the rail hoping that you will.

What if we're picky about what we say to each other? Let's pick words of life and words of encouragement. Less words. More available. Just know each other is present.

I'm not trying to be right anymore. I'm just trying to be humble. 
"Love your enemies so you can be perfect like your heavenly father is humble."
What's the next humblest version of you?

God makes people. People make issues. But people aren't issues.
If you disagree with someone but you don't know their name, shut up. Get to know them first before you start arguing.

Live in grace. Walk in love.
"This is love that we walk in obedience with his commands. And his command is to walk in love."

I love Disney World. I spend every Wednesday on Tom Sawyer Island. Do you know why? Because I don't want to lose my imagination. We ought to be the most engaged people on Earth.
Pick a person every single week that you want to meet. Call them up. Write a letter. You know Dip n' Dots? I really love Dip n' Dots so I googled the guy that invented it and I called him up.
People ask me, "What's that have to do with your faith?" EVERYTHING!

I want to help people get home. Tell them who they are. The Holy Spirit will tell them what they should do. 

After two crazy weeks of traveling I came home and Sweet Maria had a "Help Wanted" sign in our front window. That just killed me. Every Thursday I quit something. I stopped making appointments. I don't know what I'll be doing at 2 today. I just quit my law firm. Work? What's that?
Get rid of whatever is keeping you stuck by pretending or comparing or guilt.

Proverbs 4:23 "Above everything else, guard each other's hearts." People we don't understand-- guard them. Everybody's in.

I went and visited this prison yesterday. Every person that checks in gets a copy of Love Does. These guys see who they're becoming. 
God draws this huge circle around all of us and says, "You're in."

If you love people, if you live this big life, you're going to mess up. That's ok. Don't let other people decide who you are.

My friend Kelly called me and told me that her heart was failing. The next time I got call she was getting a heart transplant. Now she's going around the world climbing all of the tallest mountains.
We're each getting Christ's heart. We've got to talk to our heart more.

I was the guy living in comfortable. And when you're comfortable you don't need Jesus.

I think God wants us living right on the edge of Yikes. He wants us thinking, "Oh I need Jesus to pull this off." 
So I'm starting this school for girls in Somalia. Girls can't get an education there but they can at our schools. Our words have power. Sweet Maria and I went to visit. We put pins on all of these little girls and gave them balloons. 

We visited our Restore Academy in Africa and we taught the guys there how to surf with a skateboard and tarp. We were surfing in the middle of Africa! 

It changes everything when we say, "I see who you've becoming." 

If you've got a guide that you can trust you can make it to the top of the mountain. And if you trip on the way up you're just bumping into Jesus.

I came home recently and found a note from Sweet Maria that said, "Meet me at the cabin." And I though, "Yeeee!" And I went and found her waiting there for me and she had on her wedding dress and she had a tux for me. And we renewed our vows.

What if we renew our vows to ourselves? Who are we becoming?