"I think all the funniest moments of my life involve dancing with Junior High kids."

We watched Rend Collective's The Art of Celebration in bible study this morning. Some of my favorite take aways:

Seriousness is not a Fruit of the Spirit, but Joy is.

Our God is the inventor of the party and the healer of the broken.

Happiness and Joy are not the same thing. Joy is deeper, it's a spiritual discipline.

Open your heart to wonder and beauty. Always find a reason to rejoice.

Heaven's going to be the greatest part of all time and we need to get practicing now.

In order to avoid too much seriousness at school today and to spur on some joy, I gave the girls a competition. Their mission: get signatures of as many teachers in the building as possible-- the principal and vice-principal are both worth two points.

The girls were running all over the building grabbing signatures all day long. Only a few teachers refused to participate but most were all about it. 4 of the girls ended up around FORTY signatures and Brookie Cookie won with 46. Very impressive. She told me, "The best part was the lunch ladies because they were so enthusiastic about signing it. And then they would go get their lunch lady friends to sign it too."

I ran into Katie Evans at church yesterday morning down at Common Ground. We were texting today and decided to spontaneously hang out. I took her to Flat Fork Creek Park, a Fishers favorite, and hiked around. Katie has one of those souls that radiates beauty, grace and kindness. She asks good questions and really listens. Katie is genuine and real. I really love this friend.

The annual YL Fall Barn Party is this Thursday night and I'm so excited about a project I've been dreaming about for a long time. We've been doing YL in HSE for over 4 years now. For many of our kids that means they've been to several Young Life camps across the country in the summer let alone on Fall Weekends and events like Summit, YL Expeditions, Work Crew and Family Camp. Many kids and leaders have outgrown t-shirts but it just feels wrong to give them to Goodwill. So... I've been collecting old shirts from our YL friends since summer and have nearly 50 of them at this point. Thursday we'll be selling all of them at the Barn Party for just $10 each-- quite the deal and the perfect fundraiser. First come, first serve. I think they'll be going fast.

I loved sitting in a circle with these girls tonight at Campaigners. We've got Freshmen and Seniors. HSE, Cathedral and LN are represented. We've got 5-year-attendees and girls here for their very first time. It's a beautiful mix of backgrounds and histories and perspectives.

The one and only Jack Nikcevich spoke On The Frontier this week and you've got to listen. Anyone who knows Jack knows that he is brilliant and I had to take notes during this episode.

As a leader you should work towards not being necessary. You lift others up and step out of the spotlight so others can step into it. Leadership shouldn't be about creating followers, it's about creating more leaders.

Trust isn't something you build. It's something you earn from your behavior. People are watching constantly. Do you do what you say you're going to do? Are you in the spotlight or spreading it out? Are you giving ownership to your team?

Power Points and spreadsheets can be shared in an email. Meetings should be about things that can only be done in person.

You have to continually work on your craft, your marriage, your life. There are things you'll have to do and sacrifices you'll have to make for it.