Catalyst08 - Chapter 2
Posted on July 17, 2008
If you are considering going to Catalyst this year or if you have been invited to attend, yet can’t bring yourself to it, please read this post and follow the links to related posts.
This is a continuation of a post I wrote nearly a year ago. The story of my life took a turn not long before that post and it has continued through now and beyond.
Read Wayne’s post from last July, then read mine. From that post, Wayne says:
My wife and I have been fortunate enough to attend several of these events. Starting last year, we felt that one of the ways we could be a “catalyst” in our world would be to involve others in the Catalyst Conference itself.
The only way Wayne and I knew each other was via Twitter and an occasional chat on Gtalk. On June 26, 2007, my life was beginning to change, along with Mary’s. Wayne and I were chatting and he asked:
What would God have to do to get you (and Mary) to Catalyst?
I told him up front we were broke, so God would have to provide a way. Wayne and Elaine invited us to come stay with them and go with them to Catalyst. Mary and I prayed about it and figured out the logistics of kids and dogs and accepted their generous offer.
Fast forward to Saturday, September 29. We had nothing unusual happen, no car break downs, no major house repairs, we were just living like normal, preparing to leave town that next week. Plane tickets were purchased, Atlanta here we come. Then there was one small problem, we were more broke than normal, like seriously broke. If it would have been a normal week, we couldn’t have bought groceries, which was not common.
At that point in our life, we weren’t prepared for the week we were about to have, we hadn’t prayed or anything, we had just been assuming it was a done deal. Where we found ourselves, we were not even sure we could afford the drive to Kansas City to get to the airport.
Sunday morning, I saw Wayne online, so I chatted at him and broke the news to him that we were broker than broke and didn’t know how we would pull this trip off. He encouraged me and said to pray about it and also talk to people at church, let them know what was up and just see what came out of it.
Some people knew we were going and were asking about it, you know, the way you do when you know someone is going on a trip. My response, I’m not sure we are going to go, that’s a very hard and humbling thing to admit. The few people I talked to were encouraging, but that in itself didn’t change our situation.
Things didn’t get any better throughout the afternoon. By late in the evening, I think I chatted at Wayne again and told him of our reality. We can’t make the trip. He told me to call him. That in itself was strange because we had never talked on the phone to each other at all. What a bizarre world we live in, we were so close to flying across the country to meet people we didn’t know for the first time and spend a week in their home and we had never even talked to each other.
I called. We talked. I explained our dire situation. He listened. At some point, in the background, I hear Elaine exclaim something to the effect of ‘They’re coming!’. That was more of a statement of fact, without question. As far as she was concerned, God wanted us to be there and so we would be there.
Wayne explained that they definitely felt like God wanted us to be there and they would cover anything that we couldn’t and not to worry. Wayne and Elaine are both very generous and very Godly people and in fact, they knew we would be attacked.
Mary and I felt like we were at one of our lowest points, financially, with no explanation, yet we were about to embark upon something that was beyond our comprehension.
The next day, Monday, Mary talked to a close friend and mentioned our situation. This friend is also a client Mary has done some work before and they tend to collaborate on ideas and work together well. This friend explained to Mary how she knew someone that seemed to not bill her clients very well and would often forget to bill them on the 1st.
That day happened to be the 1st and Mary realized she had several people that she could invoice, including this friend. Now, generally, just like any business, invoices are not paid quickly, but on this day, I think 3 people paid right then. I remember Mary ran around that day to physically pick up checks. We were amazed, God is good.
The next morning, Tuesday, we hit the bank on the way out of town and cashed these checks and actually had more than enough money to get us to KC. God’s provision was very evident at that moment, but in His fashion, He didn’t provide before we actually needed it.
We dropped by Church of the Resurrection for the Church IT Roundtable and hung out there for the afternoon helping get things set up, then went back the next morning to be a part of it. Unfortunately, we had to leave just after lunch to catch our flight, which was not without incident.
Kansas City is a unique airport, not my favorite. We got there in good shape but there was a long line to get into our gate. Something happened and I don’t remember what it was, I think they felt the need to search our bags, then had the nerve to tell us we would probably miss our flight. I remember running to the plane, carrying my shoes, belt in hand, hoping that Mary would make the flight with me. All was good, we made it.
Fast forward now to being on the ground in Atlanta. We got our bags and I called Wayne to let him know we were there. As we were standing at the curb, waiting to be picked up by someone we really didn’t know and didn’t even know what he looked like, we wondered what in the world we had gotten ourselves into.
Maybe this was all a big joke, maybe these people were planning to chop us up into little pieces and eat us for dinner, maybe he wouldn’t even show up at all.
What if that happens?!? We are in Atlanta with no money, no place to stay and no way to leave the airport until we fly out 5 days later.
Ultimately, Wayne showed up and he was as nice of a guy as he seemed. He gave us our first experience on the GA400, which I think was not as congested as rush hour because it was later.
From the moment we met Wayne and then met Elaine at home, it was an amazing time. They are very nice, generous, Godly, wise, fun people and we knew by the time the week was over, they were lifelong friends.
Wayne and Elaine both live their lives 100% for God and I saw that in a variety of ways throughout the week that we were in their home. I could give many examples of why I say this but they don’t do what they do to be noticed or to be given praise, they do it for God, and it is evident when you are in their home.
Catalyst was an amazing couple of days where we took in a wealth of information. Looking back now, I would encourage anyone who is involved in any kind of church leadership to find a way to get to Catalyst this year because it will change your life and give you a new perspective on how others are leading in their churches.
By the way, for the record, I’m not sure how many people are involved in this year’s trip, I think at least 6 of us are planning on going, maybe more. Out of Wayne and Elaine’s generosity and faithfulness last year, the door is being opened to more people being able to join us this year.
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3 Responses to “Catalyst08 - Chapter 2”
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I’d concur. Last year was my first Catalyst - amazing experience! Since last October we have now moved from Nashville to Atlanta, and I’m actually on staff now with GiANT Impact, the parent company for Catalyst. I can tell you that the people involved behind-the-scenes are extraordinary.
Can’t wait for this year’s conference! We’ve got 6 people staying with us that week & probably will have a few more
I’m just in the beginning stages of putting together a tech team (or perhaps rounding up the talent we already have under one name) and am very thankful I found this site and others. Our church site is at http://www.myheartland.org. I’ve written a couple of articles Christian Audio/Visual Magazine and Christian Computing. I’m currently thinking up a check-in system for our sunday school kids. I look forward to following along on the many sites here!
Wow - what a God story! Thanks for sharing it. I am a big fan of Catalyst…and the story of how God made things possible for you to attend is a great one of His provision for our lives. With Him, we can do things we never thought were imaginable to begin with.