Rick Warren Remembered Me!!!

So I'm at the Catalyst Conference in ATL, GA this week! It's so great to get to spend a few days away with the staff and some other off the charts leaders from NLC! When it comes to the conference, the bottom line is, I don't even know where to start. It's going to take me several weeks to be able to decompress and process through all that we are learning! I'll start shooting out some blogs about all that we're receiving asap...

But for now here's a huge deal!

So Rick Warren spoke the last session of today (Day One) and it was just ridiculous! I mean, seriously, he rocked my face off! I can't even begin to tell you how amazing it is to hear his heart from all that God has shown him and entrusted him with. He's the real deal, you guys, he lives what he preaches, big time!

Anyway, afterward, I had to go and talk to him and attempt to thank him for taking the time last spring to write me a personal note of encouragement after he saw our story on the Anderson Cooper Show on CNN. (By the way, in case you didn't know we were on CNN like 20 times last spring, to see the video of it, check out the videos section of our nextlevelchurch.com website. There should be a link to the right on this blog page...)

So after the talk, Sarah and I went down to the stage and I was able to push my way up to him. He's just an incredible guy to be up close to. When he came my way, I introduced myself and told him that we were featured on CNN and he looked at me and said, "Of course I remember you!" Then he gave me a big hug and said, "I was so proud of you when I saw that!" He then hugged Sarah and told us again how proud of us he was! Are you kiddin' me??? That's just crazy!

I told him that he would never know how much it meant to us that he took the time to send a personal note to us and thanked him again! I couldn't believe how down to earth and real and approachable he was. Talk about a guy who has an unbelievable grasp on all that he's been entrusted with and knows the power of his influence.

God help me to be that kind of leader,

I can't wait to share more with you guys,

Matt