My Trip to Atlanta: Life Changing

The Cadre: Phoenix Fall Retreat

I've mentioned it before, but I am in a youth ministry mentoring program with Jeanne Mayo called The Cadre. It is a program where Jeanne mentors youth pastors all over the country and twice during the year you get to fly down to her house to hang out with her and the other youth pastors in the group. If I had to summarize my 3-day experience in Atlanta in two words it would be: Life Changing. I won't go into detail on everything we did (if you'd like to know ask me in person), but I would like to leave you with some lessons I learned and some things God did in my heart:

The Power of Love - if I had to describe Jeanne Mayo in a word, it'd be love. As I watched hundreds of people call her "mom", I realized the power of loving others. She is a mom to everyone that comes into her life. I asked Jeanne how she got to where she is today and her response was, "I've made the decision to add value to people everyday". In other words - she chose to love people everyday and as a result thousands of teenagers, twenty somethings, and youth pastors lives have been changed.

The Power of Family - I love learning about raising great families (because I'm preparing for mine!!!). As I looked around Jeanne's house I could tell family was at the top of her priority list.
One thing that really stuck out to me was a "Mayo Family Creed" a document with 11 or 12 principles on it that defined their family and that they live by. The whole family had to sign it and at her sons wedding, he got a framed copy and had his wife sign it (that fires me up!). Her son actually wrote a book on how he was raised... they were very strategic with raising their family and it worked - I can't wait for mine!

The Power of Relationships - One of the things I enjoyed the most about the trip was forming and building new relationships. I met pastors and students from all over the country who love God. I would have paid a million dollars for that part of the experience. Having friends that I can go to that don't know everything going on in Pittsburgh and I can be totally transparent with and they'll love me for who I am. I love everybody I met!

The Power of Refreshment - I'm now convinced that we need to take retreats once or twice a year away from everything and just take time reflecting on our lives, meeting new people, and get refreshed. This was one of those weeks!

My Future Wife - Someone spoke into my life about this - they said... You think having a wife will fill a need in you only God can fill. Unless you fill that void with God, you'll get married and be terribly disappointed because you'd be expecting your wife to fill a void that she was never created to fill. (Sick stuff!)

The Unlimited Potential of Young People - There were over 80 Masters Commission students ages 18-23 serving us for the week. These are some incredible people who love God with all of their heart. Seeing what God was doing in and through them go me so pumped up I can't even put it into words. They are all going to go on and be world changers - we really do need to believe in the upcoming generation.

Respect - Jeanne "slapped" me in this face with this one. She said, "Some of you are sarcastic and try being funny all the time because that is how you find security. You need to quit that - if you want people to respect you and take you seriously - grow up and be secure in who you are." That hit me deep... reminds me of the whole "Am I going to be a leader or a clown" lesson.

Wherever you are - Be there - Jeanne stressed this principle! This is something I struggle with - a thousand things always going through my mind and I'm not always "there". She not only taught it, but modeled it. Making every second count - I need to work on this.

Legacy - The Cadre (youth pastor mentoring) is the legacy Jeanne Mayo wants to leave behind. A legacy of raising up leaders who will raise up leaders and change the world. It was amazing to see this unfolding before my eyes - I was seeing a legacy being lived out. I would love to do a mentoring group like this one day... What do you want your legacy to be?

I learned about 10,o00 other things and had one of the most incredible experiences of my life at Jeanne's. I wish I could go on, but once again, I've seemed to blog too much!!! I'll probably have more to come on this series... stay tuned.

Ask anything Friday tomorrow...get ready!

Love you guys - I missed all of you! - Bubs

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All About Me (Part 7)

My Family (Part 2)

So yesterday I talked about the impact of my parents - today I want to hit up my sister, brother, and grandparents - here we go:

Grandma - My grandma awesome! When I was little I told her that she was the best cook in North and South America - today I believe shes the best cook in the world! My grandma is the typical movies you see in movies and want to cry because their so cute! She's a blessing... She taught me:

• How to treat women - how to be a gentlemen (ladies - believe it! haha)
  

Pap - Pap: I call him "The Icon" . . . I'm pretty sure I got my sense of humor from him! He is hilarious! He was a pilot in WWII and has all kind of cool Nazi gear including a gigantic Nazi flag that I hope to inherit someday that he stole from the Nazi's! He taught me:

• To Fish - He loves to fish - so many great memories of fishing trips when I was little
• How to Treat Women - He was a stud... it's been passed down!
• To be proud of family - He is a family man for sure and 100% Italian!
  

My Sister- Sara, I know if you're reading this - you just gulped....thinking what the heck is he going to say about me! First and foremost you better know I LOVE YOU! Here are some things I've learned from you:

• How to make fun of parents for their quirks - What's in the fridge? ha ha

• Repentance - When I was in high school I wasn't exactly on fire for God. For years, I beat my sister up verbally - calling her worthless along with some other things. As I've grown up I had to apologize for that and repent...huge lesson.

• The Power of my Words: In calling her names and in now calling her beautiful and things like that - I can see it in her eyes the effect that my words have on her life. I need to carry this over into every arena of my life.

My Brother - So technically he is my half brother- but I consider him to be blood. He is 16 years older than I am! What I've learned from him:

• The Power of Influence - being 16 years older than me I obviously looked up to him growing up. I wanted to be like him, do what he did, etc.. It's amazing how impressionable we are as children. It's a constant reminder that people are watching my life and I have to think to myself - am I leading by example - or am I showing them a bad example.
  

So there you have it - that is my family... if you have any additional questions - let me know! I believe this will be the end of this series! Thanks for reading!!

I encourage you to write each of your family members name in a journal and write the lessons you've learned as a result of having them in your life. It is eye opening...it will give you 100 more things to be thankful for during this season!

Have a great day!

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