Upcoming TRAVELS: San Antonio, Texas

My first trip for 2018 takes place April 15 through 24! It's been a blessing to be "grounded" these first three months of the year. The benefit of easing into the year versus hitting the ground running includes creating and reconnecting with healthy rhythms for my life (completed 5K and 10K races, planning for more), being able to be present in communities that I love, and experiencing good and restorative times with the Lord. 

I'll travel to San Antonio, Texas for the second leadership conference for the SLI 7 (Senior Leadership Initiative) program I'm a part of. We'll meet for a week, be placed in action learning groups and receive strategic assignments that will be our primary focus the next seven months.

After SLI, I'll head to Dallas to visit with ministry partners for a few days and then fly back to Orlando. I'm looking forward to the time. I welcome your prayers for safe travel and encouraging times with my SLI 7 teammates and with my ministry partners. 

SLI: How The Experience is Changing Me
Julie Nimmons keeps on changing my life y'all! Part of my SLI experience includes the benefit of being coached twice a month by a business leader who does not work for Cru and desires to offer their very valuable time to invest intentionally in my life for two years. 

Julie is my coach and we meet every other Wednesday for an hour by Skype to discuss areas of development and planning I desire to experience. She lives in Franklin, Tennessee, served as the CEO of a sporting goods business for 25 years, and presently she coaches other CEOs in the business world.

During our coaching times, Julie isn't there to "hold my hand" and create action points of living for me. It's quite the opposite! I'm required to create a pre-call sheet and send it to her 24 hours in advance that details one to two key areas I want our call to focus on and what I need help with if there are some roadblocks in the way.  

We walk through that sheet and Julie offers the gift of coaching by listening first and then helping me identify what I need to get to where I want to be. After the call, I'm responsible for sending a post-call sheet that reviews my action points from that time and what my biggest takeaway was. 

Julie's coaching touches many aspects of my life, from support raising ideas and learning how to strengthen my execution muscles, to vacation planning and my intention to build a deeper spiritual foundation with the Lord. I'm grateful for the gift of her coaching. But even more thankful for the gift of her friendship. Pray that God would continue to bless our times together. She'll serve as my coach through July 2019 upon my completion of SLI 7. 

Thank you for your encouraging partnership of prayer, giving, and friendship. I'm thankful to be in this special work of telling God's stories in America and around the world with you.