Elevate 2008 is over....

Finally, after months and months of planning, Elevate has come and gone. It's amazing to me how you can put so much into something only to have it come and go so fast. This conference has been my burden for years now....there is just such a need for it. I feel it has become more difficult over the years....the enthusiasm I feel doesn't seem to be felt by others involved...at least not as much. Maybe it's my southern upbringing...maybe it's my perfectionism, but sometimes it seems the spirit of excellence is just lost on some people. I've went the last 2 years into this conference saying I would not do it again the next year, and yet, here I am again already thinking about next year's Elevate. I think it is because that each year I see the hunger in people who attend....they need this....for some this may be what motivates them to keep going in their ministry. I know that for me personally, that has been the case when I've attended conferences such as this one. I just pray God can give me the strength to keep at it...and that He will give others in my department and in this area the same vision for this conference.

This year was a very different Elevate......disappointing in some ways, great in others. I know there is a lesson for me to learn from it all and I'm trying to figure it all out. I think sometimes God let's things happen just to show us more about ourselves. I'm realizing that I want to be a better Christian, a better friend, a better leader and just a better person. My eyes have definately been opened to some things over the past few days....some of it has been hard to handle, but I know I have learned from it and it will benefit me in the long run.

There's no way I could put all my thoughts into this one little blog.....so I guess I'll close out for now!

~LL