You are my inspiration

Yesterday I went to an inspirational conference which featured Laura Bush, Joe Montana, Zig Ziglar, Colin Powell, Rudy Giuliani and several others. It was held at the XL center in Hartford before a sellout crowd. In many ways it was a lot like a youth rally. The speakers came on stage one after the other and tried to get the crowd excited. It was promoted as a motivational seminar and it was just that.

Laura Bush shared some personal reflections on life in the White House. She talked about her belief that education was the key to unlock a child's potential and her work in that area as first lady. Then she got into her experiences during the attack on September 11, 2001 and later living in the White House in the midst of war. She gave us a peek at things we don't often see. For example she told how she was sick with worry in October of 2001 when President Bush stood all alone on the pitching mound of Yankee Stadium in game three of the World Series. With heightened security and all kinds of threats she felt he was a prime target. She couldn't watch until he was safely back beside her. Afterwards she asked him how he did and he told her he threw a perfect strike.

Joe Montana spoke about the lessons he learned from his father. He noted it was the little things that mattered. He shared several stories to emphasize his point. He pointed out that practice and hard work lead to success and told how Jerry Rice was a great example of that. He practiced hard and it showed in the games.

One after another the speakers came to the stage and told stories from their lives that emphasized the power of potential. I came home pretty fired up. I also realized that these kinds of stories were not the sole domain of big stars. We all have stories to tell that can inspire others. Sometimes we just don't realize it. We think our lives are pretty mundane.

Over the years I have listened to lots of people tell their stories and I have been pretty impressed with the things they have done and the obstacles they have overcome. The truth is that there are people sitting in the pews beside us who are every bit as inspirational as Zig Ziglar and Colin Powell and we know them personally. That is one of the joys we share in being part of a church family. I wouldn't give it up for the world. So thank you for inspiring me week after week.

Cal