In the past month, I’ve had the privilege of speaking at two events. The first was a Marriage Retreat and the second an Internet Marketing Conference.
The topic I spoke about at both events was more or less based around success.
At the Marriage Retreat, I used the LIVE LIFE principles to show why my wife, Chris, and I have an incredible 25-year marriage and how the same principles can affect anyone’s marriage.
At the Internet Marketing Conference I used the same LIVE LIFE principles to discuss how you can overcome any obstacle, move forward and enjoy tremendous success by building a business that satisfies the needs of others.
What did these two events have in common? The foundations for both messages were created from the same principles. The less obvious but more important similarity for me was the response from the crowds.
The comments, tears and testimonials were overwhelming at both events.
As an encourager with the gift of exhortation it can be difficult to fend off feelings of inadequacy. We exhorters run on such a high emotional level that our highs are really high and our lows can be super low. It seems easier for us to lift others up and encourage them to be great than it is for us to simply believe we can be great, too.
At the end of my session at the Marriage Retreat, husbands and wives came up to me and thanked me for showing them that a perfect marriage doesn’t always have to be perfect, and for inspiring them to believe that wherever they are in their marriage there is hope that they can enjoy the same happiness and fulfillment that I have in my marriage.
The Internet Marketing Conference was filled with similar results based around life and business, but one in particular that stood out far above and beyond the rest.
At the end of the third day, we were wrapping up the event and saying our goodbyes to attendees. While talking with someone else, I noticed Judy, someone I know and have met several times at various events and a young woman who was with her looking as if she wanted to approach me, but in the last second they walked by and exited the room. A few seconds later, they turned around and came back in and were patiently waiting for me to finish my conversation.
Judy introduced me to Anastasija, an exchange student who was staying with their family and told me Anastasija had been wanting to ask me a question.
I was not prepared for what was about to happen. Anastasija stood confidently and asked me, “Are you a Godly man?”
I was stunned for half a second. Of all the questions I could have imagined this teenage girl asking me, this was not one I ever saw coming.
Blown away by the question, I said, “I sure try to be.” She countered with, “Are you a Christian?” I replied, “Yes, I am definitely a Christian.”
Her response was overwhelming.
With a smile that stretched across her face, she excitedly said, “I knew it. When you first spoke Friday I thought there was something different about you, then Saturday I thought you might be a Christian, but listening to you today, I was almost positive you were!”
I literally had chill bumps run up both arms and water started welling up in my eyes.
For someone so young to hear me speak at an event where Christ was not the focus nor mentioned and yet see Him in my message and through me as a messenger was absolutely mind blowing.
I am more excited about my message now than ever before, and I now realize there is a purpose for what I do. It’s a purpose that is much larger than myself, and one that I am humbly willing to continue to fight for.
If I were there, in Las Vegas, speaking at an Internet Marketing Conference to do no more than to inspire this one young lady, then that was well worth my entire trip.
The next time you are at an event where a speaker moves, inspires or impacts you in some way, I encourage you to let that person know what their message meant to you. We all need encouragement from time to time, so encourage the encourager!
Thank you Anastasija for encouraging me. I hope you continue to grow as the young, Godly woman you appear to be, and LIVE LIFE!