soul revolution.

Just yesterday I began reading Soul Revolution by John Burke. The book was graciously given to me as a gift from two people whom I have grown to love and be very thankful for. Burke, the author of the book was one of the many inspiring speakers from the Leadership Summit which I attended last week. During his talk at the Summit, John Burke made mention of his book Soul Revolution along with an experiment that he tried in his church. 60/60. It's so simple-- set a watch or some kind of alarm to remind you once an hour to get connected to God. Wherever you are, whether you say it silently to yourself, scream it off of a rooftop or write it down, just get connected. Now do this for 60 days. Along the way, he had the members of his church share with each other the results after journaling on their own about it. Now there is an entire blog site dedicated to it at http://www.soulrevolution.net/ (check it out!)

Now I know that I said I just started reading the book yesterday.. and that I have just wholeheartedly commited to the experiment today, but I have to tell you that since the Summit, I can't help but be in somewhat constant conversation with Him. I don't think I could avoid it if I tried and that is so comforting. It has not even been a week since the Leadership Summit but I have been changed and there is no doubt about it. When we cling to Him and set our focus on His love we begin to view life in a whole new way.

Just yesterday when starting to read the book, John Burke suggests an exercise for us to learn the deepest desires of our hearts. One of the things that I wrote was to be accepted and respected by my sister (who has always been my best friend and we have had a tough summer together due to change being difficult to accept). Now the next part of this exercise was to try and decide if our deepest desires were those in God's heart. I had a few that I knew would definitely make His list, a few that I knew would NEVER make the list, and then a couple like the one about my sister-- ones that I want to believe would be important to Him since He wants us to be happy, but they also aren't what I believe to be His biggest concerns. In any event, after no prompting of the conversation, I got a series of text messages from my sister telling me that she loves me so much and is proud of all that I stand for. That she never meant to make me upset and that no matter how much I change, she will never leave me.

Wow. After a summer of tough discussions and feeling partly shunned by her, it was cleared up and healed. He sealed the deal within a matter of minutes and about 5 text messages (thank God for cell phones ;) ). And that is only one testimony to how I have seen Him in this past week.

Really guys, for all maybe 10 of you who read this (and that is being hopeful), I strongly encourage you to try this "experiment" and to read Soul Revolution. "I pray that whether a seasoned follower of Christ or a skeptic with just an ounce of willingness, that you will devote sixty days to see for yourself."

Do I think that I will connect every hour for the next 60 days? Of course not..it is all a process.. the idea is based on an ideal and we all know that we fall short of those. However, I pray that as the days go on I can get closer and closer and connect more often until it becomes a natural way for me.

Please, I am begging you to give it a try.. you won't be disappointed.