He ran up to me on Sunday saying “Eddie, it worked.  It really worked!” I’m sure I had the look of shock on my face.  He and his wife smiling from ear to ear, eager to tell me all about ‘it.’  I could not wait to hear because I had no idea what they were talking about.

“We had to practice what the speaker from our banquet had talked about.  We were just starting our group time when one of the people lashed out at me.  I would have normally pushed through the study and kept him at bay.  But I put into practice what Bill had trained us on, ‘seizing the moment’.  And it worked.  Before we ended our group time there were tears, laughter and even hugs. It is the closest our group has ever been. Tell Bill thanks for coming and sharing at our banquet.  Our group will never be the same.”

Bill Donahue spoke at our annual Small Group Leader Banquet on “Turning Meetings into Moments.”  As you may have read in my Nov 29 blog, Bill shared about creating moments, seizing moments and marking moments.  In the seizing the moments section Bill challenged us to slow down, watch, listen and respond to what God is doing in the group.  So many times we want to finish the study or avoid the issue that is obvious in the room.  This couple had thought about the message, intentionally became sensitive to the God in the room, and responded accordingly.  What a difference it made in the life of the individual who lashed out, the classes and the leaders.  Members of this group now know that they can share ALL their feelings and feel comfortable that they will not be ignored or made fun of or excluded from the group.  Transparency happened that led to authentic living out of God’s Word…even though they did not “get through the lesson.”

This blog post is possible because  one teacher shared with another and put into practice what he had learned.  Having a speaker like Bill Donahue share with your leaders can take your leaders to the next level of leadership.  Contact him at The Communitas Network, drbilldonahue@gmail.com,  www.drbilldonahue.com