December 29, 2016

Here I am at the Rescue Mission’s Annual Celebration & Stewardship Banquet with guests of honor Darryl Strawberry and Steven Curtis Chapman. What a wonderful night!

Sometimes the best opportunities come when you least expect them.

A few months back, I was chatting with Rich Cummins of the Fort Wayne Rescue Mission. He was in the midst of planning the organization’s Annual Celebration & Stewardship Banquet, and he had some dynamic guest speakers coming into town. The esteemed guests of honor at the upcoming event included former Major League Baseball player Darryl Strawberry and his wife Tracy, best-selling author Dr. John Townsend and Grammy-winning Christian music artist Steven Curtis Chapman.

Together, Cummins and I discussed how awesome it would be if we could hand out a free copy of my book, Discover Your Next Best Step: 10 Principles of Servant LeaderShip Wisdom, to everyone in attendance at the annual fundraising event. I wanted to find a way to make this happen. Before long, I was able to solicit the generous support of several friends and colleagues who, along with a personal donation from me, provided enough sponsorship money to cover the cost of nearly 1,500 books. I am truly humbled to know that each guest was able to receive a copy of the book as they left the event that evening.

Today, more than a month and a half later, I continue to hear from people who were touched by the book. An example: A chaplain from Indiana Tech attended the event, and several days later, he reached out to me. We are meeting in January to see how we can collaborate on a servant leadership program at the school. How exciting!

I never could have anticipated the kinds of opportunities that have come my way in the last several months. Truly, it has been a gift to share a little about my personal journey with so many others, and I absolutely love hearing about the ways my book has touched others’ lives.