I WILL MISS MY CHURCH SUNDAY (that is a good feeling)

We had to cancel services at Grace Community Church this Sunday because God decided to drop 7 glorious inches of snow on our city this weekend. My family has loved the snow and the time together but all of us agree...we will miss being with our spiritual family at GCC! I love that I feel like that! My family loves being a part of the church that I work at. As a pastor's kid who grew up hating going to church, and it is such a blessing to finally hurt a little inside when we have to miss. So what to do on Sunday since we can't gather...why not have a party of our own! Several of us in our neighborhood are going to gather together for breakfast before we head out to play in the snow with our families. Snow or no snow GCC folks will gather all over our city to do what is the heart of what church should be, to be in community. I love what we do on Sunday morning's but the heart of church happens each week through community groups. Every time we have had to adjust Sunday schedules at GCC it has been fun to watch people still gathering in community to be together. At the heart of "church" is the idea of living life with other people, following Christ with other people, being together. So sure we won't gather Sunday at Rossview High School, but as we gather in our small huddles, connect with our families, hang out with our neighbors, spend time alone in prayer and Bible Study, visit another congregation, or watch a service online God will be lifted high. Stoked about starting a new series at GCC next Sunday...DO NOT MISS IT!

our "outreach" STORY

A friend of mine here in our city messaged me on facebook last week and asked how Grace Community does outreach. In previous churches I would have a program answer for the guy like Evangelism Explosion, FAITH, Door to Door Visitation, but here at GCC we really do not have a program or a system for outreach. Outreach is just part of who we are. From day one of our existence we took what Jesus said in Matthew 28:18-20 literally and started a church that would be focused on those who needed Jesus in our city. When it comes to the rest of our outreach system God gets the rest of the credit. Here is our basic plan of outreach, also known as evangelism.

1. We are a part of the community of faith called Grace Community and God has made us new through salvation and He keeps working in our lives. As we live our lives we tell our story to the people we meet in our community. We love what God is doing at GCC so naturally we invite others to check it out.
2. People get invited to GCC and they come check it out. God works in their lives and they discover what it means to follow Christ. We give them freedom to belong, question, search, serve, doubt, laugh, love, heal, and discover. People are never asked to "have it all together" in order to be a part of this family. For many, God changes their life and they tell other people their story and invite them to come and check out GCC.
3. For many people...they become followers of Christ. God does that, not us. God gets the credit, not us. This is the story of God being carried out here in our city.
   

That is it. There you have it. I guess you can call it STORY outreach because people just keep telling their story of encountering God and discovering Jesus. Many people want to know if we reach people because of a style of service, kids ministry, music, student ministry, teaching, community group...they want us to pinpoint what is the reason people decide to come visit and then reach out to others. The answer can only be credited to God giving people a new story to talk about, a new story to embrace, and new story to begin through Christ. Our "method" of outreach will only work as God keeps giving people a new story and those same people keep talking about it. When that stops and if that stops we should close the doors of GCC, release the staff to find other jobs, and tell people to find where God is working and join that movement. For about 2,000 of us who call Grace Community our spiritual family here in Clarksville this is our story...

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me....
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now, I see.

We hope you experience that story for yourself. God's story can't be stopped.

CAN U HEAR ME? / series starts tonight @ REMIX

We start a new series this week at REMIX called Can You Hear Me focused on prayer. Talking with parents and teens of all ages, prayer is a huge struggle for us all. Maybe it is our constant connection with those around us through technology that keeps us from talking with God. Maybe it is the distraction of daily life. Maybe it is that we just have never made it a practice, routine, or habit. Prayer is hard. How do we move through the hard aspect of prayer? Better than that, how do we get to the heart of prayer? We hope to answer the WHY and HOW of prayer over the next three weeks of REMIX. To see the big picture of this series go check out relevantstudents.com. Some of you who follow the blog ask me where we get our series graphics and ideas. Here at Relevant we partner with a team called XP3 Students. Go check out XP3, we love the team there and love partnering with them for our weekly series.

how we partner with parents of teens

If you want to partner with families who have teens...get ready to make it a priority. Talking about the big idea and actually following through with a plan are two different things. Relevant started to work our plan in 2009 and half way through we are finding this to be a difficult process. They difficulty in making connections lead so many of us to remove partnering with the family from our top priorities. If you want to partner with parents you have to have a plan. We are working hard to inform, connect, and be available. Let me explain...

INFORM>> We want to keep let the parents know where we are leading their teens. We keep an update on our website from every Remix and we podcast every service. Why??? So they know where we are headed. Information is a powerful tool for a parent. Info enables the parent to have a framework to engage their son or daughter. Information also builds trust with the Relevant team and keeping that info online allows parents to get to the information when they need it.

CONNECT>> We want parents to know who is investing in their son or daughter. That connection can be me as the student pastor but really it needs to be the small group leader. The small group leader at REMIX is a youth pastor on our team and cares for the teens they lead. Each week our small group leaders email their parents an update email just to build a bridge. Many of our small group leaders are having chances to encourage and connect with parents. Parents want to know there are other caring adults investing in their teen.

BE AVAILABLE>> When a teen or parent needs us to answer a question, give advice, or serve in a time of crisis we just want to be available. We hope parents know we want to be on this journey for the good and bad times of their teen's life. When parents need help we want to be ready.

What is your plan to engage and partner with parents? Take some time this week to think about what your ministry can do for the family. Keep it simple and make sure you don't give up on the parents you serve.

Don't stop TRYING to connect with parents!

Chelsea (my wife and an amazing leader) and I have been evaluating our effort to connect with, empower, inform, and partner with parents at Relevant Student Ministry. What have we concluded? IT IS HARD! I think this is why student pastors stop striving to partner with parents. We are not evaluated on life change happening in the family we are measured by numbers of teens attending our programs. Looking for life change within the family is difficult to measure because guess what, it is rooted in the family. Sometimes we get to see it but most of the time we don't. When we can't see it we tend to give up. We tend tend to move toward where we get immediate feedback. We tend to focus all our effort on just connecting with teens because well that is our what many of us have been conditioned to do and just to be honest what we are good at. IT MAY BE HARD TO PARTNER WITH PARENTS BUT...IT'S WORTH IT! There are some things we have to focus on no matter what percentage of our parents choose to embrace the idea. The power of a parents actively investing in their teenage son or daughter is beyond measure. If just 50% of families in our student ministry choose to take ONE step toward partnering with the church, that 50% is going to make a huge impact in the lives of those teenagers. We have to remember that we can't demand an all or nothing approach to partnering with parents. We have to enable several levels of partnership and encourage parents to take the next step. This is about empowering the family and the family matters to God, He made it. We have decided that we are not going to quit when it get's hard. Partnering with parents is more than a strategy it's a way to care about what God cares about.

maintenance

This week our dryer stopped drying our clothes and that is a problem in our house! Thursday morning I got up and starting trying to figure out what was going on. Like any man not gifted in anything mechanical I started searching on Google. Anything you need to know, just start at Google. After working through a ton of little issues I finally got to looking inside the machine and had the chance to see what the inside of a dryer looks like after 8 years of no maintenance. It was not a pretty picture and I was shocked the entire thing never caught on fire. I think our life and ministry looks very similar when we avoid maintenance. Some of you enjoy maintenance mode too much. You love order and structure so much you never seek growth and expansion. I on the other hand love forward motion so much I neglect maintenance very often for the rush of what is coming next. What area's of our ministry / life need the attention of careful maintenance?

Personal Devotion // We need to keep an eye on how we are pursuing intimacy with God. This never happens for me without attention, a plan, and dedicated time blocked off to simply seek God outside this job I have of leading inside God's church. The ministry I lead is not mine, it is God's. I better spend time alone with God when I am alone so that my public life and private life have consistency.

Organization // This week our children's pastor and some key leaders spent time organizing supplies for their Sunday environment. It took several hours but it paid off big as they streamlined what they are using. Taking some time to slow down and organize can free us to move quickly to serve others when the opportunity arrives. This area of maintenance is so difficult for me. I feel like I am wasting time but I have to remind myself that the time set aside will free me up in the future.

Planning, Dream Time // Yes, planning and dreaming about what is next are so important but the tyranny of the now can crowd out time to make this happen. Taking time to plan and be strategic is a maintenance issue that can set to up to be prepared to lead your team, adapt when changes come, and better know how to pray.

Relationships // Yep...guess what...want significant relationships in your life you better get ready to dedicate time to that pursuit. The most important people in our life need significant time, not leftovers. Time with your family is DEMANDED. Time for your friends is a must. Time for the people you serve with has to be given. MAINTAIN those relationships with care.

MERGE 2010 joining with our community

MERGE is our winter retreat that happens right here in our own city. Yea, we retreat but we retreat to huddle with our small groups in homes for the weekend and pray our plans for life and God's plans come together. We pray our lives MERGE with what God is already doing and wants to do. During the weekend we gather for some incredible teaching and worship session but the heart of MERGE is in the small group. The dates this year are February 19-21; the plans are being made, and the relevant student ministry team is praying God will do incredible things. This year we are joining churches all across our city that are holding their own version of MERGE (retreat, dnow, whatever they want to call it) on the same weekend. We are even uniting for an opening worship service the Wednesday before MERGE and the ending Saturday night of the weekend. Why work together? Because we know God is not contained in any one of our churches or youth ministries. Because we know God calls for unity. Because we desperately want teens to know God is at work in our city. Because each of our ministries desire to see our city reached for Christ. Info about MERGE weekend is up for Relevant students at www.relevantstudents.com.

PURSUE online integrity

Two of my favorite pieces of technology in my life are my Ipod touch and Iphone. Honestly I love them both...I am sold, completely over on the Apple train. One of the issues that has been out there was a lack of accountability software for both the Itouch and Iphone when online. Big news is that now it is here. Why bother with this? I think it is so important to close gaps where integrity issues can come up. One of those gaps is online integrity. Now you can have accountability on your Mac or PC and your Iphone/Itouch for free. There are some bookmark and link issues they are figuring out but this is an accountability issue that is worth thinking about. The XXXchurch browser becomes your web browser on your Iphone. None of your other Facebook, Youtube, or Twitter apps are effected but it does provide a way to be accountable on your online device. Check out XXX Church online or search for xxxchurch in the app store to get the ball rolling. Love the support this ministry is providing for free to men and women all across the world.

you just never know!

When you get kids up on stage you never know what might go down. Even with teens crazy stuff can happen. Check out what went down with Clayton King when he brought his boy on stage...

Environment matters...

I have discovered and embraced a new idea...the visual worship leader. Spent a day this past week with a group of church leaders, at Visual Worship 2010, who create environments for people to gather for worship and a round table discussion in St. Louis. You may call these people tech leaders, creative directors, creative pastor's whatever but what they do each week is help lead worship. Our environments help people engage God or distract them from the God who made their soul. The visual worship leader uses staging, lights, projection, pictures, art, and architecture help share the message being communicated. every week our hope is communicate a message to the people who gather in our churches. The visual worship leader helps that message be intentional. I am passionate about environment. I have always felt as I produced (planned, ran lights, projection, or directed) a service I was helping to lead worship. Seriously I love seeing the environment assist the worship lead and speaker as we communicate the message. This week I met other people with that same passion. Go check out the discussion going on at http://worshipvj.com/ and http://www.visualworshiper.com/

Also know that your environment matters. When a person walks into your worship / small group / Sunday School / fellowship SPACE your environment is communicating something. Make sure you are intentional about that message. Leverage lighting, projection, music, art, stage arrangement, and room setup to communicate a message YOU WANT through your entire service or event.

NEXT?

Who is NEXT when it comes to leading the ministries we currently lead? Not sure if you have thought about this BUT the kids you lead each week in your teen or kid environment are the NEXT leaders we are equipping NOW. We are equipping them even if we have not thought that through. The past few weeks I have been overwhelmed by hearing stories of "former students" who were equipped by Grace Community Church. It is amazing to see them come back on their winter break and ASK TO VOLUNTEER WHILE THEY ARE HOME! Not just attend, they are still investing. Two of the students GCC mentored continue to make an impact as they are living life on their college campus. This first picture is Lauren Grizzard (she attends Austin Peay, lets go PEAY!) who is a small group leader for 6th grade girls at Remix, and the second picture is Nate Edmondson (he attends Moody Bible) who came back and spoke for Remix as we launched into 2010. One thing I know about both of these young leaders and so many other student leaders who have been mentored at GCC is that these leaders are going to make a difference. These leaders are making a difference now. Let's make the gap between NEXT and NOW small and empower these leaders with a chance to lead today!

you need people you can TRUST!

Everybody needs people around them they can trust. When you trust the people on your staff, on your volunteer team, that you contract work to, ministry just goes so much smoother! Believe me, there is nothing like a lack of trust to bring STRESS. Leading a student ministry is crazy enough and you need people on your team you trust if you are going to make an impact. So here are a few KEY trusting relationships you need...

• Volunteers >> OK this seems like a NO-BRAINER but we all know that we tolerate people on our team who have proven to be untrustworthy. Many times we keep these volunteers on the team because it will cost us to ask them to leave. We have to be able to trust our volunteers and our volunteers need to be able to trust us as we lead. You will empower volunteers in a different way when you trust them! Make sure you have volunteers around you that you trust.
• Staff / church leadership >> Having leadership that you trust and leadership that trusts you is so important. Trust with staff is a two way street so make sure and work hard to build the trust factor in your ministry.
  
• Worship Leader and Band >> Worship leadership is so important. Students learn theology through what they sing, and worship leadership takes that to another level. When you trust the team leading worship each week you are able to plan your environment with confidence.
• Graphic Designer >> we have been blessed with several designers we contract with and they make us look GOOD. Really, find a few people you trust and contract with them for graphic work. Really can do ministry or spend all day designing your next logo. Let the pro's do that!
  
• Curriculum Partnership>> You can purchase curriculum from so many companies but when you buy any old curriculum you end up questioning motives rather than trusting. You need an partnership. We partner with ministry called XP3. Check them out.
• T-shirt Company >> come on, you know youth pastors LOVE t-shirts. Find a company who can deliver and go with them. We love Active Screen Graphics...why...because they deliver and we trust them!
• Project Specialists >> You need a partner you can call and ask...how do we do that banner, make that backdrop, create that sign, make this card, produce this book. Sometimes it's just time to call the people who can problem solve and then spend the money to get the problem solved right. That team for us is MediaWorks. Check them out if you have a big (or small) project and you just need HELP making it happen.

You also need a Pizza company that will hook you up! This is youth ministry!

read the Bible at your pace...JUST READ IT!

I set a goal for myself to read the Bible through in a year and YouVersion is helping me do that. Not only am I going to read the entire Bible in a year I am going to do it all digitally. Yes for all of you who freak about people carrying a literal hard copy of the bible in their had to church...this may not be for you. You see now with my Iphone and YourVersion they have a plan (and like 30 other plans) for me to pick from with my Bible reading for the year. After 11 days on the plan I have to say...THIS IS A GREAT TOOL. It tracks my progress both on their website and on my phone and it all syncs together. There are tons of you out there who just need to start a plan and set a goal. Guess what, you are not behind because there are all kinds of plans and you can adjust your start date and end date of your plan right on the site. Go ahead, make the jump and try it. WHY...well because...

16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. 17 God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NLT)

keep IMPROVING, TWEAKING, CHANGING, ADJUSTING...

Took these three shots of different environments at GCC we have tweaked, improved (you get the idea) the past few months. Sure we still meet at Rossview High, sure we are stoked about building a facility in the future, but we know we have to keep adjusting our environments. I love that our team leaders keep working hard to take each environment to the next level with what resources they have. No matter where you meet or what age you work with...KEEP IMPROVING your environment.

should I go?

Youth and Children's pastors catch a ton of flack for changing ministry settings quickly. NOT SO FAST MY FRIEND...here is the truth. Many of us are young, are trying to figure out where we fit, and what leadership environment we need to thrive. When you hire young leaders you can never guarantee them to stay ten years. It might happen, but probably these same young leaders are still IN PROCESS. No matter what position you have (volunteer or paid staff) there are times to leave your current position. Should you go? Here are some factors that might lead you to move on...

• God. Yes, I do believe God opens doors and gives us new opportunities to lead. I believe God can move us, call us to a new adventure, put a vision in our heart that cannot be ignored. When God makes it clear it is time for you to start a new adventure in life, begin to make plans to tackle that challenge. I can promise when God calls for you to leave it will be hard, that is just how God worked in scripture and still works today. Get ready for an adventure.
  
• You can't follow and support leadership. When you loose respect and trust in your current leadership it is time to move on. It's not your job to be divisive and you probably do not have the authority to change who is your supervisor. If you can't follow anymore quit talking about leaving and take action. Vote with your feet, move on, forgive, and continue to serve with passion. You also may not be able to follow your current leadership because you have do not believe in the direction and strategy of your current organization. You may love the people you work with but not agree with the direction of the organization. If you have worked to bring change and discovered there will be no change then it might be time to go.
  
• You are in cruise control. If the is no personal challenge in your position, it might be time to go. When I say cruise control I mean that you are not taking risks to advance the Kingdom of God in your ministry setting and you rely on doing the things that have worked for you in the past. Basically when you find yourself going through the motions of ministry it might be time to change.

Should you go? That is a hard question that demands tons of prayer and advice from trusted friends. Never make your choice to leave in a vacuum. Seek God, seek wisdom from trusted friends, take your time, and make sure when you leave you are headed in the right direction to the right position not just A POSITION. You will make your greatest impact in ministry when you partner in ministry with people you love and respect, serve with an organization your totally believe in, and invest for significant amounts of time so relationships can flourish.

why should I stay?

We can all talk about reasons we have for leaving the ministry/church we lead! Come on, be honest...you know there are things that drive you crazy about your position. Many times when we talk about finding the right environment to serve in we talk about moving to a new place and starting over. There is another option that I want to thow out for us to think about. Here it is...STAY. Yes, stay right where you are at and work to courageously lead your organization from your leadership position toward health. What is the worst thing that could happen? You could get fired for trying to lead with passion. That is a great way to loose your job! So with that said, here some reasons to stay and serve right where God has you...

• Trust is earned! When you prove to your organization you are in for the long haul people listen. The more trust you have from those you lead the more risks you get to take in leading strong.
• Relationships matter! We are in the relationship business. Developing significant relationships in your community and your church takes time. When you stay you get to continue to invest in those relationships.
• The grass is not greener! If you cannot lead with contentment where you are stop looking for the next position right now. The next position you have will not be the perfect position, it will be a job with many of the same challenges you face just in a different context. Find contentment and passion serving where you are at before you move to that next role.
• Responsibility! Have you accomplished what you said you needed to accomplish in your current role? Why not stay and finish? Do what you said you were going to do, and yep if you get fired you get fired finishing strong!
• Family! A stable home life for your kids and your wife is a big deal. Jesus never called us to climb a ministry ladder, he called us to follow him. Maybe it's not Jesus calling you to that next church but rather the title, raise, or bigger ministry budget. If your wife and kids are not in sync with a move maybe you should stay.
• The voice of God! Has God given you direction to invest your life in your current city or church? If he has and trust God and stay. You serve God. Obey God.

I have had each of these STAY factors play out in my time of serving churches. I have had times when I had to just obey God, earn trust, value relationships, and STAY. Some of my greatest mentors in ministry have been people who have made the choice to stay and serve for the long haul. Thanks to all of you who are setting that example. It matters! There are times to move forward but probably more times when we have have focus and STAY.

healthy leadership enables healthy ministry

Finding the right team to serve with in ministry does not mean God will not lead you to serve in hard places. Look in Scripture at the life of the prophet Jeremiah...that was hard. Check out the thousands to men and women who serve in third world countries spreading the message of Jesus Christ. Talk to thousands of church and non-profit leaders serving in difficult rural and urban areas around our country. In ministry you are going to find yourself with hard challenges in difficult places. Knowing this truth makes who you serve with even more important. Healthy (not perfect, there is no perfect) leadership enables healthy ministry in difficult places. Finding the right ministry fit, for how God has wired and gifted you, may take you to opportunities you may never have dreamed about. The joy of serving along side people you love and trust is worth seeking...just be ready...God may take you somewhere you never imagined. There is a synergy that happens when a group of people serve together with a shared vision, passion of Christ, and direction. You have 2 choices. Find that team and join them or prayerfully, humbly, and courageously shape your current team into that kind of organization. Settling for mediocre is simply not a valid option if you want to do ministry for the long haul. What is next for you?

STOP settling for unhealthy LEADERSHIP cultures

Where you serve and who you serve with has a dramatic impact on the effectiveness of your ministry. Most of us who serve in churches, para-church ministries, or non-profits get our first position with the idea that if we just work hard enough we can make a huge impact. What I have discovered, that not many people like to talk about, is that the people who you serve, the staff you serve with, and the people you report to greatly effect the long term effectiveness of your work. In the short term any of us can ignore unhealthy issues in any organization in order to lead a youth or kids ministry, but over time working in a negative environment with poor leadership around you will begin to weaken your passion for ministry. I meet so many leaders dedicated to their calling who just trick themselves into accepting unhealthy environments in order to make a difference. I so value that commitment, but I don't think we have to settle. This generation of leaders (age is not the idea here) is not settling for status quo. Why are so many churches being planted and transitioned to new models of ministry? Why are people taking huge risks and found non-profits ? Why are so many organizations breaking and changing the rules established years ago? I think because next generation leaders would rather risk it all and work in a healthy, progressive environment rather than work in the midst of dysfunction. There are healthy (not perfect) churches, non-profits, para-church ministries out there you need to begin the journey of finding the right "ministry fit". For the next several posts I just want to talk about that journey. Finding the right ministry fit is a process and there are no quick fixes. The process is worth it!

how the Passion Movement influenced ME

The Passion Conference is simply a gathering of college students and next generation leaders that has been taking place, when God saw fit every few years all across the country. Passion, founded and led by Louie Giglio, exists to point college students to God, the heart of God, the Glory of God. Really, no kidding, it is all about honoring, worshiping, lifting high pour GREAT GOD. I have been able to experience two Passion events with high school seniors I took to the event. God did amazing things in our lives as we invaded a city with 20,000 other people passionately going after God. There is nothing like watching 20,000 people exalt God at the same time in the same room. We have a group of college students from Grace Community at the Passion Conference this week and my heart has longed to be there with them. It has been cool to look back and remember some principles God taught me through Passion events and Louie and the Passion team...

• Be flexible and allow God to lead // it has been amazing to watch this small leadership team change ministry direction as God has led. Really, this team has planned events and done things that were simply stupid. Why do those things...because God led them to do it. Guess what, God got the glory.
• God is at work in this generation right now // God is working. God is on the move. The passion team has just helped us see what God was already doing in this generation.
• Do something NOW // every passion conference the crowd is called to take action and sacrifice in order to help address problems around the globe. This generation will not sit in a building and talk about problems, they are going to help be the solution.
• Serve Now // I was always reminded at Passion events about the leadership ability, energy, and desire of next generation leaders. God has used these vents to call people to serve now. I clearly remember God calling me to take great ministry risks every passion event. This generation will not wait for older leadership to give us permission to live courageously for Christ. We will serve now.
• Love, worship, desire MORE OF CHRIST // Every passion event I have ever been a part of, any passion CD I have bought, podcast I have listened to, I come away more in love with Jesus. That is the focus, the goal, the hope. More of Christ, less of us!

One thing I know for sure...God is going to use Passion 2010 to forward His fame and His glory in the world.

Direction for 2010

I took Chelsea and the girls to Opryland Hotel on January 1 to see the Christmas decorations so we took this picture. (using our camera timer and a rock to hold it up!) We had a great time grabbing dinner at Old Spagetti Factory and being together. It was a great way to start 2010. I say it was a great way to start because it helped me begin the year by moving in the right direction. I'm not a resolution person but I am learning that if I don't set some goals for myself each year I will not start the year off in the right direction. While I was speaking at a retreat last week I took some time to write out my personal and ministry goals for 2010...just to help set my course for the year. As Andy Stanley says so well, direction not intention determines my destination. I am not going to list my goals here on the blog but there are a few words and capture my hopes for this year.

Connect >> I want to be engaged with my family, pursuing God with passion through personal prayer and Bible reading, and serving those God has placed around me in my church, my city, my community group, ya know.

Risk >> I want to lead, plan, dream here at Grace Community with courage. There are some risks (for God's Kingdom) I think God is calling us to take.

Balance >> Yea, I love to work...love long hours...love what I get to do everyday as a pastor. Since I am wired that way I have to seek balance. I am moving toward balance through some goals I am setting for time alone with God (not work), time with family, time at the gym.

Forget resolutions, set some goals and set your direction for 2010. My words for 2010 are connect, risk, and balance...what words would you use??