PAO

What an amazing weekend! We just got back from Dallas after enjoying a few days at the Pro Athlete Outreach conference. I think it would compare to FCA (we didn't have Fellowship of Christian Athletes in high school, so I'm just going by what I've been told) for grown ups. We had amazing speakers and workshops, two incredible worship bands and an awesome time bonding with teammates and their wives. The Panthers were well represented with 14 players and their wives, I think the most of any team. We also got to see some of our friends from the Packers and some old Notre Dame teammates

All of the speakers offered incredible insights and really made you put your own life in perspective. If anyone is interested in adding some Biblical education to your life, I would highly recommend looking up Dr. Voddie Baucham. He is a pastor at a Baptist church in Houston, and is probably one of the most intelligent pastors I've ever heard speak. His knowledge of the Bible just makes you want to learn more.

One of my favorite speakers for the weekend was Priscilla Shrier of Going Beyond Ministries. She is from Dallas and has a gift for touching the lives of everyone who listens to her speak. She spoke twice, once to just the women, and I was really moved by her sermon about the seasons of life and trying to enjoy where you are currently as opposed to trying to rush through the difficulties to get on to the next stage of life.

The chaplain for the Detroit Lions and his wife, Dave and Ann Wilson, spent three sessions talking about marriage (the keys to a successful marriage, conflict resolution, and sex in marriage). Their openness and honestly was so helpful and made for great discussion even after they were done speaking. If your itunes needs a spiritual boost check out Anthony Evans and Michael Boggs. Both are incredibly gifted.

Not only were we blessed with an amazing conference, we were also blessed by the Dallas location and were able to see lots of our friends from college (when do you stop referring to people as friends from college and start calling them life friends???). So thank you to Katie, Maggie, Emily (and Jacob!), Geoff and Bobby for spending time with us during the breaks in the conference. It makes me so happy to see old friends again, and it just makes me want to move back to the DFW area.