An Unexpected Calling
I was the keynote speaker at the Charleston Leadership Prayer Breakfast. When I was invited to speak, I said, “I’ll pray about it.”
As part of the preparation, I looked into what this prayer breakfast was about.
I discovered the High Tech Prayer Breakfast here in Atlanta was its inspiration. The Charleston Breakfast has a different audience. It includes the city’s business leaders, the political leaders, and the most prominent church leaders. It is in its twenty-second year and hosts over one thousand people at this annual breakfast.
Their most recent keynote speakers included Darryl Strawberry (NY Mets superstar), Shannon Bream (Fox News Media star), and Anne Graham Lotz (the daughter of the Reverend Billy Graham). When I saw this list, I was intimidated and confused. Why do they want me? I am a former angel investor in Atlanta.
Jerry Young, their founder, insisted I be their keynote speaker. He watched me tell my story on the High Tech Prayer Breakfast website. He told me he liked my transparency, energy, and humor. And he thought my story would connect with the leaders in Charleston.
I told him, “No, thank you. I think you can do better.”
He said, “I’m not taking ‘no’ for an answer. I’ll call you in a week.”
He did. I said, “Yes.” In prayer, I learned God was in this, and I cannot say “no” to God.
The preparation
I thought I’d just do the same presentation from the 2016 High Tech Prayer Breakfast. It was June, and I didn’t think much about the November 2nd breakfast until mid-September when Jerry called me. He wanted to figure out the logistics.
I realized quickly I better get prepared.
I watched the video from the 2016 High Tech Prayer Breakfast. While watching it, I kept saying, “This is a great talk.” I delivered it with high energy, humor, and a nice flow. When I finished watching this video, I told Kathy, “I can’t do that again.” I was intimidated by my past performance.
A week later, I began by putting pen to paper and jotting down some ideas.
The truth is, while in prayer over the last few months, ideas for my upcoming talk would come to mind. I would jot them down so as not to lose them. I returned to these ideas as a starting point, and they were useless. I was back to the beginning. “What am I to share with these people?”
Kathy asked me, “How’s it going?”
I said, “I’m stuck. The talk I gave seven years ago was great, but I’m not that guy anymore. I am older, and I’ve grown in my relationship with Jesus. I’ve matured in my understanding of God and my understanding of myself and my life.”
“You need a coach,” she said. “You were the coach for Sangram in helping him prepare for his talk at the High Tech Prayer Breakfast. You should have someone coach you.”
She was right. I am a procrastinator. A coach would solve this. Having a coach would force me to put my thoughts into a logical and clear format so we could discuss them and make progress at our next meeting.
I called Bob Lewis for help. He said, “Sure. I’ll be happy to help. What kind of coaching do you need?”
I told him, “I have no idea. Heck, you’re the coach.”
He asked, “What are you struggling with?”
I told him the story I just told you. He said, “Sounds like Jerry wants you to give the same talk you gave seven years ago.”
Thanks, coach.
But I didn’t want to give this same talk. I am not the same guy. My story hasn’t changed, but there is so much more to it now. It is richer. I see now what I didn’t see back then. Life is clearer. God is more visible.
When I told another mentor, a former pastor, how much I struggled in my preparation, he said, “That’s great. If I were the breakfast’s leader, I would be excited that you are struggling with this talk. How much better than a keynote speaker who is dusting off his old speech notes.” And this turned out to be true.
I met twice with Bob. He had some insightful comments and was a huge encouragement. The fact that I was accountable to him made me prepare for our meetings. This kept me in prayer and working diligently on my talk. I was not allowed to default to “last minute Charlie.”
For three weeks, this talk consumed me. Three weeks for God to speak to me. Three weeks for me to think about how best to serve this audience. Three weeks to figure out what happened in my life, why it happened, and how to tell this story to others. They were the richest three weeks I’d had with Jesus in a very, very long time. What a wonderful gift. And to think I said, “No,” to Jerry.
I didn’t know Jerry was blessing me with this invite. I didn’t know God told Jerry to ask me. I didn’t know I was deflecting God’s blessing. I didn’t know God wanted me to use this preparation time to tell me what he had done in my life and what he was now doing in my life. I didn’t know. Now I do. All I can say is, “Wow. Thank you, Jesus.”
The biggest lesson from all of this
There is no greater fulfillment in life than to be used by God to further his Kingdom.
He brought me close to him. He spoke to me. Then he spoke through me.
He used me to pass his blessing on to over one thousand people that morning. And all I had to do was tell my story. Imagine that?
It was amazing.
You can watch the complete keynote here.