After receiving and reading through more than 500 entries to the Living a Better Story Blog Contest, we’ve chosen our winner. And believe me, this was no easy task. There is no story greater than one human being attempting to live a meaningful life. We read painful and beautiful stories about marriages falling apart and getting back together, children being taken from the world too early, stories of noble ambitions to build orphanages and start schools. We passed around your stories like favorite baseball cards, each of us wanting plenty of you to win.
In fact, even as I boarded a plane yesterday, well after we should have chosen our winner, we couldn’t decide. I finally left it in the hands of my faithful and prayerful assistant Tara, who told me when I landed in Chicago that she was having “panic attacks.” The final decision was very difficult, and included a secondary round of questions for about a dozen final contestants. In the end, we chose the contestant we felt the seminar would help the most. Again, it was tough. But the winner is Lori Ventola of Denver, Colorado. Lori wants to start a mobile after-school program helping children of the homeless transition into school. She has a plan and a vision, and we are hoping the seminar brings some ideas into clarity and gives her the inspiration she needs.
Lori, we are flying you and a friend to Portland and putting you up at a swanky hotel near the venue. We will even save seats for you wherever you want. You are our guest of honor! On the first night, I’ll bring you on stage to share a bit of your story, and where you’d like your story to go. Lori, this picture of you laughing did us all in. We love it, and we think you are going to be doing a lot of laughing when you come to Portland. Life is hard, but even the hard parts are worth celebrating. God is always molding our story into an epic narrative that is designed to save many lives. I can’t wait to meet you in person before the seminar.
The Living a Better Story Seminar is a Seminar for people who want to do great things with their lives, who want to live a story that has meaning and helps and inspires others. If you’re wanting to spend time in a room full of people who are doing remarkable and unique things, whether it’s starting hospitals or creating movies or turning their own homes into orphanages, you’ll want to join us!
If you’ve yet to register for the seminar, you can do so here. We’ll see you soon in Portland! Less than a month to go!!
