So I’ve been on a message planning trip for the past 24 hours with a few pastor buddies. Few things inspire me like an incredible view… so here’s what I’ve been looking at from the patio…
Not bad huh? If I can’t write a good message series here then it’s just not going to happen. 
So here’s the “Thursday Is For Thinking” question:
What inspires you?
Music?
Beach?
Art?
Running Water?
Exercise?
We want to know. Go!
Lately for me it’s been good conversation. A friend of mine has been struggling with finding God’s direction and we’ve had some amazing conversations about life and God and where He is leading.
Love that!
Pete if I only had enough space to share how I have seen God work the past week and how known his presence has felt to me through the prayers for this friend and how God is changing me in the process. It’s truly been overwhelming.
Of course, the correct answer is:
You Pete.. you are the wind beneath my wings.
Hmm… so what inspires me?
Music
A Great movie
Pine Forests
Awesome books
My family
A kick in the butt (funny how that inspires me)
Defeat (you would think that winning would be an inspiration)
Anger
Love
I am going to have to think on this some more.
How did I forget Fear.
I totally forgot about a good movie. That’s a big one for me.
that’s an awesome view!! nature, good views totally inspire me too. otherwise, a good run turned into walking it out with God always does the trick. so many things though and really it depends on the day
Funny I’ve actually been at Starved Rock State Park for the last 24 hrs for the same reason. This place inspires me. Nature. Waterfalls. Canyons. A cool late summer breeze. My wife’s love. My children smiles. Challenges. Scripture.
It’s been a good 24 hrs…only 6 left to go!
Praying for your time away Dale.
So many different things inspire me, it is hard to pick one. I am inspired by people who are living through some very tough and troubling circumstances; the world looks at their situation and can not comprehend how they make it through each minute let alone days upon endless days, but with GOD they proceed, content in knowing He is taking care of them and their needs… that inspires me… I was most recently inspired and uplifted by the song “The Anchor Holds”
the chorus goes
“The Anchor holds, though the ship is battered. The Anchor holds, though the the sails are torn, I have fallen on my knees, as I face the raging seas; but the Anchor holds, in spite of of the storm.”
I had really been needing to feel God’s presence and I heard this song come over a radio station I can never get to tune in correctly in my area… when the song was over the station faded back out and I couldn’t get it to tune in again…I KNOW God was answering my prayer, and I was inspired!
The good actions and/or intentions of others.
A deep conversation with close friends over a good meal.
A beautiful view.
Sound of waves crashing.
A well-written song.
An epic story.
Waves do it for me every time!
I agree with so many things already mentioned: the outdoors, fear, deadlines, family. The only others I could add would be rest and other creative types…great question and interesting how common most of the inspiring things are.
Pete, have you ever spent time at The Cove? When i worked in Int’l Ministry, every year we took a recharging staff retreat there for a week. Peace pours from that place.
This will sound goofy, but my inspiration lately has come from my garden. I’m newly married, in our 1st home, so i went all out this summer w/ 15 tomato plants (9 diff varieties including heirloom), veggies & an herb garden. I get up early every morning to walk my garden, weed, water/feed & pick the day’s fruit. Then after work i rush home to sit on the back porch w/ my husband & watch 8 hummingbirds fight over 4 feeders, zipping from the front of the house to the back. I sound like i’m 70, but i’m only 31 haha. There’s been something so creative & wonderful about how much i’ve come to love working hard to cultivate each & every plant in our garden. I’ve kept a daily gardening journal since April when we first tilled the ground, a brilliant gift from my mom. It’s been so fun to admire God’s handiwork & look back through our garden notes at how big it’s grown from just tiny seeds. The spiritual metaphors have not been lost on us, thankfully. That’s been the best part
I haven’t but it sounds like my kind of place.
You must take your ministerial staff, leaders there-but make it in the Fall when the leaves turn. The rocking chairs on the gigantic back porch overlooking the Blue Ridge Mountains is breathtaking. Bonus, during your evening meetings, the staff brings in an old fashioned popcorn machine plus warm chocolate chip cookies & milk for snacks. Dr. Graham labored over every detail when planning The Cove & it shows.
Recently, I’ve been reading a lot of poetry and it has been inspiring me.
I never thought I would say that in a million years.
The beach…no, music.
Music at the beach. Yes.
Good music, cycling, and the combination of those two.
Oh this could be a long list…
Music
Good movies
Art…especially Rembrandt
Books
Smoky Mountains in the Fall
Conversation…with my wife, with friends, or with strangers
Food…cooking & eating
…to name a few.
I am inspired by books, films and Christians who never stop seeking to know and understand Christ.
I see your picture and I think tranquility…so I was about to come and answer what makes me feel calm and refreshed and rejuventated for life.
Then I realized you were asking us to answer what inspires us. Haha!
Conversations definitely inspire me. Ones with my mom or a close friend…someone that knows me well enough to talk honestly and understand me deeply.
the shore
nature
sunsets
sunrises
good conversation
Christians who live out their faith in a bold yet loving way
art (specifically photography)
words
people who conquer their fears
quotations
kids
music
Sunsets…Bingo!
I’m inspired by the conversations that I have with close friends and lately several books have inspired me.
Pete -
There are several things that inspire me in big ways to grow closer to God. But there are a couple that seem to stand a little higher:
1. God stories that people share send me to cloud nine. Sharing them with others which is so cool.
2. Quietness in nature when I stop speaking and God can speak.
Love those places.
my granddaughter’s innocent smile.
My spirit is revived when I take the time to engage the stories of everyday people.
It shows in your writing!!
Ah.. so that is why we aren’t engaged… I am an every-other-day kinda person.
I just watched the blindside recently and I was inspired by this ladies action to help that young man. One of my favorite lines in the movie was were she was sitting at a table with four of her girlfriends for lunch and one of them says, ” your changing that boys life.” And she states,” No he’s changing mine.”
That really hits home for me.
Definitely music.
A good long, drive alone or just a drive in general, especially one that takes me out of the city, away from everything.
And a new one i have discovered is sitting out by the Lake here in Marquette, under a cove and just looking out on the water and listening to the waves… trying to grasp that for as far as i can see there is nothing but water and amazed & reminded that every bit of it is under His control.
Oh, and good, challenging, long conversations with friends… especially the ones that end most often with tears, a release, and then i sense of peace.
Family, Friends, Music…
Nature inspires me:
A rustle in the leaves, a gurgling creek, a rainbow, the details in a leaf or flower, snow caressing down, birds at a birdbath, an approaching thunderstorm, waves crashing on the beach, ant colonies…
to name a few!
I am inspired by simple answered prayers from God. From finding a babysitter at the last minute to my kids behaving well when we are out to dinner. I love that my God cares about the little details of my life. I am reassured of his continual presence each time I pray to him for the small things. Of course answers to the “big things” is awesome but I find that I need the day to day answered prayers to really inspire me.
Wish there was a “LIKE” button. This is so true!
Nothing inspires me more than a good life story. When someone is truly transparent in the hell they’ve been through and how it’s gotten them to where they are today. If we can’t talk about the hard times, how in the world can we talk about the good. I’m a strong believer in that you can’t have one without the other in this world we live in, because life is not perfect and I feel that I tend learn more from people’s mistakes and how they have chosen to respond to them than I do from their successes.
My children inspire me… they are such a blessing and to watch God at work in their lives and how He is leading them just makes me giddy! I am so thankful and so blessed to have them and get to be their mom….
Walking our neighborhood lake with camera in hand. Some amazing neighbors we have…this past Sunday I met: flock of canadian geese, buck, beaver, blue heron, cardinal and a few dew-covered, sleeping bees. Simply amazing how inspiring taking a walk can be.
Silence. Open eyes.
Curious about the sleeping bees? Check out the photo proof
http://jezamama.blogspot.com/2010/08/sunday-morning.html
Rejuvenates me: nature/creation (sounds, smells, scenery, images), music, watching kids play, hugs
Inspires life: life stories, transparency, brokenness, wrestling with others through the tough questions, serving, injustice, people who live out “GO” instead of just hanging out and talking about what faith and gaining knowledge, seeing God reveal himself in tangible ways we recognize
Music.
The smell of cinnamon and vanilla.
A rousing good laugh.
A phone call from a friend.
A cup of tea in a pretty cup.
A breeze blowing in my face.
I love me some tea. But I’m not too worried about the cup.
Playing with my 3 daughters. I have twin 1 year olds and a 3 year old and everything they do reminds me of my walk with Christ.
http://grassycove.blogspot.com/2010/08/what-inspires-me.html
I recently wrote on blog on that
. Pretty much everything around me has the potential to inspire…depending on how you view your world.
The creativity of others is a huge inspiration for me… brainstorming meetings, books (or even blogs) that make me think, or re-read a sentence because of its unusual beauty.
Most of all though is the creativity of the Almighty God and his amazing creations and the variety within them… sunsets, waves, etc. Bbut equally as cool were the hurricanes of 2004 in FL where we watched from our front row seat, the amazing power and felt His protecting hand on us.
nature – particularly beach and mountains with water.
And really great music
and honestly, space to think in any of the above!
LOVE that picture!!
What inspires me…
Sunsets..SUCKER for sunsets…
Friends…
My big brother…he makes me cry everytime I talk to him because he can speak so much truth to my heart…
Music…more than just the lyrics, the overall SOUND…harmonies, instruments, etc.
The wind…sometimes I like to sit and watch the trees and listen to the wind and feel it go through me and let it bring peace.
I am inspired by my kids, a good book, music (particularly country – there are just so many stories in it), my co-laborers, a magnificent sunset, a rainbow, God’s creation, and so much more. Inspiration can come from just about anywhere at anytime. I love that God does that!
Views like that. WOW.
Things like this:
There are only a few people in the world who will:
• summit Kilimanjaro (5895 m) over 6 days
• compete in a two day mountain bike race around Kilimanjaro (246 km) and
• finish the Kilimanjaro Marathon (42,2 km).
The one with the fastest summarized time on the bike race and the marathon sections will be the KiliMAN.
have a look. this is my next endurance race goal — http://www.kilimanjaroman.com/
So cool. You know that Blake Bergstrom our Nashville campus pastor is getting ready to climb Mt. Killmanjaro. He’s super excited. I hear about it EVERY day.
i did see that he’s coming to climb soon. i hope it goes well for him. i think i’m saving my money so that i can climb during that race in a couple of years…
The contagious nature of a child’s laughter
Getting creative in the kitchen be it baking or cooking
Nature
Family (when I get to see them) & friends
Getting in the car and just winding my way down the beautiful Natchez Trace
I love hearing kids laugh!!
People who love Jesus and share it with everyone they know!!
What really inspires me is quiet space with no clutter. I am ADD enough to feel all… “SQUIRREL!” when my work/think space is cluttered.
I am inspired by people who have discovered what makes them come ALIVE, and are FULLY LIVING in that reality that God has revealed to them.
I think you are here, Pete. Your passion is contagious, even when you don’t think so.
Seeing bold faith.
Music. The more “emo” the better. Usually, coupled with a late-night run or drive (depending on how motivated I feel), that can totally rock my world. A surefire inspiration is putting on some Sleeping At Last and jogging thru the hills of middle Tennessee.
I can also get pretty inspired by a great conversation over multiple cups of coffee. Great question (and view), Pete!
My mom inspires me. She passed away during her first year of teaching preschool when I was a teenager. I have her picture with my sister’s (who also passed away) above my computer at work. Anytime I get stressed or wondering why I still teach preschool I look at those pictures and remind myself of what I do for a living and how I have the opportunity to empower and love on these kids every day.
Watching the leaves fall from the trees in the fall….watching the flowers bloom in the spring (my two favorite seasons)….seeing a shooting star or a rainbow
Essentially God’s miracles
Definitely music!
So many things -
A Bible verse that’s exactly, uncannily, “on target” -
Listening to the Gaither Homecoming sing “Fully Alive” -
Nearing the summit of the Cascade Mountains one midwinter night, on the train, watching the full moon illuminate the snowy meadows while the evergreen branches bend far down under the weight of the new snow –
Going far out in the back country with my family to try something “impossible” – and watching God help us succeed.
And more -
Most definitely my answer is music. But not in the traditional church sense. Like send me to a Christian music festival and turn me loose to listen to that heavy rock and roll kind of stuff. Going to blog more about it.
Writing and music. And some good coffee doesn’t hurt, either =P
nature. music. art. great conversation. rest. a challenge. red bull. the desire to do something significant with the chances before us.
What inspires me: Nature, worship music, a beautiful sunset, a powerful talk, a great story, and a big hug!
Testimonies inspire me. Good news inspires me. Books, genuiness also inspires me. Also, sunsets and rainbows.
Music’s been the biggest inspiration for me to write. I’m a self-proclaimed music junkie, and there’s just so many amazing artists who love their art so passionately.
Living at the foot of the Smoky Mountains can also lead to some inspiration too, I guess.
For me, inspiration comes from many different sources in many different ways. I never know when it’s going to strike…and that’s what I love about it. I know I could be inspired by something at any time. Creates a fun atmosphere of anticipation.
Music.
Wow! Not bad at allllll !
I’m always inspired by music, art, nature, the beach, but definitely not exercise. LOL
Great question. Funny I have never really thought about this.
I am inspired by my personal struggles and the hope to help others benefit from that struggle.
I am inspired by the smile on a face that was once streaked with tears.
I am inspired by the flutter in my heart when the spirit stirs me.
I am inspired by time spent in silence
I am inspired through my husband and children
I am inspired by hope for what could be rather than what is or seems to be.
I am inspired by the stories of others and God’s faithfulness in their lives.
Listening to the noiselessness early morning, being around trees, forests, waterfalls(Hmm, maybe I should say Nature), simple everyday people who walk the talk, do what needs doing, walk with courage and dont even know it, children, husband, friends and others I love, music, books, growing plants.