I just turned down an opportunity to speak at a Minister’s Retreat in Tennessee with several hundred pastors and church planters. It was a gut-wrenching decision, but I said “no” because I’d be gone on Parker’s tenth birthday! I have such a hard time saying “no” I love speaking to pastors and church planters. But I’ve tried to abide by a simple philosophy that I believe is God-ordained and God-honored: if ministry and family are ever in conflict, family always comes first. It’s a tough decision, but at the end of the day my son would miss me alot more than a group of pastors