It is our 21st anniversary and we are celebrating like it was our 20th.

Last year, we were unpacking boxes on August 15th, have just moved to Nashville to work at LifeWay. So, instead of celebrating, we were organizing. Needless to say, I promised my wife a better time this anniversary.

So, I am in Chicago. We are staying in a nice hotel on the Magnificent Mile. We are sleeping late, going to movies, seeing shows, and just enjoying each other. On Sunday, we will be at Community Christian Church and grab lunch with my friend Dave Ferguson. I will stay over till Tuesday to shoot a television program with the Assemblies of God (which gave me the excuse to come to Chicago this weekend).

Donna and I started dating in High School. Donna was the first (and only) girl I dated seriously. We went to the prom, then off to college together. When we were 20 years old, she was crazy enough to marry me. So, between our Junior and Senior years of college, we got married.

She is a wonderful friend and an amazing wife.

She loves Jesus. We first met when she came to a Bible Study I was leading in high school. She had led about 6 of her friends to Christ that year.

She is not afraid of difficult things. She supported us as I planted our first church while going to seminary on the weekends... and earned a Masters degree while I was earning mine. We have planted multiple churches, worked to revitalize a few, and not chosen the easy paths in life.

I have dragged this woman to the inner city of Buffalo, NY to plant a church among the urban poor. Then, off to a blue collar community of Erie to plant again. Four months after Kristen was born, she came with me to Louisville where I taught at seminary (which was much more challenging than Buffalo!).

Once she was pregnant again, of course I dragged her to Georgia to work at NAMB and then to evantually plant a church in our free time . And, now we live in Nashville where I travel too much.

She has never complained and she had every right to. We have literally grown up together and now we are raising kids together. I look forward to growing old together.

Now, I watch her continue to grow and I see her life poured into our 3 daughters. And I am grateful every day.

So, today is her day. And, I am honored that she would call me her husband!

It is a fascinating mix of articles at Catalyst: Take a look.

My article, based on the ideas in my new book, Compelled by Love, agrees that ministry is tiring, and can leave us asking, "Why bother?" We should ask that question.

...sometimes, we get tired.

The "wet blanket committee" roams the church to see what passion they can squelch. Tons of logistical work has to be done when all you really want to do is talk to people about Jesus. And there's the never ending cycle of dreaming, strategy, and vision-casting. It's a lot for one person to handle.

So why?

Because of love. Not love like a Reese Witherspoon romantic-comedy or an afternoon talk show pseudo-psychology counseling session. I'm talking about love that asks you to die for the greater good. Like Jack Bauer in 24. Or Leonidas and the Spartans. The kind of love that motivates us should be the same as Christ - a dying love.

Love stands at the center of the Christian life. Understood rightly, it is the "why." It is the supreme command of scripture. When Christ was asked to name the greatest law, he pointed out that it is to love God supremely and others sacrificially (Matthew 22:37-40).

I hope you'll check out the article and are able to find encouragement in it.

Just a reminder: I will be presenting some new research on the main stage at the Catalyst Conference this year, in addition to hosting an IMB event and leading some breakouts. Hope to see you there.

Yesterday, the Compelled By Love "trans-continental" blog tour started at Alan Hirsch's blog, The Forgotten Ways. (Alan is Australian, which explains why he calls us his "mates" over my objections.) Today, we are off to England. Actually, I am not sure where it is in Great Britain, but I do know that it is the blog home of Andrew Jones, or as he is better known, Tall Skinny Kiwi. Go to those blogs for more, or join in the dialogue about multisite here.