Today’s research question: Exactly how much cake is required to properly celebrate Sara's birthday? We’re going to need a LARGE sample size. 😂 Happy Birthday, @Sara Fredrick !! 🥳 I hope your day includes good people, lots of laughter, something delicious, and at least a little bit of doing exactly what YOU want to do. We’re awfully glad you’re here. 💛 Everybody help us wish Sara a VERY Happy Birthday! 🎉🎈

Well, this makes me happy. ❤️ Welcome to Skoolology, @Kathryn Zabinski! Kathryn and I have known each other for a long time, so seeing her walk through this particular door feels pretty special. I’m really glad you’re here, my friend. Now I’m curious...what made you decide to come hang out with us over here? 😊

You are so generous with each other. Someone shares what they’re building, and you lean in. You ask questions. You offer ideas. You share something you’ve learned. You encourage someone who’s unsure. You celebrate the wins. And sometimes you simply say, “I get it.” You notice each other. You remember what someone was working on and come back to ask how it went. You see a question and think, “I might be able to help with that.” You share what worked for you without assuming it has to be the answer for someone else. And sometimes you ask the question that helps another builder see something they couldn’t quite see on their own. When you share what you’re learning, someone else learns, too. When you ask the question you’re afraid might be obvious, someone else is relieved you asked it. When you encourage another builder, you remind them they don’t have to figure all of this out alone. You make this room what it is. Not just by being here. By bringing what you know, what you’re wondering, what you’re trying, and what you’re learning. And by being willing to share some of it with each other. I hope you know how much that matters. And how much YOU matter here. 💜

I have permission to hype her, so obviously I’m going to. 😂❤️ Just over a week ago, @Lisa Vanderveen opened the doors to Kingdom Peace & Prosperity. If you’ve been following along, you know Lisa has been BUILDING. 😂 She’s been experimenting, changing things, following ideas, having conversations, and creating something that feels very much like HER. And today... SOMEONE PAID TO BE IN THE ROOM!!! 🎉🥳❤️ KPP officially has its first paying member. Lisa, I know you have BIG dreams for what you’re building, but I hope you stop and enjoy this one. Because there’s only ever ONE first paying member. ❤️ Someone saw what you’re creating and said... Yep. I want in. THAT deserves a celebration. Congratulations, Lisa!!! 🎉❤️🥳

I shared a shorter version of this somewhere else this morning, but I kept thinking about it. Because I realized something. Some of the most valuable things you’ve shared with us haven’t been polished wins. They’ve been things like... “I tried this. It didn’t work.” “I thought I wanted this, but now I’m not so sure.” “Here’s what my members are actually doing.” “Something feels off, but I can’t quite put my finger on it.” And occasionally... “I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing next.” 😂 I’m also grateful for the quieter people here, too. The ones reading. Watching. Thinking. Trying something in their own community. Taking what they need and leaving what they don’t. Maybe you rarely comment. Maybe we have no idea what you’re experimenting with behind the scenes. You’re part of this, too. ❤️ Participation doesn’t always look like posting. And the conversations we DO get to have have changed some of our thinking, too. There are things Todd and I were pretty sure about when we started Skoolology that we see differently now. Things we’ve changed. Things we’ve simplified. Things we thought mattered that turned out not to matter nearly as much as something else. And I’m quite sure there are still things we’re wrong about. 😂🤫🔬 Maybe that’s one of the things I love most about treating Skoolology as a research lab. We can have hypotheses. We can bring our experience. We can study what seems to work. But then real people enter the room. And we have to pay attention. Building WITH people doesn’t mean doing everything everyone asks. It means letting what we learn from people influence what we build next. That requires us to listen. To notice. To question our assumptions. And sometimes to say, “Well... apparently THAT wasn’t it.” 😂 So today I’m grateful for all of you. The people who share the messy middle. The people who ask the awkward questions. The people who challenge an idea or tell us when something isn’t working. The people who let us peek behind their builds.