By Kelly Shrout
Employee Communications Editor, LifeWay Christian Resources

When I became a member of BCA in 2005, I was a bright-eyed, bushytailed new staff member with LifeWay's communications team. I was happily single, wore great name-brand clothes, held a fresh seminary degree in one hand and a $6 Starbucks latte in the other.

Oh, but how quickly life can change!

If you are like me, you can mark major personal milestones based on what was going on in your life at the time of BCA workshops.

The first BCA workshop I attended was in Denver in 2005. Five days before I flew to the Mile High City I had purchased a brand new red Mustang to celebrate my life as a young, professional single. The Mustang was my first new car purchase and at the risk of sounding really shallow  it has been the best purchase of my life. You see, I had saved up to buy a house, but Chris Turner, who also works with LifeWay's communication team, convinced me to buy the Mustang instead of a house. He reasoned that if I had a really cool car, I would soon find a rich, eligible bachelor who would marry me. Therefore, I would then have a Mustang, a man and a mansion. I took Chris' advice and... by BCA 2006 in Richmond, Va., I was engaged.

You know where this is going...

At BCA Mobile in 2007 I was a happy newlywed and at the 2008 workshop in Arizona I no longer sported classy, name-brand clothes... only the best maternity wear J.C. Penny offers. I enjoyed the Arizona workshop... well, the parts I remember. I barely got out of my hotel room as morning sickness had a relentless grip on me.

So when I first joined BCA in 2005 I was single, in 2006 I was engaged, in 2007 I was a newlywed, in 2008 I was expecting a baby and in 2009 I will be a new mommy. See what happens when you join BCA?

Our LifeWay staff will help host the 2009 BCA in Nashville and I look forward to what this year will bring for all of us. Who will be single? Who will be engaged? Who will be married? Who will be expecting a baby? Who will be retiring? And most importantly, who will buy my red Mustang since a car seat doesn't fit in the back and there aren't enough cup holders to accommodate both my latte and a baby bottle.

The Word of God reminds us that our lives are mere vapors. James 4:14 states, "You don't even know what tomorrow will bring - what your life will be! For you are a bit of smoke that appear for a while, then vanishes." So let's celebrate God's blessings while we can. Even better - let's celebrate them with each other.