Unpacking is not
my favorite thing.
Coming home,
putting the toothbrush back in it’s holder, separating dirty laundry, sorting
receipts, putting things back into their right spaces and places… It’s somewhat
burdensome. I want to be able to come home, jump into my bed, and go about life
as normal, forgetting that I can’t take a shower until all my things are out of
my suitcase and in my bathroom.
I am finding out
the same is true about the IF: Gathering.
Unpacking this
thing is HARD; processing all of the words, the good things, the challenging
things, ALL THE THINGS.
Over the two weeks (has it been that long already?), I have been re-reading my notes, recounting the conference over long
coffee dates and phone calls, and struggling to bring myself to actual pen and
paper. It’s intimidating, to process these huge things and dive deeper into the
words spoken by these amazing women of faith. The next few days, I will be
attempting to unpack everything; the good moments and the God moments.
(First off, if
you don’t know the purpose of IF, it is to gather, equip, and unleash the women
of the next generation (me, yay!) to live out their purpose. They do this through
various facets, and I am so thankful for Jennie Allen, the woman who began it
all. She is a breath of fresh air (as are all the headlining women of this
movement) in the stagnant, recycled air that is currently women’s ministry.
Please do yourself a favor and jump on this bandwagon. We will be studying our
way through Hebrews beginning Monday and I cannot wait!)
Leading up to IF,
I studied through the concept of faith and the life of Joshua through IF: Equip, studied through 1 & 2 Peter with She Reads Truth, and coincidentally
our church happened to be in a ten week series called “Decide Today”, based on
the life and leadership of Joshua. To say that God was tilling my heart in
preparation for the IF: Gathering is a huge understatement.
Roughly a week and a half before boarding the plane to Austin, TX, I was
challenged with this idea: am I praying more for my desires, the things un-promised,
than the promises of God? Is it foolish or faithful to pray for things not
promised? Basically, I was all about His promises. And, that was a key theme to
the conference this year. Do we believe, and IF we do, what does that mean for
our lives? I am also currently in a period of learning stillness, watching
God move letting God move. Mercy, my heart was ready for anticipated yet
unexpected pruning.
After flights
full of peanuts and free soda, checking out a rental car and in to our hotel, we (my friend Laura and I) finally arrived in
Austin, TX and in less than 24 hours, we would be waking up to big cups of
coffee and even bigger cups of grace…
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