IF: Gathering- day 2

Here's the rest of my recap from IF: Gathering.

Day two focused on RUNNING the race!  So if God is real...then what does that mean for our lives?

Sarah Bessie - Matthew 11:28-30, John 15

Abide, Emmanuel means "God with us"

"Is Jesus useful, or is He beautiful?"

"God doesn't just want to use you, but He wants to walk with you because He loves you."

"I pray that when we feel small and ridiculous, that we'd remember you are our friend."

Bianca Olthoff - Hebrews 12:1, Romans 12:2

"You cannot look forward if you are constantly looking back."

"Throughout scripture, we see people who could have been stopped by the lies of their past. Moses was a murderer. Rahab was a prostitute. Paul was a terrorist. These people were somehow able to let go of their past and run the race.

"Your past doesn't predetermine your present."

"To run the race, we have to throw off what so easily entangles us..." (2 Cor 10:3-6)

-Capture destructive thoughts.

"The enemy is the father of lies. He wants us to believe lies instead of the truth."

"The truth sets us free"

-Fix your mind on the things that are true.

"For the enemy: Everytime he reminds me of my past, I remind him of his future.""

"Our potential is unlimited because the unlimited God lives in us."

Rebekah Lyons - Psalm 139

"While my husband and I were challenging everyone else to be salt and light, we were living like hypocrites in our Christian bubble. So we moved to New York."

"The root of anxiety is unfulfilled responsibility. You know you were made for more, and you're not doing it."

"We fade when we forget who we are."

"Calling is nothing more than than when your talents and burdens collide."

"Many of us know our gifts, but not many of us know why we're supposed to use them."

"Am I doing what I do for an audience of one? Is He enough?

"You can be in your calling, and still not be free--when you're copying, comparing, competing"

"Do we believe Jesus can make us new?"

"The Fall may be around you, but it is not IN you. It's Christ in you."

Shelley Giglio - Psalm 84

"Sometimes we think we can be near the altar of God or building our nest...but not both."

vs 3- "it's not an either/or. We are invited to be near God and building."

"What comes out of your mouth is what you are forming /thinking about God."

Characteristics of a door holder: in the presence of God, but holding the door to invite others. (People who have seen inviting others into the presence of God.

"My decisions affect a lot or people. Our yes hangs in the balance of a lot of people's future."

Jen Hatmaker - Luke 22:14-20

"Our world measures greatness as power. Jesus measures great as a servant."

"If we don't get 'love God, loved by God'...then...

-people become commodities

-faith becomes something to defend

-Christianity becomes a context

"If we love mercy for ourselves, we have to love it for everyone else."

"Serving does not equal striving."

"Do this in remembrance of me--continuous action"

"A lot of people need the Bread and Wine. Whole communities, countries, and neighborhoods are looking and wondering if anyone will make it real to them, show them real hope, real mercy, real intervention, real love."

"Giving mercy to a broken/lost world costs something--it hurts and is hard."

"I knew that I was off-mission when I realized that my life was costing me nothing."

"If you stay the course with people long enough, 'us vs. them' becomes a 'we'. It will cost you. You will feel it."

"You cannot think your way into a new kind of living, but you can live your way into a new kind of thinking. Fake it 'til you make it."

"You play your one note and I'll play mine....and it will create a beautiful song that's freedom for the captives."

Tara Jenkins - Exodus 16:4, 15

"I believe God has given us fresh manna. We smell something different than we've ever smelt before. We don't know all the ingredients."

"Definition of manna: 'What is it?' Sometimes God does something among us that there are no words to describe the blessing."

"Manna is exactly what you need for the day you're in."

"IF is a 'what is it' blessing."

"Do you trust Him today, not knowing what is going to happen tomorrow?"

"In order for us to do exactly what He's calling us to do, we must work together." (1 Cor. 12:20- many parts, one body)

"In most instances, there is more that we agree on than what we disagree on."

One of the closing remarks from IF was that we need to hold our differences loosely and love fiercely. 

It was a gathering of women who want to get back in the race and run. It was a challenge to take the baton because this is our leg, our turn. It was a call to lay aside petty differences, doing the thing God has called you to do, but remembering that it is one Body. 

Thanks for reading my recap. They've already set a date for next year's IF: Gathering in Austin again. One of the cool aspects though, is IF: Local. Women gathered in churches, homes, cabins, etc all over to watch the live sessions from Austin, except they got to process with women they know or women in their city. So maybe next year I'll get together some ladies and we'll do an IF: Local. In the mean time, I continue to process things like calling, vision, etc. There are certain things I know I'm called to: being a wife, mother, daughter...because those things are already established in my life. I know it's a busy season with one little one and another on the way, (littles who are dependent upon me to do things for them) but I don't want to waste my life or miss opportunities/things God is asking of me. And I don't know if those are big things or little things, I just want to be obedient.

IF: Gathering

I was able to attend the IF: Gathering last weekend in Austin, TX.  You're probably wondering "what is that?" and I went not really having the answer to that question.  I had seen some different bloggers and writers that I follow talk about it and then my college roommate Ashley was going and volunteering--and offered for me to go.  And I'm so glad I did!  So what I knew going into it, is that it was designed for the next (my) generation of women.  The theme was, "IF God is real...then what?"  The purpose is: "We exist to gather, equip, and unleash the next generation of women to live out their purpose."

IF: Gathering- Day One

If I had to sum up the first day, it would be to RUN THE RACE!  Every speaker spoke of how it is our time to get back in the race.  (Hebrews 12).  Here are some of my favorite moments from the sessions:

Jennie Allen

"It begins by us throwing off our sin."

"We have prayed for a movement of God, that women who are afraid, scared, in bondage, would be set free.  That you would run your race because this is our time.  This is our leg."

"If we truly believe that God is real, then we have a job to do.  He has called us to do certain things.."

Christine Caine (Joshua 5:1-12, 6)

"The wilderness did not denote freedom, but deliverance.  It was for freedom that Christ set us free, but many of us settle for deliverance."

"Deliverance does not equal freedom."

"There is no next...no next hip thing, no next Beth Moore, no next great conference.  God says He is going to do a new thing."

"The manna has stopped, but like the Israelites, we want the old." 

"You came out of Egypt, but Egypt is still in you.  God wants to free you, not just deliver you."

"Freedom doesn't just affect you...it affects generations to come."

"You must learn to believe the truth of God's word over the fact of your circumstances, if you want to see the promises of God worked out in your life."

Ann Voskamp

"If the body of Christ becomes a business, doesn't it become prostitution?"

"Prostitution is only pretend passion.  It's only a transaction business model, to get what you want."

"What if the church has become more like a business than real passion? What if we only give ourselves to Jesus in exchange for the certainty of a good return?"

"What if we stopped this transactional model and broke all the measuring sticks? The world isn't a forest of measuring sticks. Everything isn't a marker to make me feel ahead or behind."

"They don't make a scale that measures value, worth, or the weight of a soul."

"We break all the measuring sticks because Christ broke the bread. As a sisterhood that is broken and made whole, we make all of these broken measuring sticks into a table."

There were also a few other speakers who gave testimony of what God has done in them.  There was time set aside to talk in small groups, answering questions like, "why are you here?" "what are you afraid of?" "what is holding you back?" "what are you hoping for?"  The IF team also went above and beyond for dinner plans.  They had made 1200 reservations at restaurants all over Austin, with the desire to create space to spend around the table.  They encouraged us to pick a card for a restaurant (by yourself or with the few people you came with) and then go there and give them your reservation card.  There would be a table ready--maybe set for 4 or maybe for 12 and you would fill that table with whoever.  So potentially you are eating dinner with other women at the conference who are strangers.  They asked that you "be all there".  And they gave some conversation/question cards for that time and asked that we start dinner with two things:

1. A toast--raise your glass; I see you; this is a moment worth marking 

2. A prayer--recognizing that everything comes from God

So that sums up day one.  It was refreshing for me.  I think I'm often wrestling with questions about calling and purpose, thinking about fears and hopes.  I needed the challenge and encouragement that was given.  Hopefully, I can write about day two soon!

(Worship was led by the Aaron Ivey Band, Christy Nockels, Melissa Greene, Melinda Doolittle, and Lauren Chandler.  There was a song I hadn't heard before and loved...look it up on YouTube. "Jesus is Better". Search in YouTube for Jesus is Better- Austin Stone Worship live at Austin Music Hall.)