If God is real, then ___?
The If: Gathering ended Saturday but I am far from done processing everything that was brought before me. And I hope to never be done. I went not knowing what I would hear, and I left blown away. The speakers consisted of dozens of diverse women, all from different backgrounds and with very different stories, but proposing one unifying theme. We all need God. And...
If God is real, then what?
They challenged our generation of women to come together and embrace the great responsibility God has given us. To gather, equip, and unleash us out into this world instead of wasting our lives caught up in our own selfishness.
It echoed the same sentiment of restlessness that has been stirring inside of me over the last year. As daughters of Christ we have been called to fiercely serve our savior and to truly LOVE our brothers and sisters. To shine bright for Jesus to others who live in darkness. But are we doing that? Or are we stuck living in our Christian bubbles and as Jen Hatmaker put it, "serving saved people and blessing blessed people?"
She went on to encourage, "I want us to be awesome. I want us to be great because we fed hungry bellies. I want us to be great because we jumped into hard places where people are ruined and sold and abused and we said, 'not on my watch. If it takes my last breath, not on my watch.' I want us to be great because we say, 'I don't care if it breaks me. If it takes my last dying breath, I will not sit by idly enjoying my privileges and advantages while the rest of the world suffers and grieves and starves. I won't do it.'
This was just a tiny little snippet from one of the many sessions. I won't pretend to be an eloquent writer -- I could try to put into words everything I heard and learned but I wouldn't even do it a sliver of justice. It was a beautiful weekend where I felt God confirming over and over the path He has for my family. It was encouraging, challenging, and exciting and I'm so grateful that I was able to be a part of it.
They are streaming the conference for free through tomorrow I believe. SO much goodness and I encourage you to try to watch some of it if possible. If I had to choose a favorite part, it would probably be Jen Hatmaker, which is in Session 4 beginning around 48 minutes in. And it gets REALLY good about 1 hour in. But honestly, all of it was fantastic so you can't go wrong.
http://new.livestream.com/ifgathering/ifgathering
Also, Angie Smith and Jen Hatmaker have a few books you can temporarily download for $2.99. I've read 2 of Angie's and they were great. And Jen's 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess has been on my list for months now. I've heard so many good things about it. I'm just a little scared, ha ha ;)
http://blog.bhpublishinggroup.com/deals/b/weblog/archive/2014/02/05/ebook-sale-for-if-gathering.aspx
If God is real, then what?
They challenged our generation of women to come together and embrace the great responsibility God has given us. To gather, equip, and unleash us out into this world instead of wasting our lives caught up in our own selfishness.
It echoed the same sentiment of restlessness that has been stirring inside of me over the last year. As daughters of Christ we have been called to fiercely serve our savior and to truly LOVE our brothers and sisters. To shine bright for Jesus to others who live in darkness. But are we doing that? Or are we stuck living in our Christian bubbles and as Jen Hatmaker put it, "serving saved people and blessing blessed people?"
She went on to encourage, "I want us to be awesome. I want us to be great because we fed hungry bellies. I want us to be great because we jumped into hard places where people are ruined and sold and abused and we said, 'not on my watch. If it takes my last breath, not on my watch.' I want us to be great because we say, 'I don't care if it breaks me. If it takes my last dying breath, I will not sit by idly enjoying my privileges and advantages while the rest of the world suffers and grieves and starves. I won't do it.'
This was just a tiny little snippet from one of the many sessions. I won't pretend to be an eloquent writer -- I could try to put into words everything I heard and learned but I wouldn't even do it a sliver of justice. It was a beautiful weekend where I felt God confirming over and over the path He has for my family. It was encouraging, challenging, and exciting and I'm so grateful that I was able to be a part of it.
They are streaming the conference for free through tomorrow I believe. SO much goodness and I encourage you to try to watch some of it if possible. If I had to choose a favorite part, it would probably be Jen Hatmaker, which is in Session 4 beginning around 48 minutes in. And it gets REALLY good about 1 hour in. But honestly, all of it was fantastic so you can't go wrong.
http://new.livestream.com/ifgathering/ifgathering
Also, Angie Smith and Jen Hatmaker have a few books you can temporarily download for $2.99. I've read 2 of Angie's and they were great. And Jen's 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess has been on my list for months now. I've heard so many good things about it. I'm just a little scared, ha ha ;)
http://blog.bhpublishinggroup.com/deals/b/weblog/archive/2014/02/05/ebook-sale-for-if-gathering.aspx
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