Ready to run!

For the first time in my entire life I am excited about running! Crazy, I know... Let me explain.

I have spent a good majority of my weekend glued to my computer watching If : Gathering. The premise of If was, If God is real, then what? A call to this generation of women to rise up and do something. If we truly believe God is real, then what is He calling us to do? Many, many of these women I have either never heard of or don't know much about, but I have been blown away by the amount of passion for Jesus, the passion for living for Jesus that was displayed this weekend. Let me share with you just some of the quips I have taken away from the weekend:

"You are not a part of our thing Lord, You are the THING!" - Jen Hatmaker

A very powerful spoken word was delivered by Ann Voskamp and Amena Brown! "There is a whole Esther generation rising up right here and now and it is us."

"Let's redefine the comfort zone because everywhere He calls you to, the Great Comforter is there."  "Many of us settle for deliverance, not freedom." Christine Caine

Referring to church, the body of Christ "If a body becomes a business, doesn't that make it prostitution?" "Comparison is a thug that robs you of joy." "You can't measure souls, you can only love souls."

"Faith becomes real when it becomes relational." Kristin Armstrong

"Run yo race!" "You cannot run forward if you are always looking back." "Hurt people, hurt people. Free people, free people." Bianca Olthoff

"When talents and burdens collide that is where you find your calling." Rebekah Lyons

"Our yes hangs in the balance of a lot of people's future." Shelley Giglio

"So, are you dating Jesus? Ummm, no. I love Him, I really do but we aren't dating." "Take the time to know who you are in Christ first, no man can shape that for you." Melinda Doolittle on being single.

Laura Choy delivered the most heartbreaking story about a homeless woman she befriended.

"You have to play your one note and I'll play mine and together it's gonna play a song that brings freedom for the captives." "If we love mercy for ourselves we have to love it for everyone else." "Serving does not have to equal striving." "Do this in remembrance of me...  in other words, constantly make this real." Jen Hatmaker

And seriously these are just a few of the little tidbits. I could tell you story after story that touched me. There were many powerful testimonies, one from a woman who used to be a prostitute in Las Vegas, who now saved, runs a safe house for prostitutes to help get them off the street. Testimonies from women who have lost children, women who have adopted children, women who rescue girls from sex trafficking, women who help the homeless, women battling anxiety and depression, women who run nonprofits, women just like you and me. Every single one of them had a story, some were dramatic, all were emotional. Some started from the simplest thing like mowing a neighbors yard and showed how that has lead to countless other opportunities to minister to people. I would love to share with you about all of the women and how their story touched me but we would just be here for days.

So running you say, why did you say you were ready to run?

The focus of scripture for the weekend was Hebrews 12:1-3, running the race marked out for us. Remembering that we each have our own path to take, our own race to run. None of them should look the same. Breaking all measuring sticks we use to compare ourselves to other women and what they are doing. Remembering that we are responsible for our own obedience to the Lord. Others may guide us and help us grow, but ultimately it is up to each of us as individuals. Remembering that every person you see is a real person, with a name, with a story, and part of a family. Jesus loves every person, therefore we are called to love every person. Every, single, person, regardless of how much money they make, what job they choose, where they live, or maybe even whether or not they are clean. We are to love one another in unity regardless of religious theologies, or lack thereof. If sisters (and brothers) in Christ can not come together in agreement and love one another how can we show love to others who do not believe? But above all, as Bianca said, "Run yo race!"

And I thought the story for the weekend ended there. But I was wrong!

At church this morning, during the children's sermon of all times, my pastor, who I'm positive was not spending the weekend watching the If : Gathering, tied the whole thing up for me. He brought a piece of bread to show the children. He let them each inspect what the bread looked like, paying special attention to all the little holes in the bread. Then he asked them if they knew how those holes got there. The answer of course is yeast. So then the pastor pulled out yeast to show the kids. He made note of just how small yeast is, but how big it makes the bread. He shared with the kids (and O.K. all of us big people too) that while it's great to have goals and want to do big things. It's all the little things that really add up.

For me, after this weekend of hearing so many "regular" women share there stories about the ginormous things God was doing in their lives it would be easy to get caught up in the whirlwind and think I should only be on the lookout for callings that were equally as big. But if I do that I missed the point of the whole weekend. We were supposed to break our rulers, throw away the scales. Stop comparing. Remembering as Ann Voskamp said, "They don't make a scale that could ever measure value, worth or weight of a soul". No person, no soul is more important to minister to than another. We are to run OUR unique race and no one else's. We are to listen each day for instructions from the Lord. As one speaker illustrated, it's like pulling on a thread. The little tug God lays on your heart today will just be the first pull of the thread. But if you've ever found a loose thread you thought you would pull out and it just kept coming, pull after, pull, after pull. That one little tug leads to more and more of thread being exposed and if you keep pulling and pulling in time you have a whole mess of thread. The first pull of thread God is asking you to tug might need to happen right under your roof, or maybe at your neighbor's house. You see serving the Lord is no different, than that thread, we have no idea where one small action might lead, no idea just how much thread might begin to unravel, no idea just how big the bread might rise.

So run yo race and I'll keep running mine! Believe it or not I think I was already ready and running!

http://new.livestream.com/ifgathering/ifgathering
You can watch all of the sessions or pick and choose speakers to listen to, here for free for just over 24 more hours!
Session 1b starting at minute 5 is the spoken word by Amena Brown and Ann Voskamp.