Gathering Women {it happened on a sunday} day 26

I grew up in the Christian culture of conservative evangelicals.  My parents' bookshelves still bear the evidence of their heroes:  Chuck Colson and James Dobson and Francis Shaeffer and Dennis Rainey. We listened to tapes of Amy Grant and Sandy Patti and Michael W. Smith.  We subscribed to magazines published by Focus on the Family and my dad was a Promise Keeper.  In high school, I read "I Kissed Dating Goodbye" and listened to Rebecca St. James and regularly wondered What Jesus Would Do.  When I walked away from church, I left all of that cultural baggage behind too.

I resisted for a while, once I was back in church, the pull of all that extra stuff.  I still listened to the Beastie Boys and 50 Cent (funny to think that once those were my favorite musicians!), although I was starting to enjoy the David Crowder Band and Leeland, too.  I joined a group of friends from church to go see The Passion of the Christ and The Nativity Story, but I'd also seen 300 and The Davinci Code.  I rolled my eyes at the "outrage" over silly conflicts between Christians and the rest of the world (and there have been quite a few), like saying "Merry Christmas" vs "Happy Holidays" or which presidential candidate was most likely to win the White House for Jesus.  It made me wary to get too deep in the Christian culture, and it didn't seem essential to my relationship with God.

I met Glennon on a Sunday. She's amazing.

I'm pretty sure it was Mandy who got me reading blogs, beginning with Lisa Jo Baker, whose words were so encouraging to this stressed out mama.  Then I found Glennon Doyle Melton and Jen Hatmaker, and finally there were people talking about life and Jesus and taking action that actually made sense to me.  I became a nerd about sermon podcasts, listening to at least three different churches each week as I did laundry and went for runs around my neighborhood.  I found voices that made me excited to be a Christian, messages about how I could grow in my faith, diverse examples of how to live a life devoted to God.

One day, I pulled up Jen Hatmaker's blog to find a recent entry about something called the IF Gathering.  There wasn't much information about what it was, just a kind of a dreamy vision of gathering women to unite for God's purpose in their lives.  I didn't need details; I was hooked from the first word.  But I knew that I would never be able to go, I couldn't possibly leave my children for a couple of days or afford a plane ticket to Austin.  There were only 1200 tickets available, and I wouldn't be able to get one.  Then she added...we are throwing open the doors to IF : Austin via webcast to anyone, everyone, everywhere for IF : Local.   Registration to the webcast is unlimited. Gather with your friends, neighbors, church, or others in your community and join us virtually.  My excitement exploded.  I could do THAT.  I could leave my family and drive down the street and sit in a room with people I knew and hear all the amazing speakers and stories of IF, then drive back home and sleep in my own bed!

I immediately thought of two of the most amazing, get it done women at my church:  Mandy and Suzi.  I sent them information about IF, asking if they could possibly do it at our location.  Their responses were positive; IF sounded great, what a cool thing, it would be awesome to do it!  But their responses were also negative; both of them were quite busy already with ministries of their own, and adding one more thing just wasn't going to happen.  Suzi called me with this to say:  if I wanted to attend an IF Local at our church, then I needed to be the one to pull it off.  She said the space was mine, any questions she could answer she would, and then left it up to me to decide what to do.  Her words terrified me, but this is how badly I wanted to go to IF...since no one else in our area was doing it, I said yes.

Suzi's other piece of advice was not to try to do it all myself.  She suggested three other women at our church who might be willing to help, women I had admired from my seat, but never actually talked to.  It happened on a Sunday that I pulled up my big girl pants and approached them one by one, telling them about IF and asking if they'd join me.  My team consisted of Rhonda, Jen, and Ryanne.  None of us knew what to expect, but each of us was excited to experience IF for ourselves.

There wasn't much to do until the weekend of the livestream, just registering our location and responding to emails from women who wanted to come.  Jen handled the food, Rhonda printed out conversation cards, and Ryanne invited her Bible study group to come.  Suzi and her sister-in-law Nicole helped set up tables and chairs, and our friend Jeff showed up at the last minute to solve some technical problems with the computer.

I waited at the church alone, praying to God to help me.  I went back and forth between wanting to fill our room and hoping no one came and expected anything from me.  But come they did, about 35 women over the course of two days, and we sang and listened and prayed together as we watched IF.  In my preparations, a vague idea was percolating that perhaps I could save up and afford to go to Austin the following year, assuming they decided to do it again.  When our weekend was over, I felt a certainty that I wasn't going to Austin, because I wanted to be there again.  In my church, with my people, finding God in Northeast Ohio, because it turns out that he's everywhere.

In the summer, Jennie Allen sent out her mandate, telling us to gather our teams and begin to dream and plan for another IF.  I was joined by new faces, women I wasn't quite so afraid to talk with, women who didn't see themselves as leaders, just as I had been the year before.  It was exciting to come alongside them and say, "We are doing this together."  IF has helped me to feel like I am part of a global sisterhood, reminded me that I am a beloved child of God, and given me a glimpse of the Kingdom of heaven.