If Gathering

Last weekend I gathered with more than a hundred other women in my city, and literally probably a million women all over the world from all kinds of different Christian churches to worship together and learn together and fellowship together as part of If Gathering.  This is the third If Gathering, and I’ve been blessed by all three.  The first year, when If Gathering started, I was intrigued, having read about planning it on several of my favorite blogs.  There was a local gathering in my city that a few women from my church started, but I was the parent in charge that weekend while my husband was gone, so I experimented with watching the simulcast online.  I was deeply impacted.   The next year I got a babysitter so that I could go to our local gathering.  Basically, God moved enormous things around in my heart and mind and it affected my entire year.  It was not little stuff.  This year I made plans to attend again.  Dr. Peds was no working, so I didn’t even need to find a babysitter!  Hooray!  I kind of wondered what would happen this year.  Once again, If Gathering was extremely influential and significant.  In fact, the first night, when I got home, I had trouble sleeping because my mind was so busy sorting out and processing everything it was taking in.  The second night when I got home, I was so exhausted from two days of  processing that I pretty much immediately hunkered down for a nap and a looooooooonnnnnng night’s sleep.  My family gave me strange looks, but I was so tired!

One of my friends on the planning team for our local IF Gathering asked if I would photograph images that captured what was happening so they could send it back to the IF organizers, and I was really excited about having my camera along to do that.  Anytime I get permission to take pictures of people I’m pretty happy.  I took a lot of pictures, but here are just a few of my very favorites.

After absolutely sobbing at the end of the second IF gathering, I loved that the planning team had the foresight to place boxes of kleenex all over the gathering room.  At the end of each row of chairs, every few rows was a strategically placed box of Kleenex.  That’s planning.
Last year at If Gathering we wrote our next step of obedience down on rocks.  (That’s the part where I ended up sobbing, and it’s a long story that I may write about here one day, but since it’s still unraveling, I’m going to just stay quiet about it right now).  This year we wrote on the back of dominoes.  What did God want us to do to fall with all the other dominoes into the world to make a huge impact?  This year I knew what God was putting on my heart, but I didn’t really have a word that encompassed that until I was in church the next day at Communion, when just the perfect word popped into my head.

I’m not ready to talk about that word yet, either!  I guess this is kind of a vague post!  What I want you to know, though, is that If Gathering is amazing.  Once a year women all over the year gather together, and I think God is doing big things through this, so next year, look for a local gathering near you.  Click on the link above and check out their website.  You can even download a version of this year’s If gathering, or read about If Table (which has also been amazing for me these past three years), and If Equip, which connects women with scripture daily.