This year's "theme" was about Jesus' life and reaching the lost among us. A lot of the speakers asked how we can reach those around us or those who don't already know Jesus. This is where I confess that I'm not the biggest fan of evangelism. I know in my heart that I should always want to share Jesus' love and want others to know His goodness but I struggle with desiring that; not out of a selfish desire to keep Him to myself but rather because I'm not always comfortable with the entire experience. It's something I know I need to work on and seek God to change my heart...we're working on it.
All of that is to say that I wasn't as engaged with the speakers as I was last year. Another difference was the inclusion of men into the conference. This year we had two men give sermons and we had an "awards show" for IF: Men who supported their wives, sisters, etc. in attending and planning the conference. I'm all for thanking those who support women, but I have to say that I wasn't a fan of this segment. What I loved about last year was seeing powerful and courageous women give powerful sermons and exhortations to women. It all felt so empowering last year whereas this year felt like any other conference I've attended rather than a women's conference for women. This might paint an incorrect picture of my thoughts on men but that's not my intention. I love strong male leaders and the guidance they can provide, but it wasn't what I expected. Thankfully, they did have great women speak to us this year and I wanted to highlight a few that stood out to me:
One of my favorite speakers from both years is Bianca Olthoff and this year she did not disappoint. She spoke on John 11 and the death of Lazarus. She pointed out where the text says "Lord, your dear friend is sick" to highlight that this was personal to Jesus and Lazarus was someone close to his heart while He was here on earth and yet Jesus waited 2 days before heading towards Lazarus. Which doesn't make sense to us...why wait? One of my favorite quotes from her is this, "Faith is equally as miraculous as Lazarus coming back to life". She ended by telling us to ask ourselves if we can stare at something wrapped in death/dying and still look at Jesus and say that we believe He is good. Do you believe this if He heals/changes the situation? Do you believe this is He doesn't?
This was such a good time in the Word and looking at Jesus not as a solution to my problems or things I want fixed in my life...but as someone to spend life with through the good and bad. I want to remember her words and this passage when life gets hard and things don't go as planned and still be able to say I love Jesus for who He is and not what I want Him to accomplish for me.
While I didn't enjoy all the changes in programming, I still really LOVE this conference and what it's aiming to accomplish in the lives of women around the globe. To get a glimpse of what last year was like, here's a "promo" clip from previous years.
Powerful right?!
One aspect of the conference that I do want to talk about is a table conversation they had discussing "Seasons of Life" which is basically a nice way of saying "Single. Married. Kids. No kids". This fascinates me and I think women need to have more of these conversations so that friendships can withstand the changes that life brings to each us of at different times. Single women need support and love in different ways than someone in a relationship...married women without kids need support and love in different ways than those with kids. In my opinion, the most beautiful truth is that we can all (at some point) provide that support to each other regardless of the seasons we find ourselves in currently. It wasn't deeply religious in context but it was a very important conversation to begin on the stage and one that I hope to continue with my friends in the various stages we are in now.
Here is a link to the founder of IF (Jennie Allen) and her closing remarks, which include some pictures and ending thoughts now that the 2016 conference has ended: http://www.jennieallen.com/what-if-we-lived-like-jesus-free-download/
Next year I'd like to maybe host a gathering or get some more of my girlfriends involved so we can all experience IF together! I'll be sure to keep everyone posted :) The dates for 2017 are February 3rd & 4th so keep that open if you're interested!
xoxo
E
