I had once heard a sermon on the difference between “seasons” and “times.” As followers of Christ we use the idea of seasons a lot in our language- “I’m just living in a really tough season right now” or “I’m really working through a season of transition.” You name it. In the Old Testament there were seasons; seasons of exile, of judges, of kings. In the New Testament, however, the ministry of Jesus established something new. Now we live in the promise that was established in Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and ascension. We no longer live in a “maybe,” we live in a “promise”. We no longer live in a pattern, we live in freedom. Personally, my last 6 months have been a wild journey. A journey of longing, fear, hope, surrendering, and learning to be brave. A journey of moving from a view of the seasons in my life, to a belief in the times.
In the fall of 2013 I began the process of opening up my future to the Lord in a way I had never really attempted before. His response was to waken a spirit of newness in me. He began to teach me what it meant to look past what I thought made sense for my future and into how He has uniquely wired me. Frankly, it was scary. I became more and more aware that He was leading me into new territory, but my circumstances and everyday life never got any clearer. Over time I learned about a group of women who “exist to gather, equip and unleash the next generation of women to live out their purpose.” To live out their calling of the times. I was floored. You see, during this time, I was trying to seek what the Lord had for me next; feeling the tug to move forward but not sure to where. I loved what the Lord was doing through http://ifgathering.com/ : bringing women together, encouraging and equipping them to step out in the freedom and truth of who the Lord has made them. It caught my attention, to say the least.
In March, I learned that the IF:Gathering was hiring interns. Insert freak-out here. After walking through months of looking and looking for the next thing, I was scared to get my hopes up for IF. So I asked the Lord to make it incredibly obvious if He wanted me to apply. I was quickly reminded of His sense of humor after that prayer when nearly every conversation and interaction that next week was about IF, women’s ministry, Austin Texas, and living missionally. He made it pretty obvious: I needed to apply. After a few short weeks, after the application process, and after an abundant amount of stories of the Lord’s work and faithfulness my husband and I found ourselves saying yes to an internship with the IF: Gathering.
It has been an amazing challenge so far to say “yes” to my purpose in this “time.” We have learned to actively surrender everything in our life to choose to trust in the Lord’s provision and go through the door that He has opened into a lot of unknowns. We still have so many questions and fears. However, we know without a shadow of a doubt that the Lord has given us this opportunity as a true gift.
So here we are! Our little family of two is saying goodbye to our ministry and community (for now) and packing up our little home in Denver to travel to Austin. As we look to the end of July, we are so glad to invite you into all the good things the Lord is up to both in our life and in the ministry of IF:Gathering.
Stay tuned!
-Lindsey
My Journey with IF 