Updates 3.8.21 :: Lake House + IF:Gathering

It really does thrill my soul to be able to sit down and write you a letter today.

That’s honestly how I look at these blog posts – it’s me sharing my thoughts with you, my friend.

It’s been almost a week since I posted, or wrote to you and I wanted to give an update on a few things from my last post:
1. The #lakehousereno is almost fully complete! I cannot believe we are so close to the finish line {finally!!}. We are planning to spend the night there this week to be sure all the things work accordingly ? Because I would hate for our first guests to have a realization that we were unaware of…and our first official guests are staying THIS WEEKEND!! ?
Here’s a photo of the shelves from Pottery Barn I installed in the kitchen this morning!

Also…the house got painted last week so here’s a shot of the back from yesterday…Emory was fishing in the pool ?

2. IF:Gathering was incredible. Truly. My vocabulary is so limited, I cannot even express to you how wonderful it was.

First of all, let me just say that the women at our church are just delightful. I had the honor, or privilege, of working alongside fourteen of the most selfless women, whose desire above all things was to glorify the Lord and see his daughters praise Him. I’m pretty sure we hit both of those items during the weekend. I want to share a few takeaways with you from IF:

• your trauma shaped you, it didn’t make you
• the scars we bear are there to show we made it through
• sometimes our shame is the biggest target God will use to heal us
• don’t waste your pain and suffering
• fire is where your faith is transformed
• when you know WHO you serve, it changes everything
• Jesus isn’t just a belief to me, He is breath to me
• real Christians are the faithful followers
• confess your sins and forgive as much as you walk, sleep, eat and pray
• it is not safer in the shallow; Jesus will always be able to hold you when life hits you
• courageous love should catch somebody by surprise
• your impact on people isn’t dependent on your position
• the darker things get, the brighter the light shines
• history – God has the whole thing rigged
• do Jesus, boo

That last one is probably my favorite. It came from Christine Cain and she was saying, essentially, we shouldn’t be saying, “you do you” but rather, “do Jesus, boo.” She had the whole audience giggling with that one.

All in all, it was an incredible weekend. I have every desire to go back and watch all the sessions over again and I have 17 breakouts to view!

This week is a busy one – as I’m sure it is for you as well. I hope to write again very soon, so until next time…