Running My Race

I haven't touched this blog in almost four months.

I started my Bible copying project, posted on here four times, and then completely abandoned this blog.

In case any of you are still wondering, I have not completely abandoned my copying project. I'm still working faithfully on that. I was maybe a little foolish to think I would do it in a year, because I very clearly will not, but I will finish it at some point. And, in the mean time, I'm learning about my God in a way I never have before.

And the Bible project is only a part of that learning.

So, rather than keep this blog all about my Bible project, I'm going to use it to talk about all of the things God is doing in my life. The crazy, still-unexplained things, which I don't even fully understand yet. I'm also going to aim to post at least once a week. I figure Saturdays are a good day for me, so we'll start there. I'll still talk about scripture that moves me as I copy it, but that's not all anymore.

Which brings me to this post.

Thanks to modern technology, I've spent the last 24 hours participating in a conference that was happening in Austin, Texas, with some of the women from my church in someone's living room. It was called IF: Gathering, and if you're a woman, you should look it up now, because it kind of seems like it's going to become a big deal.

But, essentially, it was a bunch of women who have embraced God's calling for their lives, and are trying to help a generation of women rise up and do the same. It was powerful. It was convicting. It was emotional. And it was freeing.

The woman who started this whole thing is named Jennie Allen, and if you haven't read any of her books, I suggest you do so immediately. (But be prepared to have your life ruined a little bit. But in the best way possible.) Her latest book is called Restless. I'm in the process of working through it right now, and I feel like it really goes hand in hand with what was discussed at the conference.

A lot of us have big dreams. My mom calls it the "B-HAG", or "big, hairy, audacious goal". And so a lot of what was talked about at the conference, and a lot of Restless, is about figuring out what those big dreams are, and how they fit into what God's calling for our lives is. It's about embracing the things in our lives (she calls them threads) that point us to God's purpose for us. Our passions. Our people. Where we are. The needs we see. It's all about realizing what God wants to do, owning it, and surrendering to the Holy Spirit so that he can move through us.

I'm there now. I've surrendered. I'm embracing whatever he has planned for me, regardless of what I think I can or cannot do, and I'm just going to let him do it. Getting there was not easy, though. At least, not for me. Maybe it is for some people. I had some stuff to work through first. Some things to let go of.

But tonight, I've let go. I've surrendered. I've embraced it. And I'm running free.