IF: Gifts Part 1 - What Are Your Gifts?

We recently attended the IF:Gathering from here in sunny Santa Monica.  Gathered in our sanctuary, we worshipped, prayed, laughed, learned and more as we watched the broadcast from Austin along with thousands of other women worldwide.  The experience was rich; the speakers were great.

However.

Sometimes when emotions are high, or speakers are rushed, the whole story never gets stated or the truth doesn't get fully fleshed out.  So, I want to clarify something.

At IF:Gathering there was much talk of gifts and talents: How does God want to use your gifts and talents to do something amazing for Him? What are your talents and passions because those are the muscles you need to flex - that's how God will use you in a mighty way.  If you spend years not using your talents and gifts you're turning your back on the who God made you to be.

Hmm...

Where did the swimsuits go?

September is almost here.  Did you hear me?  September is almost here!  Agh!!!!!  Not ready.  Not nearly ready.  Our summer was a mix of quick-unpack-now-repack interrupted by change-the-sheets-the-company-is-here pandaemonium.  The cabinet door that broke in June is still broken.  The laundry pile is belly-button high.  My nightstand is littered with quarters, stray buttons, clothes that need mending, single earrings and half-finished crafts (you know, the kind you start because you think you have a free day and then you remember you have to go to the dmv, so you hunt down your sleeping bag because who knows how long that's going to take).

I'm not ready.  I have not made a new life schedule.  I haven't even started my summer reading list because I'm still reading the book I started in March.  Yes, March.  I haven't made a menu plan.  Mail is piled up on my desk.  Lucy still thinks her nose is inside her ear because we didn't study biology this summer, and pinterest is already displaying Thanksgiving crafts (can we all just agree not to pin those yet?!).  My ideal life is not in place yet!  September cannot come - and yet, it will.