God is Great, Community is Good

My weekend at the Influence Conference was both exhausting and wonderful all wrapped up in one. The speakers? They were good, for sure… but the people? The people were amazing!

Friends who touch your shoulder as they walk by as if to just say, I see you there. Those who come up to give a random hug at just the right moment when you’re feeling so filled up and so empty all at the same time. Late night chats in hallways, with blood shot eyes you could barely hold open but conversations too good to end.

The connections. Oh the connections! There were I love you’s said (a phrase I don’t throw around loosely) and tears shed. Not like the typical love ya, as you might think. But true, mean it from the gut … ”love you…for real”s. It blew me away that people I just met could dig in so deep and be so much more than a pretty face and a friendly smile. They meant it and so did I.

What I walked away with was a picture of women who love the Lord, that are also a mess and it did my heart so good. There were tattoos, an abundance of nose rings, a curse word here and there and a half empty bottle of Pinot tucked away in a room.

THAT is what I needed to see. The authenticity of these christian women was so refreshing to me. It’s what makes me say, there is a place for me here! What marks my place in this community with women who are as real as it gets and seeking Him in all they do.

Too many of us think we can’t talk about the gospel or be a light because we don’t have it all together yet. Because we aren’t far enough into our relationship with Christ to know what in the world we’re talking about. Because we feel like we need to be better versions of ourselves before we can talk to others about Him.

Not this group. These women? They get it. They get Him and His abounding grace. They get that our voices matter and it’s time we use them for good. Women who are standing firm in their authenticity while at the same time refusing to water down the gospel.

This is my tribe, my community, my messy Jesus seeking people.

God is great, community is good and I need both.