I'm headed back to Peru Ya'll

Last year God tugged on my heart.  That was all it took.  I signed up to travel on an airplane for 8 hours, ride a bus for 8 hours, (from the sea to the mountains) and finally land at 10,000 feet in elevation in Waudas, Peru.   

 Our team hiked through the Andes mountains and handed bibles out to the native Quechua people.  People who have never had the bible translated in their native language.  It was so amazing!!  The faces of these people lit up when they were handed a bible they could read. The Quechua people are a people that have been forgotten by many, oppressed by many and are trying to survive off of the land.  We planted the seeds so that the organization we traveled with, AWI, could come back to the village and help it thrive with Jesus. 

I loved every minute of it.  The challenge of the hike, the camping, the interaction with the Peruvians.  I left a piece of my heart at 13, 000 feet elevation and I am happy to say that I am going back to leave more. 

Please pray for me and my team.  We will be gone June 20-June 29.  It is a very hard and long travel.  This trip is hard both physically and mentally.  Please pray that God will protect us and guide us through all situations.  If you are able to give financially please go to www.southbrookchurch.com and follow the donation links to my name. 
Thank you for your prayers.

Thank you!

Dear Jesus,

Thank you for allowing me to be FREE.  Free to feel, free to touch, Free to be.  Thank you Jesus for the freedom of worship and expression.  Thank you for the many talents of praise and worship leaders.  You have given them gifts to move people beyond words and fill eyes full of tears.  Thank you for raining down upon my heart and moving my entire spirit at the sound of your name.  You control my inner core.  Thank you for loving me, no matter how much of a mess I am.  Thank you Jesus for putting spiritually sound people in my life to help guide me.  Thank you for my wonderfully loud boys.  You always allow them to put a smile on my face when I need it most.  Thank you for a Godly husband who is sound and fair and loves me no matter what.  Thank you Jesus for giving your life so that I could have mine.  Guide me to make the most of this gift of life.  Help me impact those around me with Godly encouragement and spiritual support.

Your Daughter, filled with the Spirit,

Katie

We take each and everyday for granted.  Our freedom of being able to love God with out being persecuted. Write your letter today, what are you thankful for?

"Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be reomoved," says the Lord who has compassion on you.

Isaiah 54:10

Everyday is A DAY!!

Everyday is a DAY...You know what I mean, A DAY... When you have no idea what is going to happen.   Days where noise doesn't stop, supper gets burned, kids get sick, and the carpet gets paint on it.  Here is just a glimpse at one of those days... Yes my friends this happened.  This was A DAY!


We were walking out of the door.  I put my bag and my keys on the front seat of my car and opened all the doors for the kids to crawl in.  Just as I was putting kids in the car my neighbor came over and we were talking (I got distracted, big mistake).    Walker the 2 year old was in the car.  While I wasn't looking not only did he close all of the doors, but he managed to lock  all of the  doors too.  No worries, I will just get my keys and unlock the doors...Uh Oh! The keys are in the car (of course we don't have a spare, why would we, right?)   The sun roof was open, sooooo I decided that we could lower my 3 year old into the car and have him unlock the doors.  He is small and could fit in the hole better. (yes, I know looking back, this might not have been the best idea.)  He doesn't understand what to do.  While he is fiddling with the buttons he steps on my keys and pushes the panic button.  OK...do you see this, or should I say do you hear this!  Now Walker is crying, Carter is freaking and the horn is blasting.  So, Tyler is next.  We lower Tyler into the car to unlock the door.  He pushes the unlock button, but no go.  He pulls the handle, but not hard enough.  Now he is yelling at us, we are yelling at him, and the little guys are crying.  Finally, after what seems like a very loud five minutes, Tyler pulls the handle and everybody is safe.


Everyday is  a DAY!!  Some DAYS are funnier than others. You just gotta laugh at what happens in life.  The silly moments that make you step back and thank God for all that you have.  I am so blessed to have these boys in my life.  Everyday is unpredictable, chaotic, and full of noise, and I love every minute of it!

You gotta have faith, Faith, FAITH!

I was reading Matthew 21:18-22.  Jesus was hungry and saw a fig tree, the fig tree was not bearing fruit, so Jesus, being Jesus, withered up the fig tree.  Now His worthy companions, the disciples, saw the tree and said, "How did this fig tree wither so quickly?"....(Hello, you're with Jesus!)  Jesus is always patient.  He told them that if they have faith and do not doubt then they can do the same thing, they could even move mountains!
This got me thinking.... Who am I ?  Am I the fig tree that no longer bears the fruit of the spirit?  Or am I the disciples who asks, believes, and receives?  Do I have enough faith to move mountains and change lives? 
We all have the potential, but we often lack the belief.  What can we do everyday to bear the fruit? 
All it takes is a little faith.  Today tell a mountain to go jump in a lake!

The Message sums it up the best.... "Absolutely everything, ranging from small to large, as you make it a part of your believing prayer, gets included as you lay hold of God"

Never Gonna grow Up!

This week I celebrated my 32nd birthday! Woohoo!! 
I love birthdays.  Every year I always want to do something different, amazing, fun, out of the ordinary.  This year was no different.  But what should I do, skydiving, circus school, trampoline jumping... Nope, something cooler.  How about a scavenger hunt!  I will gather all of my friends and they have to collect things about me (it is MY birthday after all).  Why not act like a kid for one night?


So I decided, I don't want to grow up!
Grown ups have to wash behind their ears, eat lots of green veggies, and pay bills.  They have to act responsible and use manners.  Grown ups have to wear socks that match and brush their hair.  One day out of the year shouldn't we be able to be silly and goofy and not have a care in the world? Shouldn't we be able to eat as much cake as we want?  Don't you wish that you don't have to worry about bills, and car payments?


You know Jesus was a little like this.  (He didn't have bills to pay, well expect for our salvation!) He wanted the little children to come to Him.  He tells us to have a child like faith.  Believe in Him no matter what.  Forget about our worries, our bills, our problems.  Give it all to Him.  Be silly for God.  What better way to get Jesus in your heart then by acting like a child.


For one day remember what it feels like. Remember when you would run down the street arms failing, feet pounding, heart racing. Pretend for one day that we don't have to wear matching socks, eat as much cake as you want, and act like a child of God!

I'm a Mess!

This weekend I took  a much needed road trip with my best good friend Rachel.  We drove five hours one way, no radio, no movies, just good old fashion girl talk, and boy did we talk.  Have you ever had a friend where you can just sit in silence and not be uncomfortable?  Well.... this was not a time where there was any silence.  When there was silence, we were just catching our breath!

We saw Lysa Terkeurst.  AMAZING....  She talked about many things that were powerful.  One thing that stuck out to me was that we do not have to be perfect (I know..no one is.)  But don't we try to be?  Don't we always pretend to have our lives completely intact?  Think about it.  In blog world, don't you show everybody the good, the clean, the perfect kids?  On Facebook, you don't put the pictures of you fresh out of bed; you post the ones in full make up, nicely dressed, great hair.  We show everyone the perfect husband, the perfect wife, the perfect kids, the perfect life.  Why?  What are you afraid of?  God did not intend for us to be perfect.  There has been only one person to walk the earth that was perfect...drum roll please....Jesus!  Why do we put up a false wall? 

OK...here it goes.  I am going to spill the beans.....Here are just a few flaws I have. 

My confession to all of blog world!
I'm a Mess
I don't like to clean.
I often have a pile of dirty clothes higher than my two year old.
My children usually have snot dripping out of their noses.
I yell.
I am not a good cook
I always have dirty dishes in the sink.
I don't take a shower everyday.
I eat chocolate right before bed.
I color my hair
My kids often have food on there face.
I let my 3 year old eat potato chips for supper.

There I did it! Now you know just a handful of my imperfections.  It is now out in cyber world for all to judge. 

 But,  before you judge me make a list of your own flaws.  Then at the bottom, put these words.
GOD STILL LOVES ME!  If we were all so perfect,  had everything together and in place, would we need to fall to our knees and pray? Would we really fully rely on God everyday? 

We are all imperfect, broken people.  We are all a mess.  In the wise words of Lysa, God sent a MESSiah.  It is not by accident that the first four letters spell MESS.

Unplugged!

So, I have a friend who is fasting from excess.  She got the idea from a crazy book  called Seven.  The mom in the book gave up one excessive thing every month for seven months.  She chose media, food, clothing, spending etc. She did this in order to rid her life of things that got in the way of her relationship with Christ.

Wow! How disciplined, how spiritual, how...wait, what?  Did I just agree to do this with her?  Quick, change the subject, maybe she didn't hear me....Oops, too late, the words are out of my mouth. 
So here it goes...For the month of February we will be unplugged....
I decided that for my family two days a week would work best.  I mean, let's face it the TV is very helpful in a house full of little people. (Don't judge me, it's just how it is). At first Tyler really did not want to give up his DS. We talked about how things keep us from focusing on the good in life that God has given us.  Like spending time together.  We as a family needed to be reminded.
On Thursday, our first day of being unplugged, the sky's opened up and blessed us with sunshine and warmth.  No need to be inside thinking about Pinterest, and Facebook.  It was a beautiful day.  We played outside most of the day.  God is good.  He knew that we needed a boost to get going. That night instead of winding down with TV and angry birds, Andy and Tyler actually built a volcano.  How cool! 

 Now Andy and I are excited about Tuesday and what we will do.  We may just dust off the puzzles and board games.  Or build the biggest volcano with smoke and fire and real dinosaurs....ok, maybe not dinosaurs, but fire would be cool....

Why not be unplugged for one day?  What are you afraid of?  Comfort, silence, stillness?  See what God is trying to tell you, but because of all of the noise around you, you can't hear Him.