czech republic!!

hey everyone! Im here in czech and it is thursday night. we got here late tuesday night (actually 1:30am on wed.) and this is our second day of training and rest. we've still got lots of camp dance practice and camp song practice to do tonight and just learning to lean on each other while satan tries to attack. he wants this camp but he won't have it! camp starts saturday i think, please just pray pray pray! unity, safety (our team has to split up and half of them are leaving tomorrow :( :[ ) strength, renewed spirits and physical energy as well as emotional and mental. pray whatever God places on your heart for this team and our time here. pray pray pray. thats all i can think of to say. I wish you could all see it here. it is lush and green and beautiful, if i have an opportunity ill put a picture up ;) God has already put love in my heart for the czech and i cant wait to see Him work the week of camp. I have already seen Him work through stories and testimonies of czech christians and american interns who are here at cesky tesin. He is wonderful and He is powerful and mighty and great and loving and just and He is conquerer of all things of evil! Love you all,
pray pray pray!

ephesians 6:10-20

katka (my czech name) :)

frosting for your face

I trip
I fall
on everything i hate

I allow me to be led
into a lie
to make my bed
in sheets of black

rest my head
on a pillow
of glass
but covered with sheets
of frosting for your face

it covers up the lies
makes them look nice
makes you look pretty
and blinds your eyes

why do we lead
and why are we led
into places of darkness
that we know are not true?

we know we'll be swallowed
digested and forgotten
falling ragged and worn
out of the lions mouth

but the frosting looks good
we muffle the cries
of truth inside

redeem this life
fill it once again
please wash me clean
forgive my hate

pull out the root
prune me and
replant a seed of beauty
having nothing to do
with petals and leaves

replant a seed
that is whole inside
and clean
not me.

crying Maker, ignorant people

Crying Creator
Ignorant Creation

Falling, Tripping
On the words
They have formed as true

Fill the holes
bridge the gaps
Don't leave
without an answer

Why can't you sit on truth
Instead you rest on lies

Free your soul
Hear His voice
He made you as you are
Every stitch and every curve
He made them all His own

Created you
With thoughts
He knit you with a promise
He gave to you
No price required
Of His Lasting love

Established in the heart of He
Whose heart is in the stars
But even more His heart in you
He gave all He required

His thoughts of you
Count more than sand
and tears more than the ocean

Come back to Him
Who makes you new
Calls you back, His child

The thought of someone denying the One who intimately designed and intricately formed them leaves my heart feeling sore. Rejecting your Creator and calling Him a tyrant? How could satan use them so? It makes me ache so bad knowing they do not feel the love and grace that I know every day in every seed of my every sin. Waking up without a purpose... going to sleep the same. Living every day as a particle to float away? As dust to fill the ground and bones to take up room? God be with them and reveal to them, Your everlasting love. You're not a God who screams and throws but a God who loves and holds. Reveal to them, their empty woes and cleanse the falling fools. Love them just as you love me, and cleanse their falling souls.

Still harness His power when you feel like snoozing!

Hey there... on Sunday Jason talked about how God's power is inside of us and how His authority even, is there. He proposed the story of Lazarus and when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead why He did what He did and waited the exact amount of time He did etc... and Jason said, "How are we gonna use that? How are we going to harness that in our lives cause it's definitely there guys!" He asked us how we handle something like that... I think sometimes we treat it like it's nothing because we reduce it to nothing.

Let me tell you what I mean. There could be two ways of reducing it to nothing here. One, you just think that's a bunch of nonsense and that God doesn't live inside of us and nonetheless allow us to share in His power any more than you think Jimmy Stewart is about to walk in your front door. That is one way of reducing the greatness of God. Another is being afraid of it. Now just slow down, I know some of you are going to bring up the "Fear God" card. Yes, we are supposed to fear Him and be in awe, but not put our tail between our legs and deny His powerful existence out of fear. We are so afraid that God actually might be that great, and we decide it's just too much to handle so we skip that part or try and ignore. Well honey that's like tryin to ignore a cheeseburger sign in chinatown. And there is another small variation of this last one... we want to be used by God and work with Him and be close to Him very much with a genuine heart even. But we laugh at the thought that God, Father, amazing Master, creative Creator, patient Friend, all-knowing, giving, everlasting, loving, forgiving God would allow US to be in His little power play. I shouldn't say little, it's quite big actually. We give a quick, "Yeah right," because we are just too afraid to add the God of heaven to our list of people who have rejected us.

Well let me just tell you honey, God loves you. He doesn't need you in His story to make it come true, but He sure does want you. Because He loves you! You are His precious child! His creation! His pride and joy! What He desires more than anything to pour His love and grace and mercy into!! That is why you're in the story. It has nothing to do with you or what you can or cannot do to get into the kingdom of heaven or in a relationship with God now! So put away the tap shoes and set down your dancin' hat, cause it will not be needed. No shows or entrance fees here. Just your love and your belief. Grace comes tumbling after, whether you like it or not. :)

God bless you all, and those of you who do not believe in Gods power or are trying to ignore it... The Lord is weeping over your souls just as Jesus did over Lazarus when he was dead,

"Jesus wept." (John 11:35).

for some reason

for some reason
we hang on
for some reason
we still breath

fallen world
broken hearts
rising empires
fractured souls

try and fail
try again
to win the world
you must succeed
be number one
in flawless form
skinny levels
to live up to
though impossible
still fought after

why we live
for all the cries
of empty praise
that only last
till you show your back
to the crowd of dogs
that bark your name

you were the prize
of lust and shame
you were the prize
that fed their shouts
they taste your skin
they grab your heart
and catch your eye
then drag you in

i do not know
but just for one moment
of praise alone
'tis beautiful
to the empty one
why it is
we live for them

darkened Son
excuses for hell
running with guns
screaming in hate
crying with power
bleeding with pride
redemption save
our hollow hearts

redemption save
our weeping eyes

my mother and my brother
are caught up in the lies
my sister and my father
are hearing evil cries
turning just to see
a burning building
once called home
sucked in and spit out
they kneel at their graves
jumping in would steel the pain
giving silence as a gift
bitterly won
but sweet in sound
to them who break

running feet
shaking limbs
tripping on debris
from those I loved
bombs and rocks
enter the sky
like birds who once
filled our skies

who are you now?
where are you now?
what do you do
with pictures in your head
of once loved laughter
smiles and babies
sunshine and kisses
ice cream dishes
sweet and sound
a life i lived
with peace and joy
on wings of my heart

soaked to your scalp
drowning in lies
battled with hate
now sitting in skin
ravaged and worn

piercing is the word
you say
that perfectly describes
the happy world we're livin in
and the emptiness inside

displaced anger
forward blows
swolen lungs
sing the cries
of child and mother
life has just died
why would we kill
a life not yet lived
why would we judge it
unworthy to speak?

that is what we are
what our hearts have settled into
death set to music
of this ending

but I have a secret
a love beyond the sky
life can be lived
in a world
tuned to it's end
tuned to each other
scraping right by
stretching your hand
for one last bite
a small, final drip
water not clear
mud in your eyes
not making you blind
but making you see
what we're framed into now
a life, not quite lived
a world, not quite that strong

listen to me
yes open your ears
there is a life
void of these cries
lived in great peace
for all of our lives
love in the air
you breath in the grace
your heart beats with fire
you've been set on by Life
run with your feet
fields full of green
skies that are bright
beautiful smiles
faces of light
here you will rest
never removed
'cause the bearer of life
holds you real tight
golden gates
unending love
no conditions or fights
competitions or rights
here you were made
now you are held
in arms of forgiveness
eternity speaks
"come back home child
I've loved you forever
and so shall I stay"

staying in love
basking in grace
forever clean
ending the race
aching is gone
replaced with a heart
beating so bright
pure as the snow
bright is this light
flowing with peace
white as His eyes

flying saucers...?

You must watch this video. It's kinda whimsical and I feel like it should be set in a green meadow rather than the concrete jungle of the city. Anyway, I like it :)

Chanteuse Cibelle has featured Devendra in her new video from her current album “The Shine Of Dried Electric Leaves”. Video directed by Tom Haines. Enjoy.

Type this ^^^ into google and it should come up :) I haven't found it any other way, maybe they'll put it on itunes?

Our God Is a Consuming Fire

Hebrews 12:1-29
Jesus, Founder and Perfecter of Our Faith
12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Do Not Grow Weary
3 Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. 4 In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5 And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?

“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
nor be weary when reproved by him.
6 For the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and chastises every son whom he receives.”

7 It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9 Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. 11 For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

12 Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed. 14 Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. 15 See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; 16 that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. 17 For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.

A Kingdom That Cannot Be Shaken
18 For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest 19 and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. 20 For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” 21 Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.” 22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 23 and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

25 See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. 26 At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” 27 This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, 29 for our God is a consuming fire.

I encourage you to read each sentence a few times. I understand that unless you like reading and you thirst for more information of the Lord 24/7 that you might not understand this or even choose to read it. It is a lot of words and well-written sentences that happen to be somewhat confusing if you don't read it over again :) Each verse though, touches my heart in a different way. I feel like I'm reading it with an empty heart and each word drops to the floor of my soul with a little *clink* and after reading so many words it fills me up, and keeps filling and keeps filling. Like a cup that overflows. (Psalm 23:5)

The section titled "A Kingdom That Cannot Be Shaken" reminds me of the almost unreal invincibilty spoken of about Jerusalem in Isaiah 33, specifically verse 20. It is set so high in Gods esteem, I find it captivating the love He holds for it. It reminds me of the truth that He loves us that way too. With that much passion and zeal and perseverance for our souls, like He has for His kingdom. His kingdom is His bride. As are we. Read all of Isaiah 33, it's really beautiful if you unlock the meaning of it all. There are millions of places you could search for God's love for us. Not only in the Bible, just walk outside and take a gander at the sky. Immensely incomprehensible. We can't even understand or imagine the power of His love or His mighty works. John 21:25 states that all of the works of Jesus (God in human form) would not even fit into the world if it were written in books. God is good, and He loves you. He is waiting. He sees your life and all you've been through and will walk through in the future. He sees it all, and He still wants you. More than you want peace in your life, He wants you. More than starving children want food and lost ones want homes. More than a man wants a woman and vise versa. More than any man or any woman or child has ever desired something in all of history or creation, God wants you.

I need to remember these things also. I forget them daily. But God's power is greater than that of him who lies to us and longs to steal our truth from our lives. Ephesians 6:16 (the whole chapter is real good ;]) I pray that your day is blessed :)

Katelyn Marie

Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

Pulling, Ripping, Tearing...Satan

So God and I, we had a really good conversation today :) It was about that nail you see pictured. I have a special place I go when I just want to hear the breeze and watch the bunnies and talk to God without interruption. Often times when I go to 'my place', I find a nail of some sort. The first time I saw a long, rusty, brown nail that was a little bent and twirked and kinda fat. That nail reminded me that the nail that went through Christs feet and hands was even bigger and wider and more gruesome to feel than that. Anyway, I've found a few not quite so interesting nails in my place before, but today, God made this twirly black nail ever so interesting.

At first, I looked at the nail and thought of how when it goes into something, the smooth pattern inside goes away and the curves and twists that are on the nail begin to form inside of whatever it's being drilled into. So the inside of it begins to look exactly like the dirty, twisted nail. I thought to myself how Satan is like that...he digs himself inside of us and eventually we begin to look just as terrible and messed up as he is. We have been formed into his likeness. And isn't that exactly the opposite of Whose likeness we'd like to be formed into?

Next, God brought to my thoughts the idea of how it tears and rips as it goes down. The further it goes down, the more it tears and rips. So I imagined this nail going through flesh, twisting and everything, and as it goes down it grabs piece by piece in different places and tears them off and pulls them down as it turns and it rips things from their origin and pushes them further and further under and before you know it, everything inside of where that nail has gone..is not only unrecognizable, but it's torn and scraped and bleeding. It is hurt, it is in so much more damage than before. The place where it now rests is numb. Now unable to feel the difference between pain and pleasure. It is just a painful filler for a hole that should be filled with something else. Imagine this as Satan driving himself through you, through your soul.

And why do we let him in in the first place? Because we have a little scrape at the surface that we want to be healed quickly. Maybe it's because we don't want anybody to see our broken flesh, we don't want anyone to think that we are able to be hurt like that. Maybe it's because we have a guard up and wouldn't want anyone to know we actually can be hurt. Or maybe it's just the simple fact that we were hurt, it doesn't feel good anymore, and we want to be whole again. We want it to feel better and for the pain to diminish. So, Satan comes along and makes a pleasing proposition as something we don't quite see as Satan. We see it as something nice and wonderful to fill our empty space and clean up our little scratch. So it sits on our scratch, we no longer feel the pain when it brushes up against something, because it's being covered. So it feels nice, having that pain disappear, and we look up and see that there's a whole lot more pleasure where that little shield came from. We look up and see the whole nail towering over us, but we see it as happiness and fun and pleasure, we don't see it as a dirty, twisted, black nail. So we ask it to keep comin', to keep fillin'. We figure that if it made that pain go away then why don't we just fill everything up with it and have a little extra! so it drives down and does it's thing, tearing and twisting as it does. Then we pull it out. And when we pull it out, there is a deep, gaping, damaged hole, ravaged by the prints of sin. If we dropped a pin down that whole, it would probably sound like a thousand oceans, crashing up against the rocks all at once.

I asked God to show me how that applied to me, and what I could compare it to for dynamic. And He revealed to me that, the more I try and fill myself with the praises of other people and the empty acceptance of humans, the deeper my hole will get, and the more torn it will become...for when I pull out all those empty praises, my heart will be hollow. I will realize how fleeting it all really was. I will want to fill it with the True Fulfiller and His pure, satisfying, true, everlasting, forever...love. I pray that you recognize your nail today, or take out the one that has already intruded.

Blessings, Katelyn

Ephesians 3:14-21 and 4:1-16

I would underline and highlight and italicize every word of this just because I love every bit of it so much! It gets me so excited ! But this blog doesn't allow me to color words :/ haha, I hope you enjoy every piece of it as I did. Let me know how I can be praying for you.

Ephesians 3:14-21 and 4:1-16

Prayer for Spiritual Strength
14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Unity in the Body of Christ
4:1 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. 7 But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift. 8 Therefore it says,

“When he ascended on high he led a host of captives,
and he gave gifts to men.”

9 (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? 10 He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) 11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.


Katelyn Marie

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Phil. 4:13

Does This Title Intrigue You?

Today, I woke up not really knowing how the day would go. Just like every other day, I'd shower, get dressed, do whatever I must to be ready to face the world. But, just as every other day, I didn't exactly KNOW what was gonna happen. If I tried to figure out how my day would go, who I'd meet, where I'd go, what I'd eat...I would probably go nuts. If I tried to plan it, it would turn out completely different than I wanted it to, and not only because I'm just a simple human being and planning my every breath is kinda hard...not just because daily distractions and issues will most likely come in and disturb me in the middle of my plan, but because that's Not MY joB. I am not here to be a fortune teller and direct the traffic of mine and everybody else's lives that contact me and vise versa. I would fall apart just knowing that the pressure of my very own life is in my little hands...and only mine. I know others might think this is crazy. Perhaps they would sarcastically quip at me, "Well WHO exactly do you presume IS to take care of your life, Katelyn? Isn't that why we're here? You can't just have a personal Life Genie to carry in your pocket everywhere." Or they might just humorously tell me my life's going down the drain. But I will not fret. I do not mind that others find it silly that I believe there is Another in charge of my steps and where I take them. If I listen to Him, that is.

I could refuse to listen. I could pridefully put myself on a pedestal and presume I have the answers. I might go on well for a while, even. But eventually I'd realize I'm not my author. I'm not my own main character in life. I'm not even the prop master. I am the mix of two others: a very small, supporting role. And an entertained, terrified, amused, intrigued, worried, involved and cheering audience. Someone else is leading me through the lines. Someone else is guiding me through the complicated steps. Someone else is teaching me how to shine in the show, but only that I can shine for Him. This may sound utterly ridiculous to anyone else, but I find such peace and fulfillment from not living for my own, but living for His own. Because by His stripes I am healed, and by His strength, my weakness is made perfect. So, even though I woke up today not knowing what would happen, I knew WHO would happen. In me, through me, by me, with me.

Prayers, Katelyn

Romans 8:18-30

Romans 8:18-30

Future Glory

18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.


26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. 28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

I know I keep doing these little verses, but I love em!!

Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Isaiah 41:10

Let your faith heal you :)

Jesus turned and saw her. "Take heart, daughter," he said, "your faith has healed you." And the woman was healed from that moment.

Matthew 9:22


Let your faith heal you,
I'm workin on letting mine
heal me too.

1 John 4:18....enough said

There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

1 John 4:18

At the end of the day...no such thing as everlasting. Or is there?

I just saw Nanny Diaries with Scarlett Johansson and Alicia Keyes etc... I don't really have the time or brain capacity to pull off a well written and acceptable enough paragraph containing the contents of this movie, so you'll have to go see it yourself. Unless you don't wanna feel sad for the rich people of upper Manhattan, then it's definately a no for you unsympathetics! But, I can, however, write an idea about the feeling it gave me in my heart. Deep in the pit of my soul...my heart goes out for those of a high, monetary status. And not even just that! But every person who doesn't enjoy the real joys of life. Those of the human race who put their lives into the fleeting, destructable and destructive, 'secretly lonely in their own selfish pursuit of life' stuff. Stuff that could turn into dust with the switch of a scientists button or the snap of a richer mans finger. A more evil scientist and a richer man with more hit men than yourself. More rolex's (or maybe that's out of style...but hey, vintage is in! We shall see...) more ferraris and porsches and diamonds and mistresses than yourself. More bills taking up space in their imported snakeskin wallet. And more emptiness in their souls. A bigger gap to fill. A harder heart to kill. More secret tears to whipe away at night. Or just more expensive pills to ignore those tears. A longer echo goes out through their souls, and it gets bigger every smile they could smile but choose to frown instead. And that will cause them plastic surgery procedures because frowning takes WAY more muscles than smiling and 'of course we wouldn't ever want wrinkles!!' You see what I mean? Every joy they pushed away and farther away from their hearts than I am from home (That'd be heaven.) has brought them to stronger strive to be at the very tip top of every food chain in their very best tip top shape! But those food chains will fall. Those banks will break. Those suits will fade. And the black and white, deeply contrasted lines of deceit will be shown after the fallen, earthly ruins finally reveal that these things won't last. And it's the that you'll wonder why you built your house upon that hill. That you founded your life on sand that could be swept away in the blink of an eye, in the eye of a storm, in the storm of life...in the life that we live. At the end of the day...when you get home and kick off your fancy shoes, sit on your fur couch, click on your expensive plasma screen, drop your leather briefcase, and untie your silk neck tie...you get a phone call. Your dad died...your ex-boyfriend/girlfriend is doing drugs...your sister has been kidnapped...your best friend had a miscarriage...your mom is moving away...your artwork wasn't good enough...you got a D on a paper...whatever makes you sad...it happened. Is your Gucci purse gonna hug you and hold you while you cry? Is your mistress gonna give you a comforting speech? Is your safe full of money gonna bring your dad back? Is your next door neighbor who happens to be a celebrity that you've been name dropping for months..are they gonna sive you a smile that says, "it's okay.." Are your fancy cars and big diamonds or drinking bars and pockets full of drugs going to bring back your sister? Is beating up the kid you have a grudge on gonna get you an A on that paper? No. No. No. No!!! Realizing that life doesn't depend on you and resting in your imperfections and loving to the fullest in case they're gone tomorrow...those things will somehow get you through the day. Finding beauty in pain, a smile in the tears, a hug in the violence, a peace in the fight...simply looking at the glass of life as half full can sometimes be the blanket that keeps you warm. Most of all, remembering that if the world came to an end and you just died...money, drugs, grades, good deeds, sucking up and clothes won't mean a thing. They will die along with you. If it all turned to dust tomorrow...would that still be number one on your list? If you had one last day, would you spend it shopping?

Prayers to you all :)

Nothing

I am nothing without You.
I hold nothing.
I complete nothing.
I finish nothing.
I hope in nothing.
I love nothing.
I forgive nothing.
I live nothing.
I see nothing.
I taste nothing.
I feel nothing.
I reason nothing.
I hold nothing.
I believe nothing.
I am strong in nothing.
I joyful through nothing.
I am faithful through nothing.
I am nothing
without You.

Be the thread of my existence. Be the glue of my life. Be the unification that replaces my justification. Be my atmosphere. Be everything inside it. Be everything that is greater than all of it will ever be. I love You, I feel You, I believe in You. I trust You.

Happiness is a choice :)

I just want to encourage you guys today with a little piece of wisdom spoken to me by a sweet starbucks girl who has no idea how much she has touched me. I went in to get my starbucks and she was sweetly talking to the children of the customer in front of me, goofing around with them and stuff. She was talking to them as if she already knew them and they were being very sweet back, but you could tell by the mothers lack of conversation that they really had never met before and the sweet starbucks girl was just an extra social person. :) So it's now my turn, the girl asks me what I want 'n' such and the whole time has a huge smile on her face. You'd think the girl just got proposed to for marriage! She asks me how I'm doing with a bubbly attitude, to be quite honest this wasn't a better day for me. Now, I don't remember why, but I do remember that this girl just totally turned me out from what I was and how I was feeling. Anyway, my sad little self replied, "I'm pretty good, how are you?" And what do you think the happy girl said? Good...of course! She responded as if she was living in a fairy tale. By saying this, I do not mean that she was acting like she was riding a unicorn and singing melodies of Sleeping Beauty. That would be more like an acid trip. No, by saying that I mean that it seemed as if she was living like none of the problems around her could change her attitude or steal her happiness. As the quote below says, that we carry seeds around inside of us, well her seeds were seeds of joy! And no negative circumstance in her life would ever change that! So, when I asked her how she was, she said, "I'm rockin!" I asked the happy girl why she was so happy and she said, "Well, I have no reason not to be! Happiness is a choice, it really is. People think I'm crazy because I'm so happy ALL the time." Anyway, I hope this girl touches your soul the way she has touched mine :)

Martha Washington
The greater part of our happiness or misery depends on our dispositions, and not on our circumstances. We carry the seeds of the one or the other about with us in our minds wherever we go.

Walking into the Forest...and back out again.

So, remember that one post about 'him'? Yeah, well I've gone back and forth between caring and not caring so many times. I've flip flopped from black and white to gray and beige and..it's just crazy how easily people can forget how silly things like these don't matter. It makes me crazy how fast I can forget that little moments in our lives that stress us out or even the really huge ones...are NOTHING compared to eternity in peace with Christ. NOTHING! We get to spend forever in peace with no weeping or sadness or anger, (Revelation 21:4 "He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”) So, my heart and I have come to the conclusion that these things (for ex: 'him') or just plain stress and worry of the fleeting things of this world, caring what others think etc...don't have ANY business taking up time that I could be using to glorify God! They have No place in my day! And when they creep up on my shoulder and whisper worry in my ear, I will pray out to God proclaiming how awesome and wonderful He is and how weak these little problems are and I will watch out for them whenever they come upon me (1 Peter 5:8-9 8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.)

Anyway, just wanted to encourage anyone else who might need a little push such as this, keep me reminded so I keep my faith this way!!

Luke 12

I love the verses 1-7 and 8-12

Beware of the Leaven of the Pharisees
12:1 In the meantime, when so many thousands of the people had gathered together that they were trampling one another, he began to say to his disciples first, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. 2 Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. 3 Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops.

Have No Fear
4 “I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. 5 But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. [1] Yes, I tell you, fear him! 6 Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? [2] And not one of them is forgotten before God. 7 Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.

Acknowledge Christ Before Men
8 “And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God, 9 but the one who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God. 10 And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. 11 And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, 12 for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”

The Parable of the Rich Fool
13 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” 14 But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?” 15 And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” 16 And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, 17 and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ 18 And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21 So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

Do Not Be Anxious
22 And he said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. 23 For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. 24 Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! 25 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? [3] 26 If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? 27 Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, [4] yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 28 But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! 29 And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. 30 For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31 Instead, seek his [5] kingdom, and these things will be added to you.

32 “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

You Must Be Ready
35 “Stay dressed for action [6] and keep your lamps burning, 36 and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks. 37 Blessed are those servants [7] whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. 38 If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants! 39 But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he [8] would not have left his house to be broken into. 40 You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

41 Peter said, “Lord, are you telling this parable for us or for all?” 42 And the Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time? 43 Blessed is that servant [9] whom his master will find so doing when he comes. 44 Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. 45 But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk, 46 the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and put him with the unfaithful. 47 And that servant who knew his master's will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating. 48 But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.

Not Peace, but Division
49 “I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled! 50 I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished! 51 Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. 52 For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three. 53 They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

Interpreting the Time
54 He also said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you say at once, ‘A shower is coming.’ And so it happens. 55 And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat,’ and it happens. 56 You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?

Settle with Your Accuser
57 “And why do you not judge for yourselves what is right? 58 As you go with your accuser before the magistrate, make an effort to settle with him on the way, lest he drag you to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer, and the officer put you in prison. 59 I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the very last penny.” [10]

Just a little excerpt from a weekly e-mail I get :)

True worship should create God-intoxicated people.

Everyone worships. Some people worship money, possessions, popularity, prosperity, or other people. They may not sing worship songs to their bank account, but by the way they live they worship (i.e. give value to) their money.


Worship is not just singing songs in church; worship is a lifestyle that places value on its object. True worship of God means that the one worshiping is placing value on God and putting him at the center of life.

That's what Jesus was getting at when he said, "Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth." (John 4:23-24)

Notice Jesus didn't say anything about singing "worship songs." To worship in spirit and in truth means that everything in your life is centered around God and guided by him -- that your choices reflect him, that your actions are directed by him, and that you words are filtered through him.

In short, true worship is such that the one worshipping should be so enveloped and surrounded in the presence (the spirit) of God.

I love it!

Katelyn :)