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Monday, December 22, 2008

Hosea...Beloved...Love


Well you've been a mistress, my wife
Chasing lovers it won't satisfy
Won't you let me make you my bride
You will drink of my lips
And you'll taste new life

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Never Knew How Powerful These Words Truly Are...



Word Of The Father,
Now In Flesh Appearing.

Saturday, December 20, 2008

WarChild

The War Child Movie - www.warchildmovie.comHttp://www.warchildmovie.com

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

1 Corinthians 13:8



Monday, December 15, 2008

Just for fun




I just found these pictures while going through my iphoto library and decided to make good use of them before throwing the files away to make more disk space on this computer.

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Go Light Your World

As one of my family's holiday traditions, we went to Immanuel's Christmas Pageant. This years theme being "Follow the Light." Many of the songs sung tonight were about light and God being our light as we follow him as well as us being a light in our world. One of the songs sung tonight brought some tears to my eyes (or maybe the tears were from the smoke from the candles.). The song is called, "Go Light Your World." Some of the lyrics being:

"So Carry your candle, run to the darkness
Seek out the hopeless, confused and torn
Hold out your candle for all to see it
Take your candle, and go light your world"

This song reminded me of why I am going to Africa. And its not necessarily Africa that is important...God could have sent me anywhere. But I'm excited that I'm God is calling me to the darkness to seek out the hopeless, confused and torn. And I pray that I will be able to shine my light no matter where I am.

"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men,that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."
-Matthew 5:14-17

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

100%

"Kate, can you pack your bags and be ready by the 16th?" Yes indeed, those were the words asked of me today from headquarters as they put me in the clear to leave this January. 100%. Amazing. Who would have guessed a few months God can change my percentage from 0%-100% (well I guess all you who kept telling my heart to hold on to the hope and power that is in God.) The incredible thing about that phone call today was that the moment I was told that I'm leaving in 36 days, I felt nothing but peace. All my fears of "am i gonna get this or that done?" flew out the window and the peace of our Savior filled my heart. This peace is what I have to cling to in the next 36 days, the following 365 days, and the rest of my life. I am more than thankful for this peace. I can't imagine how I'd be feeling right now had that peace been clouded by anxiety, nerves and uncertainty. Surely these will come and go but my hope remains in the Lord. This peace is the glue that bonds my uncertainties to God's certainties and promises.

A few weeks ago I thought of this crazy idea to get a tattoo (yes mom, its still just an idea, I don't actually have one.). I wanted it to say "Strength & Courage" in Swahili: "Tani na Ushujaa." Originally my thoughts for getting this was for when I was on the mission field. To remind me to have strength and courage for whatever may come my way. For trials I may/will face. I'm starting to realize though that God calling Joshua to have strength and courage was not only when he was in battle and is not just for me when I'm overseas. Preparing for the mission field is begging me to be strong and courageous. My heart often feels heavy at the thought of leaving friends and family. Growing up in a military family I know this kind of loss all too well. Having two friends pass away over the last couple of years has also stirred up these emotions. Loss and change are two experiences in life that occurs often and in all sorts of ways....yet never promised to be easy to experience.

I am excited about whats to come. There are so many unknowns out there which gives way to the Lord to do work his in my life in ways I never could have imagined. I press forward with Tani na Ushujaa and hope that in those times on uncertainty that I can rememeber the way it felt today when that peace came over me and I knew I am completely in the Lord's hands...the safest place to be.

Jeremiah 17:7-8

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

True Christmas Love

I love, love, LOVE Christmas time. There is something about how everyone and everywhere tries to cater to the comfy cozy feel of the season. Whether its a coffee shop or the dentist office, Christmas cheer finds its way into every nook and cranny around. I love the fact that I can be sitting in my car listening to 97.1, get out walk across a parking lot, enter a store, and once again, Carols fill the air. One thing I don't like is how fast everyone feels they need to go this time of year. You look at families on TV and they act like all's well with peace on earth as they deck the halls and encourage carolers to come and bring figgy pudding. But thats TV, not reality. Instead I see families running from event to event, bundling up, grabbing the newest gadget to put under the tree.

As much as I love the Holidays and how they beg you to be close to your loved ones, I do have to say....we need to remember what we really are celebrating. I wonder if keeping the Birth of our Savior at the forefront of our minds would help slow down the holiday panic. I almost feel like people put a manger scene in their front yard or in their house to rid themselves of this guilt so that people "know" they have not forgotten what the real meaning of Christmas is. I'm just as guilty of this and often have to stop myself and remember what is the whole meaning of this holiday anyways.

I've heard a song recently that has helped me to remember what was truly sacrificed for us...the biggest gift one can give and did give for us. Its called "Manger Throne" by Third Day. This song helped me to remember that Christ...the KING of kings came down to our earth...the very earth He created. He came down to a place full of sin and heartache for you and me. Out of love, he humbled Himself and came a helpless baby who's purpose on earth was to be the sacrificial Lamb so that we may experience eternal life with Him. How is anything in that beautiful story selfish? Its not. Its merely Love.

I was lost, in darkness found
You randsomed my heart and I will sing


Morning brings a hunger for new eyes
That have been covered by the hurt of yesterday
Who could create in me the vision of a little child?
It's you.

Monday, December 8, 2008

Seeding

The seed I’ve received I will sow.

Sunday, December 7, 2008


Walking, stumbling on these shadowfeet
toward home, a land that i've never seen.
I am changing, less and less asleep
made of different stuff than when i began.

Saturday, December 6, 2008

So it begins...finally. Its all too real now.

Oh my. I've been putting off my emotions about leaving as if it were just another "to-do" on my checklist to check off before I leave. This morning, however, that got a BIG check mark. As I was pulling out of the drive way to do a photo shoot it hit me. I'm leaving. I'm actually leaving. I've known it, but to really process and understand it in my heart, I have not. Until now. A whole year...wow. 41 days and I'll be leaving. People on the beltway must have been so confused at this girl singing in her car and tears streaming down her face....ok more like flowing down. It only got worse as the afternoon progressed. No, I didn't cry during my shoots but thought a lot. I think the last shoot was the hardest for me. It was the cutest family...and seeing the family together just made me want to be with mine and spend as much time as i can with them till I leave. Yes mom and Dad...I DID just say that! And then I called a friend on my way home from the shoot and once again the floodgates opened up. And talking to her on the phone made me realize that I want to spend as much time with those I love before I leave. How the heck am I gonna fit it all in? Well, I've got 41 days to figure it out. Until then at least I've come to terms with my emotions about all this and am no longer bottling them up. If I need to cry, I'm gonna cry and if I need to call and tell someone how much they mean to me, I'm gonna call. (Thanks Kiki for listening through my tears today and helping me process.)

Its funny, cause Kiki said "You are hurting right now because you are leaving and saying goodbye... Give it a year, Kate...and you will be crying because you are leaving Kenya." How true I anticipate that to be!

Friday, December 5, 2008


Give me your arms for the broken hearted.
Ones that are far beyond my reach.
Give me your heart for the ones forgotten.
Give me your eyes so I can see...

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

How much does your faith cost?

We have much to be thankful for. As an American, where freedom is our middle name, there is little to complain about. We have the freedom to vote for whoever we want, shop wherever we want, make friends with whoever we want, and worship wherever and whatever we want. Religious persecution is a phrase very foreign to us. It used to be foreign to me until I saw it first hand.

In 2006 I went to Ghana to do missions work in a Muslim village. I had visited this village twice before and was excited to come back...but something was different this time. My first two visits we had been very welcomed because we were the "white people" from "rich America." We were more of a visual souvenir then understood what we were there for. Sharing the gospel. That was our goal and our mission. Finally, after 2 years, we began to break through the shell of this village and get to the heart of the people. They started to understand why we were really there. Like I'd mentioned, the majority of these people were Muslim...and they made it well known by the ginormous Mosque as you enter the village. Word got out that the white people or the "Obroni's" were here to talk about the Messiah, Jesus, Salvation....words not quite welcomed in this Muslim village. One story from that summer stands out to me and often send chills down my spine. One of the women of the village, a young single girl, overheard what we were sharing with her friends. You could tell from the emotions on her face that she got it. She understood what we were talking about. She "got" the good news. What a special moment it is to be there when someones eyes are open to the truth and heart open to the Lord. I gained a sister in Christ. A "kayaye" (what Ghanaians call these working girls) and yet a daughter of the King. After praying with us that day she left with a smile on her face. The next day I was excited to see her again to be able to talk more with her and share with her more about the Lord and her new found faith. She greeted me with a HUGE smile. Although we conversed through a translator I heard of her excitement and peace about her faith. I asked her if she was able to share her faith with anyone from her community home (She lived with a bunch of other Kayaye in "house.") She shook her head and told me the following...never loosing her smile. She told me that someone had seen her talking to the white people and saw her pray. When she went home that night, she found that she was kicked out of her house...she was forced onto the streets. At this point the smile on my face diminished yet hers remained. She then continued to tell me that when the night was over she went to her boss to pick up her items she would sell that day, but he offered her none. She not only lost her home to rest, but she also lost her job. All for her faith. I'm shamed to admit this, but at the time I remember thinking..."why do you admit to this change in faith if it cost so much." As soon as those thoughts entered my mind I understood why. She was the definition of faith. She held that beautiful image of Christ and what He did for us. People mocked Christ when he was on the cross asking him why he wouldn't save himself? And yet the persecution didn't take him down from the cross...he stayed to the very end. This Kayaye and her new found faith was incredible. It humbled me and challenged my own faith. She didn't have to read John 15:18 to understand its meaning. She had faith and in faith she would remain. No matter what persecution came her way, she knew that the new life she found in Christ was worth more to her. She would rely on the Lord for all the details of her life, whether big or small..she had the faith that would move mountains. She didn't lessen the power of the Lord in her life by denying her new faith...accepted it with boldness.

Persecution is real over there...I saw it first hand. I didn't experience, but I saw it. I pray that if rolls were reversed, and I were the one who lost my job and my house for my faith...that I too would be telling you about it with a smile...a smile that never ceases.

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Thanks to Him who created creativity.


This is my prayer: That I would continue to grow in the knowledge of the Lord's creativity. That I would always give glory to the Lord through all I do. And that I would stay humble and always remember who got me to the place I am today. Thank you Lord.