We're back from South America! {and a sponsorship opportunity!}

Well, we've made it back from South America. It literally felt so good to take a hot shower and sleep in my own bed. Even though traveling is in my blood, there is nothing like coming back to a familiar place filled with faces you know and love.

Our trip was incredibly amazing on so many levels! We connected with some of the most warm and inspiring people who showed us hospitality beyond measure. We jumped off bridges and zip lined and swung on a tree that dangled our feet over a thousand foot cliff. We soaked in thermal baths and got massages. We volunteered with an incredible organization. We sat on a beach and read and swam in the ocean. 

I can't wait to share with you each step of our journey from Ecuador to Columbia! I've missed you sweet readers and am excited to hop back on this blogging train! 

I hope your 2015 is shaping up to be your best year yet!! I have a whole bunch of exciting posts and pictures planned for this year, so I hope you'll stick along for the ride!

Also, I wanted to let you know that I am offering sponsorship {a Large Ad} on my blog for $15 a month, or $35 for 3 months! If one of your new years goals is to grow your blog, this might be a great opportunity for you to partner with Hope Engaged. Just as reminder, all sponsorship money from my blog goes to support the aftercare home that Kevin and I worked at in Nepal! So…really, just think of your sponsorship as a donation to an amazing organization that houses girls rescued out of sex trafficking and other tragic situations. Email me at hopeengaged@gmail.com if you are interested!!

Happy day friends!

Travel Talk…what do YOU want to know?

Blogging is such an amazing resource, 

as women around the world are just genius & brilliant at certain things, 

of which I' just at a complete loss for!

 {like seriously, sometimes I just sit in absolute awe of ladies 

and wonder how in the worlds their brains can conceive 

such scrumptious goodness!} 

I've learned so much from other women as I've 

asked questions and 

followed DIY tutorials on other blogs!! 

One of the questions I receive on a weekly basis from my blog readers is basically,

how do you afford to travel so much? 

{and the answer is not "because i'm rich". ha}

Last week at life group my sweet friend Amanda was asking me the same thing,

and the more I got talking, 

the more I realized how I've just picked up a lot of travel tips throughout the years! 

I'm no expert, just someone that is passionate about this lovely world. 

Kev and I have been to over 40 countries {and counting!} 

and almost every state in the USA, 

and feel thankful for the experiences we've had. 

With that being said, 

i'm FINALLY working on writing a bit of a travel series based upon all the questions I receive. 

If YOU have a question about travel, I would LOVE it if you could put it below in the comments! 

I plan to consolidate all your questions, and incorporate them into my series!! 

So…ask away! Nothing is off limits! 

{wanna know how to deal with the runs? 

parasites? 

creepy men on long boat rides? 

been there, done that! } 

I'm so excited for this series! It's been a long time coming:) 

Happy Wednesday friends!! 

love Katie 

ps- the pictures are a sneak peak of our most recent trip to Vietnam…

one of my most favorite countries in the world!

 Can't wait for you to see the rest of them:) 

Prepare yourself for a feast for the eyes!! This country is so colorful:) 

Why Not?

When I'm old and saggy and can say whatever I very well please,

what I really want to tell my grandkids is that I lived a good story.

that I took risks and listened to the Holy Spirit.

that I made cookies with my neighbor kids spur of the moment

and moved to Nepal with my husband.

That I skinny dipped in italy,

and ate bugs in Asia, 

and opened my home to anyone looking for love. 

and then I realized that all of those things I wanted to remember,

anything that was worth repeating,

were opportunities that presented themselves that others might say, 

"well, why?..why would you do that?"

"why eat a bug?"

or

"why move to country where the freaking electricity is never on?" 

or

"why live in a neighborhood that has a gang?" 

and here's my very deep and profound answer,

"why not?" 

why.the.heck.not? 

Jesus's life wasn't normal, so why should mine be? 

Jesus didn't have a picket fence or a fat salary or even a permanent home on earth. 

He just carried love around in his pocket, and sowed seeds of beauty and depth, grace and forgiveness. 

these are the thoughts swirling in my head right now, am I weird? 

and so in honor of the 

why not 

statement, 

I am now a farmer. 

I know, laugh. 

please. 

it's hilarious. 

While still in Nepal, my dad mentioned that if we wanted to come and work the rice harvest he'd hire us! 

You see, my family has been growin' rice like nobody's business for the last 100 years. 

and while I didn't grow up in the country or on a farm, i'd love to believe that i'm a farmer at heart. 

Most the time, I settle for being a farmers daughter.

but now with great excitement, I can now say i'm a legit farmer {for 4 more weeks! haha}

Kev and I decided that for one month this Fall, we'd learn how to grow grain like it was our job. 

In fact, it is our job. {not to grow the grain, of course, but to harvest it}

So for the next month, you can refer to me as farmer Katie:) 

I've got my flannel, my jeans, and work shoes...i've even got a grease gun! 

so why not randomly work on a farm? 

we're young, we're able and we still have our eyesight to drive a tractor! 

and won't that make a good story someday? 

I think so:) 

So today, I hope you'll find something to ask

"why not" to! 

surprise yourself, cut loose, and love life for all it's surprises!! 

love Katie 

on marriage

i preface this small and humble observation by merely pointing out i am no expert. 

that is, i've only been married one year to be exact. 

but in this one marvelous turn of the world,

where 365 moons have passed,

and we have only begun to learn the depths of care for each other,

a lovely truth has truly emerged so striking and so profound that I cannot deny it. 

ahh yes, and this is it:

we are better together, than apart. 

not just in the earthly sense which fills my most physical needs 

but in the most beautiful divine. 

when Kev and I began to talk about marriage, I began to wonder what the point of marriage was.  It wasn't because I had bad examples, far from that. Both sets of our parents have been married over 30 years and are unmistakably in love.

it was a deep sense of wondering how I could ever love God and people, more, being married.  

and then I got married and discovered that God's plan for marriage is just that. 

to work together as a team to radiate Christ's deep agape in a fuller expression. 

and herein lies the point of this small post. 

i so believe marriage is about mission. 

it's about being called by God as a team

to have a purpose higher than yourselves

to laugh and love and cry and journey with meaning

it's about fulfilling the great commission with your heavenly Love and your earthly dearest

and when we serve the Lord in tandem

and i watch kevin pick up a small child and swing him around

and read him stories

and pray with him

I am ever more in love with that radiant soul

because I am watching our Savior seep out of him

and that is glue. 

that binds. 

when we crawl out of our world

and together reach into the epic calling of Abba

is when we find life

and life together. 

henri nouwen says, 

"...marriage is foremost a vocation. Two people are called together to fulfill a mission that God has given them. Marriage is a spiritual reality. That is to say, a man and a woman come together for life, not just because they experience deep love for each other, but because they believe that God loves each of them with an infinite love and has called them to each other to be living witnesses of that love. To love is to embody God's infinite love in a faithful communion with another human being.”

to say that we've attainted this fully would be foolish.

no, no, we struggle on. 

but last night as we both shared how we desire this next year of our marriage to look,

we knew it was to be centered around mission. 

that all who encounter us would be covered in a higher, deeper, richer heavenly love. 

because marriage isn't just about pleasing our earthly selves,

it is about serving a divine King and living out His calling on our lives

together. 

and boy is it one great adventure. 

love Katie 

travel log: dingle, part 2

yippe! we're back in our favorite place in Ireland, 

the Dingle peninsula

if you missed part 1, you can check it out here

and just to warn you, there is a LOT of green

they don't make you wear green on st. patrick's day for nothing!!

today we met up with some of our best friends at LAX

as they were just flying in from a 6 week trip from europe. 

we sat in the airport and talked for 3 straight hours (until they caught their next flight) about our trips...

when they asked us what our favorite place was, hands down we said in unison "dingle"

the entire peninsula is only about a 30 mile drive

but what makes it so magical is that there are about 100 places to stop along the way

to get lost down an old dirt road surrounded by brambles, and stumble upon a church that dates back to prehistoric times. there is just nothing like it! 

if any of you have seen the movie "Far and Away" with Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman,

then this scenery might look familiar! it's where they filmed it. 

you can see the old fences made out of stone, a distance relic of old potato fields. 

the famine hit hard in this region, forcing many to emigrate. 

 field beyond field left barren ever since. 

a slew of islands off the coast, called the blasket islands, dotted the sea. 

the history of the people who lived there marked the last bastion of true irish culture, 

and were studied by anthropologists for many years, who encouraged them to write down their culture and stories. 

 the entire population was forced to evacuate the island in the 1950's. 

evidently the majority of blasket island residents moved to springfield Ma. 

we spent the entire day in a time warp, moving at our own pace

slow and curious, shrouded in a mysterious fog that made time stand still. 

we stopped for a pint at a local pub along the way,

we found the most delightful and cozy restaurant overlooking a cliff that warmed the room by fire place. 

as we headed back into dingle town, we were delighted at dinner by the delish food and friendly service (not to mention the amazing ambiance!) 

if you are going to Dingle, you must eat at the Boar's Head restaurant! 

and then finished the night with some authentic irish music at Benny's pub. 

it just couldn't have been better:) 

dingle will forever hold a special place in our hearts. 

it was a page back in time, an emotion of being the only traveler in the entire place

the sense of truly exploring a rugged and beautiful terrain. 

(of course there were other tourists, but it still felt wild and free!)

happy weekend! 

i've literally cleared my ENTIRE schedule to watch the olympics! haha! i'm a die hard olympic fan!!!!

love Katie  

Africa Part 1: stitches on my heart

Blah, blah, blah. Here I was, my sophomore year of college and this girl across from me is droning on about how much she loves the African history course she is taking. Ya, I get it, you love africa, ok, I’m over it. Blah blah blah, I could think of nothing more boring or depressing to study.

Yikes. 

That was me. To even admit it now renders me red in the face with embarrassment. But I’ll admit it, growing up, Africa was not etched on the map in my mind, you know, that map that you dream of exploring and discovering. I had entered college studying International Relations, and minoring in Italian, and had big plans to travel every inch of Europe and Asia and South America. I wanted to be an ambassador or a politician (my nightmare now!), wear high heels (double nightmare!), make policies, and drink coffee with the best of ‘em. But Africa? I may not have ever been good at math, but I could tell you right then and there that Africa most certainly did not factor into my equation for the future.

And then I met him.

On a bus.

I was having a hard time getting my chair on the bus down, and with the whip of his hand, my seat was now functioning. I looked up.

Tall. 

 7 feet I thought. He was wearing a beanie in the cold Illinois air.

African. 

I knew next to nothing about the continent, but I knew Africa was his home.

Our eyes locked, and I couldn’t pull away. “Where?” I thought, then verbalized.

Sudan. His words sang softly and silently, openness.

Nothing registered in my head, blank.

Tell me, I breathed, your story.

And he did. Five minutes on the bus, turned into an hour in our hotel lobby. Those poignant eyes, dark and lovely, spilled stories of love and horror, of families, his family, torn apart- children walking across deserts with no food, mothers murdered. Devastation, loss, war. Of refugee camps in Ethiopia, then Kenya. Of chaos swallowing his country, his home.

“I am a lost boy” he says.

No words. Wide eyes flooded, I was beyond lost in his scars. I couldn’t shake the inevitable thoughts, “How does this happen? How do I not know anything about it?”

For the rest of the week at the conference, I shuffled close to Amal. He invited me to African dance night, where heart and soul and love for the mother land was palpable in the air, and I breathed it. Over 20 countries in Africa were represented, and with each drum beat and praise and prayer, a part of my heart began to beat differently. New eyes.

I will forever be grateful to Amal for sharing his story with me. His words, his courage and perseverance, but mostly his trust in God in the face of horrific pain, stitched a new story for my life.

And soon that fabric added Africa to the map in my mind, and my globe seemed to revolve around it.

I went back to college and started studying African history, and soon it easily became my favorite subject to study, it would be an understatement to tell you that I couldn’t get enough. I studied African film, I became entrenched in apartheid South Africa, I mulled over UN accounts of child soldiers from Liberia and Sierra Leone, I memorized geography and could tell you all sorts of facts about the Hausa and Fulani of West Africa.

And then I went. I spent a summer in South Africa and God continued to stitch love into a little heart. I was a sponge and just soaked. I saw the rhythm of the Holy Spirit move in ways I’d never experienced, and my South African friends ministered to me in ways I could have never imagined. They shared their hopes and dreams, and I literally saw beauty rise from the ashes of a system based on hate and prejudice. It was as if God’s redemption story was unfolding in front of my eyes, bold and brave and trusting in the only one who could give strength.

One night back in California, I showed up late to a Bible study and saw the end of a documentary that God used to stitch and stich more, Invisible Children. I had studied the LRA in my classes, but to see the devastation play out ruined me. I showed everyone I knew, hosting screenings on campus, and rallied a jog-a-thon, knowing that every little bit helped! A few years later I worked for Invisible Children for a year, and stories of transformation continued to unfold before my eyes. (As a side-note, if you have more questions about IC after all the Kony 2012 craziness, please don’t hesitate to ask!).

When I look back on these formative years where Africa and I collided most epically, I am drawn to the conclusion that God will forever surprise us with ways that draw us back to Him.

If I am called to love my neighbor and if we are called to carry each others burdens (which, newsflash, we ARE), then who I am if I ignore the rest of the world and live comfortably in my own little orbit filled with starbucks and the bachelorette?

But Abba calls us into a BIGGER story, out of ourselves, and into HIM. Where relationships and action and prayer for the world usher in HIS Kingdom.

And that is where I begin with Africa.

But my journey is not finished, and hopefully by the end of this week you will get to read
Part 2. Not only am I excited to continue sharing my story, but I also have a fun and meaningful give-a-way for you my dearest of readers of a product that is ever so near and dear to my heart.

Much love,
Katie

Part 2
Part 3

UK or bust...

...so the cats out of the bag...

Kevin and I booked our tickets to the UK a few weeks ago!

i'm ecstatic!

one of the things I adore about my hubs is that he is so adventurous and spontaneous. he loves clicking "purchase" buttons on airfare websites, and so do I, so naturally we fit. I think this trip will take us up to our 35th country, or something like that!

our trip will take us to Ireland, Scotland and England, for 3 weeks baby! we wasted no time in ordering the master's guide...Rick Steve's UK and Ireland! and we've been sneaking in travel plans here and there (ie: on car rides, picnics, and embarrassingly enough, we spent dinner a few nights ago glued to a Rick Steve's Hulu show on Ireland. yes, you can say it, we are nerds!)

we are fleshing out plans, but let me give you some of my initial thoughts on things we want to see:

Keizy and Fam:

this whole trip was born out of the fact that my roommate from college (the lovely Keiz) now lives with her hubby and sweet pea in the North of England. She's only over there a few years, and Kevin and I were NOT going to miss the chance to visit them. So yes, she's my excuse to validate our reason to go:) And i'm SO excited to see her and the town she calls home:) and excited to laugh....I don't know what it is about this girl, but we get strange when we get together. so yes, let the giggles begin.

Highclere Castle in England:

if you've seen Downton Abbey, then you will recognize this castle as the Grantham's humble (errr not so humble) abode! OMG! When I figured out it was a 50 min train ride from London, I knew there was NO way we were going to miss it! I'm going to walk around like Lady Mary, and of course Kevin will have to assume the role of Matthew..ohhh it will b sooooo romantic:) And if you haven't seen Downton Abbey then you are missing out on the best show EVER. you should believe me too (even though I don't watch any tv.... or own one!)

Anything Jane Austin:

I have been a Jane Austin addict since I first picked up the dusty Pride and Prejudice from the library in high school. I'm THAT girl that adores the 5 hour P&P (to my husband and probably the world's chagrin), the 2005 P&P, Gwenie in Emma, and pretty much anything that has to do with Miss Austin herself! My BFF who lives in England just sent me a JA postcard, telling me there is a JA museum in the town close to where she lives. score!!! We are SO going. I'm also thinking we'll go to Bath too...maybe reenact some Persuasion? My goal before we leave for the UK is for Kevin to sit all 5 hours as we watch Elizabeth and Darcy fall in love...really, is there any better love story? Wish me luck and no fast forwarding!

Cliffs of Ireland!!:

let's be honest, that movie Leap Year was a tad (or MORE) ridiculous. But...I would watch that movie again just to see the scenery. Um...so fantastic it was by FAR my favorite character in that movie. when what's his name was proposing to what's her name, all I could focus on (obvi) is the cliffs over the ocean and the sun illuminating the green hillside. Gahh...maybe i'll make Kevin recreate that scene with me. Hmmm...another movie i'm going to have to coerce him into watching with me! (hmmm....i'm sensing a trend with recreating movie scenes. don't worry, it's probably more fun to imagine recreating it than actually recreating it and feeling really embarrassed when other tourists are embarrassed for you, and awkward laughter ensues...)

Irish Music

i'm not kidding, one of my fantasies has always been irish clogging. no joke. i used to watch Lord of the Dance for fun totally crushing on Michael Flatlley and wishing i get down with those crazy shoes. and this was like last year. my goal is to find a good irish pub, cement my rear to the seat, and tap my feat to some good ol' fashion irish jigs and live my dream. it will happen. and if you see my name featured on a lord of the dance youtube, don't be surprised. and don't watch it. please.

Freedom's family:

our good friend Tony and Dayna are some of the coolest people we know. they love Jesus and live in a super diverse part of London where they just LOVE their neighbors well. and they have a daughter named Freedom, and she is pretty much the epitome of her name. we are staying with them, hoping to soak up London and learn and touch and feel and sense what Abba is doing in that city. so pumped for fellowship with them. did I mention they are like the coolest ever?

Scotland:

seriously, I know nothing about this country that's technically not a country but is a country. confusing right? i mean, i know all the neccessary info like that Prince William went to college there at St Andrews, and Nessie is roaming in a loch, and that William Wilbeforce did something in a kilt, and that scotch made it's debut there. the essentials, right? so yeah, I guess I still have EVERYTHING to learn about this mystical country.

thankfully our buddy Rick can fill in a few gaps. yes, yes we are SO excited to go. and thankful that sweet Jesus has provided so much for this trip already for us!

looking forward to adventure and sweet JOY with those that I love!!

and ps- travel tips are welcome!!

love katie

becoming ready

And so I begin. A blog that is:) In the last few years I've had no desire or intention of reducing my life to space on a computer screen. However, it's the stories that compel me. The desire to connect, grow and learn with others. More recently i've been so inspired by friends who have shared their deepest and sometimes silliest thoughts, memories and stories. Oh the stories! Food for the soul. Stories of joy, laughter, travel...but mostly stories of God's great love for us. And so I begin.

This blog is called Hope Engaged. It is no surprise that I thought of this title while I was physically engaged to be married to my beloved husband! But the title has so much more to do with how I began to view my engagement and that of it's reflection on life. I began to really ponder and think about what engagement meant. At it's core, it was a season of preparing for an event that would mark a milestone in my life, and it was a season of learning to become a wife. There were extremely wonderful aspects to being engaged, but there were also truly difficult periods as well. We took measures to learn more about marriage by going through marriage counseling, reading books, etc. Even though we loved each other as best we could, we anticipated something greater to come. There were so many details to the actual event (some fun, some not so fun) and many times it all seemed overwhelming. But when I centered myself time and time again, I realized the beauty of what this celebration symbolized and those small details faded into the background. And in the end, when August 13th came, all the planning (good and hard) was SO worth it. I was my beloved's and he was mine!

In the same way, I began to realize how life is like engagement. It IS engagement. We are the bride of Christ, preparing to spend eternity with our lover Jesus. On this earth, we are preparing ourselves in becoming Christ's bride. We take measures to know him more, to know him deeper. Life brings fun days, and some dark days. And in those dark days when we center ourselves, we again are reminded that the ultimate joys are so incredibly worth it! There is an anticipation of something greater to come. In Revelation 19:7 it says "Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready."

And so I desire to make the most of this engagement of life. I want to go deeper with the Lord, and I want to prepare and make myself ready....

And then comes the beauty of HOPE. Many of you that know me, know that I love the image, thought, and reality of Hope. That no matter what happens, we live with the beautiful truth that God is with us and that redemption is possible, even in the midst of darkness. Because that is our God.

And so I want to live so abandoned to the HOPE Christ offers:) I hope you'll join me in this adventure of preparing and living with Joy in our hearts, fully engaged in the hope of Christ!

with hope,

katie