oh where have you been?

Just a quick post to share some amazing things that have been happening in our lives:) We are so blessed to be with "family" as we journey through life!!

1) Two sweet girls in our neighborhood were baptized in my in-laws hot tub a few weeks ago. It was an incredible time of transformation! Truly, baptism symbolizes the incredible truth that we were once in darkness, and now we are brought into the light- we were once dead, and now we are ALIVE in Christ! Amen, Hallelujah, let's party! And party we did...50 people at my in-laws home came to witness the change in Jess and Jenny's lives, and to celebrate the miracle. Two girls now walking with Jesus!

{ love these girls }

{Jess sharing her heart for Jesus}

{Jenny getting baptized! Ah, such a sweet moment!}

{the girls sharing their stories! }

{the "family" all standing with them}

{celebrate!}

2) This year for girls group with the lovely ladies in our neighborhood, I had it on my heart to do more of a structured Bible Study with the girls. Many have grown up with a strong catholic background, and my prayer is that they would meet Jesus is a sweet and personal way. I began praying that the Lord would help me find a good book to go through that I could get the girls. One week, I read out of a book my co-worker had written, called Overflowing Fullness. The girls loved it, and one asked if she could get a copy. I then realized God had showed me what book to get the girls! We've only been going through the book now as a group for a week, but tonight one lovely lady came over, and as we were chatting on the couch, she told me how God has spoken to her through this book. She said "Katie, it was like I felt God speaking to me, like he was bringing freedom in my life!". Wow, prayers are already being answered. Thank you Lord!

And...if you are looking for a sweet book probably unlike anything else you have gone through, then you will love Kierra's book. You can buy it on amazon, just search OverFlowing Fullness, by Kierra Blaser!

3) I was asked to speak at a week long missions conference in the Fresno area, and it has been an incredible week so far! I spoke a few times this weekend, am speaking tomorrow, and then ending the week by speaking at a church on Sunday. Kevin and I were blown away by our hosts hospitality and welcoming spirit! One sweet highlight was getting to explore the sweet little Swedish town of Kingsburg. Seriously, this place is amazing (especially if you are Swedish or love all things Swedish!) The Dahla horse is everywhere, they sell Swedish pancakes at more than one location, AND their water tower is a Swedish coffee pot. But the most beautiful part of the weekend was feeling immediately like family...isn't it amazing that we can go all over the world, and as Christians we have this connection that makes us family? So incredible!

{haven't had my name on a marquis since I was student of the day in 7th grade}

{ the family we stayed with were orange farmers, so we got to taste the fruits of their labor- literally! yum O}

{ getting my speak on in Kingsburg!}

{happy Swedish girl at the Stockholm bakery!}

{ not going to lie, the thing I miss most about going dairy free is whip cream, and this fantastic bakery had dairy free whip cream! Trust me, they are going to score extremely high on yelp!}

{our native Swedish tour guide Corey taking time out of his day to give us the grand tour of Kingsburg!}

{ if this place isn't repping Sweden, then I don't know what is!}

{the sweet Stockhom Bakery...love it so!}

How is YOUR week going? Has God been answering prayers in your life? I'd love to hear!! Much much love, Katie

A Quality of the Heart

{Kevin's going away party a little over a year ago. Every day I thank God that he went, but I also thank him equally that he came back to marry me!}

Tonight is girls group, and I stand giddy like a school girl. I thank God for enriching my life with their smiles, and laughter, and curiosity, and gentleness. Tonight we are dusting off the ol' juicer (well, more like new juicer...it was a wedding gift, thanks Benders!). I thought it would be fun to give each girl a few fruits and veggies and let them go at it! Maybe i'll be adventurous and buy some exotic fruits to try out? We'll see....

Today I got an email from a dear dear soul in Kenya. Her name is Nikole, and while i've never actually met her face to face, she is one of those people I feel I have been friends with my whole life. (Think Julia Child and Avis DeVoto) Her story is beautiful, rare, inspiring. After high school she up and moved to Kenya with hardly a connection, and now, years later, she is married to a wonderful Kenyan man and they are courageously and spontaneously living life in Mombassa. The initial threads to their story which began with the start of a soccer team made up of street boys in the community, has been woven into an ever expanding tapestry of ideas and programs for the future.

{the lovely Nikole in Kenya, doing what she does best }

Nikole shared with me her heart's desire of starting a girls program in Mombassa, called Rhema girls. Emails has come and gone between us, capturing and dialoguing what it looks like to share our lives with girls in the communities where we live, whether that is California or Kenya. My mind has been spinning in wheels of community. That is the heart beat Jesus has given me- community.

So today I emailed Nikole, and God gave me a glimpse of His wisdom through a favorite author, Henri Nouwen. It struck a chord.

Community, a Quality of the Heart

The word community has many connotations, some positive, some negative. Community can make us think of a safe togetherness, shared meals, common goals, and joyful celebrations. It also can call forth images of sectarian exclusivity, in-group language, self-satisfied isolation, and romantic naiveté. However, community is first of all a quality of the heart. It grows from the spiritual knowledge that we are alive not for ourselves but for one another. Community is the fruit of our capacity to make the interests of others more important than our own (see Philippians 2:4). The question, therefore, is not "How can we make community?" but "How can we develop and nurture giving hearts?"

Isn't that an interesting spin to community? Generally we view community through a selfish lens, asking ourselves "what can I get out of this?". Often we desire community for the end gain of our own happiness. Right or wrong, I believe the question Nouwen begs us to ask ourselves is how is our heart postured towards community? Are we postured in a way to see community as an avenue for self gratification or personal happiness, or do we find that with every opportunity to be in community is a chance to love as Jesus did when he stooped to wash his friends feet?

Community therefore becomes an issue of the heart:) To be in community is a precious gift God lavishes on his beloved children, and yet his sacred desire is for us to posture ourselves as Jesus did, looking to commune with others through a genuine display of servanthood.

For myself, and probably many of us, this might require some diligent prayer asking God to wipe away the shameful selfishness of our being. For how often do we view fellowship as a way to advance ourselves? When people go on and on about themselves and never ask you a single question, we are annoyed. Often, when layers are peeled back, community becomes more about M-E than any other pronoun.

As we all seek after community in different areas of our life, let us be intentional about caring more for the interest of others than for our ourselves. May we see fellowship as a divine moment of love and service towards one another. And will we stoop to wash each others feet?

And while the girls will be juicing their fruit tonight, God will be reminding me that just like the fruit going into the juicer that is squeezed and broken and yet produces an end result that is delicious and pleasing, he is asking me to give my life for the squeezing and breaking so that in the end He shall be glorified in the beauty!

Here's to Community my friends!! Love Katie

{love 'em!}

girls group- the prayer, the treasure, the community

{ The girls and I after an intense Dance sesh....}

{ LOVE this girl }

{ My hero Vane }

I love my neighborhood, and as i've mentioned before, I feel like I started really living once I moved here. I mean, i've been alive for 27 years- blood pumping, senses alert. But hearts beat for community, and so in moving I began to live and breathe relationship in a new way.

Last year, I participated in a program called Our Children. For a few months, I became part of a special group of 4 women- two of us from an English speaking church and two from a Spanish speaking church. Coming together every other week, we worked through a bible study called Strangers in the Land, learning what the Bible has to teach us about immigration. Stories were shared, hearts were open, tears were shed, understanding illuminated, and bonds of deep friendship were formed. All of a sudden immigration wasn't this foreign issue spread in the newspaper, dripping with fear and often times animosity. No, immigration became personal, I heard my dear friends share their stories of God's hope and mercy.

I learned that more important than our label as "American", comes our allegiance to the one who paid it all for us- "Christian". And as a Christian, we are called to love our brothers and sisters in Christ. We love others because Christ first loved us. We open our homes because Jesus would have done the same. When we turn away or reject someone because of man-made regulations, we hurt the heart of the Lord. Our citizenship is ultimately in heaven, not in geo-political boundaries.

As a group, the 4 of us would lead workshops for precious girls in an immigration shelter. Young girls who were caught crossing the border. My heart ached for these little women- each with a story that pulled strings I didn't even know I had in me. However lost and confused, these were Abba's special ones. I longed to hug them and play with their hair, but rules denied us such expressions of love. One night, I accidentally bent the rules and hugged a sweet girl from El Salvador. She looked at me and said "I haven't felt loved like this in a long time". I went home that night and bawled like a baby, those rapid uncontrollable stuttering sobs. And in the midst of salty tears, the Lord spoke to me in gentle whispers..."Katie, there are girls in your neighborhood that need love too."

And so "girls-group" began as a prayer. A small seed soaked in faith that God would somehow provide a space to reach out to college aged girls in my neighborhood. Odds were against me...I knew almost no girls that fit that age group, I speak no spanish, and had few connections. But with God,the odds are always good. I made a lame flyer, a dear soul passed it out in the neighborhood, and I showed up on the first Thursday and seriously wondered if even one girl would come.

And seven girls came. I beamed. That was a year ago...and in the past year I have fell in love with these seven faithful chicas that show up week in and week out. They make me laugh, they are beautiful, and I am ALWAYS inspired by the way God challenges me through them. Some of them face incredible odds, but do not allow circumstances to dictate their future.

And so we still meet on Thursdays. We study God's word- we bake- we craft- we laugh (a lot)-we play games- we dance- we sing. And most importantly we breath life into each other. We encourage, and speak truth, and infuse God's deep love. Because ultimately, that is what community is about- calling out the good of God and the good in one another. We are a story of transformation.

So whenever I speak of my "girls group", this is the story that precedes. A story of God's handiwork in drawing us deeper into who he created us to be, by allowing situations to change us and inspire us towards something grander.

And this week, the girls and I had so much fun making Christmas banners. Having Christmas wrapping paper, scissors, glue and glitter in my closet, we someone managed to each make some unique holiday cheer to hang in our homes!! Seriously, they make my heart happy (and so do their banners!)

{Craft TIME!!! }

{We were all cracking up b/c by the end of the night Gabs was covered in glitter head to toe- our little fairy dust girl }

{ Feliz Navidad banner...sooooo cute and festive!! }

{ Small but adorable...loved this HOPE banner! }

{ Peace on Earth Goodwill to Men...I didn't have the patience or the time, so I chopped the phrase and just wrote peace, haha }

{ Tam's adorable snowflake banner...she even left me a few to hang in our house!}

Love Katie