stepping out diaries: airplane style

 

it's been a while since i've written a "stepping-out diaries" post. 

if you're just now joining us for these...you can read the first one here and see what they are all about. 

plainly, I want to see the Holy Spirit MOVE. 

but honestly, half the time i'm not asking him to move or really even wanting to get outside myself. 

or am doing waaayyy more important things like checking facebook and watching movies.

and WHOA, that's sad, because truly the Lord wants us to live epic lives that see 

miracles

and wonders. 

and mostly, He wants us to feel that incredible feeling when we become a team with HIM. 

where we are praying and moving in step with his spirit, and it's just too awesome for words. 

In november, Abba and I were a team:) 

I flew over to spend 2 glorious weeks with my sister in Europe. 

We visited family in Germany (here and here)

and explored the island of Crete in Greece (here and here). 

we did So much in those 2 weeks, 

that by the time I hit the airport in Amsterdam to fly home to the US,

all I could honestly think about was how many movies I wanted to watch on my flight home. 

{i'm so deep, i know!}

45D

found my seat. 

check. 

time to watch MOVIES!!!!!!!!!!!!

and then she sat down. 

this beautiful woman next to me. 

she smiled, and settle in.

and of course we hit it off and talked for the next 30 minutes while the plane boarded. 

she was a gorgeous Peruvian woman

who married a German and lived in Germany,

but was moving to the US for her husbands job. 

and we were the same age. 

her English was a little patchy, and I speak zero German, 

so we got the job done using a little English, a little Spanish, and a little Italian. 

As the flight proceeded, we chatted about everything under the sun. 

{which was rather a miracle in itself between so many languages! ha}

my love of peruvian food. 

her experience as a au pair in Germany.

we laughed at how on-time and efficient Germans are,

and how loud and crazy americans could be.  

She told me about her brother's drug addiction that he finally beat. 

And I confessed my long line of health issues. 

and then we hit that awkward silence where we seemed to have exhausted all conversation topics. 

She shuffled with her headphones, and started to watch the screen. 

and believe me, I was DYING to watch The Lucky One. 

{those dang Nicholas Sparks movies get me EVERY TIME!}

but in that small silence, 

hum of the airplane droning along, 

i heard Him. 

sweet Abba, 

gently nudging me to get out my Bible and devotional. 

and all of a sudden an immediate rush inside the river of my heart opened for this lovely woman. 

a feeling that I needed to pray for her. 

to see. 

to see HIM. 

so i'm sitting there praying for her, 

specifically that the Lord would give me an opportunity to share with her at some point on the 9 hour flight. 

and I.KID.YOU.NOT.

i'm not even done praying,

and she leans over and taps me on the shoulder. 

i think i had a coughing attack i was so surprised. 

"what is that?" she points at my bible and devotional. 

"i know the bible" she says, "but what is that" hand stretching to my devotional. 

i hold up the devotional called Jesus Calling. 

"well...um...it's a book that helps us to know Jesus more. That helps us understand his truths from the bible in a deeper and more practical way." 

"can I read it?" she asks. 

um...HELLO...here is a woman asking if she can read my devotional. 

"uhhh YA" i almost scream. 

so as we are reading and looking up verses,

i also happened to be listening to my new favorite band 'All Sons and Daughters'

I give her an earphone and we listen together. 

she sits mesmerized by the melodious songs, but then asks "what do they mean?"

for the next hour we sit together and listen to the songs. 

i pause them in between lyrics, and explain. 

"what is grace?" she says 

and I humbly give my best answer. 

a free gift. 

just like Jesus. 

and then. 

there we are.

 chatting our hearts away about sweet savior of the whole world. 

who can be sweet savior of our hearts. 

"i don't know this God in germany" she whispers "but i want to know him". 

i sat, absolutely still. humbled greatly by the Lord's orchestration. 

45D was not a mistake. 

I gave her my devotional to keep. 

and we prayed together. 

and I doubt i'll ever see her this side of heaven. 

but as i processed my time,

i realized,

when we pray to step out,

 even for small things,

GOD MOVES. 

and he MOVES with us. 

on our team. 

for the greatest goal we've ever had. 

to KNOW Him and make him KNOWN. 

may my small life never forget that I am a part of a GRAND plan. 

Abba's plan. 

and that every little step we take can be with Him and for Him. 

amen and amen. 

step out today lovelies, and you will not be the same. 

Happy Monday. 

love Katie 

stepping out diaries- on being the church

{to see the start of the stepping out series, click here}

last night, running out of Costco to my car,

i saw them. 

a little ragged, toting a backpack the size of texas

they caught my eye

"excuse me, my wife and I are trying to get enough money to eat dinner at costco, do you have anything?"

hands full of groceries and no cart,  i asked if they'd walk to my car with me and then i'd check

no bills, no coins. i'm not much of a cash carrier. 

"can I buy you guys dinner at Costco?" i asked. 

heads nodding, we proceeded to the line. 

"cash only" the sign flashed big.

darn it. 

we looked around and saw a Chik-fil-A in the distance

so we began to walk,

and stories began to roll off the tongue. 

their names were randy and laurie,

and they were extremely lovely. 

they had been married 10 years

lost their jobs, and their house

and were living at a hotel across the street. 

we got to Chik-fil-A and ordered. 

while in line, they asked "why? why are you spending time with us?"

my jesus, was my reply, it was all i felt was true and real.  

my sweet jesus was absolutely and utterly smitten with this couple

and i was rapidly falling in love their kindness and joy even in the midst of such hard circumstances. 

hearing their savior's name, randy spent the next 15 minutes sharing the most incredible stories with me about ways God has provided for them in the nick of time, just when they needed to pay rent. like one time they were so discouraged and sitting on a curb in the target parking lot, and this woman just made a bee-line towards them and gave them $100 and said "i don't know why I came to target, but I don't need anything here and I thought maybe you could use this.". 

my heart dripped encouragement. 

these were people of deep faith, i stood humbled in their presence

dependency on the lord was REAL for them

they quoted matt 6:25

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear." 

truly, i was in awe. 

i drove them back to the hotel they called home. 

more stories of abba's faithfulness 

as we got out of the car,

 i had this overwhelming sense that God wanted me to pay their rent for the week

so i walked into the office and did just that. 

when randy overheard me telling the woman at the counter what I was doing

tears brimmed his humble green eyes

and then tears began to well in my own

because i had this absolute awe moment where Abba was giving me a chance to be the church

the church that shares everything

that takes care of each other in times of need

because isn't that the body? 

the body who says, "you're in need and I have some so I'll share"

and when i'm in need, the body says "you're in need, and I have so so i'll share"

chills ran through my entire frame

randy cried

and I cried

and when randy ran out the door and told laurie

she cried too, the hand holding her chik-fil-a milkshake trembling

and there we stood, in the hallows of a dilapidated hotel,

randy, me and laurie

the church

we held hands and thanked abba

for giving me a chance to be a part of such a special moment

for giving me the chance to meet children of HIS that depended on HIM for everything

real.life.faith.

and i got to witness it. 

firsthand. 

driving home, a smile spread wide across my dimpled face

heavenly tears rolling down my face

i called kev and told him everything

he was so excited he couldn't contain it

we praised God for this opportunity to bless others. 

as i approached home, my cell phone chimed a text

"you truly are a god-send! thank you so much, we are still in a state of disbelief! Hope we are able to see you again soon!"

and see them again soon we will. 

kev and i hope to have them over for dinner in the near future! 

and isn't it amazing that we can play a part in God's great plan when we step out and are open? 

who are we do judge others in their situations? 

we aren't

but we are to love

and i can tell you it's the greatest

have a GREAT weekend

my sister in law is getting married on saturday so it shall be a grand weekend! 

much love,

katie 

stepping out diaries: dominican republic style

Katie is a good name. I like every Katie i've ever met, honestly. 

But I especially like this Katie. 

She is such a gem and honestly one of the most heartfelt and genuine people i've ever met. 

and she's just downright gorgeous. 

She's been living in the Dominican Republic this past year, lovin' on people and sharing about her love for Jesus. 

Every time we skype, she always has some crazy story of God moving.

and i'm always madly encouraged! You can check out her blog here.

So today, she'll be sharing a story in my series "stepping-out diaries".

Enjoy! 

love Katie

Maybe the biggest lesson the Lord has been teaching me this year over and over and OVER again is that my life, my faith, and my salvation have absolutely nothing to do with me and everything to do with HIM. Now, I've "known" this for years, but I don't think this truth has penetrated my heart like it has begun to do this year while I've been living as a missionary in the Dominican Republic. Over and over again the Lord shows me that everything is about Him! It's always been about Him! And thank GOD it is! 

All God asks of us is that we step out in faith, and He is faithful to do the rest. 

Here's just one story of how that has been true for me this year. 

Earlier this year, we were having a campus clean-up event, where we were picking up trash around one of the most popular areas to hang out on campus. Now, I know this sounds like a sweet idea, but did I mention I live in a third-world country? There. Is. Trash. Everywhere. It lines every street. It perfumes every breath you take. I can't tell you how many times I have nearly tripped over rats that are devouring the trash while on my way to campus. Needless to say, I thought this whole trash-pick-up outreach thing was a really stupid idea. So I came to the outreach in a bad mood, probably due to my pride and my I-know-better attitude, and probably because of some other reasons that I can't remember right now (maybe I tripped on another rat, who knows). 

At the outreach, I did the duties expected of me with half the effort that I could have, and then I sat on a bench with a friend to chat away the rest of the time. Then one of our students came up, my friend Anthony, and asked me if I wanted to go share the gospel with him to some of the students sitting nearby. The truth? I didn't want to. I didn't feel like it. I was in a bad mood, and the Spirit can't really work through me unless I'm feeling super spiritual right? Well, thanks to what God has been teaching me over and over again this year, I knew that wasn't actually true. So I said sure and as I started to walk with him I prayed that the Lord would change my attitude and use me despite how I felt. 

In short, we approached a girl who told us that God had been beckoning her for the past few months, and that she knew He was calling her to allow Him into her life, as Lord. We were able to help clear up the misconceptions of what it means to follow Jesus (the culture here is extremely legalistic and works-driven) and she made a decision that day to give her life to Him. I was completely humbled and filled with joy that God is a God who uses us in our weakest moments to rescue His people from darkness. Again He was showing me that it's Him that does the work, our only part is to choose whether or not we want to be a part of it. 

I think back to what would have happened if I wouldn't have said yes when Anthony asked me. Would that girl have met Christ? Absolutely. I know that God doesn't need me specifically or anyone else for that matter, and He will stop at nothing to bring His people to Himself. But would I have missed out on that literally life-changing moment for one of God's precious daughters? Absolutely. I would have stayed wallowing in my bad mood instead of allowing the God of the UNIVERSE use me to be His messenger. 

I'm so thankful that God in His grace loves us and accepts us in every moment, even in our bad moods or worst days. He chooses to use broken vessels to bring Him glory, so I wouldn't put it past Him to be thinking, "Katie's in a bad mood and sinning left and right with her thoughts? Perfect! Now's the time I will really be glorified through her!" So lets step out, even in our worst of days! And remember that it is in our weakness that Christ's power is made perfect in us. (2 Corin. 12:9)

the hood...my home

I know I talk a lot about my neighborhood. 

a lot. 

So today I thought I'd share more about the journey in coming here. 

it didn't exactly just happen....it was a process! 

You see, my husband and I grew up in sunny california,

spending massive amounts of time at the beach, going to disneyland, eating mexican food, etc.

ie: a wee bit insulated

but a few years ago Kevin and I started asking ourselves a question,

"does our life and marriage matter?"

 I mean, yes, we knew our lives mattered to us and our families and friends.

But beyond that, was our life and marriage making the world a more beautiful place?

Our hearts craved a vision where our marriage was about more than just "us" and being comfy.

{don't get me wrong, I still love my fro-yo and bach same as the next girl}

But man oh man, it sure can be hard gaining perspective on the deeper things in life when you live in the midst of some of the richest zip codes in the US. 

Where driving a range rover is absolute top priority.

so we figured, as christians, we'd see what the heck Jesus did when he was on earth.

{i mean, JC's a pretty good place to start when you're looking for answers, right?}

and pretty much it was this...

he hung out with the poor, the prostitutes, the hurting and the broken.

and guess what? this scared us half to death...like no joke. 

last time we checked we didn't know any poor people or prostitutes. epic fail.

so we decided to get a lil' brave, 

and ask God to show us what this might look like smack dab in the middle of our city.

aaannndddd He did.

just two miles from where Kevin grew up was an immigrant neighborhood we'd never even noticed before.

and so with our knees knocking, we decided to move in, and it changed our life. 

that was the start of our marriage on mission.

my apartment was fully stocked with loads of cockroaches, 

and mold, 

and cracking cabinets, 

and did i mention cockroaches? 

i was so afraid,
like"what the heck did I just do?" kind of afraid.
but you know what, i knew this was God's will.

and it changed our lives. 

we started to know the people in our neighborhood,
most of them immigrant families from central america. 

they became our best friends. 

they taught us what it looks like to live in community- 

mostly, to just BE.

in the last 4 years,
Kevin and I have opened our home to anyone who needed love.
daily we have kids over who want to play or read or bake.
mostly they are saying "I just want someone to love me, to notice me"
and we get that incredible privilege!

we fail a lot,
 and sometimes lock our doors while the kids pound on it.
but mostly that front door is wide open.

we have led workshops on cooking and basketball,
we have crammed 60+ ppl into our apartment for a baby shower we hosted for our neighbors
and learned all about mexican baby shower games, haha!
I started a girls group for college aged girls doing crafts and games and just hang out.
we've discipled kids, and been hurt by them.

but the bottom line is we've tried to love like Jesus.
and it's rocked our world, hard.
we're not perfect,
but i'm learning that really we just need to be available.
because when we are open is when God brings people into your life!

it's been a joy.

love Katie  

Stepping Out Diaries- red shoes

so recently i have been wonderfully challenged.

to. step. out.

to posture myself in the desperate.

to truly need Him.

it all started a few weeks ago when Francis Chan spoke at a concert kevin and i went to.

Francis recalled the story in 1 Kings 18 when Elijah the prophet is on mt carmel

and pitted against elijah are 800 other prophets of false gods also on mt carmel

and they want to kill elijah and prove that their god is more powerful than elijah's God

elijah

800 false prophets

those are bad odds

elijah asks God to move, to show the people that HE is

THE ONE TRUE GOD

and bam

fire from heaven

things literally heat up

Francis became so fixated with the idea of God moving and showing himself

that he prayed and prayed that when he spoke, God would do something crazy to display His power

Francis wanted the earth to shake or people to feel God's power in crazy ways. 

and when it didn't happen like he wanted it to, he asked God "why not show yourself like you did to elijah and the prophets?" 

and simply, God spoke this...

"francis, i moved powerfully because elijah put himself in a place where he was desperate. he was going to be killed, the odds were against him. you speak at churches and concerts, no one is looking to kill you!! you see, i move when you step out. i move when you put yourself in desperate places" 

and so kevin and i, we began to realize that we want to be desperate for God to move. we don't want to be spectators in a church. we want to taste the kingdom of God and participate in the spontaneous work of the holy spirit! 

and so yes...last night it began. here is the story of red shoes. 

{right before we left for the service, my sweet neighbor J}

every third wednesday, our church has an organic service where we pray and worship and just listen. at the end of the service our pastor just felt like we needed to prayer walk around our church. he asked us to listen to the Lord to see if we felt anything in particular to pray for. 

and i heard RED SHOES. 

weird, right? 

so we go outside, and we're plodding around talking and chatting

and then

Colby spots a lady on the other side of the street wearing bright red shoes. 

awkwardly kev and i sprint across the street and start to follow her

but then when we were almost caught up, i looked at kev and said

"what the heck do i even do now? what do i say?" 

the whole time i'm thinking "i'm just going to scare this poor woman half to death"

"hi" was all i could manage. i figured that was a good way to start a conversation. 

turns out, i was right. 

so we start to chat. her eyes light up, and she's not as weirded out as we were anticipating

much to our delight (whew!)

in fact, she was excited. we stood there, the three of us at 9pm at night and chatted. 

her name is Klara. 

i asked her where she was walking to. she said "home". 

where is home? i ask. 

i live on Garnet. 

my heart skipped a beat. 

kevin and i live on Garnet. 

we are neighbors. 

red shoed Klara is our neighbor. 

we talked and laughed and kev and i pathetically tried to speak spanish.  

that was the other miracle of the night, let's just say kev and i are no-bueno when it comes to espanol. 

and then we exchanged numbers. we invited her to dinner, her and her family. 

so next week, 

red shoes is coming to dinner. 

and i KNOW Abba has something in store. 

ohhhh i'm SO excited because i know that this wasn't an accident! 

and now i get to step back and watch the holy spirit move. 

And so...i'm going to start these blog posts called the "Stepping Our Diaries" because how cool would it be if we all intentionally took risks to step out and watch the Holy Spirit move in our desperation? 

let's challenge ourselves to step out of comfort

and into a place of truly. utterly. needing. him.

where we feel awkward and unqualified. 

no more spectating in church. 

no more fluffy talk of kingdom living, when we are not living kingdom values.

risk. NEEDING him. prayers on knees bended. open hands. 

"use me" kind of talk. 

desperate. 

excited, yes. mmmm yes, it's going to be awesome. 

and you are a part of this adventure. 

let's share stories together. 

love Katie 

happy weekend! i'm taking kev on a surprise birthday adventure. can't wait to share more with you next week:)