Life is like...a playground teeter totter. It's up, it's down, and no matter how hard you try, it's really difficult to balance. Thankfully, I can say lately it's been a lot more up than down! But wow is it hard to balance everything. Ministry, for me, has picked up. And I've loved almost every minute of it! Except for the early mornings.
I recently started volunteering for the Frisco High School's girls' track team. This just means I come out (at 7am) for practices to cheer on the girls and look like I'm coaching them. :) Since thethe track coach kind of handed me the long distance runners, so I'm helping them work out and gear up for the meets. I'm going to their practices about three times a week, freezing my butt off with them, and getting a chance to know each girl on the team. Every now and then I'll work out with them, especially Thursdays. Thursday mornings we meet up at the district's natatorium and swim laps or do hydro workouts. I jump in the pool and swim with them, and usually, I get a chance to talk to a girl or two when we're using the kickboards and going back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth until our legs feel like they're going to fall off.
I do have one story particularly exciting to tell. Last Saturday was a big track meet I helped out with, and I prayed that I would have the chance to have at least three spiritual conversations with three girls. At the end of the meet, after I was severely burned, a consequence of never having thought of putting on sun screen, I realized I had only had one spiritual convo, but thanked God for it, still wishing I'd been bold enough to start a few more. Yesterday, Monday morning, I helped the long distance girls practice and time their pace. While we were waiting for the shorter distance runners to finish their workout, one of the girls brought up the subject of church. Naturally, I asked her which one she went to, all those churchy questions. And her reply gave me a chance to ask more questions. The girl, Paige, said, "I go to St..something something's (apparently I need to do a better job of listening), it's a Catholic church, but I'm not as religious as some people. My aunt goes to church every Sunday and every Wedneday!" I asked her what she meant by religious and she explained to me that her brother "was not" because he didn't go to church that much and didn't really believe in God. I asked her if she believed in God and what she thought about Jesus, and we got into a great discussion about what it means to be a believer. I'd like to go ahead and add a minute detail before I make it sound like I got to share Jesus with 35 girls. The track team is rather small and is comprised of 20 girls. The long distance team is made up of 2. Paige and Haley. So, this conversation and discussion involved me, Paige, and Haley. Haley is a believer and has been to Student Venture a couple of times. One of my coworkers has had a chance to talk to her and goes to church with her parents. Haley chimed in here and there about how we're all sinners, and Paige patiently listened and asked some questions as well. At the end, I got to share with Paige (and Haley) my personal experience of how I became a Christian. And right as I finished, I was ready to ask Paige if she had ever prayed to ask Christ to be in her life, the rest of the track team finished and everyone had to head down to the weight room. Bummer! But I was so excited for the chance to share that with Paige. Hopefully, we'll be able to talk more tomorrow at practice. If not, I was thinkin about asking Paige and Haley to hang out at Starbucks one day after school to finish our conversation. Definitely be praying for Paige! It sounded like she had some knowledge about God, but maybe not as much about His grace.
After that morning, I was so excited to have had that chance! The whole idea of volunteering for the track team was to get to know the school better, to get to know more girls, build rapport with the coaches/faculty, and get Student Venture's name out there and invite some of the girls to come to our weekly meeting, and if the opportunity arose, to share the gospel with them.
Working with the track team has definitely made life a little busier. Plus, I'm not sure if I've mentioned this, but I'm leaving for Hungary in about a week and a half! I'm going with 3 other staff members and 3 high school students to give them a chance to see just how big our God really is! We'll be working with Budapest's Student Venture team, talking to high school classrooms about American culture, then hanging out with students after school in hopes of sharing the gospel with them and building new friendships! We're going one week before spring break so we can spend two weeks overseas. I think it's cool that these students are willing to give up one week of school and even COOLER that they're giving up their spring break so they can share the love of Christ with Hungarians! I'm so stoked to see the American students learn and experience this trip too, because missions trips are great sources of growth. And of course, I will try to use this site as a way to keep you updated on our 14 days of amazingness like I did when I was in Slovakia two summers ago. My guess is that I should be able to update at least twice while I'm over there. We'll see!
Sorry to cut this short, there's so much more I wish I had time to write. Continue to pray for my adjustment, especially balancing out my personal life with work, play, and sleep! It's kind of been a juggling act lately. Know that I am praying for you and your families,
Katy
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Sunday, February 17, 2008
A Late Night Conversation
Dallas is a rather large city to move to. But can you imagine moving to L.A.?! I almost get nervous just at the thought. My friend from freshman year at Clemson, Erin, moved to LA about the same time I moved here. Our freshmen year we lived two floors away from each other and went to Bible study and Crusade together. That year, I noticed how strong her faith was and how close she was to the Lord, and it made me desire the same. She and I would often stay up late talking about God like many girls would talk about boys in to the wee hours of the night. I loved it. Our friendship was such a blessing from the Lord. But, sadly, she moved after that year, but we've kept in touch and had mini-reunions.
The reason I am writing about her tonight is because God is amazing, simply put. I came to Texas not knowing what to expect, and not expecting half of the stress and frustration I've experienced. About a week and a half after my move, we connected over the phone and shared our experiences in our new cities. Since then, we've had many conversations talking about what we miss or our favorite part of our new journeys.
Just yesterday I was ready to tell God how frustrated I was with not being able to settle in to a church or with a group of friends my age. There's a saying that goes, "True friendship is a plant of slow growth." And I read that yesterday and thought about how I'm trying to make new friends but continue to compare them to the friends back in South Carolina. I realized I can't expect my new friends to be my closest buddies in just a few weeks' time.
But I also realized something that was really cool. While I've been discouraged with the slow growth of relationships here, God has given Erin and I a chance to experience similar things at the same time, such as a BIG move to huge cities where we hardly know anyone. We've also experienced a lot of the same faith-testing situations since moving away, and we've been able to share them with each other and pray for one another. It has been good to know someone else understands what I'm experiencing.
I think the amazing part is it makes me realize just how big God is. I don't think it's a coincidence we're both going through similar journeys right now. God has allowed me to go through a lot of the things she has so we can encourage each other. It makes Jeremiah 29:11 and Romans 8:28 a lot more real for me.
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11
"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28
I just wanted to type this up really quick in a simple, brief (for real this time!) entry as an encouragement for those reading this. God does have a plan amidst our frustrations and stress. Just chase after Him, and let Him take care of it.
The reason I am writing about her tonight is because God is amazing, simply put. I came to Texas not knowing what to expect, and not expecting half of the stress and frustration I've experienced. About a week and a half after my move, we connected over the phone and shared our experiences in our new cities. Since then, we've had many conversations talking about what we miss or our favorite part of our new journeys.
Just yesterday I was ready to tell God how frustrated I was with not being able to settle in to a church or with a group of friends my age. There's a saying that goes, "True friendship is a plant of slow growth." And I read that yesterday and thought about how I'm trying to make new friends but continue to compare them to the friends back in South Carolina. I realized I can't expect my new friends to be my closest buddies in just a few weeks' time.
But I also realized something that was really cool. While I've been discouraged with the slow growth of relationships here, God has given Erin and I a chance to experience similar things at the same time, such as a BIG move to huge cities where we hardly know anyone. We've also experienced a lot of the same faith-testing situations since moving away, and we've been able to share them with each other and pray for one another. It has been good to know someone else understands what I'm experiencing.
I think the amazing part is it makes me realize just how big God is. I don't think it's a coincidence we're both going through similar journeys right now. God has allowed me to go through a lot of the things she has so we can encourage each other. It makes Jeremiah 29:11 and Romans 8:28 a lot more real for me.
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11
"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28
I just wanted to type this up really quick in a simple, brief (for real this time!) entry as an encouragement for those reading this. God does have a plan amidst our frustrations and stress. Just chase after Him, and let Him take care of it.
Saturday, February 9, 2008
The Elbow, the Coffee Shop, and Chuck Swindoll
So, I have three exciting, funny, neat events to update you on!
The Elbow.
Apparently playing co-ed soccer wasn't smart for me to do...for the boys' sake. I think I told you about the first game, how I tripped a guy and he landed on his face and the second game how the ref told me to "be easy" because I was "being too rough" on a guy. Ha. Well, today I was playing in fine form with my new soccer shoes, and doing a lot better since I had been practicing with my new soccer ball this week. However, my new refined skills and small little body couldn't compete with a stolid 6'2 muscle man who I ran right into within the first minute of game play. Naturally, I fell flat on my back and the guy didn't flinch an inch. Ah, but my revenge came 20 minutes later in the second half of the game. I guess we both went for the ball and I happened to jump higher or something, who knows, but in mid flight, I twisted my body so I could turn in the air for the ball, and my elbow just happened to land full swing right in to his nose. He was down on his hands and knees for several minutes. Wuss. There wasn't any blood, just some left over snot on my arm. I apologized later and his response was, "No worries. You just hit me SQUARE IN THE NOSE." I reveled in those few seconds, knowing these kind of moments would be few and far.
The Coffee Shop.
Ok, this could get lengthy. Shocking, I know. :) But I will try my best. Mandi, the staff girl/my trainer, and I had met a girl named Shelly who is sort of new to Texas as of a year ago and has had a hard time meeting new people though she's the sweetest girl ever. We met her because her brother Niles was involved with Student Venture until he moved back to his homestate to finish his last year with his old buddies. Niles had accepted Christ and begun a relationship with God about a year ago through meeting with one of our staff guys, and since then, he had been talking to Shelly about this. Friday after school, Mandi and I got together with Shelly to see how she was doing with her brother gone and to see what she thought of God after hearing so much from Niles. As our conversation progressed from her family & brother to her thoughts on God, she told us the difference she saw in Niles. "He stopped drinking. He stopped partying and doing drugs. And he was happy. I could tell something had changed. And he started telling me the things he was learning about who God is." But she explained she still had questions and didn't "understand it all" but wanted to know more. Mandi pulled out a Knowing God Personally booklet. These are handy dandy tools that explain the story of Christ and our need for him. We call it the cliffs notes to the Bible. When Shelly saw it she replied, "Oh Yeah! Niles showed me this. But I didn't get it." So we went through it with her explaining the 4 "laws": 1. That God loves her and has a plan for her life. 2. That we all have sinned and fall short of being perfect or "good". 3. That Christ was perfect and died to take the punishment for our sins/imperfections. 4. That we start a relationship with God through Christ, admitting our need for a savior, and asking Jesus to be our savior. We spent about 30-40 minutes going through and just helping her understand what each one meant. By the end she was like "Whoa, yeah, this all totally makes more sense." And we showed her the suggested prayer at the end of the 4th page and Mandi said, "Read this. Is this something that you want? Do you want that relationship with God?" And without hesitation Shelly said, "Yeah." So we prayed in the coffee shop with her as she prayed out loud to accept Christ in to her life. Afterwards, Mandi asked her, "So, do you know what this means?" And Shelly said, "Yeah. Jesus paid for my wrongs because he loves me and he's in my life now and I'm going to heaven!" Wow. I wanted to shout in exclamation, probably like the angels in heaven were doing at that very moment. But I didn't want to alarm the other people in the cafe. My writing capabilities are inadequate to even describe the joy, excitement, and awe of God at work at that moment. And to think...this is my job. I get to tell people how to live life to the fullest! Incredible. But let me encourage you because in reality, this is your "job", better yet, privilege, too. We've all been called to share life, life in Christ, with those around us. And the great thing is, it's not our responsibility to change their lives, just give them a chance to hear about truth. How amazing. But that's grace.
Chuck Swindoll
The third event is last Sunday's (Feb 3) church hopping experience. You may have heard of people going "bar hopping" on Saturday nights when they go to several different bars. Well, I've modified that phrase and coined the much more innocent notion of "church hopping": origin Niles (v). ch-ur-ch hop'ping- the act of hopping from one church one Sunday to another church the next. Last Sunday's hop landed me at Chuck Swindoll's Stonebriar Community Church, located just a few miles from my apartment. As I walked towards the church, I was wondering what deep, theological, profound message would be delivered that morning. As I sat down, I noticed the church sanctuary looked simple and nice, not showy as if its job were to entertain or keep your focus. After a few hymns (of course, ones I had never heard of), up walked this short, stout man with stark white hair. I realized it was Chuck Swindoll, and I guess after hearing him on the radio I had pictured a very tall, demanding figure with brown businessman hair. He was nothing of the sort. Just a jolly old, welcoming guy. He began to talk about the passage we had just read and started to elaborate on a story about a seven year old playing baseball. At this point I kind of zoned out until the stout old man squealed with glee. I almost jumped, but refocusing my attention I just realized that this well known preacher had just expressed emotion...in front of a church! Now, I'm not picking on any specific churches or leaders or pastors. But, it was just funny. Imagine it! Imagine your pastor giggling or squealing while preaching!! It was a funny sight, but I realized he was enjoying telling us this story and showing us the connection the last chapter in Romans. And he didn't hesitate to tell us what he had personally learned from the passage. At one point Mr. Swindoll stopped and said, "I'm just so excited to read this and show this to you. It's so good." Throughout the sermon, not once did I hear deep, profound theologicalness. Instead, it was pure, simple, refreshing truth. Then again, maybe that is profound.
The Elbow.
Apparently playing co-ed soccer wasn't smart for me to do...for the boys' sake. I think I told you about the first game, how I tripped a guy and he landed on his face and the second game how the ref told me to "be easy" because I was "being too rough" on a guy. Ha. Well, today I was playing in fine form with my new soccer shoes, and doing a lot better since I had been practicing with my new soccer ball this week. However, my new refined skills and small little body couldn't compete with a stolid 6'2 muscle man who I ran right into within the first minute of game play. Naturally, I fell flat on my back and the guy didn't flinch an inch. Ah, but my revenge came 20 minutes later in the second half of the game. I guess we both went for the ball and I happened to jump higher or something, who knows, but in mid flight, I twisted my body so I could turn in the air for the ball, and my elbow just happened to land full swing right in to his nose. He was down on his hands and knees for several minutes. Wuss. There wasn't any blood, just some left over snot on my arm. I apologized later and his response was, "No worries. You just hit me SQUARE IN THE NOSE." I reveled in those few seconds, knowing these kind of moments would be few and far.
The Coffee Shop.
Ok, this could get lengthy. Shocking, I know. :) But I will try my best. Mandi, the staff girl/my trainer, and I had met a girl named Shelly who is sort of new to Texas as of a year ago and has had a hard time meeting new people though she's the sweetest girl ever. We met her because her brother Niles was involved with Student Venture until he moved back to his homestate to finish his last year with his old buddies. Niles had accepted Christ and begun a relationship with God about a year ago through meeting with one of our staff guys, and since then, he had been talking to Shelly about this. Friday after school, Mandi and I got together with Shelly to see how she was doing with her brother gone and to see what she thought of God after hearing so much from Niles. As our conversation progressed from her family & brother to her thoughts on God, she told us the difference she saw in Niles. "He stopped drinking. He stopped partying and doing drugs. And he was happy. I could tell something had changed. And he started telling me the things he was learning about who God is." But she explained she still had questions and didn't "understand it all" but wanted to know more. Mandi pulled out a Knowing God Personally booklet. These are handy dandy tools that explain the story of Christ and our need for him. We call it the cliffs notes to the Bible. When Shelly saw it she replied, "Oh Yeah! Niles showed me this. But I didn't get it." So we went through it with her explaining the 4 "laws": 1. That God loves her and has a plan for her life. 2. That we all have sinned and fall short of being perfect or "good". 3. That Christ was perfect and died to take the punishment for our sins/imperfections. 4. That we start a relationship with God through Christ, admitting our need for a savior, and asking Jesus to be our savior. We spent about 30-40 minutes going through and just helping her understand what each one meant. By the end she was like "Whoa, yeah, this all totally makes more sense." And we showed her the suggested prayer at the end of the 4th page and Mandi said, "Read this. Is this something that you want? Do you want that relationship with God?" And without hesitation Shelly said, "Yeah." So we prayed in the coffee shop with her as she prayed out loud to accept Christ in to her life. Afterwards, Mandi asked her, "So, do you know what this means?" And Shelly said, "Yeah. Jesus paid for my wrongs because he loves me and he's in my life now and I'm going to heaven!" Wow. I wanted to shout in exclamation, probably like the angels in heaven were doing at that very moment. But I didn't want to alarm the other people in the cafe. My writing capabilities are inadequate to even describe the joy, excitement, and awe of God at work at that moment. And to think...this is my job. I get to tell people how to live life to the fullest! Incredible. But let me encourage you because in reality, this is your "job", better yet, privilege, too. We've all been called to share life, life in Christ, with those around us. And the great thing is, it's not our responsibility to change their lives, just give them a chance to hear about truth. How amazing. But that's grace.
Chuck Swindoll
The third event is last Sunday's (Feb 3) church hopping experience. You may have heard of people going "bar hopping" on Saturday nights when they go to several different bars. Well, I've modified that phrase and coined the much more innocent notion of "church hopping": origin Niles (v). ch-ur-ch hop'ping- the act of hopping from one church one Sunday to another church the next. Last Sunday's hop landed me at Chuck Swindoll's Stonebriar Community Church, located just a few miles from my apartment. As I walked towards the church, I was wondering what deep, theological, profound message would be delivered that morning. As I sat down, I noticed the church sanctuary looked simple and nice, not showy as if its job were to entertain or keep your focus. After a few hymns (of course, ones I had never heard of), up walked this short, stout man with stark white hair. I realized it was Chuck Swindoll, and I guess after hearing him on the radio I had pictured a very tall, demanding figure with brown businessman hair. He was nothing of the sort. Just a jolly old, welcoming guy. He began to talk about the passage we had just read and started to elaborate on a story about a seven year old playing baseball. At this point I kind of zoned out until the stout old man squealed with glee. I almost jumped, but refocusing my attention I just realized that this well known preacher had just expressed emotion...in front of a church! Now, I'm not picking on any specific churches or leaders or pastors. But, it was just funny. Imagine it! Imagine your pastor giggling or squealing while preaching!! It was a funny sight, but I realized he was enjoying telling us this story and showing us the connection the last chapter in Romans. And he didn't hesitate to tell us what he had personally learned from the passage. At one point Mr. Swindoll stopped and said, "I'm just so excited to read this and show this to you. It's so good." Throughout the sermon, not once did I hear deep, profound theologicalness. Instead, it was pure, simple, refreshing truth. Then again, maybe that is profound.
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Untold wealth that never faileth
"Bread of life so rich and free..."
Those are part of the lyrics of one of my most loved contemporary hymns. It's titled "Satisfied" and that's what I tasted a little of today and yesterday.
Thursday I drove down to the quaint little Main street of downtown Frisco to find a good spot to sit and read in the library. I brought a book from a Bible study I've joined in hopes of having some good sit still time with God. But honestly, I found it so hard. I couldn't be still, and I felt like I had spiritual ADD. So, I tried harder to focus and read one question over and over again, in hopes of it sinking in. About 30 minutes later, I struggled through the study, and was like, "Ok, God. Is there such thing as spiritual adult ADD? Because I'm pretty sure I could diagnose myself right now. I can barely study your book, I can barely hold a conversation with you, let alone remember to talk to you throughout a whole day. Is there some sort of Holy Spirit ritalin spray or something because I need it bad!" And I guess a little honesty is all it took, because yesterday it was like someone had injected me with aderall. Every little moment of joy or stress, I went straight to God to tell him about it. I didn't pick up the cell and phone a friend or call the mom. I'm not saying this to brag because Lord knows this is totally not like me. But the affect of the Holy Spirit ritalin spray was so good. There's a catechism that says "Man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever." I could actually enjoy the Lord because I shared everything with Him through the day-I guess kind of like when a wife is itchin' to tell her husband about her day at work, the pains and the highlights. I mean, I'm not married, so I don't know these things, but I'm just guessing that's what it's like.
And today, I enjoyed God while soakin' in the sun out at the farm and working with the ponies. I could breathe in the air and sigh with relief and joy despite the fact that I'd been worried about the many distresses of my transition. I know it sounds cheesy but I just felt peacefully relaxed. Maybe I just needed to stop working so hard on being a "good Christian" and throw my hands up and be like "Ok, God, this ain't workin'. You try and fix it." And for a Niles, asking for help is hard to do. Right mom? :) But once I did, wow. I could taste that "bread of life" and it tasted "rich and free". Rich in joy and peace, free from stress. And once I did give in, for the first time, this felt like home.
"That where I am, you maybe also."-Jesus
Those are part of the lyrics of one of my most loved contemporary hymns. It's titled "Satisfied" and that's what I tasted a little of today and yesterday.
Thursday I drove down to the quaint little Main street of downtown Frisco to find a good spot to sit and read in the library. I brought a book from a Bible study I've joined in hopes of having some good sit still time with God. But honestly, I found it so hard. I couldn't be still, and I felt like I had spiritual ADD. So, I tried harder to focus and read one question over and over again, in hopes of it sinking in. About 30 minutes later, I struggled through the study, and was like, "Ok, God. Is there such thing as spiritual adult ADD? Because I'm pretty sure I could diagnose myself right now. I can barely study your book, I can barely hold a conversation with you, let alone remember to talk to you throughout a whole day. Is there some sort of Holy Spirit ritalin spray or something because I need it bad!" And I guess a little honesty is all it took, because yesterday it was like someone had injected me with aderall. Every little moment of joy or stress, I went straight to God to tell him about it. I didn't pick up the cell and phone a friend or call the mom. I'm not saying this to brag because Lord knows this is totally not like me. But the affect of the Holy Spirit ritalin spray was so good. There's a catechism that says "Man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever." I could actually enjoy the Lord because I shared everything with Him through the day-I guess kind of like when a wife is itchin' to tell her husband about her day at work, the pains and the highlights. I mean, I'm not married, so I don't know these things, but I'm just guessing that's what it's like.
And today, I enjoyed God while soakin' in the sun out at the farm and working with the ponies. I could breathe in the air and sigh with relief and joy despite the fact that I'd been worried about the many distresses of my transition. I know it sounds cheesy but I just felt peacefully relaxed. Maybe I just needed to stop working so hard on being a "good Christian" and throw my hands up and be like "Ok, God, this ain't workin'. You try and fix it." And for a Niles, asking for help is hard to do. Right mom? :) But once I did, wow. I could taste that "bread of life" and it tasted "rich and free". Rich in joy and peace, free from stress. And once I did give in, for the first time, this felt like home.
"That where I am, you maybe also."-Jesus
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