Our Father is Faithful

Watch/listen to this song, if you would like:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYuWOx2pp38&feature=related

Romans 12:12 

“Be joyful through Hope, Patient in Trials, and Faithful in Prayer. Share with God’s people who are in need, and practice hospitality.” 

Hey friends/fams, :) Love yall.

Wow, life life life. It is a busy beautiful thing. 

How are you doing? Sometimes this question feels way over asked.. but have you really considered how you are doing lately? 

I sat down last Friday, and for a moment.. thought about how I was doing. And man let me tell you, the Lord had things for me to consider. 

This moment for me.. really turned into an intimate time with my Saviour. He brought me a clear, clean mind.. a true true true time of peace. He allowed me to be still. And I share this with you today.. because if you are feeling like chaos is abounding in your days.. life is fast paced and sometimes you just feel like crying/punching a wall.. or that people are so very expectant of you.. maybe this is the Lord calling to you to surrender your sweet time to Him and intimately connect. 

Isaiah 30:18 says.. “So the Lord must wait for you to come to Him so he can show you His love and compassion. For the Lord is a faithful God. Blessed are those who wait for His help.” 

...And to me.. this verse today in my reflection is SO powerful. The context of this verse is a time when the Tribe of Judah was in a rebellious state.. following idols and taking advantage of the Lord’s precious love. I encourage you to read all of chapter 30. It still applies so much to us.. today. In my life.. I am just like these people of so many years ago. My idols daily compete for my attention.. and if my heart is not set heavenward- they often win. But through my rebellion.. the Lord ever more so LONGS for my attention and love to gaze back on HIS quiet grace and spirit. Wow. Grace. I am so undeserving... but HE is so deserving and wants to wash me anew daily. If only I could be perfect and give my Lord what He deserves. But He knows I cannot be.. that is why we today.. have the Bible and Holy Spirit. He still longs for us. He still has a plan for us. I love you and desire this connection with God in your life for you if you feel Him calling you in this way. Let me know if I can be praying for you. Prayer WORKS. God is good.

*Also, let’s continue to come together in prayer for these fires that bring so much hurt and damage to families across Texas and other states. I know yesterday was such a tragic day for so many people in this. And for families in East Africa whose lands are thirsty- causing the people to starve and cry out for help.. while many of their officials take advantage and are not leading them as Christ desires.. I cannot even imagine what they are experiencing and yet my heart hurts. The song I posted at the beginning of the video is a great one to listen and pray through with our droughts and desperations. 

(...Entering part of blog where I update my life.. mainly for Grandparents... and whoever is interested)  :)

I am super glad to be back in College Station.. but also super sad to be away from family. After being in CO for the summer, I only got a few weeks with them.. and that is tough. But God is good and Mom and Chet got to come see me yesterday :) SO thankful for that. Mom leaves for Moldova with a group from church to work with this seminary.. http://www.moldova.ministryhome.org/ on the 16th. And I might not be able to see her before she leave again. If you would, add this to your prayer list. For safety and hearts, and whatever God might have in store. 

Also, so thankful to connect with my Life Group at New Life again! These people are such a blessing and I am super excited for our year together.. at church we will be going through Exodus this semester. Never have done a study on this book before, so excited!  I am so grateful for the reconnection with many of my friends in this past week as well. I have missed coffee and wisdom and laughs from them this summer. Ahhhh, so good. Thanks friends for being you. Tori and Nina, miss yall like crazycrazy!!!

Hmm, I am loving my Psyc classes.. I ended up taking three this semester.. they should be interesting. And I am in a Yoga class too with some beautiful friends Taylor and Lindsay.. this might possibly be my favorite class of the year! Haha! 

And I absolutely adore my roommates. I know the Lord put us together for a reason. They are beautiful and encouraging in ways I can’t even begin to describe. THANKFUL! As we were trying to come up with and decide on a name for our house.. we read through Proverbs 31 (The Ultimate Woman chapter) and there discovered.. THE VINEYARD :) Verse’s 16 and 17 say “She considers a field and buys it; out of her earnings she plants a vineyard. She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks.” As we live and work together in our Vineyard.. we will strive to live as women of God together in this season of life. I love it! 

Also going on.. the Tri team has our first meeting tonight! I am hoping to at least get one good race in this semester. And, I am going to Arkansas this weekend and cannot wait! :)

This year I have also created a list of goals that I will do my best to chase after with my life. One set of goals is for this year in particular.. and one is for when I graduate. Excited all the more to see what God does with this. 

Well.. I love you. And know that Jesus does so so so much, 

Kel

Biblegateway is awesome and has an encouraging verse each day.. check it out brothas and sistas: http://www.biblegateway.com/

The Vineyard Girls: 

Oh Beautiful

Hi there! I am currently attempting to clean and unpack/repack my room.. & this automatically comes with a huge/constant reminder that an enormous part of summer is over. Which is of course quite sad. But what an overflowing joy comes from the Father through it all. I will carry such beautiful memories and lessons learned with me as I continue to live life here on earth. I know and am so confident that the Lord has some great plans in these days to come, like He always has. And just like one of my best friends reminded me this morning.. His plans can come like a terror in the night, they can be tough and challenging.. but His plans can also come like a bright shining astounding sunrise.. full of lovely colors that make the heart happy. Either way.. the Lord is in control and He is working.. there is SO much to be thankful for. & There is reason to rejoice no matter what comes my way. God is good, God is good. He is the creator.. He has created and He is creating. His presence and peace is so very comforting. There is nothing like it. From the mountains of Colorado to the hot sun of Texas.. He is BEAUTIFUL. He is mighty.. He is powerful.. He is the great physician.. He is sufficient.. He is more than words. He is Love.


If you don't know this God.. He knows you.. so seek Him with your heart. Seek Him with all of it. (Jeremiah 29:13) He is longing to be found by you. He desires all of you.
Thanks to everyone who impacted my life this summer :) No matter if that was in person.. or through prayer. I cherish you. I love you. Lets run this race together. Lets let faith abound and grace consume.


Without Trust I rust.. isn't that catchy? Haha but it is so true.. without a surrendered trust in our Savior.. I tend to go a bit crazy and let absurd things like worry enter my life... But His peace is like a huge blanket of comfort when I lay my anxieties at His feet and let Jesus take the wheel. It is a continual surrender that will never end until I am side by side with our Savior in the pearly gates ...And it is so worth it.

Philippians 4:19&20- "And my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen."

Being Taught

Hey there again friends!!! This is something I wrote last week up on the mountain and I want to share it with you. The first part is a prayer.. and the second is a journal entry. Love yall so much.

“Groups have come and gone- and yet all the more Father, I realize how we belong to you. I realize how small these things I count so needed to me.. really are in this life. 

I truly realize that You and You alone are what I NEED. 

..I must daily strive to do away with complaints, selfish desires that stray me from Your cross, jealous thoughts, and grumpy actions that are evident of me wanting things my own way.

“May the words of my mouth, and the meditations of my heart, be pleasing to you, O Lord- my Rock and redeemer.” Psalm 19:14

These thoughts and realizations that are running through my head, I know that I have come across before.. and will again in the future. Father, keep reminding me until I am home with you. I am weak and You are strong, so Father lead me in your strength. You are my Joy.”

Right now, sitting up on the mountain, I am being surrounded by about 20+ mosquitoes, BUT I have repellent on.. so they are not daring to bite me.

..This reminds me of life in a way. I know that sin is lurking all around me and Satan is waiting for a chance to bite. BUT the Lord is my repellent- and I am completely safe with Him, even if I am sitting right in the midst of evil. How neat is that?!

This morning we got up at about 2 AM.. only to depart 45 minutes later from our base camp on Grizz for a sunrise peak. (This was after our scrumptious breakfast of mountain spice oatmeal.. which I so deliciously mixed with hot chocolate of course.. yum yum!)

We had quite the hike up that mountain.. but our amazing campers summited Grizzly (elevation 13,281ft) at approx 6:28.

Our fellow campers were on the two mountains to the right of us (Silver and Anne). 

There was a point on our way up that we could see the headlamps of the group on Silver. Our kids were so excited about that, I feel like it gave them a huge burst of energy. It was awesome :)

About 45 minutes after we summited, the group on Silver also reached the top and we could see them from our peak on Grizz! Praise the Lord for these beautiful campers and mountains. 

Oh and did I mention it is the 4th of July?! Red, white and blue flags were waving all around :) (AND happy 25th anniversary Mom and Dad!!!!!!)

We got back to base camp around 10:20am.. where we then had an early lunch of hummus and carrots, and napped. zzz :)

It is now a little after 4, and some people are just waking up. This area around me is indescribably beautiful. Most of the snow is now melted (however there is just enough to do dishes with!) We have had back massages and many laughs, and hopefully tonight will be a starry campfire night!

Tomorrow morning we will pack up and the campers will orienteer our way home..it should be an adventure.. :)

We have the sweat lodge, hot tub, and showers awaiting our arrival!

The Lord has been the Great Teacher for me this past month in so many ways. One of the neatest things is to be on the ropes course with the campers. My favorite spot is the cross nest on the teams course. This is because the campers arrive in pairs of two, just after completing the toughest part of the the course up in the trees and they are about to embark on the last step.. the zip line!

There is such a variety of emotions that are seen in each of the campers at this point.. many brave.. and many fearful. Many encouragers.. and many who need encouragement... but they all complete it together!

As I have the opportunity to facilitate them up on the zip, I get to see and talk with them at a point that not many people see.  I am blessed to be able to be a safe ground for them at this point, and talk them through it if need be.. or stand as a verbal punching bag and let them take out there nervousness and frustrations on me as they might be scared to death. But most do start to breathe more easily with encouraging words. 

One reason this is so neat to me.. is that Christ has used it in my life to show me what He is for me! 

He is the safe-ground and stronghold for me at all times, not only when I am at point of freaking out and extreme nervousness.. but all times! I love this. I can’t get over it.

I am currently learning so much about faith and just giving all my trust over to the Lords will.. with the best of my ability. I am not going to lie, it is stinking tough at times to just let go of control and let God’s peace consume who I am... but when I do it.. the feeling of deep joy and comfort is so invigorating. God is so good.

These verses have spoken alot to me personally this week:

Romans 4:16-21

“Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring--not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. As it is written: "I have made you a father of many nations." He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed--the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were. Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, "So shall your offspring be." Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead--since he was about a hundred years old--and that Sarah's womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. This is why "it was credited to him as righteousness." The words "it was credited to him" were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness--for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.”

Verse 21 says... “being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.” He trusted and saw God working with Him in his life.. this showed Abe the truth. Wow! For me, this restores inspiration in my life.. God will do as He has promised. He is in control. When I let go of myself... I am completely persuaded.. because I know and feel the Lord moving. I needed this reminder this week. When I looks at Abe’s faith... and the huge move that the Lord made in His life.. I am moved in amazement to restoration of faith in my own life.  

Love you!