Praising the Lord in All Things

streets on San Jose
 handing out tracks in San Jose
 Our group in front of these strange statues
 The view from behind the church
 Big sissy and me (yes! of course i had to pose with the shovel!)
 the second poor village


How normal peole rode the ziplines
 The view from the zipline
 The teens from our group
 Big sissy was one of the brave people who rode upside down on the zipline
 Baby sissy had to ride with one of the staff people because she was too little to ride by herself
 Yes that's the face that yours truely looked when I ran and jumped off the platiform on the zip line
 S. on the free fall swing
 There he goes!  ;)
 PK ready to jump
 PK in the air

 The main Catholic church in Costa Rica
 driving through the rain forest
 There were huge leaves in the rain forest
 flying away looking down on San Jose

 not being able to wash clothes for a week and a half + family of 6 = Mount laundry (even the cat was amazed!)  ;)

In His great & awesome love,
***Katie***

Summer...

 

Sleeping in

reading books

watching movies with the family

swimming in the pool

laying out in the warm sun

serving as a summer missionary with Child Evangelism Fellowship

Going an overseas mission trip

eating ice cream

getting tans

wearing sun dresses

dreaming of the beach

spend the nights with friends

fun church activities

drinking lemonade

relaxing

all these things and more i look forward to this summer...

My relationship with my daddy is definitely something I treasure a lot.
 He and I are so a like.  We actually look a lot alike, too!  :)  Our personalities are very similar.  We both love to have fun and make other people laugh.  My older sister (who is definitely a laugher) has told us time after time that we aren't allowed to be funny at the dinner table because we'll make her choke on her food. 
    Tonight my daddy will be dancing with my 3 sisters and me in a father daughter dance for our ballet recital.  We're dancing to the song Through the Eyes of my Father.  It is such a sweet song. 

My dad is dancing with all four of his daughters.  He's the only dad who's on stage the whole dance. He's a very good dancer!  ;) 

In His great & awesome love,
***Katie***

"You won't believe what Susy did last Tuesday!"  "No way!  I thought she was better then that."  "Some people are just way pathetic"  "We'll I'm not talking to her anymore."
                                                                                       via
      Conversations like this seem to draw girls in faster then you could snap your fingers.  It can start with something so little but soon it becomes a gossip fest.  I'd like to say that I've never gossiped... but I (along with most other girls on this planet) have fallen into the trap.  It's so easy to talk about other people thinking, "Oh!  They'll never know."  and "This person I'm telling is a good secret keeper.  Her lips are sealed."  We have convinced ourselves that a little gossip won't hurt anybody.  That's a lie!  We've all seen it happen.  The girl who has gotten gossiped about finally catches wind about what you've been saying about her-true or untrue- and she is hurt.  We could skip so much heart ache if we didn't talk about people behind their backs.  Sadly, we see this happen in Christian circles.  When we need to be most encouraging we are usually the exact opposite.  As Brothers and Sisters in Christ we need to stand up for what is right.  We also need to be encouraging to one another in our words and our actions.  If we are too busy talking about each other in a negative way, then how are we suppose to be unified?  The Bible tells us in Psalm 133:1 ,"How good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell together in unity."  I want to have unshakable unity with my church body.  My prayer is that the Lord will help me stay away from the temptation to gossip.  I want to send a challenge out their to all you girls.  Try and stay away from gossip.  If you're with a group of friends and someone starts to gossip, walk away.  You'll be so glad you did.  If you're in a one on one conversation with your friend and it starts, share your conviction not to gossip with your friend.  Then change the subject.  It's that easy.  There is so much to talk about besides gossip.  You'd be amazed how much a person can tell you about themselves that has nothing to do with gossip.  Once we've cut out gossip, drama can really start to die.  And trust me, no girl truly likes drama.  Saw this quote on facebook and loved it.  It said, "A real women avoids drama, she knows her time is precious and she's not wasting on unimportant things."  I couldn't agree more! 
    Next time you hear the "Guess what she did" conversation, walk away.  It's not worth it.  You'll be glad you did.
 In His great & awesome love,
***Katie***

The conversation went something like this:
"I love the Pride and Prejudice movie (the two hour one)!"
"Oh me too! The music is so good."
"I love Mr. Darcy!"
"Oh, and that scene where they kiss in the rain, love it!"

Yep, I'm a Pride and Prejudice lover.  I've read the book and watch the movie (tried watching the BBC 5 hour movie, but I wasn't patient enough to get all the way through, so I like the 2 hour movie).  As I watched and read, I -like most girls- feel in love with Mr. Darcy.  He is the perfect character!  Kind, cunning, sensitive, and breath taking handsome; what's not to love!  We don't necessarily realize how our Mr. Darcy crush effects our thinking.  It has really became a world wide thinking of women.  I've seen the "Keep calm and find your Mr. Darcy" poster several time.  We think that there must be a Mr. Darcy out there for us somewhere.  Well, sorry to brake it to you, but there's not!  We often forget that Mr. Darcy is a fictional character.  He's not real!  He was made up inside the mind of Jane Austin.  He was made to be a dream guy.  We actually hurt our brothers in Christ when we constantly compare them to Mr. Darcy.  Sadly we don't just do this to guys who we are in a relationship with, we do it to our friends.  We quick to judge our guy friends when they accidentally slip and shut the door in your face.  We huff and thing "Well he's no Mr. Darcy!  Mr. Darcy would never do that!"  I want and need to remember that my brothers in Christ are human.  Which means that they make mistakes.  I do want my guy friend to be gentlemen, who doesn't?  But I should be willing to show grace.

 I can rest knowing that God will bring Mr. Right to me at the right time.   I look forward to that day, but for now I want to be a good sister in Christ to my brothers in Christ.  I want to glorify God with my friendships and to be forgiving. 

    I heard this song on the radio a couple days ago.  The chorus was stuck in my head and I kept singing it over and over and over again.  I decided I wanted to find this song but I had no clue the title or the artist.  Yesterday, I was taking a music survey with one of my very favorite radio stations this song was one of the songs they had us rating.  So I finally found the name and went searching on youtube. 
    The lyrics to this song are amazing.  Their a great reminder that those who believe are not home yet.  Our home waits with Jesus in heaven.  For me that was such a sweet reminder with the recent passing of my great grandma.  She was a believer, and I know that she is now home.  I look forward to that sweet day when I'll join her in worshiping my Lord and Savior forever. 
    I hope you enjoy this song as much as I do!  :)

Where I Belong
by Building 429

Sometimes it feels like I'm watching from the outside
Sometimes it feels like I'm breathing but am I alive
I won't keep searching for answers that aren't here to find

All I know is I'm not home yet
This is not where I belong
Take this world and give me Jesus
This is not where I belong

So when the walls come falling down on me
And when I'm lost in the current of a raging sea
I have this blessed assurance holding me.

All I know is I'm not home yet
This is not where I belong
Take this world and give me Jesus
This is not where I belong

When the earth shakes I wanna be found in You
When the lights fade I wanna be found in You

All I know is I'm not home yet
This is not where I belong
Take this world and give me Jesus
This is not where I belong
[x2]

Where I belong, where I belong
Where I belong, where I belong


In His great & awesome love,
***Katie***

It is Well With my Soul
When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

This morning my great grandmother passed away.  We're all going to miss her so much!  She is one of the strongest people I will ever know.  I love her so much.  I know right now she is celebrating with Jesus, but I still miss her. 
In His great & awesome love,
***Katie***