Maintaining in so many ways...

Til the time when You come and I'm whole
and we are one and the fire in me is complete
Some tell me to be moderate but lukewarm will never do
'cause I, I wanna blaze with You
So I'm holding my heart out to You
Holding my heart out...

Hello there, friends! :)

I hope this finds you having a simply wonderful week. If not then I hope something I write here makes you even a slight bit happier, even if just for a minute.

There isn't much to say of this last week. It was relatively normal with a trip to Chattanooga inserted on the weekend. That was nice :) I always enjoy a good visit with the family...not to mention getting to ride there and back with Joe and Hayley...and of course Connor! Have I told you how much I love being an aunt? It's pretty much the greatest. especially the smiles, kisses and snuggles. I love my snugbug!
anyhoo...that was my week in a nutshell.

Weightloss- none this week :( But I didn't gain either so it's not so bad. I just maintained. dang. I really wanted those shoes. Guess I'll have to wait another week! I saw it coming, though, with Grandma's cooking and my lack of exercise due to somehow managing to hurt my back. It is on the mend though so back to regular walks/workouts! *side note* speaking of walks, my parents and I went on one tonight and that dang dog came back out barking...but my dad had his walking stick with him so he didn't come very close. *phew*

Now, on to the good stuff! :)
Some girl in my small group on Sunday nights told our group about this blog...

http://kissesfromkatie.blogspot.com/

I so so so encourage you to visit it and/or follow it. This girl lives in Uganda and has adopted 12 orphaned or poverty-stricken children as her own. the kicker? she is 21! my goodness...thats only one year older than me! it's simply amazing. I've been following her blog for just over a week now and have been so blessed by reading it. I cannot tell you how much I'd love to do something like that some day. All in God's timing...

-This is Kristal. She is so very special to me. I met her on my first missions trip to Canada. God used this sweet girl and her story to teach me so much. I keep this picture on my dresser still as a reminder of God's call on my life.

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose."
-Jim Elliot

That is all for today! Have a marvelous rest of the week.
Love. Love. Love.
Katie

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Valentines, Chased by dogs, and Pepper Spray.

Many are they increased that troubled me,
Many are they that rise up against me,
Many there be which say of my soul,
There is no help for him in God.

But thou, oh Lord are a shield for me,
My glory and the lifter of my head.
Thou, oh Lord are shield for me,
My glory and the lifter of my head.


-So....I don't know too much of Brooklyn Tabernacle but they perform this song amazingly! Especially the very end of the song. It gives me chills! I've now decided that I want to see them live. Click here to watch :)


Let's see, lets see....
It's been a busy last few days. Sarah and Luke made it up here for Valentines Day weekend. I've missed those kids! Especially Sarah...She became the little sister I never had in the 7 months she lived here. anyhoo- on Saturday night, I sent them upstairs for 30 minutes with strict instructions to not come down until dinner. Meanwhile, I decorated the dining room for valentines. I must say it was super cute :) haha. I have pictures somewhere...I'll post them later.

Church on Sunday was amazing as usual :) I've gotta say my favorite part was a special they did of "It is well with my soul" and on the big screens above the stage they had the story of the man who wrote the song. If you haven't heard it, I encourage you to look it up. it was incredible.

I also started a small group on Sunday night. I think I'm going to enjoy it. The girls seem really nice and the book is exactly what I need. We are doing "Get out of that Pit!" by Beth Moore.

and lastly....a weight-loss/exercise update!

I lost 1 pound this week which brings the total to 4.8 lbs. Just 1/10th away from a new pair of shoes from Marti and Liz! haha. Shoes motivate me. haha!

I took a walk around the neighbor hood twice this week and did the treadmill and weights once. I must tell you... I about died on my last walk. It was dark out so I had a flashlight, and I was passing this house. All of a sudden I hear barking and growling coming closer and closer! Since it was dark I couldn't really see where the dog was coming from so I just stopped under the light. then out of no where this big dog comes running up barking and looking all mean. I think I about had a heart attack. I screamed and raised my flashlight at it and it stopped about 8-10 feet away, still growling, mind you! So I slowly started walking backwards away from it...It eventually turned back and went to it's house but it was already too late, I was scared out of my mind and almost in tears. I love dogs but next time I'm bringing the pepper spray. My padre says that as long as it comes out of their yard/driveway and is barking/growling/coming after me at me then I have the right to protect myself with pepper spray...let's hope it doesn't come to that.

That's the end of this post! I need to hit the sack so I can get up for class tomorrow and finish my project after that. Then to Chattanooga on Saturday to visit the Grandparents.

Love. Love. Love.
Katie

My snuggle-bug :) Connor and I.

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Tornado Warnings, Weight Loss, and everything in between :)

There's a wave that's crashing over me
All I can do is surrender
Whatever you're doing inside of me
It feels like chaos, somehow there's peace
It's hard to surrender to what I can't see
but I'm giving in to something heavenly...


Hello Everyone! :)

It's been another semi-normal week in the life of me. Last Thursday was hard being away from Union since It had been a year since the tornado. but I did get to talk to a few friends from there and it helped a ton. I was so very close to my friends there before the tornado but it's really hard to describe the level a friendship goes to when you've gone through something like that together. anyways....Friday on the way to class at MTSU they decided to have a tornado drill. It was only the second time since that night that I'd heard tornado sirens. I almost turned back to my car and went home just from the sound of them. I felt so sick to my stomach but I realized that I'll have to get past that eventually. Here's to a long tornado season.... Prayers for anyone involved in that night would be appreciated over the next few months.

I spent the weekend at the Lakehouse. It was exactly what I needed. It is just so peaceful and relaxing. I hated coming back.
See what I mean? So peaceful :)

Monday was our day to have Connor! hooray hooray! I look forward to Mondays and every other Wednesdays so much! I can't believe he is getting so big! goodness gracious. I'm head over heels in love with that sweet nephew of mine. I love when he wakes up from his naps in such smile-y moods.
Isn't he just the cutest?!


On another note....Changes! my goodness. so many of them recently. I couldn't stand all the changes at first but God has given me a peace over alot of it recently and kind of given me a drive to just take this chance to change even more. 2 big things that this involves is my health and my spiritual life.

Health- I guess I've tried many times in the past several years to lose weight. It was never for me though. It was because other people wanted me to. I just did it to do it. This time around, it's for me...and as odd as it may sound, just that makes a big difference. I've been doing weight watchers and in the last 4 weeks I've lost 3.8 pounds. not a lot but I've come to realize it's not going to happen fast. anyhoo...Once I get the hang of it all and get on a more regualar exercise schedule I'm hoping to average about 1-2 pounds a week. geez. a skinny me? can it beeee? oh my just the thought freaks me out a bit but I think I'm ready. :) So if you see me eating some chocolate hit me on the head please! haha. My meetings are on Thursdays nights so I'll try to keep yall updated on here on how everything goes. OH! and if someone wants to join me in working out, let me know! :) I'll always welcome a walking buddy! I can't wait for spring! Greenway here I come!

Spiritual Life- I was incredibly blessed in Jackson to have an amazing church and college ministry. God really used Englewood to show me so much about the church in general, worshipping with your whole heart and the different avenues God chooses to use people in. When I learned I was coming back to Murfreesboro, I knew I needed to find a church with a similar and strong college group and I'm happy to say I've found that at New Vision. It's wonderful! I feel so at home there and it's already inspired me to take my walk with God to a whole new level. I'm regaining my excitement about God's call on my life and it's a wonderful thing :)


Hmmm...I do believe that is all for now :) I'm trying to update this at least once a week but we'll see how that goes.

Romans 8:12-18
Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation—but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba,Father." The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.

Love. Love. Love.
Katie

ps...HAYLEY! I know you are reading this....get one of these! :) hehe....

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A year ago...

Wow...so tomorrow (Thursday, 2-5-09) will be one year since the tornado hit campus. I can hardly believe it's been a year. God has been so good to have blessed Union since that night.



Everything about that night still seems like it just happened yesterday. I can still hear the sirens and remember how it felt, the insane amount of pressure in my body and my ears popping, when the tornado was on top of us. The chaos after of being rushed from building to building for fear that the next set of storms would bring another tornado. The overwhelming moments when I finally saw Hurt and Watter's dorm...or what was left of them. The feeling I got when I saw one of my closest friend's dorms with a truck sitting on top of it still makes me sick to my stomach. Everything is still so vivid.

Looking back, I still can hardly believe that everyone made it out alive. God definetly had his hand over our campus that night.
This is a picture that a guy I knew took from his dorm when he saw it coming... (crazy photography major) To this day it's the only picture I've ever seen of the tornado that hit our campus, partially since it hit at night, mainly though...because no one really expected it.
My downstairs neighbors pre-tornado :) We didn't think a thing of it and decided to take some pictures.

One of the dorm buildings... I still can't even figure out which one it is....geez.

a UPS truck was picked up from the lifeway parking lot on campus and thrown at least 500 yards with the driver inside. luckily he was not injured at all.


More dorms.... the truck is leaning against the wall of friend's dorm.



Helicopter View of Campus...You can see the path of the tornado.
Danny being rescued from underneath a concrete slab. This guy has an amazing story.

Dr. Dockery, our university's president. This man is one of the most godly men i think I've ever had the pleasure of meeting. The way he handled the whole situation and eveything he has done for Union over the past year has been truly astounding.


Another friend found this in his dorm when he went to get his stuff. It was not his and he has no idea where it came from...I think I do.


And last but definetly not least....one of the best video's i've seen about that night. I just watched it for the first time in almost 5 months and bawled like a baby all over again. God was so so good to us that night...

2-5-08...the way we remember it.
^watch it!^

And with that I'm off to bed.

Love. Love. Love.
Katie

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Sweetly Broken; Wholly Surrendered

At the cross You beckon me
You draw me gently to my knees, and I am
Lost for words, so lost in love,
I’m sweetly broken, wholly surrendered
What a priceless gift, undeserved life
Have I been given
Through Christ crucified

-Sweetly Broken by Jeremy Riddle

We sang the song above and church this morning. Maybe I've heard it before or maybe not...not sure. But I've had it stuck in my head since then. Along with the message this morning, everything just kind of fell in place for me. Here's what I'm thinking...

The phrase "broken" by God makes sense to me but has always made me cringe a bit too. Broken just isn't something a normal person would say that they want their life to be. I kept wondering what an unbeliever thinks when they hear someone say they were "broken by God." Does it make them want to run in the other direction, scared that this God we speak of will break them too?

That was until this morning. During the worship time, a man was on stage with a potter's wheel and some clay. During all of the singing he worked the clay and eventually made it into a beautiful piece. Pastor Brady then brought an amazing message and in it used the potter's wheel and clay sort of as a visual about our time with God. The very end of the sermon stuck out to me the most. It was 4 points he entitled "Lessons's From the Potter's Wheel". The first point it what really got me thinking. It was....
1. Recognize Your Role- (The Clay)
-When you buy an unique piece of pottery, the price is usually quite expensive. The funny thing about it is that clay in and of itself has no beauty or value (about 28 cents a pound). It is not until the Potter takes the clay and works with it, gets out the impurities and makes it until a beautiful creation that it becomes something of value.

Reading that was kind of a smack in the face, ya know? Actually realizing that I am nothing until God puts me on his wheel and molds me into what He wants for me.

Mk...time to "bring this full circle" and back to the "broken" thing. The sermon combined with the song and personal experience really showed me that being broken by God is not as harsh as it sounds. I look that the song says "Sweetly broken". It really speaks to the point that when God takes us and breaks us, it's with love, compassion and a plan. Not to say that it's not hard at times...afterall...it's still called being broken, but in the end, He molds us back into a beautiful piece for His glory even better than we were before.


Jeremiah 18:3-6
So I went down to the potter's house, and I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him. Then the word of the LORD came to me: "O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?" declares the LORD. "Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.

Love. Love. Love.
Katie

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