i always itch to write a blog post. it's kind of weird when i think about it...never thought i'd love blogging that much. but something i am very cautious about is not writing a post just to write. it's like teachers talking just to hear themselves talk, and y'all know that's zero fun. so i can promise you anything that is posted is intentional and it is something that has been on my heart.
the past week and a half i have wanted to post but i haven't had anything to say. because honestly the past week and a half have been rough. i want to write when i'm inspired and i haven't had that inspiration. i've had amazing conversations, laughed, and spent time with some great friends, but i felt like i was in a funk.
well, in the past 24 hours God broke through the numbness i seemed to be living in. broke through actually doesn't describe it accurately. He took a wrecking ball and smashed it to pieces.
community is something i pray for all the time. and through young life the Lord has blessed me with an amazing community of believers who love and take of me so, so well. the past week and a half i have been a little selfish, i'll admit. phase one destroying my numbness- Jesus Calling (one of the best devotional books i have ever read) said it best yesterday: be on guard against the pit of self-pity. when you are weary or unwell, this demonic trap is the greatest danger you face. i realized last night that i was in a pit of self-pity because i didn't feel my community. i knew it was there, but i couldn't see it or feel it. and i didn't want to bother anyone by seeking it out.
tonight was the alamance county young life banquet. in preparation for the banquet two of my best friends, crystie and jenn, had been working hours upon hours to video tape high schoolers and leaders at games, in the lunchrooms, hanging out, getting ice cream, among many other things. they both sacrificed a lot in making this video absolutely amazing. yesterday, for a reason we do not completely know, the video was totally lost. the whole thing deleted. 4 hours of footage gone. i cried for them when i saw the text message.
jenn and crystie decided to do two weeks worth of work in 4 short hours yesterday. they reinterviewed college life people, they went to basketball games, and met me and a couple of girls at yozone. they edited. they finished it. phase two- the Lord reminded me of what an amazing community He has given me through the process of taping a video. but i didn't understand this quite yet.
this morning i got to my photography class and logged onto my email before class started. i had a message from crystie. i didn't understand until reading this email how the Lord used a video, a simple (yet amazing) VIDEO to remind us of the beautiful community He has placed us in.
crystie wrote about how the two of them were trying to talk through why the Lord would allow this to happen... "then Jenn says i think that it happened so that we could see the people running to help us get the footage and the encouragement we got from our community around us. I just sat there jaw to floor like YES!!!!" (go check out crystie's blog, http://www.crystiescorner.blogspot.com. it's awesome.)
tonight i saw the video. it was beautiful and i saw jesus not only on the screen, but in the people who made the video.
it was a video. something so incredibly insignificant to our life. but Jesus made it significant.
phase three- jenn shared her faith story with 500 people. her parents were there. high schoolers were there. college kids were there. people three times as old as her were there. people who don't know jesus were there. and she stood up on stage and allowed jesus to speak through her. she totally and completely surrendered to Him and was obedient to His call. i like to picture jesus sitting beside one of the freshmen girls on the floor in front of the stage, tears streaming down His face saying, "that's my girl. i have called her, and she is Mine."
i have had the amazing blessing to see how jesus has embraced jenn and never let go of her. she is living a life that imitates Christ. she is living a life in relationship with the greatest lover of the universe. a life that i hope every high school girl will one day live.
after she stood and gave one of the best talks i have ever heard she said to me, "kait, it's totally worth it. no sacrifice is too great. nothing is more important than this." she didn't just say it to me, she said it with urgency. she said it as if her life depended on it. and it does.
y'all, there is urgency when we follow jesus. there is urgency in our call. it isn't an aspect of our life, it IS our life. no sacrifice is too great because no love is greater than this.
the past week and a half i have wanted to post but i haven't had anything to say. because honestly the past week and a half have been rough. i want to write when i'm inspired and i haven't had that inspiration. i've had amazing conversations, laughed, and spent time with some great friends, but i felt like i was in a funk.
well, in the past 24 hours God broke through the numbness i seemed to be living in. broke through actually doesn't describe it accurately. He took a wrecking ball and smashed it to pieces.
community is something i pray for all the time. and through young life the Lord has blessed me with an amazing community of believers who love and take of me so, so well. the past week and a half i have been a little selfish, i'll admit. phase one destroying my numbness- Jesus Calling (one of the best devotional books i have ever read) said it best yesterday: be on guard against the pit of self-pity. when you are weary or unwell, this demonic trap is the greatest danger you face. i realized last night that i was in a pit of self-pity because i didn't feel my community. i knew it was there, but i couldn't see it or feel it. and i didn't want to bother anyone by seeking it out.
tonight was the alamance county young life banquet. in preparation for the banquet two of my best friends, crystie and jenn, had been working hours upon hours to video tape high schoolers and leaders at games, in the lunchrooms, hanging out, getting ice cream, among many other things. they both sacrificed a lot in making this video absolutely amazing. yesterday, for a reason we do not completely know, the video was totally lost. the whole thing deleted. 4 hours of footage gone. i cried for them when i saw the text message.
jenn and crystie decided to do two weeks worth of work in 4 short hours yesterday. they reinterviewed college life people, they went to basketball games, and met me and a couple of girls at yozone. they edited. they finished it. phase two- the Lord reminded me of what an amazing community He has given me through the process of taping a video. but i didn't understand this quite yet.
this morning i got to my photography class and logged onto my email before class started. i had a message from crystie. i didn't understand until reading this email how the Lord used a video, a simple (yet amazing) VIDEO to remind us of the beautiful community He has placed us in.
crystie wrote about how the two of them were trying to talk through why the Lord would allow this to happen... "then Jenn says i think that it happened so that we could see the people running to help us get the footage and the encouragement we got from our community around us. I just sat there jaw to floor like YES!!!!" (go check out crystie's blog, http://www.crystiescorner.blogspot.com. it's awesome.)
tonight i saw the video. it was beautiful and i saw jesus not only on the screen, but in the people who made the video.
it was a video. something so incredibly insignificant to our life. but Jesus made it significant.
phase three- jenn shared her faith story with 500 people. her parents were there. high schoolers were there. college kids were there. people three times as old as her were there. people who don't know jesus were there. and she stood up on stage and allowed jesus to speak through her. she totally and completely surrendered to Him and was obedient to His call. i like to picture jesus sitting beside one of the freshmen girls on the floor in front of the stage, tears streaming down His face saying, "that's my girl. i have called her, and she is Mine."
i have had the amazing blessing to see how jesus has embraced jenn and never let go of her. she is living a life that imitates Christ. she is living a life in relationship with the greatest lover of the universe. a life that i hope every high school girl will one day live.
after she stood and gave one of the best talks i have ever heard she said to me, "kait, it's totally worth it. no sacrifice is too great. nothing is more important than this." she didn't just say it to me, she said it with urgency. she said it as if her life depended on it. and it does.
y'all, there is urgency when we follow jesus. there is urgency in our call. it isn't an aspect of our life, it IS our life. no sacrifice is too great because no love is greater than this.
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| me with four of my precious freshmen girls at banquet tonight :) (ellie, caroline, bailey, and kimrey) |
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