Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Psalm 116:7 - At rest once more

"Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the Lord has been good to you."
- Psalm 116:7

I am back in Boone, NC - it has been a whirlwind of an adventure and transition back here to the beautiful mountains. It has been one of the fastest transitions I've ever made. I am trying ever so much to take it one step at a time and truly abide in God's Spirit more than anything and I can honestly say that God is faithful and has met me with every ounce of strength, energy, and peace that I have needed as I zoomed back here after ending my Internship in D.C. on thursday evening and began the IJM AppState leadership retreat on Friday. God showed up in wonderful and mighty ways during the retreat - something I've never lead before - which is just testament to God and his strength in our weakness. The leaders are so excited for the year and I cant wait to watch God unravel their passions.

Anyways - I also have started my work at Gladiola Girls - the womens clothing/jewelry boutique here in Boone, NC and it was so fun and sweet. I can already feel and see God moving on my heart for the women who wil be coming to the store and just his heart for us as his disciples to live intentionally in community. So that is what I am doing. Thats who I am - His disciple. No matter where I go and what I do God is my security and my refuge and he calls me His beloved. So here I am now in Boone instead of D.C. being his beloved by the empowerment of his holy spirit.

I will have more to share soon - just awaking to a new day here in the High Country and so thankful for all God is calling me to here as it unfolds. Keep me in your prayers - please pray for me and my new room mates - Kelly Scott and Kelly Harry - they are powerhouses for the Lord and love him so much and I know he has great plans for all of us to minister together and to be servants and allow our apartment to be a place of refuge and shelter for those who are in need. Also pray for me and my heart as I hold loosely to my ideas of how God wants to use me and allow my hands to be just fully open and willing to do whatever daily deeds God prompts in me through his Spirit. I'm also praying Psalm 90:12 -

"Teach us to make the most of our time, so that we may grow in wisdom."

Thanks for taking this journey with me. I am excited to see God as He moves in these next ste

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

There is a time for everything...

Tonight I am packing up my room and getting ready for my last day at my internship with International Justice Mission.

The moment I am in is so bitter sweet.
I don't want to leave - if I'm honest it brings sooo many tears to my eyes. Each day this summer was full of the Lord.
The best part of it all is that I get to take the Lord with me - he goes everywhere with me and before me.
This truth I know but in these last few days I have simply been able to truly understand the depth and width of the love that God has lavished on me throughout my time here in D.C. as I served as an Intern at IJM.

All things have a time and place and so much has happened these past two weeks that I have yet to blog apot and I will as time presents itslef. Tonight my boss and I cooked dinner and celebrated the summer and all that God brought to us and brought us through. It was beyond sweet - Jaclyn Lesch Toscas has truly been one of the biggest blessings - this is a friendship that I know God is just beginning to use and grow. Last night was my last night with esther - the sweet friend that housed me in Alexandria - and her prayers are so powerful and our time has been short but yet again so intentional. I know God has so much in store for our friendship and I'm excited to always have a home in the D.C. area. She has given me more than i could ever repay in wisdom and joy - God is good and always provides.

I am going to leave you with these verses from Ecclesiastes 3 - they are everything that God is speaking to me and over me right now. Time is so precious and so purposeful. Please be praying for me as I transition back to boone, NC and as I start my new job at Gladiola Girls and serving with the IJM Campus Chapter at AppState and volunteering with The Hope House. I love each of you and thank you for your support and love this summer - I couldn't have done any of this without God leading me and y'all praying for me every step of the way.


"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:
                a time to be born and a time to die,
    
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
                a time to kill and a time to heal,
    
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
   
a time to mourn and a time to dance, 
             a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,

a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
a time to search and a time to give up,

a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
    
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,

a time for war and a time for peace.
What do workers gain from their toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end."

-Ecclesiastes 3:1-11

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Abba, I belong to you.

These two posts are direct journal entries from a few moments of stillness that I have had this summer during the morning hours at work - International Justice Mission HQ. Part of our daily rythms in the office include a 30 min. stillness time where we are encouraged and instructed to spend it with God in our own personal and intimate way - during this time we are to cease striving and really hand our hearts to God and humbly come before him knowing that we cannot do anything to earn or deserve his love, presence, grace and salvation. During this time I normally meditate on a scripture or two and write down a few words that God places deeply on my heart or that the Spirit speaks while I attempt to have ears that hear - I felt the Lord compelling me to share them with you this week so here are a few of those words and entries that have been birthed this sweet summer season!

________________________________________________________________________________

“Yet I call this to mind & therefore I have HOPE:
Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness.
I say to myself, the Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him.
The Lord is good to those whose HOPE is in Him,
to the one who seeks Him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.
It is good for a man to bear the yoke when he is young.
Let him sit alone in silence, for the Lord has laid it on him.
Let him bury his face in the dust - there may yet be HOPE.”
-Lamentations 3:19-29
_______________________________________________________________________________
Abba I belong to you -

To fly as the birds, my heart is stirred by your word. In you I lay my love, the Holy One, God our Father above. Open handed, let down gaurd, I surrender to you - for I am Yours.

amen.

The Source of Peace


My Peace I give you, My Peace I leave you – the Holy Spirit
Allow my transcending Peace to run through you Beloved,
My children possess Peace.
A rushing ever flowing river;
The currents are strong, but know their direction,
The currents are choppy, sometimes smooth,
But always flowing because the source never runs dry.
Know your Source, take each day in stride.
Let the enemy never build up a dam in your Spirit that blocks the flow
And snatches the Peace that I have given you as my child.
Look to me with every breath and step of your day,
You belong to me, you belong to Peace.

- words that God inspired me to write through reading proverbs 12:20 & 25

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Indescribable


Today I realized that I have been out of town for the past 2 - 3 weekends and so that has lead to me not updating my blog recently. It is incredible all that God has been showing me and teaching me.

I am in the final stretch of my internship here at IJM and it is so painful to actually type out that I only have 9 days left here in the D.C. area at HQ.

I am so torn because I long to be here in D.C. and so intimately connected to IJM and it is almost as if now that I am finally comfortable and getting the hang of it all and really feeling secure the Lord is continuing in this summer's theme by removing me from an environment of comfort and knowness and taking me to, once again, a new and unfamiliar place where I can continue to be stretched, grown, stripped of any dependencies and rebuilt on Him, the foundation and breath of my life.

I want to write so much - I really feel the desire to tell you all of the "happenings" that have been taking place in my day to day life, my heart, my mind, and here at IJM and all around the world through IJM.

But for now I am going to leave you hanging - I hope tonight to be back on here and truly put up a couple posts that will be themed with subjects that have been stirring in my heart and mind over the past 2 to 3 weeks that I have been absent from my blog.

What I will leave you with is the activity that my fellow IJM interns and I did last week for our group stillness - a time that we meet every Tuesday morn for 30 mins where we are able to share prayer requests and praises and meditate and learn about God's word more. We take turns leading each week and last week we were asked to state one attribute of God that had been standing out to us during the summer and even just recently. It was incredible to go around the room and hear each intern give their word and how it related to their prayer requests and praises. I want to leave you with the words that each of us said - there are 24 interns so be prepared for a little bit of a lengthy list. The most incredible part is that no one had to reuse or repeat a word - Our God is so indescribable and so infinite that there literally are not enough words to declare who He is and His Perfect Character. Be amazed as I was last week at God and the way he came to life through these words and my interns -

God is...
my refuge
gentle
my maker
constant
steadfast
strong (psalm 62:11-12)
my security
faithful
my assurance
adventurous
exciting
my delight
present - "The present is the place where time and eternity touch"
all knowing
creator
healer of the broken
selfless
the orchestrator
powerful
mighty
our deliverer
Ultimate
our shepherd

I hope that these words will remind you of who God is and who He longs to be in our lives every day as we surrender to his will and his way and abide in His Spirit! I hope these words encourage you and make you hungry for more and more of our dear Lord. They have made me hungry and have lifted my heart in times of doubt even just over the past few weeks.

In Christ's Love,

Kaity