Hello blog fam!

Long time no post! Life has actually been insane and so much has happened since I last posted, I don't even know where to start. Not many monumental things have happened, just little things that are keeping me overly busy. The only "monumental" thing I can think of is that I went to Haiti!!!
I went October 10-16 and it was UNREAL. I will have to do a whole separate blog post on that, seeing as this one would be far too long, and that is not what this blog post is intended to talk about. 

Something I have learned in the midst of this chaotic season of life is that our God is a God who brings our chaos back into order every. single. time. I have been thinking and talking about how we don't serve a God of circumstance. Our God is steadfast, unwavering, never changing. He isn't here only sometimes. He is here always. We have to find it in our hearts to seek him in every situation. It seems a lot of times as if we only seek Him when we find ourselves in a pickle. Say we are going to fail a test or someone is sick. THEN and only then we find it appropriate to seek God in those times. Then if God doesn't deliver  how you prayed, you get upset with Him. We don't serve a God of circumstance. So with that being said, CLING to Him! He is searching for you! He wants to captivate your whole being. The question is....will you let Him? 

I can tell you from personal experience that having God captivate your whole being is the absolute sweetest and best place to be. It changes your outlook on life, and changes the way you carry yourself. 

1 Thessalonians 5:18 "give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." 

-Kaitlyn

Come As You Are

I feel like so often we make it a competition to see who has the most highlighted verses in their Bible, who lifts their hands the most in worship, or who answers the most questions in small groups. But why? There is no "most spiritual person" award. Last time I checked, it wasn't about who is the most spiritual or who worships best, it's about THE Spirit and who is being worshiped. God isn't looking for the most highlighted verses or the most worn out Bible because it has been opened so much. He wants you to come as you are. It doesn't matter about how clean your hands are or how ironed your shirt is. He doesn't say "clean up and then we will talk." He wants you to come as you are! So our dirty hands, messy hair, wrinkled shirts -- he wants it. He wants YOU. After all, He created you didn't he? So why question what He wants? So often we fall in love with worldly desires and put our eyes on what the world says a Christian should look like and forget about HIS desires. When you fall in love with Jesus, you fall less in love with the world. Isn't that the best place to be? Where you are so engrossed with the Father's love that you cannot stand to talk about anything else?! He wants all of us. The messy hair, messy shirt, dirty hands. He doesn't want us to fix anything. He wants us to fall on our knees and say "Jesus!! I'm here! USE ME!!!"

I'm making that my prayer today (and everyday). That He will use me like never before. I want to be a laborer. Luke 10:2 says this: He told them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest." 

Much Love,

Kaitlyn

God's Plan for Our Lives

Often times we think we have life figured out, and try to go our own way through life without seeking God's plan for our lives. But why? Why do we try and make our own way when we have someone who makes our paths straight? Time after time in the Bible, God talks about how he knows the plans he has for us and making our paths straight. Proverbs 3:6 says "In all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight." Isaiah 58:11 says "The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail." I could tell you verse after verse, but that could do nothing for you. I just want to let you know that God is good always, and his grace is sufficient always (2 Corinthians 12:9). So knowing these things, why do we continuously try and make our paths straight on our own? We have a wonderful Savior who has our best interest always. He knows what he is doing. We are just living in his world. We are here to serve the purpose he has set out for us. So we should seek that purpose and pray through this crazy thing called life. After all, we are not our own (1 Corinthians 6:19). So let's seek his purpose daily, and pray without ceasing. He is good. 

A New Mission

I have wanted to go on a mission trip for a while now, but I have never felt "called" to one. Ever since 2010, when the earthquake hit Haiti, I have loved the country. That was the first I had heard about it. I love learning about the culture, the people, everything. I even wrote a song dedicated to Haiti when the earthquake hit called "Hope Inside." Of course, it wasn't even good, but it's the thought that counts, right? Anyways, this past year I have wanted to be challenged spiritually. Don't get me wrong, everyday I wake up I am challenged spiritually, but I wanted a different kind of spiritual challenge if that makes sense. So March 10 I was sitting at my computer looking at all the different mission trips to Haiti my church had coming up. I saw one for October that I was totally capable of going on. I thought about it and just brushed it off. God was not happy about that. Little did I know the next night at church he would wreck me and put me in full surrender mode. That night my pastor, Nate, was talking about getting out of your comfort zone for the Lord. I thought like oh sitting with new people at lunch or something. Nope. Not on God's agenda -- not for me at least. I did not know that the next thing my youth pastor said would completely wreck me and cause me to lose it. He said "We have a fall break student mission trip to Haiti in October. Maybe that is how God wants you to get out of your comfort zone." I have never heard God scream so loud in my life. I thought to myself "This is it. I'm going." That moment I completely broke down and got down on my knees in full surrender. I thanked God for his love, sovereignty, steadfastness, etc. A quote that I am reminded of through this is:  "God isn't looking for something brilliant, He is looking for something broken." (Bob Kaufflin said that) And I discovered that when you are broken on your knees, crying to him, you find him.  That night I signed up to go to Haiti without even telling my parents. The first person I called was Craig, and I didn't even know what to say. He probably thought I was an idiot. Came home and told my parents, and they were shocked but happy. So looks like I am going to Haiti in October! Considering planes are my biggest fear, it is going to be a challenge but I am up for it. I cannot wait to spread the gospel and love on the people there. I hope to give them even just a glimpse of Christ's love so they will want to know more! I am so thankful for this and I cannot wait to see how God uses the team that I am going with. If you would like, join me in praying for the people of Haiti and our team going there. That God would use us as a vessel for these precious people.

Mark 16:15.

-Kaitlyn

Let's Talk.

Lately my life has been absolutely nothing shy of stressful and insane. I have lost friends, lost opportunities, and in a lot of ways, lost myself. I have a hard time with stepping back and taking a look at everything I have lost and gained in these past couple weeks and seeing how it has changed my life in a lot of ways. Sometimes, you lose people for a reason. The reason may not be very visible then, however God has an absolutely PERFECT design for our lives!! One of my good friends said this: "some friends are there for a reason and some are there for a season." That couldn't be more true. So as I have lost some people I thought would be in my life forever, I am so thankful for the lessons I have learned through it!! So next time things seem like they are falling apart and ripping at the seams, remember the beautiful and wonderful design God has for your life (Jeremiah 29:11) and rest in that!! He is so good!! Let's stand in thanksgiving of our sweet sweet Savior!!

Much Love,

Kaitlyn

Anxiety

Today I want to talk about anxiety and what the Bible says about anxiety, and how anxiety can be seen as a sin. First off what is anxiety? 

anx·i·e·ty

aNGˈzīədē/

noun

1. a feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease, typically about an imminent event or something with an uncertain outcome.

I struggle with anxiety quite often, and it's no fun. But I'm learning to deal with it and to pray through it!! One of my go to passages in the Bible is Philippians 4:4-7. ""Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." Did you hear that?!! The Lord is NEAR!! Pray through the anxiety. God has it completely under control!! Psalm 34:4 says "I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears." He is there!! Seek him during your most anxious moments, but don't make it just then when you seek him! Seek him always! He is greater than anyone and anything, right? So surely he can bring you to peace from your anxiety. Proverbs 12:25 says "Anxiety weighs down the heart, but a kind word cheers it up." It doesn't get much more blunt than that. So what I'm trying to get at here is to let go of that anxiety and cast all that anxiousness and fear on Jesus! For he is a mighty conqueror, and what seems like a mountain to you is so so small to Him! He is so good :) 

Much Love,

Kaitlyn

Trusting Him

Hello Blogspot Fam!!
I hope you're all having a lovely day. Today I want to talk about trusting God in the midst of your darkest nights, biggest fears, and scariest moments. HE IS ALWAYS GOOD!!! So, what is trust? 

trust: /trəst/ noun: firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something.

The Bible talks about trusting the Lord numerous times throughout. Even if the word "trust" is not said -- it is implied all throughout from Genesis to Revelation. You've heard the well known verse in Proverbs 3 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding" (v 5). It goes on to tell us to submit to God and he will make our paths straight. (That's a whole other post). Joshua 1:9 says "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." 2 Samuel 7:28 says "Sovereign Lord, you are God! Your covenant is trustworthy, and you have promised these good things to your servant." Exodus 14:14 says "The Lord will fight for you, you need only to be still." I could go on and on, but I will stop there so you have more to read for yourself. The Bible is so repetitive about how trustworthy the Lord is and how faithful he is to us. So why is it so hard for us to trust HIM?? Why are we scared to trust Him at times?? I personally know that my pride gets in the way, and that I want to figure everything out on my own, but it doesn't work that way!! In James 4:6 it tells us that God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble. We should not let pride stand in the way of us trusting in Jesus!! Who are we to be so proud that we can't fully submit to and trust in the one who died for us? If you ask me, that's pretty screwed up. So let's start submitting ourselves to God and trusting him through absolutely everything.

Much Love,

-Kaitlyn

S.O.A.P. {how i study the Bible / do my quiet time}

Hey homies,

I haven't written in a while and I sincerely apologize. I finally got a new computer and I am looking forward to a lot of new blog posts!! Hopefully 2015 will bring lots of new posts! Anyways, today I want to talk about how I study my bible / do my quiet time. I got this idea from Pinterest anad absolutely love it.

I use the acronym S.O.A.P. 

S is for Scripture: I write down the scripture that really stand out to me or have significance to them. Or if I feel like God is really speaking to me through the scripture.

O is for Observation: I write down what I observed in the scripture I wrote down. For example: what God is teaching whoever is in the scripture, what God is teaching me, etc.

A is for Application: This is when I write down how I can apply the lessons I learned through the scripture to my life.

P is for Prayer: This is when I pray for me and me only. Now don't get me wrong -- I love praying for other people and do that all the time separately. I find it really hard to pray for myself so this is a way of forcing myself to do so.

I hope you saw this as helpful and that maybe it will help you out!! I am not saying you have to do this by any means, just showing you what helps me! Hope you're all having a great 2015 so far!

love always,
Kaitlyn

God is still good.

Hello Blogspot Fam,

It’s been a while. Both mine and Lynn’s lives have been nothing shy of stressful lately. Both of us are juniors in high school, and it seems to be the most time consuming year yet. I personally am balancing school, a job, and somewhat of a social life all at the same time and it has gotten a little crazy. I put the blog on the backburner. In these recent months, I have learned a lot about myself and the ways God works. In mid September some things happened and my world felt like it was falling apart. I was in over my head and didn’t know how to deal with it. I had a friend straight up tell me that I needed to turn to God and no one else. And so I did. That friend and I have been holding each other accountable since then and it’s been so good for me! I feel like I am finally right with God. I spent about a month studying Job and boy oh boy that was a kick in the face for me. Job was SO BOLD! I love the Bible and how transparent God is through it and I love living by it. I find that I am just a genuinely happier person. If I hadn’t had God through these past couple months I honestly don’t know where I would be right now.

Now for the hard part. In March of 2013, mine and Lynn’s pastor was diagnosed with an extremely rare form of melanoma. Lynn and I go to a rather large church, and this was a huge deal. Obviously. All of the treatments and things he took were all clinical trials and there was no guarantee that they would work. On November 18^th, Pastor David passed away. This has been such a rough and heartbreaking week. But I have learned a ton this week. Last night David’s son, Josh, spoke at church (the day after his dad died…how bold right?!!) and kept reminding us of Romans 8:28 and Romans 6:23. God makes things work together for good for the people who love him, and I am confident that David and his family love the Lord and will soon see the good in this. I have constantly been reminded of Luke 23:43 where Jesus says this: “’Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.’” I have no doubt in my mind that David is with the Lord. Through this, I have learned that the Lord is still good, and that we should turn to him and no one else. Because after all, he has all the answers, right?! Who are we to question God?

I am looking forward to being able to get back into the swing of things on the blog! Hope you’re all having a lovely fall season so far J

Love always,

Kaitlyn

Happy 2014!

Just stopping by to wish you all a happy New Year!  Ephesians 4:29 has recently become my favorite verse, so i just wanted to share it with you all.  Make sure the words you speak are encouraging and good for building up.  I hope these first four days of 2014 have been good to you!  

much love,
Lynn

True Images - Week 2 // Let go, and let God.

"Saul died because he was unfaithful to The LORD; he did not keep the word of The LORD and even consulted a medium for guidance, and did not inquire of The LORD. So The LORD put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David the son of Jesse." 

1 Chronicles 10:13-14

It's funny how this verse came about because we are talking about the qualities of a good man in church. Of course, you want this man to be Godly. Saul was not a Godly man. He didn't trust The Lord. He went with the plan that HE had planned for himself, not the plan GOD had planned. We cannot choose our own paths. I mean sure, we can choose where we want to go on vacation and stuff, but God knows what he wants us to do with our lives and will provide and lead us down the right path if we continue to follow and trust him. Saul consulted a medium. He clearly wasn't fearful of The Lord. He clearly didn't believe that God could lead the way. Don't we do that sometimes though? We go to our friends instead of God? I know I do. There's nothing wrong with asking your friends for advice at all, but you can't depend solely on your friend. You have to pray. God knows what he is doing, we just gotta let him do what he wants to do. Have you ever heard the quote "Let go, and let God"? That's what we need to do. It all goes back to last week when I talked about worry. We don't need to worry about what is going to happen next, we should just let go, and let God. We should not consult others like Saul did. We SHOULD inquire of The Lord unlike Saul did.

Let go, and let God.

xoxo,

Kaitlyn

True Images - Week 1

I want to begin this new series on the blog each Tuesday called "True Images." I got the name from my Bible, because that's the name of my Bible, and thought it fit perfectly. Each week I will turn to a random verse in my Bible and pray over that verse and make a blog post about it and what it means to me, how I relate to it, what it taught me, and in the end I will challenge you and challenge myself. I am super excited about this series, and can't wait to see what it does in my life and yours. You will be taking this spiritual journey with me as I grow closer to God and grow a stronger faith with God not only through this, but in my personal time. I don't know how long this series will last, I am just doing it until I feel in my heart it's time to stop it. With that being said, lets begin. 

True Images - Week 1.

Ecclesiastes 11:10 

"So then, banish anxiety from your heart and cast off the troubles of your body, for youth and vigor are meaningless." (NIV)

This verse relates to me very much. I struggle with anxiety often, but don't show it. I mostly struggle before I take a test or during a test. I will worry that I won't do well, or I am not trying my best and  that I am gonna let myself down. I always pray before I take a test, but it never helps me. I worry a lot, too. Way too much. When one of my family members goes on a plane, I make sure they talk to me when they land so I know they are safe because I am worried for them. Worry is a good thing - to a certain extent. I have always been hesitant to cast my anxiety and worries to God, I just kept it in me, which is not a good thing to do. The verse says to BANISH your anxiety from your heart and to "cast off the troubles of your body." We shouldn't be afraid to give our struggles, worries, and anxiety to God. We know what he can do, so why are we hesitant? God is so so mighty, and we know that he will answer our prayers in his timing, so why don't we pray to him about our worries and anxiety?

My challenge for you and myself this week is to cast at least one of your worries to God a day. We can do this.

Love you all!

xoxo,

Kaitlyn

Club 180.

The weekend of May 3-5 I got the opportunity to go to Cumberland, Kentucky and serve at a ministry called Club 180 for a middle school girls Tea Party and lead worship. Club 180 is a ministry run by lifelong friends of my family. They are originally from where I live, but moved to Cumberland, Kentucky about seven years ago. I had never been before, so I didn't know what to expect. The town is so little and so broken. It was kind of like Haiti from what I heard, but more filled with drugs and alcohol, and you can guess what else. I went up there to sing at the tea party, as I said before. It was girls in 4th-8th grade that Mrs. Angie, one of the lifelong friends I was talking about, had been mentoring to all year long.  We prepared food the night before and served it the next day. There were about 30 girls there for the tea party. The theme was about being a daughter of The KING, making them princesses, so they all got tiaras and looked so beautiful. I sang two songs for them - "10,000 Reasons" by Matt Redman, and "Not For a Moment" by Meredith Andrews. To see them sing along made me so happy, and it was a feeling I can't explain. I was asked to sing at their church the next day that was held in the Club. There were about 6-8 people there for church, and I sang the same songs for the church with one additional song - "To You Be the Glory" by Glory Revealed. It was an experience I will never forget. I am planning to go back up there this summer for a week or two and lead worship and minister to the middle school girls at their summer day camp. 

Here are some pictures from the weekend: 

 These are pedafours (sp???) that we made for the tea party. I did the dots on the flowers :)

 This is Jennifer Hart. She's a Christian recording artist. Check her out! She's absolutely amazing. She sang in and ampitheatre cave type thing on top of a mountain there called "Kingdom Come." That's where this picture was taken. She also sang at the tea party.

 More pedafours (sp???). They were sooooo good.

 The setup of the serving table! I thought it was adorable.

 The tiaras for the girls. I love this picture.

 Door prizes for the girls and their moms. 

 I just thought the pedafours were pretty okay.

 Leading worship at the tea party.

 Leading worship.

 This sign was cool to me. It was on the way to the amphitheater. 

 The team that came with us to help with the tea party! Mrs. Angie is the one in the pink and black shirt.

Me and my mom :) 

 Jennifer Hart! I love her so so so much.

The shirts for the club. I have a black one!

Check out Club 180's website!

www.club180ministry.com

I couldn't ask for a better weekend. I was so blessed throughout the whole thing. 

To kind of end this post with the "theme" of the weekend, I challenge you to memorize Proverbs 31:30 - "Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears The Lord is to be praised." Love you all! 

xoxo,

Kaitlyn

Quest !

I had such an amazing weekend at Quest!  An awesome band came in and lead worship, Drew Worsham blew my mind, Pat Williams gave a life-changing message, and Brent Crowe was amazing as always.  I'm so glad I had the opportunity to go, everything was so good!  I wanted to make a video like kaitlyn did, but I just don't know how to act in front of a video camera.  Maybe someday i'll make one though...

One thing I really liked from this weekend and wanted to share with you was this, "What would you do for the glory of God if you knew you wouldn't fail?"  This is a hard question for me, nothing pops in my head right away.  But i've been thinking about it and I just wanted to encourage you to think of an answer too.  Use your imagination, dream about it, make it your goal!  And always give God the glory.
xo. Lynn

ps. make sure to watch Kaitlyn's quest video here !

QUEST. - REIMAGINE

This weekend, Lynn and I went to a church event called quest. It was such an amazing experience, and I am so thankful for what I learned and was shown. Unfortunately, Lynn and I were not in the same room, so most of the pictures we took were sitting down on the bus and are extremely awkward. BUT ANYWAYS. I hope you enjoy this video! It's of all the pictures I took at quest.(: 

xoxoxoxoxoxo,

Kaitlyn

I Wanna Follow.

Hey Everyone! I wanted to let you know about this awesome EP that is out! It is called "I Wanna Follow," and it is by Brad Damas. He is the worship leader for one of the campuses at my church! He is so good! It is only $5.00 on itunes, and it is so worth it! I definitely recommend you buy it! :) 

-Kaitlyn

Stay Strong.

Long time no see! Long story. Anyways, I put this video together because the song in the background is really inspiring to me. Enjoy! :) 

-Kaitlyn(: 

Where I Have Been!

HEY! 

Long time no talk! I have been going insane in these past few weeks. I went to church camp this past week, and I feel so so so refreshed. God taught me so many things & told me LOTS of things I needed to hear. I am going to tell you about some personal things I've been dealing with, and how God helped me overcome them this week. First off, the speaker was Jordan Easley. One word. AMAZING. I've heard him speak once before and I loved him. & I loved him even more this time. Anyways, lately, I have been struggling with sinning, specifically lying to my parents. I don't know what has gotten into me, but it has totally overtaken me, and I have had to face many many consequences due to it. BUT this past week at camp, no more sin. I repented so much. Confessed so much. My secret sins weren't secrets anymore. I remember praying the third night of camp, "God, I am so messed up. So messed up. I need you more than ever right now. Show me your way, reveal yourself to me. Help me to repent from these sins. Rock my world. Break my heart. Show me how to love like you do, God. I can't take this sin anymore." And right then, when I had my eyes shut, I saw Him. I saw God's face. No doubt. Just in that short moment, my life was changed. And I will NEVER be the same just from that two second glimpse of him. It totally rocked my world. Now, I am going to talk about the worship. Worship is one of my favorite things ever. I love it. I aspire to be a worship leader when I get older. Jordan Reynolds led worship. We pretty much sang the same songs all week, but they were very very powerful. One song in-particular stuck out to me. It is called "Never Once" by Matt Redman.  The lyrics in this song mean so much to me, and say so much that I needed to hear. God revealed himself once again to me through song. Words can't describe the feeling. I get chill bumps thinking about it.

Lastly, I am going to talk about my friends. I made so many new friends while I was there. Unfortunately, my camera is broken, so I didn't get that many pictures, most of these are from other people's cameras. Actually, all of them are I think.

 This was at low ropes. Team work!

 After the mudpit.  No comment.

 I absolutely love this girl. This is Savannah. She is the sweetest girl ever!

 Cheryl. (: Long time friend.

 Laura! Beeeest friend!

 Bus Ride! With Lexi, Lucy, and Amber! (:

 I didn't know this was taken? But with Kaitlynn, Katelyn, and Laura!

 We are lookin goooood!

Adventure race/mud pit! 

Me, Laura, and Kaitlynn! We look/were so exhausted! Long days at camp, but SO worth it!

So that is a little bit of what camp was like for me, so fun! More posts will be up soon! God does great things! God bless!

-Kaitlyn(: 

Praise You In This Storm.♥

I have kind of been having a rough time lately, and this song has gotten me through everything. I know that my God is always here for me and he wouldn't put me through this if I wasn't strong enough to get through it. I thank him so much for letting me live another day and breathe another second. I know all of this stuff is just to teach me a lesson, and I am thankful for the lesson I am learning. Things may not always go my way, but I just need to face the facts. Please please please listen to this song. It's amazing! Have a great day and never stop smiling! 

-Kaitlyn(:

Proverbs 20:24

I love this verse! It's my new favorite. Just thought I would share it with you. Happy Friday! And may the fourth be with you. :)  -Lynn