Hodgepodge

     This past week, we learned about relationships. We combined class with the GMC, so each day, we had to drive the 1/2 hour or so there for class. It will definitely be good to be able to stay at home this week instead of having to do so much travelling!
     On Tuesday evening, we went straight from Camp Tuesday to City Church, where we gobbled down some pizza in the parking lot before heading inside for a prayer evening. The people there wanted to pray for our outreach teams, sending us out, and so this was the time that they did that. It was really good. First we worshipped, and then they prayed over us.
     Other than that, it was a pretty normal week. Yesterday morning, Kenzie suggested that we go do something fun, so the two of us went on a date to the pet store :P After, almost everyone asked us why we would go there. But for us, it was never a question- why wouldn't we want to go to the pet store?! We spent 3 hours there. Just look at this cuteness!

     

     So cute :) After the pet store, we grabbed a bite to eat before going to the book store for... well, 2 hours. And then we went to a storage unit for another almost 2 hours! When Kenzie and I do something together, time somehow flies by so fast and we end up there for a long time!
     Anyway, so I think I mentioned how much I enjoy going down to the basement and sitting on the dryer for some alone/God time. Well, everyone else has also discovered the place, and so there is basically always someone there. So I had to find a new place to go: the pantry. I honestly go there almost every day with a guitar and my Bible and I just play and sing and spend time with Jesus. It is so great! I love it! I will be doing that and suddenly it has been an hour to two. Its crazy! I have some really good times with God in the pantry :) And with Rudolph, the mouse. But they are trying to kill him... poor little Rudolph! He was so cute...
     Seriously though, I love spending time just playing and singing for God :)
     In my one on one this week, Keisha and I were talking about obedience to God. I was talking about a few times recently when I have heard God tell me to do something, and I obeyed, and what the results were. And that lead to this discussion- when you obey God, it always results in good. Even if it feels weird, or uncomfortable! Most of the time, I really don't want to do what He is telling me. But I choose to obey, and in the end, even though it may be weird or awkward and uncomfortable for me, it turns out good.
     This is our last weekend in Madison before going home for Christmas break. This is our last week of classes! Lecture phase of DTS is nearly over! Where did the time go?! Didn't we just all arrive here? Yet we are leaving for outreach in less than a month! We have a week of Christmas break, a week back here to prepare for outreach, and then, on January 3rd, all the teams head off for their outreach destinations!
     I'll see most of you soon!! :) Less than a week and I will be home, God willing!
     Blessings,
          Katie

 We always sing this song to Anna, and she always responds with "YES!" Sadly, we still have no snow, other than a few patches here and there. So she still has not built her snowman.

 I like to doodle on my notes during class. My way of doodling is mostly just words, since I can't draw (the snowman one is another of my class doodles). This is a word that God has been bringing up a lot to me during DTS. 

So some of you who I saw at Thanksgiving know this, but of our 3 toilets in the girls bathroom, one never flushes, so really we've only had 2 toilets for 35 girls. And one of those has been known to overflow a couple times... anyway, so this week, we got a new toilet! IT IS MARVELLOUS! We now have three toilets! :P Sorry, but we are all super excited!

WOW

     I know, I know, I just posted like, an hour or two ago. But guys, God is so so so so amazing!!!
     Last night, we had an evening of offering. We listened to worship music and spent time in God's presence, asking Him if He wanted us to give to anyone's outreach fund. If He did, how much and to whom.
     We have a joke around here that we are in YWAM, Youth Without Any Money. And it is true... no one has money here. We are a poor bunch over here! Every single outreach team needs at LEAST 10 thousand dollars still. Most need closer to 20. We have no money to give, okay!
     So we had last night. Tonight, Kevin revealed how much was given. I don't remember the exact number, but I know that it was OVER eleven thousand dollars. Eleven THOUSAND!!! I mean, where did it come from?!?! We have no idea.... we are poor YWAMers with no money who somehow managed to give over eleven thousand dollars to each other.
     God is amazing!
     Blessings
          Katie

He Answers

     Last week, Keisha started our one-on-one by going deep immediately.  We sat down and she said, "So, Katie, tell me why God loves you."
     I stammered out some sort of answer, but long after our time was over, I was thinking about it. I had struggled to answer. And it bothered me that I didn't have an answer for that question.
     That same evening, Kayla needed to go to an atm, so Anna, Annika, Kari, and I accompanied her. After, even though it was 9:30 at night, we went to McDonald's and just hung out, doing homework. I sat by the fireplace (it was a very nice McDonalds!) and asked God that question. "God, why do you love me?"
     Rather than going straight to what God said,  I feel like He wants me to first type up my written prayer to Him.
     "Papa God,
     You are good. You are true. You are life. You are love.
     You love me. For me. Nothing I do -or don't do- can EVER affect that love You have for me, because Your love is unconditional. I may still be coming to a realization of Your love for me, God, but I really am beginning to see the truth. You love me so much more than I ever imagined!
     Thank you for loving me so much, Father, and so unconditionally. I know You do, and its amazing and wonderful! I love You back, Lord, as much as I am able. I don't know how to love very well. But I'm working on it, God, if You'll help me. Because I really, really want to learn how to truly love, both You and people, but especially You.
     I have to know, though, God. Please answer me! Why? Why do You love me? I mean, I get that You are my creator; You love me because You created me. And You're my Father, so You love me cause I'm Your daughter. So You love me cause You have to. But there is more to it, God! I know that You don't just love me because You have to! But why do You love me? I want to know- I need to know!"
     So after I prayed that, I waited on what God would say to me. I knew He would respond, and He did. He started to tell me some of the reasons why He loves me. I know that what He has told me isn't all of it... He loves me for so much more than this.  But these are just a few of the reasons He loves me so much.
     I'm not going to go into detail about what God told me about why He loves me. Honestly, I'm still processing it with Him. But I'll just write a couple of the things down. This is what He said:
     -"You are quiet". This one actually made me laugh and think of the response some of you would have to this statement . But I understand what God means when He said this, so that's what matters! And it's not about being quiet in everyday life!
     -"Your willingness"
     -"Your tender heart"
     -"Your laughter and smiles"
     There was more, but that doesn't really matter. The point is, I had a genuine question for God, and He answered me. He loves me, and He loves all of you equally as much. It's amazing!!
     Blessings,
          Katie

No Words

     Yesterday, Anna asked me if I would be driving to church today. I hadn't really planned to, since I have limited American cash, and I need to make sure that I have enough left to get me home at Christmas break. And since I need to get a shot next week, which is pricey and I hadn't expected, I am trying to be careful with how much I spend.
     However, after some thinking, I decided to drive. Anna and Annika both wanted to go to this one church that they have been to one time before. Jenna described it as "completely crazy". The church is called Global Presence, and they are very spirit led. Anna and Annika both grew up in churches like that, Anna in Brazil and Annika in South Africa. So they really enjoyed it, but others like myself were warned that it might not be ideal for us.
     So today, I got up much earlier than I normally do on Sunday- we left here shortly after 9. I took Anna, Annika, and Kari with me, and we went to the Global Presence church.
     Guys, it was amazing! You don't understand! It was absolutely, totally amazing! The service lasted for 2 1/2 hours, but it didn't feel that long. The pastors -they are a husband and wife team that preach together, which is super nice cause then they can built off of each other- said straight up that up until this morning, they didn't know what their message was going to be. Guys, they planned their message THIS MORNING.
     It was the most amazing thing, because the message was exactly what we learned about this week and this week was a pretty big one for Anna, myself, and Annika and Kari. I took so, so many notes! Annika, being Annika -if you knew her, you'd understand- kept making suppressed squeal noises and shivering excitedly as she frantically wrote stuff down.
     Here are a couple of the things I wrote down that really stand out to me:
     "Embrace the process" This one is key for us YWAMers, because "process" is a hated word around here. After every class, pretty much, we are all like "Oh my goodness, I have to process this!" Or someone will ask you something and you'll say "I'm still trying to process that!" We hate processing. So when the pastor said "Embrace the process," we all just started to laugh. Quite literally, we started laughing there on our couch in the back.
     "God is going to remove idols... if you are not experiencing shaking, you are going to!"
     "Get caught up in the story cause He is still writing it!"
     "We have damage that happens because we didn't wait for the timing of the Lord."
     "Relationship is day and night and night and day and everything in between"
     "We are enslaved to the world... we need to step out of slavery to the world's systems. We need to step out of our worldly comforts, because they enslave you."
     "God is incredibly patient!"
     "God calls us into greatness. We are already equipped- it is already in our hands. Don't use excuses... God will equip you."
     "It isn't about who you are, it is about who God is, who the one with you is! And He is GOD!"
     "The God of the Old Testament is the same God of today. He can do the same things."
     We had a wonderful time at church today. After the service, we went up for prayer and left church feeling so excited, joyful, and full of Jesus. We were just laughing and shouting Jesus's name! It was so amazing!
     Today was a really good day. While our laundry was in the drier, we went to a coffee shop called Beans an' Cream, and we were just sitting there talking. Annika looked at me and just laughed, "Katie, just say it!" She said.
     "Say what?" I asked.
     "I don't know. You have something! That look!"
     "I'm just thinking about God!" I laughed, "He's just.... He's so awesome! I can't put it into words!"
     And it is true. I can't put it into words. We are the children of an incredible, awesome, amazing, wonderful, inexplicable, unfathomable God! He is just amazing!
     I have no words. Even though I wrote this much, I just have no words to describe how awesome God is!
     Blessings,
          Katie

Then Sings My Soul

     Thanksgiving break was fun. Going home and surprising my parents was like, the funnest thing ever! :D And having my car here is really, really awesome. Plus gas is like, super cheap here. I filled up my very empty car for $29 today! My drive back here, for anyone who is interested, was very long and boring. I had to wait at the border for about an hour, I'd say, and the lady asked me like, so many questions -I was talking to her for probably around 10 minutes. And she had me open my trunk and she looked through it. But I got through and kept driving. And driving. And driving. And I got stuck in standstill traffic for awhile. Then I drove some more. And more. And more. Filled up my car. Drove. Drove. Got stuck in more awful traffic. Drove. Drove.... I think you get the picture! I got back home at about 11pm our time, so midnight for you. I was driving for about 12 hours.
     Having my car here has already been a huge blessing, though, even though it was dead for the first half of the week (silly me). Today, Anna and I went to Cool Beans and talked for a couple hours, mostly about God and He has really been speaking to us about recently, before having some intercession about our Camp Tuesday kids, Maeli and Tevin. We have to come up with 2 words that describe them, and a Bible verse for each word. It was really cool how God gave each of us a word for each child, and a different word to both of us. And tomorrow, I am driving to a church called Global Presence, which I have wanted to try out but no one really generally goes there. Anna and Annika have been and really wanted to go again, so again, my having a car is really great!
     Anyway, this past week, the topic was one that was really big for me. It was like, summing up everything I have been working through with God for the past couple months! The topic was the Fear of the Lord. Our speaker was Dawn Bochers, who has actually been around since the beginning of DTS, since she is basically our school leader's boss.
     The first thing Dawn really said was that the fear of the Lord really is just a growing intimacy with God. It is not being afraid of Him. I already knew, coming into the school, what fear of the Lord was- I remember thinking about it and figuring out what it was back in high school. And Dawn really confirmed what I believed it to be- just an awe and revering of Him (to revere being to regard with affectionate awe). Back in high school, it was the hymn How Great Thou Art that really helped me to see and understand what the fear of the Lord was.
     Something God has been speaking to me about for a couple weeks now is intimacy with Him. I am not very good at being vulnerable with people, and intimacy is something that is hard for me- to be honest, it scares me and I don't know why. So I've been working on having an intimate relationship with God. So this week was really, really key for me. Keisha, during my one-on-one on Thursday, told me that she had felt like this was a really important week for me, and she had been praying for me a lot. :) Its awesome how God realized how important it was and knew that I would need the constant prayer.
     I don't really know how to summarize this week, so I shall just write a few quotes from my notes:
     "God doesn't play favourites. You can be as close to God as you want to be. God doesn't set boundaries on how close to Him you can be."
     We had a list of things that we look for in a friend (trustworthy, engaged, loyal, etc) "God is all these things. What are we going to do with it? And does God find these things in me?"
     "God's holiness doesn't make Him unapproachable. It makes Him safe (to be with). You can trust Him. He'll always do what is right."
     "Don't be afraid of God, but take Him seriously."
     "How you live shows what you value. How do you spend your time, money, and what you talk about show what's important to you."
     "God is not rejecting you for what you've done in your life. He is saying 'come to me, bring it to me so we can deal with it together.'"
     "When God speaks, it is not His opinion- it is the truth. So we need to agree with God."
     "You MUST also forgive yourself. If God has forgiven you, you do NOT have the right to say 'no, I'm not'."
     "Are you going to judge God based on your experiences, or your experiences based on what God says and who He is?"
     One last thing I wanted to just quickly mention was when Dawn was talking about how you can grow in your fear of the Lord. She said we need to be honest about where we are- don't pretend to be somewhere you are not. It doesn't do you any good. She compared to to going to meet someone at Starbucks in the Mall of America. You don't know where it is in the mall. You park, and then go find a map. There are two things on the map that are important- where the Starbucks is, and where you are. If you find that you have parked on the opposite side of the mall from Starbucks, it doesn't do you any good to pretend that you parked there. If you try to get to Starbucks by pretending you are somewhere else, it won't work. You need to start where you are, whether you like that place or not, and go from there. It is the same in your spiritual journey. If you wish you were farther than you are, it doesn't do you any good to pretend that you are thus there. You have to start where you are. God doesn't condemn you for where you are- He will work with you! So just begin by asking God to show you where you are, and by being honest about it.
     Well, it is getting late and I really should go to bed- I have to leave for church tomorrow a lot earlier than I usually do! But I'm pretty impressed I got this post done- I did not expect to!
     Blessings,
          Katie

 I like to doodle during class

 The coveted heart mug! I had never gotten it before, and this one day when I was just sad, I got it :) It was like God's present to me :)

 The Capitol! This was last night, at the Hot-Cocoa-thon, where we successfully passed out 1,000 cups of hot chocolate.

 Earlier this week, we decorated for Christmas! Jordyn decided that she wanted to be a tree for awhile.

 Our real Christmas tree! Brook and Gabe, the 2 male staff, cut it down from our backyard :P

Our doorways are also decorated for Christmas- lights around all the doorways! I love Christmas :)

   

Hot Cocoa-thon

     Tonight is the hot chocolate local outreach. My entire DTS is doing it- all 32 students, anyway, as well as most of the staff. As you may remember, this is a fundraiser for outreach. Our goal is to hand out 1000 cups of hot chocolate downtown... it should be really good! We are splitting into 4 groups and going to 4 different locations downtown in order to do this, since, as Sal nicely put it, all of us at the same place would be pretty creepy!
     Like I said, this is a fundraiser for outreach. If you still would like to donate, please let me know! There are some people who still need almost all of their outreach money, so this is an excellent chance to work with God to provide for them! On one outreach team alone, there is a need of $14000 by January, when we all leave. If you do feel like supporting us financially is something you would like to do, just send me an email at katieroest92@gmail.com. I need to raise an additional $150 for building materials for one opportunity we have in Mexico, helping to build a shelter in Tijuana. So whatever you can offer would be a blessing!
     Tomorrow I plan on going to a coffee shop (called Cool Beans, which excites me. Rebecca will understand) with Anna so that we can talk- we started having a "one on one" a couple days ago, when she was supposed to have one with her actual one on one but she was sleeping. So Anna took me instead. But partway through, when we were just getting into it, Kenzie actually showed up and took over :P So Anna and I want to finish,  and the only way to really be alone here is really to leave. And since I have a car now... hee hee.  Speaking of which, I accidentally drained my battery by leaving my interior light on... good thing we have lots of guys who can help me :P
     Anyway.... the point of the coffee shop thing was, after Anna and I are done talking, perhaps I will take advantage of the good internet there and tell you about my week.
     Again, if you would like to make any sort of donation to outreach funds, please send me an email! Literally anything you can give would be a blessing for us!
     Blessings,
          Katie