#Life

     The other day, I was looking at my calender for various reasons. And I realized that we are more than halfway through February already, so I decided to count how many weeks of preschool we have left.

     Eight. The answer is eight. Only eight weeks of preschool left, and one of those weeks is halfway done already.

     That is craziness! How is it that the number of weeks of preschool that remain is in the single digits?! 

     It really feels like my time on staff with YWAM Madison just started. I feel like it was just a month or two ago that I was in Sault Ste Marie, not allowed to cross over the border (and oh how that makes me smile, now that it is in the past! Makes for a good story!). I feel like it was a couple days ago that the Fall DTS arrived at the TC, and now they are literally days away from coming back from outreach! It feels like it was just yesterday that I got back from Christmas vacation, yet that was almost two months ago now.

     I knew that my time here was short, that I would be back in Canada before I knew it. But time is going by so fast! When you are standing at the beginning, it the end seems so far away, even if you know that time will go by fast. When you are standing this close to the end, looking back, you realize that you should no longer blink, because when you do, months go by.

     Last Wednesday, Micah and his family got back from their three weeks on the West coast. I picked them up in Milwaukee, and the very first thing Micah said to me when he saw me was "We have school tomorrow!"

     He's so cute :) They all are.

     It is good to be back in the groove again. Between "snow" storms and sickness, preschool was very small for a week and a half. I felt like we basically had a break, because I only had up to three kids at a time. Now everyone is back in good health and at preschool, and it is oh so good to have them all back again! It is loud and crazy and so much fun!

     One child wasn't there yesterday (but I still had seven children because the sister of one of my kids joined us. She often does, so much so that her name is on the wall with everyone else's. She is a year older than my oldest kids, and she absolutely loves coming to our preschool). His mom emailed me last night and asked what Bible story we read, saying that he wanted to know so that they could read it at home today.

     Like I said, they are so cute! :)

     Blessings,

          Katie

We don't have sleds, and have to rely on having parents bring them for the day. On the days when we have no sleds, the hill -which was basically ice before our last snow- the kids slide down on their bellies like penguins. They LOVE it. Its so cute!

During circle on day, we talked about how we need to be like Jesus. But in order to do that, we need to know what Jesus is like. These were some of the kid's responses to that question.

It snowed one night, with beautiful big fluffy flakes that added up quickly. So Kenzie and I went out, borrowed a couple sleds, and played in the snow for awhile. So much fun!

I love carrots. I eat them like, every day. So Kenzie sent me this "Valentine". She knows me too well!

This is Kenzie again. We spend a lot of time together, living in the same house, being basically roommates. We have both been super tired lately. So tired that she apparently couldn't make it down the stairs to her bedroom :P

We have the most random conversations, so we have taken to writing down each other's quotes to share with the rest of the world. Because everyone should have the pleasure of hearing some of our conversations!

#lifewithkenzie

Simple Obedience

     Last year around this time, rather than sitting in cold (though really not as cold as it could be) Wisconsin, I was in Mexico. It was an amazing time of my life, one that I will never forget! And I saw God work so much during my time in Mexico.
     My time there ended in Mazatlan, on the western coast of Mexico, doing evangelism at the Carnival (their Mardi Gras party, and one of the largest parties in the world. It is full of drinking and drugs and human trafficking).
     Carnival was really really hard for me, but I also saw God do amazing things while we were there. Like when we prayed for that man in the Mexican Mafia, who was about to kill a family before he called us over to pray for him. Another thing that I saw God do was heal. He healed a lot of people during that week, including a man called Roberto, who had a bad back (here is a link to my post about that, if you want to know that story http://ktwalkingbyfaith.blogspot.com/2015/02/our-god-is-greater.html).
     Well, Carnival 2016 has just come to a close, and the YWAM base in Mazatlan again did this outreach (they do it every year, and have to many years now). I have some friends on Facebook from my time there, including a man who isn't in YWAM, but who takes time off of his job every year in order to participate in the Carnival outreach. And whenever he prays for someone (and he is fearless when it comes to evangelism and prayer, and he hears God very well!) he will take a picture with them and post it, talking about what God did. He was in the group of us last year who prayed for Roberto. He was actually the one who God told to find him, the "man with the big mustache".
     This morning, Jeff posted a couple more pictures, including one of Roberto. He wrote that he was able to see this man from last year again. His back is still fine, and his business has grown. And as soon as he saw Jeff, his face lit up. It has been a year, but he did not forget the face of one of the people who obeyed God and prayed for him. He is still praising God for what he did last year, still giving Jesus the glory.
     It was so awesome to see that post, and to know that the people that God touched last year, either using me or others, still praise God for it. Its the legacy of Jesus, and through simple obedience, lives can be touched and changed forever!
     And it is in simple obedience that I want to continue living my life.
     Blessings,
          Katie

Who God Created

     A couple of weeks ago, I read a devotion about how we need to be who God created us to be (http://proverbs31.org/devotions/devo/be-who-god-created-you-to-be/). The writer talks about how we should do what God created us to do. It is a part of us, and it should come naturally. It shouldn't exhaust us. It might be hard, but it should also come naturally. She writes (reflecting on Job 37:5-6) "So God says to the snow, "Fall on the earth." That's it. Just do one thing. Just fall. And then He says to the rain shower, "Be a mighty downpour." Essentially, He's saying: Just do the thing I've actually created you to do. You're rain.... so rain. You're snow... so snow".
     It got me to thinking about what God created ME to do. As you know, I am leaving Madison in April and going back home. For good, this time. My time on staff with YWAM Madison was never going to be a long-term thing; it was just temporary. I felt God calling me to come and start this preschool, but I never felt like it was my role to continue in that for a long time. I felt called to start it and then pass it on to someone else.
     So what, then, am I called to do next? I'm about to head into a time where I don't know what I will be doing. I don't know exactly what the next steps will look like. I have a few ideas about what I feel God is calling me to do with my life, but I don't know how that looks practically in the now.
     The author says to "Think about your adolescent self, your child self, the "you" you've always been. God imprinted a sacred, beautiful collection of passions and capacities right onto your heart. What do you love? What does your passion bubble over for?"
     When I look back on my life, I can see a few things that remained strong through all times. Things that when I was a child I still have passions for. Like orphans. Ever since I was a little kid, I had a heart for orphans. I always wanted to go help in an orphanage. A few times at Christmas, we would each pick something from the World Vision list of things (such as a goat for a family), and I would always pick the one that helped the orphan. That's the whole reason I ended up in YWAM. I was looking into volunteering at an orphanage, and I ended up in the Children At Risk DTS. Because those are the people who have always been on my heart! (And by the way, I did end up working at an orphanage while on outreach).
     Another thing I always wanted to do was be a missionary. I remember being eleven or twelve years old, and I was having my quiet time. It was when I really accepted Jesus. I told Him how much I love Him and that I would do anything for Him. I told Him I would be a missionary for Him, I wanted to do that, and I felt pulled to do that. And now here I am. I'm not a missionary in the sense of living in a third world country telling people about Jesus, but I am a missionary. I am living in a foreign country (albeit America) teaching people about Jesus (the children of my preschool). I have gone evangelizing and helping the poor in other countries. I AM a missionary.
     So it is these things that I know are my passions, and that I know will continue to be a part of my life. How, I might not know yet, but I know that they will continue to be themes in my life, just as they have already.
     Besides, I might not know exactly what my future looks like, but God does. And He is always faithful to tell me what is next. And He does it in His time, not mine. God is rarely early, but He is always on time!
     Blessings,
          Katie