For the Sake of the World

"I'm laying down my life
I'm giving up control
I'm never looking back
I surrender all
I'm living for Your glory on the earth

"This passion in my heart
This stirring in my soul
To see the nations bow
For all the world to know
I'm living for Your glory on the earth

"For the sake of the world burn like a fire in me
Light a flame in my soul for every eye to see
For the sake of the world burn like a fire in me

"For every knee to bow down
For every heart to believe
For every voice to cry out
Burn like a fire in me
For every tongue to confess
You alone are the King
You are the hope of the earth
Burn like a fire in me"

-For the Sake of the World by Bethel
(To listen to it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAS0936wkBw)

For the past.... well, few MONTHS, it seems, this song has been in my head. And I love it. And have started listening to it on repeat (Joel would not be surprised). So I thought I would share it with you all :)
     Blessings,
          Katie

The End Stretch

     Every Wednesday, I spend the morning at a cute little coffee shop, Cool Beans. Man I love that place (today, I actually stayed home because I'm not feeling too great, but I miss it!)! And Wednesday afternoons, all of YWAM Madison gathers for something called Worship and Warfare. We spend about forty to forty-five minutes in worship, followed by about twenty minutes to half hour of prayer, focused on a different thing every week. Last Wednesday, Worship and Warfare was focused on the upcoming US Presidential election. My friend and I were a bit curious as to how the leader would pull that off -I mean, politics is often a topic that people have strong opinions on- but it was really well done. We spent most of the time worshipping and praying for the Church, and that the CHURCH would step up and pray for the government, that the CHURCH would be unified, and so forth. It was a really good time of intercession for the church in America, as well as across the globe. Near the end, we also prayed over those who will be elected, not praying that specific people would (or would not) be elected, but that those who would would be prepared by God and led by Him.
     Last week was a short week, obviously, with Good Friday. I spent most of that day at the home of one of my preschoolers. His mom asked me to come over and give her a hand with her four kids, because she had a lot to do, and things were pretty hectic at their house. So I got to play with some cute kids and cuddle an adorable 5 month old for several hours :) I enjoyed myself. And it was really good to be able to be there and lend a hand where it was desperately needed!
     On Easter Sunday, Kenzie and my "parentals" as we call James and Kelly had Easter dinner for those in our YWAM community who had no other plans. So we had a full house :) It was a good time of fellowship with people I don't really see too often, plus Kenzie and I had a lot of fun playing with three year old Eliana, an extremely energetic girl with QUITE the personality! Kenzie lived with that family all fall, and since I was there every weekend, Eliana knows both of us and I think she had quite a fun time playing all afternoon :)
     Last night, I was talking to Kelly. Her and James are in the process of becoming licensed for fostering, and on Monday they have the home inspection, and she was just letting me know (also, they are baby proofing the house right now in preparation for this, and Kenzie is hopeless when it comes to baby locks, so when she was out, we put one of the doorknob cover things on the front door. Good times!). So that got me thinking about how they could potentially have a child shortly after I leave, if the home inspection is so soon. And then I realized: next week is my LAST WEEK. I have been of the mindset of having two weeks, or just under two weeks left. I had yet to think "Next week is my last week." But it is. Two weeks from today is my first day back at work. Its crazy. How has time flown so fast, that it is already so close to the end of my time on staff with YWAM Madison?
     I'm blessed to have two places that I can call home -Georgetown and Madison. I'm blessed with amazing communities and family in both places. But that also means that I have the sucky part of missing the people from one place while I'm in the other.
     Blessings,
          Katie

A couple of weeks ago, we talked about Heaven. One child got super excited by the fact that there will be no sun because God is there, and so he was like "That means we don't have to sleep in Heaven!" He really liked that idea and for the next few weeks, that was always what he was thankful for.... Meanwhile I'm thinking about how much I love sleep... :P

Surrender

     I know people who are doing/have done some pretty amazing things. Seriously. I have friends who have worshipped God in the Tiger's Nest (a Buddhist temple) in Bhutan. I have friends who have travelled to North Korea with their eight month old baby. I have friends who have trekked through the mountains of Nepal, staying in remote villages. I have friends who have stayed overnight in the red light district in India, in order to pray throughout the night. I have friends who have ridden water buffalo to church. I have friends who have had dinner with men from Al Qaeda. YWAMers do crazy, insane, amazing things, let me tell you! Those are just a few of the things my friends here have done.
     It all comes down to God. I mean, what are the chances of a couple of American Christians sitting down for dinner with members of Al Qaeda. Really. That doesn't generally happen. But for my friends, on their outreach, it happened. If we just surrender our lives to God, we can do crazy, insane, amazing things and experience things that we never would have dreamed of experiencing! Take me, for example. I never, ever would have thought that I would be standing in Mexico, chatting with a member of the Mexican Mafia. Like really. Yet that happened. I never, ever would have thought that I would be living in America -especially not Wisconsin- literally building a preschool from scratch. Yet here I am.
     When we surrender our lives to God, our lives go places that we never ever would imagine.
     Over the past few months, I have been meeting with a couple other members of YWAM Madison staff to pray for the preschool and pray into the future of it. As you know, I'm leaving soon to go back home, and I won't be coming back (well... I will be coming back, but for visits, not to join staff again. Okay. Well. I can't say I WON'T join staff again, because if God asks me to, of course I will. But at this point, I don't foresee that happening). So the question that we have been asking God is what next. He called me to come here and start this thing, and I felt like I was supposed to pass it on to someone else after a short time. But it was January, then February, and we still had no one who was going to take over. I was leaving, and it was looking like that was it. That would be the end.
     Would I be angry if I came to Madison, started this preschool, left, and then that was the end of the YWAM Madison preschool? Would I be angry if what I pioneered ended with my commitment to it? No, because I know that I was obedient to what God asked of me. And I know that these current preschool children have benefited from it. If the only reason that God wanted this preschool was for these seven children, then it was worth it.
     Of course, we believe that God doesn't want the preschool to just end in two weeks, when I go home. We believe that this is something that God wants to continue and grow.
     And after our most recent prayer times, we have a much better idea of what God wants to do with this preschool next. No, it is not going to shut down after this one year -PD, the one who took over for me while I was home for Opa's funeral, is going to be heading it up next year!- which is no surprise to me.
     What IS a surprise to me is exactly how much God is growing this thing!
     During our prayer times, each and every one of us felt like we needed to take the next step, and we all felt that the next step was a full-time kindergarten next year. Every day, all day. Alongside a part time preschool, just like this year.
     When a couple of the parents had first mentioned to me their wish for a kindergarten next year, I laughed to myself, thinking 'Good luck, cause that is BIG. There is no way THAT will happen!' Yet here we are, praying more into a kindergarten and looking into what that entails and preparing for it.
     God is taking this small, seven-kid, part time preschool that He started through me, and He is taking it places already.
     God is faithful, and God is good, and God is ambitious, and God can do it!
     Blessings,
         Katie

This weekend, I went with my friend to Illinois. She has family there, and her mom was in town (from Oregon, where they are from), so we went to visit. On Sunday, they were my tour guides through Chicago. It was a beautiful day!

Right by Millennium Park, they have a fairly new playground and it is SO MUCH FUN! Best playground ever! Kenz and I had a lot of fun on those slides :) We could have spent the whole day just playing!

This slide. It was a bit small for us adults, but Kenzie and I were determined to go down it and it was so fun! LOVE this playground :)

Before we left, Kenzie's mom made Easter baskets for both of us and hid them for us to hunt for in the morning. Apparently, at 11:30 at night, this looked like a good hiding spot to her... :P The other one was not much harder to find...

On Friday it was bring-your-own-cup day at 711, so Kenz and I went for it! We never ended up even getting CLOSE to finish all of this slushie... But what we did have was delicious!

In Chicago, right by the pizza place where we ate lunch, we found the "Honorary Canada place". I couldn't NOT take a picture! :)   

Seeing Jesus

     I think that every single time I go to preschool and spend time with those kids, I see their growth more and more. I can look back and remember who they were when preschool began back in September, and they aren't the same kids anymore. I can see reflections of Jesus in each and every one of them. I mean, obviously I could in the beginning, too, but the more I get to know them and the more they grow and learn, the more ways I see it.
     Don't get me wrong, the children aren't perfect! I still can get frustrated sometimes when we are talking about God or something and a child raises their hand and says something completely off-topic. But they've 4/5 years old. That's normal.
     Every day, when we have circle time, the children have to pick a letter to sit on. Its an easy way to have the children sitting on the edge of the carpet. Micah always sits on the letter M, and the other children always sit near him (he is quite popular, apparently...). Except Ethan. Every day, Ethan sits alone on the letter E, with no other children around him.
     Until last Friday. Micah sat down, as usual, on the letter M. The others sat beside him, except for Bennett. Bennett and Micah are best friends, and Bennett ALWAYS wants to sit beside him. He always wants to do everything with Micah. So it was surprising when Bennett sat beside Ethan instead. Dorian was thrilled because that meant that she got to take Bennett's usual spot beside Micah. And then one of the kids asked Bennett a question: "Why are you sitting over there today?"
     "Well," Bennett shrugged, "Ethan is always all by himself. I thought he might be lonely, so I decided to sit by him today."
     The kids thought that was a great idea -they didn't want anyone to be lonely!- so they ALL ended up moving over to sit around Ethan.
     It was so amazing to see Bennett, and then all the others, looking out for their friend. Thinking about someone else before themselves. That's not something that happens a lot with kindergarten aged children. It was an amazing reflection of Jesus in them, and I was so proud!
     Of course, Ethan likes having space, so he ended up moving so he was sitting alone again, which confused all of the other kids (I explained that sometimes people just need some space, and they were like "But he ALWAYS has space!") but it was the thought, the compassion of those kids that made me really see Jesus that day.
     Then yesterday, I was reading a story to a couple children while PD (fellow staff member who helps me out now, and it is terrific!) was playing dinosaurs with the others, and they were chatting about nightmares. I couldn't help but listen. PD asked them what they do when they have a nightmare, and they replied that they will pray to Jesus, usually with their parents. PD asked them if that helps, and they said yes. Once they pray, they aren't scared anymore.
     I love those kids. So much.
     Over the past seven months, I've had the amazing privileged of walking beside these seven children as they grow in relationship (with God and each other) and understanding. I have been blessed by each child, and I can't thank God enough for asking me to come to Madison and do this. I may not know why He picked me, of all people, but I will be grateful for the rest of my life!
     Three and a half weeks to go....
     Blessings,
          Katie

Kenzie and I were feeling active on Saturday, so we went out. Spent an hour at the pet store (sadly the puppies were all behind glass :( but we had fun watching the birds!) followed by some time at Barnes and Noble, where we read children's books. The Dr Seuss book was amazing.... that line though. "Kid, You'll move mountains!" Its true. If you just trust God, you will do incredible things. Just look at where I have been so far! God really speaks through children's books :)

 The weather last week was INCREDIBLE -it was 15 degrees at 9:30 in the morning one day- so Kenzie and I went for a nice walk at sunset. It was beautiful!

This weekend, I moved downstairs to Kenzie's room. Our house "parents" are in the process of becoming foster parents, so they need the room I was staying in to be empty. Kenzie and I are now in the middle of our "29 day sleepover" as Kenz describes it. Everyone is concerned for us, and keeps asking me how it is going. But we get along quite well ;) Seriously though, I love Kenzie. She's an amazing friend, and a highly entertaining person, if you know her as well as I do...

Having Fun

     This past Saturday, the Fall 2015 Discipleship Training School, that wonderful group of Jesus-lovers who I lived with all fall, graduated. They returned from outreach while I was home in Canada. It is so good to see them again and hear a little bit about their trips. Now, most of them have returned to their homes, although there are about thirteen students remaining and doing a week long fundraising seminar at the GMC.
     I'm so proud of that group. I wasn't technically their staff, but I lived with them for four months, and I watched them go from a group of awkward strangers to a big, loving, amazing family. Each and every one of them is on fire for God and I'm excited to see where they go next.
     Preschool, however, is NOT over.... thank goodness! I love my time with those kids. I still live in amazement at how God took a dorm room and turned it into this happy place filled with the laughter and noise of seven 4-and-5-year-olds. Seriously. It's incredible!
     Ever since I returned from Canada, fellow staff member PD has joined me at preschool. He's the one who took over for me while I was away, and he is praying about taking over next fall. In the meantime, he has been coming to help out and observe how I run the preschool. While I was away, he was kind of thrown into it, since he hadn't ever spent time in the preschool before. It is great to have the extra set of hands, and starting next week, PD is going to try to take over a bit of the leadership by leading a circle or another activity.
     Yesterday was a particularly fun day at preschool. It started with just Micah and I playing dinosaurs before the other kids arrived. I mentioned how I miss playing dinosaurs with him during Focus Nights, which is what we did all fall. He nodded, "Yeah, we don't get to do that anymore, and not ever again. But maybe we can play dinosaurs when you come back for a visit!" So cute :)
     During circle, we talked about encouragement and how we want to use positive words, words that are kind and loving. Last week we talked about being thankful, and making sure we actually say thank you when we feel thankful, so it seems like God wants these kids to learn how to speak life over people :)
     It was an absolutely GORGEOUS, springlike day yesterday, reaching 19C by the afternoon, so we stayed outside for quite some time. The kids had a blast chasing PD around and playing with the balls and swinging on the swing set.
     Our activity yesterday was making playdough -it was long overdue! The children always have fun measuring things and stirring, so they enjoyed the process. And then had even more fun playing with the playdough once it was done :)
     We have fun. We really do. I'm going to miss this!
     Blessings,
          Katie

During circle a couple weeks ago we talked about how powerful Jesus is (so we don't need to be afraid!). We wrote down what Jesus has power over. I like how they said hedgehogs and flies :P

The sunset over the GMC one day. The picture really doesn't do it justice!

Prayer requests last week. It warmed my heart when one child prayed for the Fall DTS (who were travelling home from their stateside trips that day) to have safe travels.

No Regrets

     As you probably know, my 95 year old Opa, Willem Roest, passed away almost two weeks ago. My parents kindly paid for airfare for me to come home. It was really wonderful being back home with my family for a few days, although now looking back, it kind of feels like it was a dream.
     It was so surreal stepping off that plane at the Toronto Pearson Airport. I was trying to figure out how in the world I had ended up there. Most of the trip there was kind of a blur.
     One thing I do remember, though. I was sitting on the plane, gazing out the window into the darkness below, and just talking to God as I thought about life and death. And that's when I realised that if I were to die right now, I would have no regrets. Then I thought that there must be something that I would regret, so I concentrated on trying to think of it. I thought and I thought. And I literally couldn't think of a single thing that I would regret if I were to die right now.
     I have followed God where He has called me. I have done things that I never would have thought I would be comfortable doing -and I wasn't comfortable, but I did them because God asked me to. At this point in my life, I don't regret anything that I have done, and there is nothing that I haven't done that I wish I had.
     I mean, are there things that I still want to do in my life? Absolutely! But they aren't things that I need to be happy. I'd love to see more of the world, and to do many other things. However, at this point in my life, I wouldn't regret not doing them. Maybe if I'd had the opportunity and said no, I would regret it right now, but I haven't had the opportunity to do these things yet, and so I can't regret not doing them.
     So I hope that I continue to live my life this way. I hope that each day, I intentionally make decisions that leave me with no regrets at the end of the day. I hope that when God asks me to do something, I will continue to say 'yes' in spite of fears and questions and insecurities.
     In order to live this way, I have to choose it, though. I have to CHOOSE to say yes to God. And while that may seem like the obvious thing to do -I mean, He is God!- it can still be hard to say yes to Him sometimes. I'm rarely comfortable doing the things He asks me to do. I usually don't believe that I can do it. I'm usually full of fear. So these are the things that I need to (continue to) fight every single day for the rest of my life.
     I am living for God now. And I pray that I continue to do that -to follow His calling in my life- for the rest of my days.
     Blessings,
          Katie

My Opa loved animals -especially dogs and cows- so it was fitting that a couple of the bouquets at the funeral had plastic cows!

Wisconsin has BEAUTIFUL sunsets!

Our house dogsat this dog for a week, which was such fun! I'm not usually a little dog person, but Estrella is the cutest!

On Sunday, it was my friend Rachel's -we did DTS together- birthday, so we got together for coffee :)

These boys absolutely LOVE dinosaurs. Like, love is probably an understatement...

While I was home, I got to hang out with my siblings. So that was fun!