Night before Christmas re-write

I was sitting at my desk thinking of some sort of devotional to do tonight with the Youth Kids when all of the sudden I found myself reading "The Night Before Christmas." Its a great story and all but it says NOTHING about the real meaning of Christmas, so I looked some up online but none of them really said what I wanted to get across to the Teens. And so.... I re-wrote my own little version and just thought I would share...

The Reason for Christmas

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the malls, all the people were scattered and bouncing like balls.

The stores they were packed with goodies for family and friends, in hopes that people would just spend and spend.

And the church it was empty just waiting to fill, it’s Christmas Eve we all know the drill.

Families together now sing carols with candles they will soon light, it’s the holiday season together we’ll be even families who fight.

We’ve made our lists of what we would like to be under the tree, we’ll just have to wait in the morning to see.

Presents are wrapped with neat little bows and labels to tell us to whom they will go.

The time with our loves ones has brought us such joy but the little ones just cannot wait to have a new toy.

And so off to bed their parents will send all the while forgetting to tell them of their best friend.

You see He’s the reason we even celebrate for He is the reason this holiday we did create.

We were once lost and now we can be found because a long time ago His mommy’s tummy was round.

She gave birth to him and laid him in a manger so that we would all avoid becoming a stranger.

His life was a gift from the heavenly father above a beautiful and precious gift of amazing love.

Jesus came as a babe that Christmas day so that some day later he would take all our sins away.

We light up our homes and decorate so nice but let us always remember this gift that came at such a high price.

Christmas was meant to remind us of love, joy peace and hope, so don’t forget its meaning and be a big dope.

(By:Katherine Woitko written 10/17/10)

Breeding Grounds....

I just hung up the phone with a friend who I got to share AMAZING news with. I was so excited about what I got to share with her. It's something we had just talked about recently and she and I both were so beyond words excited about what it going on. She told me something that helped trigger other thoughts, she reminded me that when I have those thoughts and feelings.... like when I just KNOW something amazing is going to come out of a not so awesome situation... I need to voice that. This friend inspired me to be more visibly passionate about the things I feel and believe... now that's sometimes easier said then done but after I hung up the phone I realized that the conversation between that friend and I was BREEDING GROUND..... a moment where something was birthed. I realized that passion, faith, and excitement are BREEDING GROUND for more passion, faith, and excitement to be formed. It's so crazy what happens when you share those moments and thoughts with someone else. Not only does it get you pumped but it also pumps up the other person and carries out down the line. BREEDING GROUNDS are responsible for the births of countless animals.... BREEDING GROUNDS of faith are responsible for countless moments of LIFE CHANGING events for the masses. The story of the fish and the loaves... total breeding ground for faith, seeing what God could do with so little. The story of Rahab, a woman who was a prostitute who ended up as part of Jesus' linage because she made a choice based on the passion 2 spies had... breeding ground for redemptive purpose. The bible (and life) are FILLED with BREEDING GROUNDS... moments where everything seemed pretty ordinary and usual and all of the sudden out of left field this crazy thing happens and it changes the balance of everything. Feeling pretty blessed sitting in this little office used as BREEDING GROUNDS.

AMAZED, AWED... honestly just WOW!!!!

If I can be real...

Ever do something that you knew was going to affect others? You didn't do it to intentionally hurt anyone but in the end it hurt people who you love, respect, admire, and care a lot about? Feels like the weight of the world is on your shoulders because you know that you disappointed people who were expecting you to excel and all you really did was fail. You didn't even appear to rise to the challenge. In your heart you wanted to exceed it but no one ever really taught you just how important it really would be to do that thing you were challenged to do. In some ways you thought you were meeting that challenge by doing other things but you just didn't realize the importance of focusing on that one task, the one someone else would look at later and ask you reached the mark on the bar that was set for you. No ones really ever challenged you like that before so you just developed a habit of flying under the radar and now... now there's an in your face challenge to do BETTER then what you think you can do and better then what you've done in the past. Habits are good and bad but the habits that spur others on to do good things and to do better then what they are doing are ones that we should all aim for, and although I know that and try real hard to do the things I feel like I should sometimes I mess up and sometimes the human in me over takes the things that I know I can and should do. Some days I mess up, and some times a day feels more like a year.... and thats when the feeling of EPIC FAIL creeps in.... that feeling that I am failing and can't do things right. In my heart and my mind I know what God has for me and I know that I am not a failure... but somedays.. if I can be real just for a second more, sometimes I feel like an EPIC FAILURE.