SUIT UP

The month of February was all about Suiting Up for Point Kids. The adults were going through a series titled "Sexy Church" so in efforts to stay on a similar page we talked about putting on the full armor of God.

Explaining to a few of the younger kids early in the month that we don't actually put on the armor was a little tough, but they eventually got it.

When the PK (Malachi) asked me a pretty deep theological

question about weather or not we actually fight the devil I was floored.... "Kat, we learn to put on the armor of God, does that mean that we have to fight the devil at some point?" (something like that) My response was first, WOW and then... "Do you remember what Easter is all about?"// "yeah that's when Jesus died on the cross and then he rose again 3 days later."// "yup that's right! Well part of the armor of God is the helmet of Salvation, which is when we ask Jesus to be out best friend. When we ask Jesus to do that it's like having your own super hero squad."// "Ok so Jesus being our best friend helps us so that we don't have to really fight the devil!" (the words may have been slightly different but not much)

Some weeks we feel like the kids aren't paying attention and like they don't get it at all and then moments like what happened with Malachi happen and you realize, WOW they really do get it.

Yesterday as their teacher taught them about the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit I sat in the back of our theater and wrote "suit up" and eph 6:11 on 17 balloon swords and prayed for our kids I was blown away at the end when they all decided to sign a foam sword signifying that they wanted to SUIT UP! Aside from having AMAZING teachers our church has some pretty incredible kids.

Just when we think they aren't paying attention they come out with AMAZING questions and responses. Yesterday our kids made a commitment to "Suit Up!" (Eph 6:11) They signed a foam sword that now hangs above my desk. It hangs there to remind me to pray for them, to remind myself to "suit up" and as a reminder of how amazingly blessed I am to get to work with such AWESOME kids!

W-A-I-T...

Wait....

Most of the time we HATE that word! One definition for the word wait is... "to continue as one is in expectation"

How do you keep going as though something is going to happen when you're not sure how or when it is going to happen?

Waiting starts with a Want...

We want something. We see something we desire but for some reason it's not the right time for us to have the thing that we want.

Our church has seen the increased need for a space we could call our own. A space where our church could continue to grow as a healthy, life giving, family friendly church. Our leadership discussed the WANT and quickly realized that it would take a miracle of God to be able to obtain a building of any sort. So we decided to make do with what we have and remain in that stage where we continue as though we are expecting something greater than what we have.

But after you Want something you cannot help but Anticipate that thing to come to be. The Anticipation keeps you up at night, it causes you to think and dream things that you're not too sure you will ever really see happen but then also that you know you really want to see happen. In November (2010) our church was approached by another church that was closing it's doors and asked if we had an interest in buying their building. A team of our leadership went to check out this building and could not help but Anticipate and dream of the potential the building could have for our church.

Once you Want and Anticipate you Invoke, you know pray. Ask God do do the impossible, pray that He would direct your steps and that He would help you through the waiting process.

After seeing the building our team and our church prayed, we prayed that God would be in control of the situation and if it wasn't something He wanted for us that we would be ok with whatever happened. That if the answer was no that something even better would come along and if the answer was yes that we would have the wisdom to do what needed to be done for our church.

But what do you do when you Want something, then Anticipate, and Invoke.... what's next? Well... all that's left to do is TRUST.

Once you walk through the Want, to the Anticipation and Invoke God all you can do is Trust that the author and finisher of our faith has it all under control. We (our church) Trusted that God knew what he was doing and today our Pastor (2 days after his birthday, 6 days before we celebrate our church's 3rd birthday, on Valentine's day- you know the day of LOVE) signed a contract to BUY the building we saw back in November. The place we Wanted, Anticipated, Invoked God for, and TRUSTED for... it's ours! It's like our own little TRUE LOVE WAITs Valentine!!!

Yup pretty sure Valentine's Day 2011 is one that we will NEVER forget! =)

don't STOP Pushing me....

Sometimes you end up with people in your life who will push you to do things that you may not really want to do, simple or difficult, but those people are only pushing you because that want to see you do your best.

I'm not a huge fan of reading, it's really not my favorite pass time. I'll do it and often end up enjoying the experience but it's not always something I'll think to do if I have some down time. Usually sleep or watching TV wins in that battle. There's a quote that I've heard pretty often about no longer growing when you stop being willing to learn. I don't ever want to get there because I know that if I stop growing I can no longer help others to grow.

Having these two thoughts... the people propelling and the reading and growing... tie together always causes something inside of me to kind of jump a little. My boss (who is also my pastor and a really good friend) hands me a book today and tells me to read it by a certain date. At first I get a little overwhelmed b/c its not a hobby and I truly read slow, but within moments I realize... this guys is telling me to read this book because he thinks in some way shape or form that this book is going to better me. Well he was right... 3 1/2 pages in and I'm already underlining and making notes (which is a pretty big deal in my world).

So those people who push you to do things you may not really want to, keep in mind that they are usually just trying to push you so that you can and will do greater things with your life.

Although some times it's a little annoying to admit it's amazing to know that there are people who have my back and care enough to push me to do things! So THANKS to the awesome people who push me even when i really don't want to be pushed!

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.

Rare /Uncommon = the norm

So in my world "Rare and Uncommon" has become the norm, or what may happen. I have been the person who has hit most statistics and had some pretty strange experiences. Life seems to come at me fast and hit me pretty hard at times. As I have grown older I have realized that instead of freaking out and being negative I should look at the positive side of things.

The other day I went to the dermatologist to have a bump (Bessie) removed from my leg, nothing serious, just standard "rare and uncommon" stuff being my norm. I walk in (mid november) in my shorts and flip flops and right away doc is alarmed at the site of what is going down with my foot. An allergic reaction to the RED ink in my tattoo. She then has to give me 7 medicated shots to reduce the swelling from the ink and prescribe medical creme which I will have to apply for the next 2 weeks. I looked it up online later on (b/c google is my worst enemy) and it says "Allergic reactions are very uncommon." Yup that's right.... UNCOMMON! A friend of mine (the week prior to this when my tire blew out) said "wow, Kat, you just can't catch a break!" To the "normal" person that may be true but.... its kind of funny how things happen. Having an UNCOMMON allergic reaction to my tattoo reminded me of why I got it in the first place. It's a fireweed flower.... a flower that only grows in harsh conditions, you know like after a volcano erupts or something crazy like that.

All throughout my life there have been these moments, some funny, some crazy, and some just off the charts but all impacting. Moments where there had to be someone working on my side to make a difference and to get me where I am now (pg 23s). Times where I knew there had to be something more to this life then the craziness in front of me.

Moments have changed the events of my life, short snipits of time have forever impacted my world and its all because HIS plan was always the better plan.... so glad I turn over the blueprints and let HIM plan it out. Its been a wild ride and I am looking forward to more rare and uncommon moments becoming the norm!