New Level of Grace

I'll make this short, but just want to say...God is so good. Recently He's been showing me a new level of grace. Sometimes in life we don't understand grace and what it means, but God has been showing me more and more lately. But it's not necessarily been an easy lesson. I've had to endure things and go through things to receive that grace. It's been more about the journey lately than the destination.

Be blessed.

Can't Do It On My Own

So I’m an avid fan of VeggieTales. Not only because my nephew loves watching them with me, but because even for someone in their late 20’s that has been a Christian practically all her life, there are many lessons to be learned. The moment I think I know everything, is when my life seems to be put to a test.

So I’m watching VeggieTales Gideon, and during the main story, Gideon (Larry) has accepted that God has called him, and he has cut his army by 2/3…he walks to the edge of the cliff and looks at the enemy the Midianites. And Larry turns to the angel and asks, “Do you ever have a hard time trusting God?” Comes the reply “Me? No, I see Him everyday. I know how glorious He is. I know he never breaks His promise. I also know He loves you ‘cuz he told me…It’s easy for an angel to trust God, but you have faith in something you haven’t even seen! I admire that. Trust him Gideon; He’ll never let you down.”

See? Such good things for adults too. I’ve recently just gone through a bout of trying to do things on my own. When will we ever learn right?! Well, I guess we’re all in our own process. But it had taken the simple story told by vegetables to remind me of God’s love, and my need to trust Him with everything. He will never let me down. Although in my flesh, I may see or think that…I don’t always see the whole picture.

Just wanted to share that with you. Be blessed, and know the battle belongs to the Lord.

Philippians 4:19 “And my God will fully satisfy every need of yours according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus”

Be blessed.
Kelley <><

My Rock

Life is easy when things seem to go your way! But it's when things start to get a little hairy when I'm really tested in my faith in Christ. Do I really believe He has everything in His hands? Do I really believe that He's in control and has my best interst at heart? I do. After I have my moment of stress, I seem to always come back to my rock - because my house was built on Him. So when the wind, rain and hail came...I stood firm. Thank you Jesus for being my rock.

Delayed Obedience is Still Disobedience

As I was driving with a friend to the Rosebud Indian Reservation (2nd poorest county in the nation), someone from the back was having a conversation about obedience. Her comment was "delayed obedience is still disobedience". WOW! My friend and I thought...that was right to the heart. Ouch. And it's exactly what I had been talking to God recently, just making sure what I'm doing right now is really the thing God wants me to be doing.

Then this last Sunday the guest speaker was speaking about almost the same thing! Just about being obedient to what God has called you to do. And not moving until God says "move".

So although this past month has been a month of question and wonder - God has reassured me several times that He has called me to a live of obedience to Him.

I want to encourage you out there (whoever is reading this...) be obedient to what you have heard God say in your life. No one else can hear from God for you. So listen up...and obey.

Just Gonna Stop Arguing!

So I'm back in South Dakota, which is bittersweet. I get to be home with my family, but I'm missing friends and weddings of friends...sigh...I guess I can't everything I ask for in this lifetime.

So now I'm at a crossroads. So many decisions to make, things to do...but is telling me to wait. Why Lord? Why wait. And His response? His usual..."trust me". Okay God, I'm not going to argue, because I never win anyways. So what am I waiting for? I dunno. I have the option of going back to YWAM Tyler and completing a School of Evangelism (SOE), but that costs more money of course. I could work with local organizations, go overseas...I don't know. But God does. And that's why I rest assured that everything will work out how it is supposed to. All in His timing and His perfect plan.

So I'm just going to stop arguing...I never win anyways.

**The picture is from a walk I took and found a nice a small piece of the rainforest down the mountain highway. It was beautiful!

Goodbye's

This week has been a good, but tough week for me. I landed back in the United States from being away for 32 days...but am having to say goodbye to many good friends I have made. This last month was filled with serving others through skits, clowning, pouring concrete, buying milkshakes, and drinking coffee!!! We had a great time, but it's good to be going back to my family after nearly a half a year away.

So...
Goodbye Costa Rica...
Goodbye San Jose...
Goodbye Poacito...
Goodbye Poas Mountain...
Goodbye YWAM Tyler...
Goodbye Dear Friends...
Until we all meet again.

(But until then...Hello home.)

Blessings,
Kelley <><

Wrapping Up In Costa Rica!

My time in Costa Rica end tomorrow at 8am. The time here has been good...although we have not seen a lot of fruifeul times while here, I know that God is bigger than that and He will continute the work that we have done in His name.

We were challenged several days ago while in Poas. ¨What would you do if you NEVER saw fruit of your ministry? Would you still do it? You now God has called you specifically to a certain area and you do it for YEARS, but you NEVER see fruit. Would you still do it?"

I hope the answer to that question would always be yes. But I can never say something about a situation I have never been in. But what I do know is this: whatever I would do...I know I would have people supporting me in love.

So thank you for your love everyone. It means so much.

Blessings from Costa Rica for 1 more day...
Kelley <><

Back in Texas...for 24 hours...

Yes, it is true...it's only for 24 hours. I'm excited to be back in Tyler, TX for a few hours so I can do laundry, catch up with friends and this blog.

We had a blessed time in Kansas and Oklahoma with youth groups and churches. God is so good, and I'm ready to go to Costa Rica for 32 days and bless the people there. I'm not sure what we'll be doing exactly - but I'm ready to get my hands dirty.

I'm so tired and exhausted. I wish I could write more, but quite frankely, I'm too tired to think of what I've been doing these past few weeks.

Blessings,
Kelley <><

SJO here I come!!!

This is probably the last time I will have to check e-mail, blog or do anything close to a keyboard for a month. thank you to all of you who have prayed for me, and continue to pray for me. Thank you also for your financial support through out these months.

When I get back home there are a lot of decisions to be made about life and where I will be going for ministry. I know the Lord will lead and guide my steps like he has already. But that's just another specific thing to keep in prayer for me.

May the Lord bless you richly! See you in May!

Blessings,
Kelley <><

Wichita/Goddard, KS

After much preparation of planning, praying, and practicing...we have completed a week of Stateside Outreach phase in Wichita and Goddard, KS. We had a great and blessed time at First United Methodist Church in Goddard helping and attending a missions conference. The people were so sweet! Several of them asked if they could pray for me, and I was more than happy to oblige by giving them my prayer card.

Tomorrow we leave for Oklahoma City for a week, and back to Tyler, TX for a day to do laundry and re-pack for Costa Rica.

Other than that, no new news! If you're a "Facebook-er", feel free to add me and catch up with things there too.

Blessings,
Kelley <><

Lecture Phase Over...

After nearly 3 months of classroom instruction, lecture phase of Discipleship Training School is over. I have learned so much, I don't think I could even describe everything. So tomorrow we leave for Wichita, KS to spend a week ministering there. We later move to Oklahoma City, OK for another week. After THAT...we go to Costa Rica. I look forward to telling you so much. I need to remember to take my camera with me though...I'm so bad about taking pictures.

Many blessings to you! Please keep me in your prayers.

Kelley <><

Esther...

So last week I was having a hard time having quiet time, just so much going on. My evenings and mornings were being consumed by things, people and everything else but alone time with Jesus. But this morning was so good, and I feel so much more refreshed and ready to take on the world! Well, at least Costa Rica for a month. But okay, back to Esther. God told me to read Esther, a story I have read before, watched a movie about before, quite frankly, I knew a lot about. But isn't that how God is? He loves to show us new things in the things we think we know a lot about!

So Esther Chapter One. King Xerxes calls for his beloved queen, Queen Vashti. He wants to promenade his beautiful, gorgeous, out-right hotty-totty wife to his friends and community. But she refused. WHAT?! Refuse the king? NEVER! He conferred with counsel, and they said in a few short sentences to banish her from his sight. Ooh. Ouch. Gotta find a new queen now.

Okay, but stop. Before you go thinking about Esther and everything she did for "such a time as this"...we can't skip over what the allegoric reference (big words-I know) in the first chapter.

God, OUR King, is calling for us to come out and promenade before His friends and community. But we're refusing...so what does He do?! He finds a suitable bride, a new queen to take her place. Do you see it? Really? Do you see how God wants to brag about us? He wants to show us off in all the decadence that He knows how...but we refuse. Ouch. Humans can be so dumb sometimes.

God is calling us to be His. To be in His Royal Family. To wear the Crown of Life! Wear it, and wear it proud.

I hope this blessed you today.

Blessings,
Kelley <><

Ah! The Possibilities.

So we're getting ready for our outreach trips to both Oklahoma, Kansas and Costa Rica. A lot has been on my mind lately, lots of things happening, but all good! I'm thinking and praying about the ministry that I'll be involved in - but also thinking about what I'm going to be doing afterwards for ministry. I'm not really sure, I have a lot of opportunities, just waiting for God to open the right doors. Here are some things I could possibly be involved in:

1. Medical Missions to Honduras
2. Help ministry to India
3. Reservation work in South Dakota
4. Zimbabwe Africa medical outreach

So there are a lot of things going on, please pray that I make the right decision.

BUT...all the while these things are going on in my life, I need to take one step at a time and focus on Stateside and Costa Rica. I am so ready for what God has in store for me. I'm excited to share with everyone too.

Please keep me in your prayers. I love all of you!

Blessings,
Kelley <><

Team Picture

This is the team that is going to Wichita, KS; Oklahoma City, OK; and Costa Rica. Now you have faces for praying. Thanks so much!

Clowning Around

So go figure...I'm a clown. Yep, I was cast in the acting and clowning for outreach. Hmm...I'm going to have to really stretch myself for that one huh? Okay, okay...you're laughing. I love it. I love it when I get a reason to clown around and act goofy!

For the skits we're practicing ice-breakers for when we start services. One is called "The House Is On Fire". It's all about silliness! I play the playhouse director and am trying to get "professional" actors to do what I want them to do. BUT...they aren't quite professional after all. They can't seem to do anything right. When I tell them to act the scene out again in a different way, they do it to the extreme. "Fast", they act so fast it's like a VHS tape on rewind. I tell them slower, they do it slow motion. They just can't do anything right! It ends with me quitting the job and them ending Jackie Chan style.

One of the clown skits we do is called "Kick Me". I play the grumpy clown and I act all grumpy until happy comes in and starts to bug me! I push her away several times, then I get the idea to put a "kick me" sign on her back. 3 other clown kick her, there is a chase...and I'm found out! I get beat up, but she's pulled back and told that God loves me, so should she. She comes to pick me up (but I cower because I just got beat by her!). She goes on to tells me that God loves me, and so does she...so we're friends and skip off the stage! Oh...if life were that easy :)

So I've been having fun this week with ministry preparation. It's also been good realizing how close we are to going on outreach. We are becoming more unified in our team, and we're seeing each others gifts become more evident.

Thank you for keeping me (us) in your prayers. They are definitely felt.

Blessings,
Kelley <><

Keep the Pillow To Yourself

The tongue is an amazing muscle in the body. So small, yet so powerful. Do this...relax your tongue. C'mon...try hard, I'll give you a few seconds.

It relaxes your whole face...it will even relax your whole body if you concentrate on relaxing your tongue that much. Such a powerful muscle. It controls your tasting abilities, which in turn control your smelling abilities. If you burn it, it hurts for several days. If you bite it, it will hurt for several days.

The Bible is right about our tongue being a powerful thing! In the New Living Version of the Bible there are 79 separate references that specifically use the word 'tongue' in it. That's quite a few references for such a small muscle!

James 3:5 says: "In the same way, the tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches. But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire."

Wow! Have you ever wished you would have held your tongue before you spoke? I know I have (lots! Yes mom, no comments please...) We were told a story in class about a church member who should have held her mouth when she was talking with friends.

She gossiped to her friends about her pastor, which in turn spread to other friends, which in turn spread to the community, which in turn came back to the pastor. When this women realized what she had said was wrong, she came back to the pastor to ask for forgiveness. She had realized what she did was wrong and wanted to let him know that. The pastor forgave her, but he gave her this illustration: "Take a feather pillow with you to the edge of town. Tear it open on top of a hill on a windy day and let the feathers fly all over. THEN...go in to town and pick up all of the feathers that you just let loose. Impossible. This is much like what you have done to me. I forgive you, yes, but the damage to my reputation is done. There is no reversing the words that you have spoken already."

Wow! Have you ever thought of it that way? I encourage you to go to the people in your life that represent you opening a feather pillow on a hill about...ask them for forgiveness. Hopefully not too much damage has been done in that persons life, but maybe you'll realize that you shouldn't stand on a hill with someone else's feathers on a windy day. Keep the pillow to yourself. Relax your tongue. Is what you have to say encouraging or tearing down the other person?

So...put down the pillow.

Blessings,
Kelley <><

...

Nothing really exciting today...just wanted to see if people were reading this :)

Aren't You Glad God Speaks English?

Have you ever thought of that before? Yeah, we often don't. We have four nations, and three languages represented in our class here at YWAM Tyler. Wow! And it's so much fun to hear them speak in their own language to God.

But you have to think...God's first language wasn't English! Hogwash! No, it's true. But I'm sure glad He speaks English, Korean, Karen (people group in Burma), Spanglish, Jibberish, Morning-bad-breath-haven't had my coffee yet...you get the idea.

So no matter what you language you speak to God, please know He hears and understands you. I'm so blessed to know that my friends all over the world can pray to the same God that has redeemed us all.

May you be blessed as you speak to God is whatever language you want to speak :)

Kelley <><

Quiet Time Ruined by Plastic Lizards!

I like to have my quiet time in the gym/cafeteria in the morning before class. I journal some, pray some and just enjoy having a nice time sitting with my friend Jesus. Until about 9am. That's when the daycare kids start playing in the gym. Today they're getting a little more used to seeing me in there, so they're coming up to me to give me hugs, high fives, and plastic lizards. So ended my quiet time with God...or so you might think.

But God comanded us (Matthew 19:14) to be like these little children. To emrace how they play and act. So my quiet time wasn't ruined by the kids running around and laughing - it was a good reminder that God wants me to be like them. To run up to Him and ask for hugs, high fives and share my plastic lizard with Him.

May you be blessed as your experience some good "quiet" time with God!

Blessings,
Kelley <><

Community Outreach

Saturday we had a community outreach for a woman who's husband died in November from cancer. As winter has hit she has realized just how much she did around the house-even little things like place a lighbulb by a pipe so it wouldn't freeze overnight. She's also raising a 9 yr old son who has now had to change schools due to transportation and fianances.

We raked and burned leaves (guess that's not illegal in Texas!), cleaned out a garage and shed, put together an entertainment system, and other odd things. Things that would have taken her months, took the 18 or so of us 5 hours.

I know that she was blessed, but I also know we were blessed in being able to help her. I was able to speak to her about the death of her husband and his being on hospice - and gave an opportunity to tutor her son during this crazy time.

So be blessed! Enjoy the day :) Tell the people around you that you love them.

Blessings,
Kelley <><

Stop Horsing Around!

I'm trying to get better about blogging more...

Today we learned about hearing God's voice, the still small voice. It's much like training a horse really. Some of you know that I had the privelge of riding a horse named Joannie while I was in Sioux Falls. I loved training her and teaching her to listen to me, because when I trained her to do the task of running barrels, we had more fun together because we did it with ease. She was able to sprint hard like she liked, and I was able to fly around corners in a relaxed state with her knowing I was in control to stop at anytime. (Trust me...very important in an arena!)

But when you start training a horse, you need to teach it that you as a rider are in control of their every move. When you want a horse to go left and he goes right...you take control of the horse and make him go in circles (yep, literal circles). Circle so much that you almost get dizzy. You do this every time a horse does something you don't want it to do. It wears the horse out, and puts the control back in the saddle. If you don't circle the horse immediately, the horse will know he has gotten away with something, and will try to have control all the time, rather than letting the rider have control.

God is much the same way as a horse trainer. When the Israelites were called to the Promised Land, they wandered for 40 years! The actual walk to that land was only a couple days away, but they were disobedient to God - so He circled them in the desert for 40 years until they were finally listening!

Today, it's still much the same in our lives, we try to control things. We want to go right, or do this...but wants us to go left and do that! Eventually after enough times of God "making us dizzy in circles", we listen. We don't have to be taken around in circles anymore, in fact...we just go left. So I hope that you can listen to that still small voice in every area of your life so you don't have be dizzy anymore!

Blessings,
Kelley <><

Intercession

We've started learning a little bit about Intercession in our discussion groups lately. I was waiting for this BIG revelation about how to intercede for people...but you know what? I was already interceding for people and I didn't even know it. I wanted to put this big all-heavenly term on it, but it didn't need one! Intercession is quite simple really, so simple I thought it couldn't be right. The dictionary term for intercession is "pleading on the behalf of others". Yep, that's it! I'm so glad to know that I was doing things right.

So soon and very soon (yeah, the song...sorry) we're going to find out where we're going on International outreach. We're all really excited! I really don't care where we go, since I want to go everywhere, but I'm still anxious to know! I have some ideas...but I'll have to let you know if I was right later.

Thank you so much for all of your encouragement lately! I love and appreciate you all so much.

Blessings,
Kelley <><

Forgiveness makes chili better!

Tonight I went to the Prayer Chapel with all good intentions of taking pictures of my fellow students worshiping...mm hmm! Let me start with what we were discussing in class today...

Steve Rockmore was speaking on the Father Heart of God. Meaning, what a man/husband/father should be for his family, and if he is not certain aspects of provider, protector and priest...certain ramifications happen. (Please note, that women/mothers/wife play just as vital a role in this, but we were talking about fathers). Most of you all know, if not all of you...that I have the most loving, thoughtful, fantastic, super-duper dad in the whole world! So I really didn't know how to approach this subject, because he was speaking on subject that I didn't have any difficulty in. BUT...isn't God amazing, that through this subject He dealt with me on several other issues dealing with people??!! Ah! God is good. I came to realize that I had a root of unforgiveness, and bitterness towards certain people in my life that have caused me heartache and pain. None of this was prompted by anyone at all-only God.

So as I sat at a table making a little drawing of my pain (let me tell you, this was Spirit-led...I don't draw stick people very well!) But I knew it was the Holy Spirit, because I didn't have control over the pencils that were coloring on the sheet of paper. At one point I couldn't even write "I forgive", I literally couldn't. I started to weep. I kept writing. Weeping. It is so hard to forgive. It's much like an onion, it's coming off in layers.

Well, by the end of this little session I had with God, of forgiving myself, forgiving others, blah blah blah...I picked up that piece of paper and wrote over it in large charcoal..."I FORGIVE". It was so huge. I didn't even realize that I hadn't forgiven these people.

My forgiveness didn't come like a snap of the fingers. It's like an onion, and it's going to make me cry as God and I cut to the center. When it's all said and done, my onion will be added to a nice big crock-pot of chili and it will taste yummy! mmmmm.

Many blessings to you! May God find the ROOT of the unforgiveness in your life...then go and make some chili. Love and Blessings!

Kelley <><

Day 1...

So day 1 here is over. I was hoping it was a little warmer, but it was raining and cold. And yes...40 degrees anywhere is cold! It's been challenging for me by being the oldest woman here, and there is a man that is about 6 months older than me, so we're kinda in a boat by ourselves. I would have liked to have more people my age, but God has me here for a reason and I hope I listen to what God wants to teach me.

We had a speaker on "Quiet Time With God", it was a really good presentation on how to use our time in practical ways rather than just asking God for things. Always a good refresher, and a good reminder that I need to be more obedient in that. Our 2nd speaker today was about intercession. All in all the day was good! I'm excited to hear from God the next steps He has for me.