Life is like a box of chocolates, but way cooler.

Howdy everybody!

This past week or so has been filled with a tummy full of butterflies, uncontrollable giggling, and a whole lot of blushing and speechlessness. You wanna know who is causing this ridiculous behavior in me? Hint: it's a boy. Alright, alright, I'll tell you...His name is Jesus! So, maybe that's not the answer that would typically come after all that giddy girly talk - but it's the downright truth.

Last week I read the book Captivating by John and Stasi Eldredge. For those who haven't read it, it is a book about the woman's heart and how God designed it. There is a very crucial part in the book that can apply to EVERY woman's life (single, in a relationship, married, etc.). It is about how God romances us (and yes, I did mean to use the word "romance"). Before you freak out, keep reading. 

God created us...which means He created our hearts...which means He knows our deepest desires and longings...which means He is the only one who will ever know how to fully fulfill them.

Didja get all of that? Have you ever had a favorite song? Favorite time of the year? Favorite place in nature? Are you a beach or mountain person? Sunrise or sunset person? If you have anything like this in your life, know that that love and desire for those things is God-given. God specifically placed those things in your heart. God wants a relationship with us so badly - so what does He do? He pursues us with flowers, teddy bears, boxes of chocolate and candlelit dinners. But wait a second...He's never given me those things! YES HE HAS! Let me explain. God brought me the most rich box of chocolates money could by this past week. Not only did He do it once, but He did it for me 3 times - talk about feeling spoiled!! But, it was not in the way you think. The thing is, God knows how much I'm obsessed with the sky: sunrises, sunsets (especially), clouds, rays of sun, the whole shebang. Take a wild guess as to what He does...

"Whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens." - James 1:17

 "Come close to God, and God will come close to you." - James 4:8

Your time is up! Here it is: for whatever reason, God REALLY spoiled me last week with 3 incredible, breath-taking sunsets and sunrises. Did it bring me to tears every single time? Yep. Am I embarrassed about it? No way Jose! God gave me those beautiful moments to tell me that I'M beautiful and that He loves me. A sunset without the Lord is just a sunset. But a sunset with the Lord is an intentional, personal, and beautiful thing. It's been a rough week, and He knew that. How would that not make me feel like the most special, loved, pretty, and appreciated girl??

"You are altogether beautiful, my darling; there is no flaw in you." - Song of Songs 4:7

Ladies (and dudes), those moments that your heart wells up with joy when you hear your favorite song, see a patch of wildflowers on the side of the road, or your favorite city's skyline at night, are moments that God is handcrafting and personally giving you. Those moments are a fresh bouquet of roses or a big ole' teddy bear, and it's JUST BECAUSE HE LOVES YOU. He longs for your heart - He longs to see you smile - He longs for you to feel special. Think about a man who has fallen so deeply in love with the woman of his dreams; he'll do anything to make her feel loved. Same thing with God - but to a degree that we will never be able to comprehend. God wants to live life with you and enjoy the joys of life with you. Pretty neat, right?!

"That longing in the heart of a woman to share life together as a great adventure - that comes straight from the heart of God, who also longs for this. . .The vast desire and capacity a woman has for intimate relationships tells us of God's vast desire and capacity for intimate relationships . . .The whole story of the Bible is a love story between God and His people. He yearns for us. He cares. He has a tender heart."  -Stasi Eldredge in Captivating

I've been single for almost 3 years now. But I've been in a relationship with God for about two years and it has been the most FULFILLING, GRACIOUS, and JOYFUL relationship I have ever had or will have in my entire life. Now, we've had our ups and downs, ebbs and flows, just like any relationship. The difference is that I know that no matter what, He will be there for me, sunset in hand, ready to continue loving me the way He has ever since the beginning of time. I can't wait to see where else He's gonna take me! 

The two photos shown are unedited photos of a couple of the sunsets/sunrises that God gave me this week - words cannot describe how thankful I was for them. GOD IS GOOD.

Blessings!

Katie

Social media: BLESSING or IDOL?

Hello again!

As some of you may know, I took a break from social media this past week. And as most of you may know, I am an addict to social media; I love it. Research shows that social networking is just as addicting as alcohol and drugs. SAY WHAT?! You heard me. It triggers and releases chemicals in our brain that tell us we need more. Crazy, right? Now let's talk about why I fasted from this bizz for a week.

Facebook (in particular) is such a blessing to me in so many ways. I get to have open communication with family and friends all over the world. I get to stay in touch with my family and friends in New Zealand, I get to stay updated on the little (but important) things in my friends life, I'm able to see my friends from afar love on their new born baby or newlywed husband or wife, and in return, I get to share MY life with the people I love. Social networking also gives us the opportunity to share God's love to anyone on the planet who wants to see it. To think that we can spiritually and deeply reach out to someone through a Facebook status or a tweet BLOWS my mind. It can be one of the most powerful tools to display your love and worship to the One who created us to hundreds, thousands, and potentially millions of people. Ever think about it that way? Dang, this social media thing really rocks!

HOWEVER...

Let me be real here. Would it have been as hard to give up reading my bible for a week as it was to give up social media? O-U-C-H. Talk about a harsh reality! It stinks to admit it, but I'd be doing myself and whoever reads this a disservice if I wasn't honest about it.

Just like any blessing, it can very quickly and easily become an idol. God gives us so many desires and blessings that we sometimes don't know how to deal with them! I know that my heart to share life experiences, silly pictures, and things that God is doing in my life is a GOD-GIVEN desire. Another God-given desire of mine, one that influences my love for social media, is that I am a total people pleaser. 

There. I said it. 

We are made in God's image; therefore, family, friends, and belonging are all natural things we want. Do some want it more than others? Definitely. But it is the way God designed us. Now this is where it gets tricky. Like anything else, sin screws this up for us. 

Once we value the praise of man more than we value the praise of God, we step into dangerous waters.

"Fearing people is a dangerous trap, but trusting the Lord means safety." -
Proverbs 29:25

Do you really think God cares about how many "likes" you get on a status or photo? Or how many people retweet and/or favorite one of your tweets? NO. He doesn't. Something I learned last week was that I began to go to HIM with the exciting things happening in my life before I did anyone else. I'm not saying to keep things from your FB friends or your Twitter or Instagram followers, but I would hate to think that God found something out on Facebook before I told Him. If a woman is pregnant, do you think she's going to tell Facebook before she tells her husband? No -- what a terrible way to break such incredible news! Same thing with God but to an even higher degree. Why wouldn't we want Him to be the first to know about something and share excitement with? 

Last week, without having social media, I read a book called Captivating (which I will blog about later for sure) and got into the Word every day. Let me say this...
it.was.awesome.
Did it require a little bit of self-discipline? Heck yeah. Was it worth it? HECK yeah. Now...was it easy being away from those social networks? No. I struggled. Like, a lot. But I did it. And I got a lot accomplished in the time I would have been on FB, Twitter, or Instagram. 

Whether it's for a year, a month, a week, or even just a couple of days, I want to encourage you to drop social media. Figure out why it is you use it. While I use it as a blessing, I realized that I had begun to idolize it. Subconsciously, of course, I had made it more important to check those networks than it was to check in with the Lord in the Word. 

And let me tell you, the Word brings more LIFE, JOY, and TRUTH than Facebook ever will. All day. Every day. For the rest of our days. He guarantees it.

Blessings,

Katie

Independent woman, my butt.

Hello all!

I won't dilly-dally around with talk about the Super Bowl, Beyonce, that hilarious Doritos commercial with the goat, or the Budweiser commercial that made me cry. Let's just get straight to bizz. 

As a lot of you may know, I like to think that I'm an independent woman. I pride myself on it and it doesn't take someone long to see that. I'm not super needy, I like doing things on my own, I go to concerts by myself, and I will NEVER ask a man to help me assemble a desk or hang something up on the wall. It's just not me. I have an "I've got this" mentality. Big burly men? Who needs em. I've got my own muscles that I work hard for, right?  However, this weekend especially, God has kinda made it really clear that I'm really not independent at all.

I just finished reading The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis - MIND. BLOWN. I strongly recommend it. If you haven't read it, here's a brief summary: the book is a series of letters from a senior demon, Uncle Screwtape, to his nephew, Wormwood, a demon-in-training. The letters are a form a guidance to the junior demon to draw a man to the father (Satan) and away from the Enemy (God). These letters show a side of Satan that we sometimes forget to see; a Satan that attacks us in ways of comfort.

"It does not matter how small the sins are provided that their cumulative effect is to edge the man away from the Light and out into the Nothing. Murder is no better than cards if cards can do the trick. Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one--the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts." -C.S. Lewis

WOAH. If you think about it, Satan doesn't attack us in big ways. He uses small instances to draw us away from the Lord. This rings so true in my life right now. As I'm thinking "I've got this," and "I'm super duper independent," I am being drawn further and further away from being DEPENDENT on God. See where I'm going with this? 

The second I quit relying on God, I am back to things that I thought I was over. Things I thought I had grown past. Lessons I thought I had already learned. But lemme be real with y'all...
--I WILL NEVER BE STRONG ENOUGH TO DO THIS LIFE THING ON MY OWN--
Should I type that again? Or did the all-caps, underline, and super pink, bold font get the picture across? This is huge, guys! I'm not saying I will be perfect if I'm always dependent on the Lord. That's impossible. I'm a human being made entirely of earthly stinkin flesh. But I am saying that it is much harder for Satan to attack me when I've consciously decided that I can't do it without Him, my Savior and King. Does it take my pride away? Absolutely. Is it a tough lesson to learn? Absolutely. But it's something that God has slapped in my face this weekend and I refuse to ignore it and remain complacent in the comforts of this world (although, that would be way easier).

being dependent on God > being an I-N-D-E-P-E-N-D-E-N-T woman

"As the deer pants for the water, so my soul pants for you, God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God." Psalm 42: 1-2

Stay thirsty, my friends. 

In Him,

Katie