Whoopsies.

Oh hey there friends...remember me?

Well, here I sit outside the Starbucks waiting for my dad to come with gas to fill my completely empty tank (yes, I finally pushed old Bessie to the limit. 27 miles with the gas light on is too much.) I'm late for work, and I sense that I'm about to get yelled at, but I feel...good.

It's been hard to get into a rhythm of spending time with the LORD at home. There are over 300 TV channels to watch, there's a mall with an H&M, there's tons of friends and family to hang out with, there's a kitchen full of food and a basket of gift cards - my life got so FULL all of a sudden. It seems like there's less time in the day, but for most of that time, I've been making excuses and getting distracted. And that feels awful. The gnawing feeling in my tummy and the voice in my head that says "DO something!" over and over are too hard to ignore anymore. I miss Purdue. I miss Campus House and my Shreve girls. I miss community and I miss God's presence. And good grief, I miss blogging about it!!

So let's go back. To Panama City (UH HUH)

Something changed in me that week. I didn't know what to expect, and honestly, I didn't know what compelled me to go. But I let go of fear and worries and control and said "God, this week is yours. Make something happen." And then I was surprised when it was the best week of my life. Silly Katie.

Evangelism has always been a scary, nausea-inducing word for me. I've had so many thoughts about it. People will think I'm weird. Everyone knows about Jesus. Nobody wants to listen. I won't know what to say. I'm not cut out for this. But you know? It's amazing how easily I believe those lies. The world tells me these things. But somewhere on a beach in Florida, these thoughts flipped. Completely.

People, all people, are precious to the LORD. He desires so much to enter into each of our hearts. Do I honestly believe that? And if God has changed my life and saves me from my brokenness, do I believe he is calling me to share his love with those who need it? I never did before. But I'm realizing that my reputation and how others think of me is so completely unimportant compared to someone else's heart, life, and salvation. And when I trust in the Holy Spirit to guide me, my words may be just what someone needs to hear.

We talked a lot about divine appointments at Big Break, and I guess I never realized how amazing they can be. I met a girl named Kelly. She was about to graduate high school and she said she thought she was a Christian, but that she wasn't a very good one. And in that moment, I knew she needed to hear how much the LORD loved her and how she could receive the gift of grace. So we talked, we prayed, and she accepted Christ. Fireworks were shooting off in my head and angels were singing in heaven. The presence of God was there with us in the sand, and I'll always remember the look of joy on Kelly's face.

That's what I was put on this earth to be a small part of - the uncontainable joy that comes from bringing glory to God.

Yeah, people may have already heard of Jesus. They may hate him, or they may hate Christians. They may think I'm lame, and they may not take what I have to say to heart. But the LORD is calling me to love them. To listen, to serve, to be patient and kind. To be me - as sinful as I may be - and to proclaim his name.

So that's what I will do.

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At church on Sunday, we talked about surrender. Something specific we've been holding onto that we're keeping from God that he so desires for us to surrender to him. Well, I thought of lots of things. But one thing that has been bugging me ever since I came home was my time. My good friend Barb prayed for me, and I felt really good about it. So I've decided to surrender my love of sleeping in to get up early and spend time with God (and by early I mean like 9am.) And what better place to do that than a coffee shop right? (I have a caffeine problem.)

Let me tell ya, it was amazing. It was a perfect morning. The baristas were really friendly, and I met a guy from Ethiopia who started talking to me about Purdue and coffee and devotionals. It was cool. It was like God was reminding me that every moment of my life is his. Not just the time I set aside for reading my Bible, but every conversation, every thought, every feeling. I am His. And I can't turn it off and on, I don't want to! I was like crying on the way to work, like God why are you so good to me?? And he was like cuz I love you duhhh.

So there you have it! Some snippets of what's been goin down the past two months (Whoopsies. I've been slackin in the blog department recently.)

Hey guess what! I'm going to Colorado on Friday. I still can't believe it. I'm going to COLORADO for EIGHT WEEKS! So you know what that means...

God this summer is yours. Make something happen.

:)