by our love

Today I started a book called “The Hole in our Gospel” by Richard Stearns, the president of World Vision.

 Have you heard of it?

A few years ago when I was working for a non-profit that worked in Africa, everybody and their mother from this church down the street was clamoring to start volunteering with us all of a sudden. 

We thought maybe Armageddon was coming soon.  

Why was there was a massive influx of people 

ALL from the same mega church 

ALL wanting to volunteer 

All at the same time?

and then we found out. 

Their pastor made them all read this book.

and most of them realized they had a hole in their gospel.

a big freaking fat hole. 

a hole? you might ask...

Well, I’ll let our boy Richy speak to that…

“Being a Christian, or follower of Jesus Christ, requires much more than just having a personal and transforming relationship with God. It also entails a public and transforming relationship with the world. 

If your personal faith in Christ has no positive outward expression, then your faith-and mine- has a hole in it”

Jesus came to transform the world, not to give us a comfortable life.

And if we think being a Christian stops when we ask Jesus into our hearts, 

then simply, we have some gospel-hole issues.

I’ve been thinking about what this means in my own life. 

I want to live and breathe and walk and talk a gospel that is alive and active 

and is bringing heaven to this crusty earth. 

One that bears grace and mercy, forgiveness and patience. 

And one that’s willing to do the hard things and go to the hard places.

I fail a lot.

But there are these moments when I see heaven on earth as I watch a believer engage with the world in deep, humble and sacrificial ways.  

This happens every day as I watch the staff in the aftercare home pour life and love drop by drop.

 Almost a month ago we received two sweet precious girls. 

Scared and trembling they came to us. 

One child specifically feared the darkness, for in her past, the black of night only meant terror.

And I watched as little by little, day by day, this sweet blossom of a girl began to  open.

And I also watched as our staff pressed in fiercely to be by her side, 

night and day when the fears reared their evil head.

And soon the radiance of light began to replace the darkness.

There was no hole in this gospel, the beams from heaven were already crashing in.

Just last week this same child, with a sparkle in her eye and a smile on her face whispered softly and gently to one of our staff…

“ I have never felt loved like I do now. It’s because you guys are Christians, isn’t it?”

friends, I cried the happiest tears my little heart could spout. 

This little girl, 

from a broken home, 

a hindu home, 

KNEW we were Christians by our love.

Isn’t that the way it’s supposed to be?

That we are known by our love?

Our staff did not force, coerce or dictate this girl to Jesus.

Our staff member loved this sweet girl to Jesus.

A Jesus that embraced this little one’s scars,

Held up his own scars,

And said “I gave my life for you and love you higher and deeper than you even know”.

No.

There are no holes in the gospel when we choose to love people to Jesus.

When we engage with

the hurting, the broken, the scarred, the wounded, the hopeless.

Our gospel is alive and whole.

praying we can all do a little examining this weekend and find the holes that may be present in our gospel. 

much love,

Katie 

together, because marriage matters

 My brother emailed me today and asked how our marriage was going,

 being that we are in a hard place with new types of stressors. 

I sat for a moment in pure silence, thinking and reflecting upon that loaded question. A warm and lovely light seem to illuminate the home we've made here, and I smiled as the answers began to form. 

It's hard to describe how beautiful our precious time here together has been, 

and in short to his question, my answer would be delightful. 

Yes, our marriage has been delightful over here in Nepal. 

not because we are perfect people

despite the fact that we look pretty ragged and gross after puking up last night's dal bhat

or the fact that our bathroom conversations typically end with one of us yelling "my butt just fell off" 

{which is probably about as unromantic as it comes especially when the smell wafts over}

and also, despite the fact that sometimes I'm an emotional train wreck with sob stains on my cheek 

but mostly because our marriage matters in this place. 

It matters because our love is a light that shines in darkness. 

and our love is on a mission to bring the kingdom of God, here and now. 

every marriage matters in the place they are, because every marriage is a ministry. 

every time we serve one another and choose to love even when it's hard, 

heaven tenderly pours down. 

and when our love is on mission to be about more than just us,  

it is a very small expression of Christ, who gave himself up for others. 

today as we lay on our bed in the morning, I leaned over and gently kissed Kev, 

whispering in his ear that I was humbled to be his. 

we laughed and talked about what made this time so special. 

back in the US, when we were both working full time, evenings and weekends were our only time just the two of us. The days filled, and we always had somewhere to be. 

But here in Nepal, we are together every moment of every day. 

we walk all over the city together, we snuggle up at night after the electricity has gone out and talk and laugh and watch movies together, we attempt to cook together, and buy fresh vegetables and fruit at the market together. we meet new people together, and teach the girls english and even some songs and dances together, we take each other to the doctors together, and slowly, painfully learn nepali together. 

together. 

my favorite word. 

It is like Abba has handed us this sacred gift of time, 

where we have one goal and one heart to love and serve God.  

We get to dream and plan and organize and write together. 

recently an amazing organization that works with rescuing trafficked girls approached us about helping to start a website for their handicraft business. Their items are amazing (I can't wait to feature a few on the blog, and maybe even do a give-a-way!). But what was so exciting is just thinking about how Kevin and I are a team in all we do. And that this adventure is really two hearts living as one. 

and that I think is the essence of what makes marriage so sacred and special. 

that God in his infinite wisdom 

would plan a union that unites two,

as a strong cord

 to LOVE God, love each other, and love others

together. 

it's like holy teamwork. 

and even as I sit here all disheveled in my pajamas, my hair a tangled knotty mess, and probably like 500 parasites crawling around having a party inside of me, I feel so thankful to be loved so fully by a man who chooses each and every day not just to "exist and get through" life with me but to "LIVE OVERFLOWING" life with me in a crazy, adventurous, brave, abundant kind of way. 

a way that chooses "us" over "me".

because marriage matters. 

and i'm so humbled that God gave me Kev. 

happy day sweet friend,

love Katie 

the villages

I got news for you peeps....

time travel exists.

and it's called rural nepal.

let's start with a few dead give-a-ways to time travel:
ox-carts (no cars. i'll say it again. no cars!)
water wells
eating only with your hands (I swear I didn't see a personal utensil the entire time i was there)
goats and buffalo and chickens running free in everyone's house
no electricity
very traditional (but beautiful!) dress

it was without a doubt the 4 physically hardest days of my life.
but it was also amazing and illuminating and incredibly energizing.

I can't really share a whole lot of what we did or where we were for security reasons,

but I will say that the people there inspired me to live my life in a deeper way. 

A way that honors times instead of waste it. 

To use every moment for glory. 

one sweet memory that I will cherish forever is when the women in one of the villages received my mother-in-law and I with beautiful sari's. They spent 45 minutes painting our nails, doing our make-up, painting our feet, giving us a bindi and sindoor on the forehead, and wrapping us in our new sari's!
it was surreal!

I will be forever grateful for the treasure of spending four full days with my in-laws doing something that will eternally impact the kingdom. 

happy Monday sweet ones...be brave today:) 

love Katie 

 

swayambhu temple, kathmandu nepal

oh, hello internet. 

i forgot what you felt like after 4 days with no technology. 

as many of you know, Kevin's parents came to visit us for 10 days. 

we just put them on an airplane today back to the US of A. 

It was bittersweet watching them leave, we loved having them here with us. 

the last four days of our trip we spent in the villages of rural nepal.

and I mean RURAL people. 

i'm saving THAT post for another day, because i'm still processing our time there. 

it was like nothing i've ever experienced before. 

like ever. 

I have nothing to compare it to, true story. 

I thought today i'd share with you some pictures from the Swayambhu temple,

also known as the monkey temple. 

also known as the place katie chased monkeys. 

guys, i was obsessed. 

monkeys are the cutest slash weirdest animals ever. 

ever. 

and to be within an inch of one is quite frankly exhilarating and creepy. 

they are like babies with tails and the face of an old man. 

aaaannnnyyyyway,

enough about the monkeys (you'll see plenty below)

the temple was a mix of emotions for me. 

It's an absolutely beautiful and architecturally stunning site. 

You ascend a high and steep staircase, and when you get to the top,

you are shocked to see a whole little Buddhist monastery at the top. 

Nepal is an interesting country because despite the majority of Hindu influence, 

there are a lot of Buhhdists as well. 

And Swayambhu is a Buhddist temple. 

But again, the crushing weight of emptiness filled those beautiful buildings. 

and again we prayed that the spirit of Freedom, which is the spirit of the Lord,

would fill and invade that place. 

that light would shine in the dark. 

That is still our prayer for this country. 

enjoy the pictures:) 

and no, I have no pet monkey to show for my efforts! 

happy Wednesday,

love Katie 

{this baby monkey was falling off the rope as I snapped pictures of him!}