the gift of the unexpected

Tonight was Halloween, and usually i'm the first to don a costume and thrive on the spooky silliness that surrounds this ridiculous holiday. But today I got home late from work, and Kev and I took a while getting out the door. I'm sure you know the routine.

Destination: Alpha.

Every Monday night Kev and I walk one street over, from Topaz to Garnet Lane, to the Solid House and gather together with the crazy kids we love for what we call "Alpha". We break bread together (more like pizza or Del Taco or something classy like that), and listen to a local pastor as he speaks on the rhythms of loving Christ and loving each other. It's hot and stuffy, and yes, we're all crammed together with kids playing in the background and Bible verses flying left and right. It's church at its finest, as we all seek to live a kingdom life together.

But tonight, well tonight was a different set up. Lovely Sara had planned a big event with a band, and beat poetry, and food and worship....and yes we were late. So walking out the door, Kev and I made a beline from one gem street to the next, eyes focused ahead. Our neighborhood was abuzz with costumed niños and mamas following close behind with strollers keeping tabs on their sugar induced little ones. But still, we were breaking one pace and that was hurried.

And then it happened. A massive orange pumpkin popped out of the bushes and into our view, and the next thing I knew we were being hugged by this flash of orange wearing a straw hat. Her hug filled my heart with JOY...mostly because she was our dear neighbor, and partly because she looked so darn endearing in her homemade costume compiled of a sweet Cal-trans colored poncho, face paint and hat. She again reminded us to mark our calendars for December...she was having a big party and we had to be there. From day one when she met us (and the same day invited us to her daughters baby shower, which we attended by the way) we have felt nothing but love and acceptance from her.

And then we continued on our way to Alpha, long strides and big grins. Almost to destination, and then I heard it. "Hey"....I flipped around. It was dark, but one more word and I was convinced of the caller. "Katie!" she squealed in delight. It was my dear sweet Nataly, whom I affectionately call Chica. She was head to toe fairy princess, and just about the cutest sight on the block. I smashed her poor wings as I scooped her up into my arms. Somewhere between the words "candy" and "candy" I learned of her adventures trick-or-treating in the neighborhood. She climbed into Kevin's arms, an always comfortable spot for any child, and proceeded to tease him like usual. We both wrapped our arms around her, and then placed her back on the sidewalk. In the last year I have become extremely close to Chica's mom, who comes to a girls group I hold at my house every week. Kev and I are head over heels for her, and seeing her tonight made my heart even fuller for the community we have in this neighborhood.

And then it hit me. We hadn't even reach Alpha yet, and were almost an hour late. And yes, that was our final destination. But whoever said life is about the journey and not the destination was legit. The journey means that we stop to embrace people, to invite them into the soul of who we are, to give them precious minutes in our life. Community is birthed out of a mutual love and regard that time together necessitates- the giving of minutes and seconds and hours to show people that they are loved, valued and welcomed. Joanna Weaver reminded me that "Christ just ministered as he went along. On his way. As he went out of his way. In all kinds of ways". Tonight my neighbors reminded me of that, and my prayer is that I will continue to live like Francis of Assisi calls us to when he says "It is no use walking anywhere to preach unless our preaching is our walking."

Happy halloween, and may we all be encouraged to embrace dear ones on the journey:)

Love Katie

becoming ready

And so I begin. A blog that is:) In the last few years I've had no desire or intention of reducing my life to space on a computer screen. However, it's the stories that compel me. The desire to connect, grow and learn with others. More recently i've been so inspired by friends who have shared their deepest and sometimes silliest thoughts, memories and stories. Oh the stories! Food for the soul. Stories of joy, laughter, travel...but mostly stories of God's great love for us. And so I begin.

This blog is called Hope Engaged. It is no surprise that I thought of this title while I was physically engaged to be married to my beloved husband! But the title has so much more to do with how I began to view my engagement and that of it's reflection on life. I began to really ponder and think about what engagement meant. At it's core, it was a season of preparing for an event that would mark a milestone in my life, and it was a season of learning to become a wife. There were extremely wonderful aspects to being engaged, but there were also truly difficult periods as well. We took measures to learn more about marriage by going through marriage counseling, reading books, etc. Even though we loved each other as best we could, we anticipated something greater to come. There were so many details to the actual event (some fun, some not so fun) and many times it all seemed overwhelming. But when I centered myself time and time again, I realized the beauty of what this celebration symbolized and those small details faded into the background. And in the end, when August 13th came, all the planning (good and hard) was SO worth it. I was my beloved's and he was mine!

In the same way, I began to realize how life is like engagement. It IS engagement. We are the bride of Christ, preparing to spend eternity with our lover Jesus. On this earth, we are preparing ourselves in becoming Christ's bride. We take measures to know him more, to know him deeper. Life brings fun days, and some dark days. And in those dark days when we center ourselves, we again are reminded that the ultimate joys are so incredibly worth it! There is an anticipation of something greater to come. In Revelation 19:7 it says "Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready."

And so I desire to make the most of this engagement of life. I want to go deeper with the Lord, and I want to prepare and make myself ready....

And then comes the beauty of HOPE. Many of you that know me, know that I love the image, thought, and reality of Hope. That no matter what happens, we live with the beautiful truth that God is with us and that redemption is possible, even in the midst of darkness. Because that is our God.

And so I want to live so abandoned to the HOPE Christ offers:) I hope you'll join me in this adventure of preparing and living with Joy in our hearts, fully engaged in the hope of Christ!

with hope,

katie