The Power of His Unfailing Love

Music is a very powerful influence in my life. So many times it has helped me bring clarity to a problem or an emotion I was feeling.  "Music is what feelings sound like." Besides bringing clarity to my thoughts it has the power to change my mood in an instance; both secular and nonsecular music.

Earlier this week I was listening to Francesca Batistelli's  Worth It. You can listen to it and view the Lyrics posted below:

Love's not a feeling
Love's not convenient
But I know love will change your life
Love takes sacrifice
Love cuts like a knife
Sometimes love will make you cry
Love's not easy
But it's worth it

Love is a hunger
But love won't leave you empty
See it's the language of the heart
Love can steal your pride
But love won't let you hide
It takes everything you've got
Love's not easy
But it's worth it

What you gonna do when the bottom falls out
And you're left with nothing but your fear and your doubt to hold to
Who will hold you?
Where you gonna run when it's all on the line
And you're looking for someone to save your life
To save your life

Love can hear you
Love can heal you
If you let it inside
Oh, remember now
Love's not easy
But it's worth it

This song got me thinking. In 1 John 4:8 it states "Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love." So if God is love, could we not change the lyrics in this song to:

Following God is not a feeling
Following God is not convenient
But I know God will change your life
Following God takes sacrifice
Love cuts like a knife
Sometimes following God will make you cry
Following God is not easy
But it's worth it

Following God is a hunger
But God won't leave you empty
See He’s the language of the heart
God can steal your pride
But God won't let you hide
It takes everything you've got
Following God is not easy
But it's worth it

What you gonna do when the bottom falls out
And you're left with nothing but your fear and your doubt to hold to
Who will hold you?
Where you gonna run when it's all on the line
And you're looking for someone to save your life
To save your life

God can hear you
God can heal you
If you let Him inside
Oh, remember now
Following God is not easy
But it's worth it

Now this song is already on a Christian Artist's Album, and I can't say for sure she meant this to be about God or a significant other, but by switching the lyrics to even more definitive terms it opened my eyes to the vastness of God's love for us. That following Him does take sacrifice but at the end of the day He is our only constant.

Back to Ukraine for Summer 2012!

Friends and Family,

I just want to start by thanking all of you for your prayers and support for my Ukraine Missions trip last summer. It has radically changed me and grown my passion for God's children. I am so much more independent and yet incredible dependent on God. Tears well up in my eyes as I think that there is even one person in this world who thinks they don't deserve God's love.

I am so excited to tell you all that after a lot of prayer God has laid it on my heart to go back to Ukraine this summer! July 31st - August 14th. God has really expanded my world view and my heart is just bursting. I have started studying Ukrainian in hopes that I can connect better with the students at our English camp.

I know times are financially very tough for everyone. All I ask is for everyone to be the prayer warriors that I know you are! The things you can pray for are:
1. Our Team as it is still being developed. That God will call those perfect for the team and that those people will follow His call.
2. Overall finances for our team.
3. Leadership for the team is still being developed
4. My heart and head. That my heart will continue to grow and my head will relax :)

I will still be sending support letters out in the coming months for those feeling called to give. God can do amazing things beyond our imagination all He asks is a little step of faith

“And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” – Phil 4:19

"Notice the above verse says “ALL.” It doesn’t say “some” or “most,” but it says that He will meet all of our needs. It doesn’t say how He will meet our needs and I have found from experience the way He does it is often not what I expected. But the bottom line is that God is faithful and He does what He promises."

In Christ's Love,
Katherine

Top 10 Memories and Lessons Learned from Ukraine Missions Trip 2011

Top 10 Memories

1. The Waterfall! We hiked up to a beautiful waterfall and had the opportunity to swim in it. It was amazing. Cold. But Amazing.
2. Walking around L'viv and experiencing the Culture. The first time we had the chance to walk around the Center in L'viv, I was so excited. Just taking in their culture and way of life totally excited me. I loved looking around and absorbing as much as possible.
3. Small Group. Although I had no idea what was going on because everything was spoken in Ukrainian, I definitely did not miss when one 15 year old had her "ah-ha" moment about God's love for her. I may not of understood what was coming out of her mouth but I did understand her heart.
4. Our second to last day in L'viv some of our Ukrainian friends took us around L'viv. It was so nice to hang out with every one. We may not of understood each other the whole time but we all had a blast.
5. My Team. The three beautiful women who went on the trip with me were amazing. We shared laughter, tears and unforgettable moments.
6. The Hidden Restaurant. There was a themed restaurant where you needed a password to get in. It was underground and incredible!
7. The Labyrinth. This was a spiritual maze we went through around camp. It gave you the opportunity to evaluate your walk with God.
8. Learning some Ukrainian. I loved learning this language and was surprised how fast I picked up on it.
9. Alla. Alla was one of the girls in my small group. Her intelligence, heart, and exuberant personality really touched me. It also helped that she was my own personal translator.
10. Realizing how big and amazing God is!

Lessons Learned
1. Our God is HUGE. I was absolutely in awe of how amazing our Father is. He separated us linguistically at the Tower of Babel and yet we can still come together and He becomes our universal language. He is our constant among nations and foreign tongues. It literally gave me goose bumps to sit in a circle and each taking a turn to pray, switching from Ukrainian to English. Here we are all from different places in the world coming together to pray to One God and He hears us despite the different languages. Another thing that got me was coming together for worship singing the SAME songs in different languages. You can’t even do that in the U.S.
2. It’s okay to be me. God created me to be organized, informed, and structured. It’s okay if I have trouble going with the flow and not knowing all the information. However, I need to trust Him when I start to struggle with it.
3. Sometimes I am the only one thinking a certain way and I have to learn that others may not be thinking that same way as me and that is okay. :) This also causes my brain to go off on a tangent and I tend to perceive something that may not be.
4. Trusting God with my emotions is the best laid plan.
5. Things aren’t “weird” they are just “different.” So eating a whole fish (scales included) for breakfast is not “weird” it is just “different.”