The Story of our Lives

"It flies in the face of all your pride
It moves away the mad inside
It’s always anger’s own worst enemy
Even when the jury and the judge
Say you gotta right to hold a grudge
It’s the whisper in your ear saying ‘Set It Free’"
--- Forgiveness by Matthew West

The topic this week was titled Biblical Restoration (The Father Heart of God). This week is very hard to explain... the depth we all felt was like nothing else. Our teacher, Michael Berg, taught us how we can view God as a father and it was a concept that I already knew. However, he reminded us that God always forgives us- no matter what! So what excuse do we have to keep grudges and bitterness towards other people? When we repent to God He will restore us, but He will also restore us when we forgive others. We were given an opportunity to do so and it took about 4 hours of praying, crying, and then feeling the most amazing freedom ever :) God didn't want any of us to feel the pain we had been carrying around us anymore. We had worship and a bonfire after and we had a lovely night of community, friendship, and freedom :)

Music that has been encouraging me this past week:
God often speaks to me through music and lyrics and this past week was the perfect week for this kind of communication.

Forgiveness- Matthew West

Bend (Joseph)- Brandon Heath

I Bring it to You- Avalon

Everybody has struggle.. EVERYBODY. But the beauty is that we never have to go through it alone!

I love you all :) Mwah!

Blessings,

Kathryn

Wowzers!! Did not know that!

This week we were given a "Bible Overview" and we were taught by a very enthusiastic teacher named Jessie Anderson. Long story short he took us through the entire Bible in one week!! We focused more on the Old Testament which was super cool! I never realized how much I truly did NOT know. I grew up with a lot of these Bible stories and yet I never knew where they fit over the course of history or why certain events happened. It was also cool to see how faithful God was and has been from the beginning. Genesis 3:15 was the verse we repeatedly went back to and I am in awe of God. Friday afternoon we were awakened with the reality that God CHOSE to send Jesus to redeem us. There we were- a bunch of Christians who had all heard the story of salvation before and had all made a choice to follow Jesus- in tears in the middle of class re-realizing (is that a word?) how much God loves us. It was incredible :) This week is very hard to explain because 6000ish years were fit into 5 days :) Also, it is official official official that I will be going to the Middle East:)

Also, this is where I live :)

The Kitchen

Living room

Other Side of the Living Room

I'm the bottom bunk

Bathroom

Showers

Be Still My Soul... Be Still.

Hearing God's Voice has been such a blessing! I must say that I have changed so much after one week and I absolutely love it. This, in a nut shell, is what we learned in class this week. This video is from the Fall DTS so these people are not my classmates but this man was our teacher and we learned the exact same things from him. It was a concept that I was not used to but God opened me up to the possibilities that could follow after learning how to hear the voice of God. We later practiced intercession and heard a few of the things that God desires for the nations of the world! Injustice is so big and overwhelming and we were really awakened to it. Being still before God and letting him speak is often something I know I forget to do.. prayers often become selfish and we don't stop to ask, "What do YOU want to say?"

Later that day we were told that we needed to pick our outreach country. We were given 15 minutes to really enter into deep prayer with God and try to find His will for each of us in regards to outreach. I felt very strongly that I was to do to the Middle East so that is what I have decided to do. However, God works in amazing ways and sometimes they do not make sense to us. If circumstances arise and I am actually supposed to go to China them I will trust Him in that. If I am wrong in my decision to go to the Middle East, I will trust that God's grace will cover that and He will take me where He needs me to go. Continued prayers for this would be appreciated. Over the next 11 weeks we will begin to prepare for our outreach and I am so so so excited for that :)

Blessings and Love,

Kathryn

Now That We're Friends... Lets Do This!

Hello :)

Today marks the OFFICIAL one week point. For the most part it has been rather chilly... like 5 degrees C chilly... Welcome to Florida! However it is supposed to warm up significantly by Saturday. YAY!!

Anyway, this week our speaker is named John Bills and he has been speaking to us about Hearing the Voice of God. I must say that it has been an INCREDIBLE week so far and it is only Wednesday :) Every morning at 7:30 we have a "quiet time" where we spend time with the Lord and grow in a deeper relationship with Him. It is still early on but one thing I have learned is that God really does speak. At the beginning it was through promptings that would not go away until I followed them. The past few mornings have been very cold and I was content to cuddle up with a blanket and my coffee cup and do my devotions in the dorm living room... until I felt prompted to "Get Outside" I didn't go and the prompting got stronger "Go Outside" and it would not go away. Then I got up, took the coffee with me and my iPod and went outside. I found this awesome little place that is away from the hustle and bustle of the base and I am surrounded by forest. I sat there and thought it was beautiful and liked the idea of doing devos there. Until the next morning came and it was FREEZING. SO SO COLD! but then again when i tried to stay inside God told me to "Go Outside" so I did. Since folowing those simple requests He has been so faithful and I can feel His amazing presence :) He is here and ever present and hears us!! He has been so wonderful :)

Blessings,

Kathryn

Photos :) Pizza Night at the DTS Director's House and Target Run!

Church on Sunday :) They had donuts.

First Week

Hello All!!

Okay so wifi is a bit of a hike to get to so posts may not come as frequently as I expected. I have now been here for the past four days and I absolutely love it. It was hard to accept being so far away from home but as the other students started arriving I quickly felt at home. I absolutely love every one of them and we are already becoming wonderful friends. I room with four other girls and I am the youngest... but we are discovering that age is NOT a barrier in friendship!!! God has brought us all together for a purpose and we are quickly realizing how true that is. One the first day of orientation we jumped right into testimony sharing and everyone shared their personal walk with God and why they decided to come to YWAM. Everyone had a different story and they were open and honest about life.. the beautiful part was that majority of us all went and had a game night later that evening and our past life experiences did not change the fact that friendships were growing. God is opening our hearts to be open and loving towards each other and we all see the beauty in each person.

Tomorrow we officially start lectures and I can not wait to get going :)

Today we went for a walk and these are some photos of the campus. I have other photos but they are on my phone and I forgot to bring the cord with me and like I said before it is a hike to get to the wifi... so those will come later.

My DTS has a total of 16 students and 4 of us are internationals. Meghan is from Scottland, Sam is from France, Rene is from Switzerland and then of course I am from Canada.

I don't have photos of everyone yet.

Outreach locations have been announced and my options are Asia and the Middle East. I will be going to one country for outreach.. I thought it was two but that is totally okay. If God needs us to focus on one place rather than two then that is perfect for me :) I will be praying about that decision and will let you all know later what I decide. Thank you all for your prayers :)

                                                         Josh, Josh, Weston, Jay Mark

Top: Meghan, Rachel, Katie-- Bottom Me, Asia

   

Waiting, Flying, Waiting

Today is officially day one of this adventure I am going on. I am currently in Minneapolis eating my over-priced mediocre lunch and using the Delta gate complimentary iPad. This iPad thing needs to be in EVERY airport! After a delayed first flight I was still able to get through with plenty of time to wait for my next flight. Not much to report yet but that I am very grateful for all of your prayers- I can feel them and I can see God working all around me to get me where I need to be. He has been taking care of every little detail that is stressing me out and I feel rather happy right now :) Thank you all so much!

Blessings,

Kathryn