Stand Up

I've been on a country music kick lately.  There's just something in the heartfelt lyrics that I've been drawn to lately. This song in particular stopped me in my tracks today..

 Stand Up

 Sugarland

All the lonely people crying

It could change if we just get started

Lift the darkness, light a fire

For the silent and the broken hearted

Won’t you stand up, stand up, stand up?
Won’t you stand up you girls and boys?
Won’t you stand up, stand up, stand up?
Won’t you stand up and use your voice?

There’s a comfort, there’s a healing
High above the pain and sorrow
Change is coming; can you feel it?
Calling us into a new tomorrow

Won’t you stand up, stand up, stand up?
Won’t you stand up you girls and boys?
Won’t you stand up, stand up, stand up?
Won’t you stand up and use your voice?

When the walls fall all around you
When your hope has turned to dust
Let the sound of love surround you
Beat like a heart in each of us

Won’t you stand up, stand up, stand up?
Won’t you stand up you girls and boys?
Won’t you stand up, stand up, stand up?
Won’t you stand up and use your voice?

I love this song and the message it screams.  It encourages me to get up and do something. I feel like God has been putting this in my heart alot lately - to just get moving on something; anything.  Its continuously like a cry of desperation from God in my heart. A rally cry for a different tomorrow.  Its too easy to think that we, individually, cannot make much change. I will not settle for that thought. I believe we can and will make a difference in this generation, but we have to start somewhere and take it one step, one day at a time.

Humor me for a minute and check out this website to Matthew 25:36 Ministries.  Its founded and ran single-handedly by an amazing woman named Kim out of her home in the East Bay Area, CA. God has placed in her a specific calling to minister to prison inmates through hand written letters from followers of Jesus who want to share love.  I stumbled upon her ministry and the volunteer opportunity to join her in this last year.  This is how I met Robert, the inmate I currently write to.  He's ministered more to me than he knows and has blessed my life beyond words. His story is crazy, heartwrenching and has God written all over it.  With his permission, I would love to share it with you all one day.

Dont worry, this ministry is totally safe.  You dont share your perosnal information with them and Kim has set up strict guidelines that each writer (inmates included) must commit to abide by to maintain the heart behind this ministry. I, personally, have set up a local PO Box that I only use to send/receive letters to Robert. 

 In the least, I encourage you to check out the website and if your heart is stirred up by what God is doing through this ministry, send her an email for more information or to get linked with an inmate.  You can chose to write to an inmate of faith or who doesn't yet know the love of God.  Obviously, it would be more challenging to write to an unsaved inmate.  Pray on it.  If not this ministry, I urge you to stand up and get involved in God's kingdom work in some different way this season.

Thanks for always tuning into my crazy rants :)

Kathryn

Dwell

A good friend of mine gave me a gift last night that inspired today's posting.  She gave me a  wall decal with a quote from Emily Dickinson written on it:

Dwell in Possibiliites

For those of you who are wondering, it isn't just a random gift with a random quote on it that happened to bless me enough to blog about.  She saw this and remembered back to an activity that we were asked to do at our women's retreat weekend at cannon beach.  We walked out to the beach and were asked to think of a word or phrase that best describes the chapter of life that you are currently living in. 

I thought long and hard. I etched a few things in the sand, then would quickly brush it away.  Finally, I decided to draw a picture of a girl in a mirror with the word "dwell" written in the mirror.  I chose this because I feel that in this season, God is constantly reminding me to fix my eyes on Him and no where else and dwell in that. Dig into the Word, keep Him as my number one and to not concern myself so much about the little things. I find myself worrying way too much about who my husband will be and when I will get married. About what I will be doing in a year, 5 years, 10.  Im not the woman I was - Ive gotten much better about not worrying about the future, but I'm not yet where I'd like to be. Add up every minute spent dwelling in those things and that's a whole lotta wasted time that could and should be devoted to my Father and what really matters in this moment.

I can simply repent and move forward. Every time I am reminded of that word, I pray that it inspires me to take action on fixing my eyes on God and living today on purpose. Spending quality time with God, with friends, with family. Sharing meaningful God-centered conversations, laughing with my best friends and meeting new people. Doing things that make me happy. I believe that He wants me to remember to do those things more in this season.

And now I have a wall decal to help remind me to do that more and more. :) You are amazing, Sierra!

What word would best describe this season of your life, and what are you doing about it?  

Ecclesiastes 3

A Time for Everything

    ¹ For everything there is a season,
      a time for every activity under heaven.
   ² A time to be born and a time to die.
      A time to plant and a time to harvest.
   ³ A time to kill and a time to heal.
      A time to tear down and a time to build up.
   ⁴ A time to cry and a time to laugh.
      A time to grieve and a time to dance.
   ⁵ A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones.
      A time to embrace and a time to turn away.
   ⁶ A time to search and a time to quit searching.
      A time to keep and a time to throw away.
   ⁷ A time to tear and a time to mend.
      A time to be quiet and a time to speak.
   ⁸ A time to love and a time to hate.
      A time for war and a time for peace.

   ⁹ What do people really get for all their hard work? ¹⁰ I have seen the burden God has placed on us all. ¹¹ Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end. ¹² So I concluded there is nothing better than to be happy and enjoy ourselves as long as we can. ¹³ And people should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labor, for these are gifts from God.

Happy Friday,

Kathryn