Til I'm Home

I've just come home from an incredible night of worship and prayer at my church. I can't thank God enough for moving me to Birmingham five years ago and placing this church and its people in my life. I am have been truly changed by the truth that has been spoken into my heart and that truth then coming alive in my life.

One of those people who has completely spoken truth into my life has been Mandi Mapes. God has totally used Mandi to transform my heart and she doesn't even know. I barely know her. Maybe have spoken two words to her in a choir practice. But, she is just one part of the amazing worship team at Brook Hills. God has gifted Mandi in so many ways, with the voice of an angel, the ability to play many instruments, but most importantly, the mind and the heart to create music and lyrics that completely speak the heart of God's people.

Mandi has been leading worship for about three years now, and after much waiting from our faith family, she has finally put out a full-length album. It's entitled Til I'm Home and you can get it at iTunes. And I urge you to get it.

Much of what Mandi writes tells the story of redemption through Jesus Christ and points us to our eternal home. The chorus of one of her songs pleads:

"This world is not my home,

I'm a stranger in this country,

Jesus in me, won't you pour me out.

I'm ready to abandon all my shiny things,

my family and this American dream

Lord, come take it all from me

until there's nothing left but you."

If that's not a prayer for the life that we should be living I don't know what is.

Over the holidays, I finished reading John Eldredge's book Desire. It's a fantastic read and I recommend it to everyone. But it struck a chord with me personally because it hit straight to the heart of what I've been dealing with over the last couple of years.

I've been struggling with what my purpose is in this life. I feel called to greater things that what I'm doing right now and that's hard for me because I've worked so hard (and my parents have shelled out a lot of money) to get where I am right now. Now, I feel God calling me to a completely different arena.

I've talked (read: blogged) a lot about how my desires have slowly become what God desires and how my perspective on that has completely changed. Eldredge points out that we shouldn't be afraid of desire because desire fuels life and prayer and accomplishment. If we don't desire anything, then we are dead in our tracks. It's what we do with that desire that is the key.

He writes:

"The clue to who we really are and why we are here comes to us through our heart's desire. But it comes in surprising ways, and often goes unnoticed or is misunderstood. Once in a while life comes together for us in a way that feels good and right and what we've been waiting for. These are moments in our lives that we wish could go on forever. They aren't necessarily the "Kodak moments"...More often than not they come in subtler, unexpected ways, as if to sneak up on us...Something in your heart says, Finally--it has come. This is what I was made for."

"...even though we sleep, our desire does not. It is who we are. We are desire. It is the essence of the human soul, the secret of our existence. Absolutely nothing of human greatness is ever accomplished without it."

I don't want to give too much of the book away but the basic take-away I got from the book was that my desire should draw me closer to God, not because I'm pleading with him for that desire to be fulfilled (which we should be doing anyway), but because my desire should be rooted in God in the first place.

If we are followers of Christ, then we are heirs of God's kingdom. I never really understood what that meant until I read this book.

"...when Genesis declares we are God's image, it is describing not certain qualities of our character but capacities of our nature. This is why when the essence of our likeness to God is announced, it is in the context of our position upon the earth, our place in creation....Our original design was for a life of creative rule, to share in the overall care and development of God's creation."

"His plan is for us to develop, as apprentices to Jesus, to the point where we can take our place in the ongoing creativity of the universe." (The Divine Conspiracy, Dallas Willard)

When we all get to heaven (sing it with me now, WHAT A DAY OUR REJOICING THAT WILL BE!), we won't just be sitting around strumming harps and eating an unlimited supply of Krispy Kreme donuts with no consequences. We will be participating in the ongoing production that is the creation and sustainment of the universe.

WHAT?!? How cool is that? We will be apprentices to Jesus! Jesus doesn't just sit on a throne next to his dad and watch life go on like it's an Oscar-nominated drama. He's directing the entire show, people! Therefore, if we are co-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17) and made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26), we won't be spectators in heaven. We will be participants.

I don't know about y'all but that makes me PUMPED to get to heaven.

So, with that said, how do I get to heaven. We'll I've already taken the first step (enter into a relationship with Christ). The second step? Either I die, or Jesus comes and gets me. Those are my choices.

I kind of think it would be cool to be alive when Jesus comes and gets me. No joke. But how do I make that happen?

Well, the Bible tells us that Jesus ain't coming back until the whole world has heard His name. When the ends of the earth are reached for him, and all the work that he started here is complete, then he'll come back. (Matthew 24:14)

So what does that mean for me?

In words of Niecy Nash, I better "git to gittin'."

Y'all, the gospel isn't going to get up on a Delta airplane and ship itself to the Middle East. And it's not going to put on suit and walk into your workplace tomorrow and share itself with your co-workers. Actually, if God wanted it that way, he'd make it happen. I mean there is that "the rocks will cry out" verse in the Bible.

But what a privilege it is that God has picked us out to be his instruments to carry the gospel to the ends of the earth.

We were once the ends of the earth. Just ask that Columbus guy.

So, in conclusion (because obviously I'm writing a thesis here), what are you going to do with your desire?

Blog-Linkity Goodness 12.1.10

On this Wednesday, I share with you:

1. Our Fox channel here in Birmingham, spotlighted my church recently and talked to our pastor about what we call The Radical Experiment. I know it's reached people across the U.S. and around the world because we hear stories from those people and pray for those people every Sunday. I have to say I'm humbled by what I'm seeing God do throughout this process and very thankful that I'm being led by such a man as David Platt, along with other men who have a passionate commitment to making disciples of all nations. Click here to see the news package and here if you have 24:06 to watch the raw video of his interview.

2. If you haven't gotten Dave Barnes' Christmas album "A Very Merry Christmas", you need to drop what you are doing and go to iTunes or Dave Barnes' website and get it NOW. Seriously. My Christmas music collection never knew what it was missing until baby came along. His original songs are amazing and his version of "The Christmas Song" is chasing Avalon's for best version ever made. And his video for "Christmas Tonight" has everything, including Jennifer Lowe Hewitt. Watch it now.




3. If you didn't see my post about fashionABLE or if you did and don't remember where you can get a scarf, go here. Y'all they are cutie-patooty and are for a great cause. I just ordered mine Monday and can't wait for it to arrive.

4. Annie Downs' book, From Head To Foot, comes out in SEVEN days, people. That's exciting. It's her first and I know it won't be her last. It's geared toward teenage girls but I know the themes in her book will touch all women, young and old. This is a writer I admire so so much, who inspires me to take hold of what God has for me, and who I consider one of my spiritual heroes. If you have a teenage girl in your life who is facing or about to face those tough, yucky teenage-y years, this would be a great gift for her.

5. If you haven't seen the video for David Crowder's song, "Shine", consider this your Christmas gift from me.



6. And what's an editioni of Blog-Linkity Goodness without a link to SCL. Jon Acuff hit the nail on the head with this serious Wednesday post about when things in life don't go exactly as you planned.

Radical

Do not read this book. I repeat -- Do NOT read this book...unless you want your life turned upside down.

I read this entire book yesterday. And yes, I worked an eight-hour day as well. Someone call the Guiness World Record people because I think this may have been a personal record for me. I've never, EVER finished a book in a day. Unless it was Dr. Seuss or Berinstain Bears.

When you go to this book's website, you are immediate confronted with this question:

WHAT IS JESUS WORTH TO YOU?

Just like that. In big bold capital letters. And here is what follows:

"Do you believe that Jesus is worth abandoning everything for? Do you believe him enough to obey him and to follow him wherever he leads, even when the crowds in our culture -maybe even our churches- turn the other way?"

In Radical, David Platt invites you to encounter what Jesus actually said about being his disciple, and then obey what you have heard. He challenges you to consider with an open heart how we have manipulated a God-centered gospel to fit our human-centered preferences. With passionate storytelling and convicting biblical analysis, Platt calls into question a host of comfortable notions that are common among Christ's followers today. Then he proposes a radical response: live the gospel in ways that are true, filled with promise, and ultimately world changing.

That doesn't even begin to scratch the surface.

I'm going to tell you, I have a love-hate relationship with this book. Why? Because I love and hate every word of this book. It's doused with conviction. Every word stings hard and then wakes you up to the reality that fills our world today. It leaves your brain thinking, "Are you kidding? I can't do that!" And all the while, your hands and feet are set in motion to shake the world by a force that is too strong to resist.

What is that force? It's faith, conviction, the Holy Spirit. It's the incredible urgency that you feel when you truly understand what we are called to do and you truly see the physical and spiritual need around the world.

And this isn't the first time I've heard of this "Radical Experiment" thing. I've been hearing about it throughout the last year. Every Sunday from the pulpit. I've even participated in it. I leave worship with such a burden that I feel like I should sell my car right there and walk the 20 miles to home because what good is me having a car when there are people around the world that are dying, inside and out?

So don't read this book. I'm begging you. Don't.

You'll find none of the things that you think matter in this world - money, fame, success -- none of them matter when there are 4.5 billion people out there who haven't even heard the name of Jesus Christ.

None of them know the love of a Father who works everything out for the good of those who love him. A Savior who looks at us in our sin and calls us, "My beloved," because the eyes of Jesus see no sin. A Lord who rules over all, protects us from all and is just in all his ways. A God who desires to see his glory and his name be exalted above anything throughout the universe because to desire anything else would be to deny the very nature of who he is.

So just stay away from the book.

This book leaves you broken -- for yourself, your loves ones and people you don't even know. It lights a fire in your soul that urges you to give up everything -- for some, material possessions; for some, entire careers; for some, both -- for the cause of Christ.

We all, at some point in ourselves, walk around wondering what our purpose in life is. We read book after book, seek advice, rack our brains and still come up with no answer. This book says that everything you ever wanted to know about what your purpose in life is supposed to be is found in the Bible. Specifically in Matthew 28:19-20.

"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

So if you want your entire life flipped upside down, be my guest.

If not, don't read it.

I dare you.

Someone Call The Authorities

...'cause this blog neglect is out. of. control.

I know there's only about four of you that actually read this baby, but that's four folks that care what I have to say (or are just really bored), so I apologize for the blog neglect lately and for the upcoming neglect as well.

It seems these days that my mind is going much faster than my fingers are willing to type, so therefore, by the time I sit down to write about the things that I've been thinking about, my mind tells my fingers, "Dude, you should've kept up with the train."

I did have a few things I wanted to share today though.

As always, for easy reading and aesthetic pleasure, a list:

1. If you love The Bachelorette (like me) and you are slightly obsessed with Aly and Roberto (like me), you'll either love or hate this joint-post by Bryan Allain and Tyler Stanton. These guys present, "15 Life Lessons From The Bachelorette". You can thank me later. My favorites? 1, 2, 3, 5, 12, 14...well all of them really.

2. I posted on Twitter earlier today that if I could be half the writer that Donald Miller is, I would consider that a blessing. Y'all, the man has some serious skillz. Emphasis on the "Z" meaning I'm serious about the serious part. If you've heard of him, you'll know he wrote Blue Like Jazz, Searching For God Knows What, A Million Miles In A Thousand Years, Through Painted Deserts. All good stuff. They always leave you wanting more.

He's an expert on story, and has some great insight on God. So, it's no suprise that Don's (see, it's so good that I feel like we could be on a first-name basis and comfortable to shorten his name to Don) blog is a bright spot in my day.

I have my Google Reader tuned in to bring me the latest and greatest from his blog every day. I've really been enjoying his stuff lately. Especially his Lucy series, blog posts "written" by his lab Lucy and this one and this one.

3. I know this might be a little cheese-tastic to some of you, but for those of you who read this little space of the internet and know what's going on in my brain right now, I think you'll understand it. This scene from Sister Act 2: Back In The Habit is really resonating with me right now.



4. This guy just sang what America was thinking.


5. And finally...

Never give up.


Remember people. You can do anything you set your mind to. All you have to do is:

1. Believe in yourself. No, really believe. See that time you didn't believe hard enough because it didn't work...there you go. 30th time is the charm.

2. Formulate a plan of action. Like believing that no matter how many times it takes, you WILL crack that board over your head. Come concussion or forehead-to-spine stitches. Just believe.

3. Follow through. Follow through...all the way to the ER.

Haiti

I've been having trouble getting to sleep lately. Having trouble turning my mind off.

Night before last I couldn't go to sleep until I could remember who had won the World Series in the last ten years. The night before that my mind wouldn't rest until I remembered who was Homecoming Queen and Prom Queen all four years of high school.

WHO. IS THAT. WEIRD?!?! I mean, c'mon!

I try to drown out the thoughts with TV but that doesn't seem to help.

I think my mind has been racing because I've been reading a lot lately. Thoughts are provoked. Values are challenged.

I read a book in two days this past weekend. TWO. DAYS. I know to some of you that may not seem like a big deal. Some of you read books in one sitting in one day. For me, that's never really been a reality. I get distracted and usually get sleepy after one chapter. Ask me how many books I actually finished on my summer reading lists in middle school and high school. I can probably count them on one (and maybe half a) hand.

I read Same Kind Of Different As Me this past weekend. And boy, if it didn't completely turn my world upside down.

And then this Haiti Earthquake thing now. I sat in bed last night watching Anderson Cooper (I don't care what you say, he is precious and I love him) report live from Haiti. And I cried. And cried.

And I know those were just more little steps in the plan that God has to completely destroy the life that I have now and for me to never find anything to be happy about ever again.

I hope you detected a large amount of sarcasm lathered over that last statement because I couldn't been more fueled and excited while also completely scared out of my wits about the transformation that God is doing in my heart right now. It's scary. And real. And fun.

I started asking my dad questions last night about the Haitian kids that he's encountered over the years that he's been in the Jackson Public School District. Not only has he had Haitian kids, he's had Somalians and Kenyans and Sudanese. And he's had to play bodyguard a few times as well. But that's enough about my dad (I could go on for days).

He told me about how the Catholic Charities get these kids from refugee camps, take them from having almost nothing and place them in a home where there are given more than they could have ever imagined. They don't know when their birthdays are so they are all basically given the same birthday. A 24-year old Sudanese kid could be given a birthday that states that he is 16, just so that he has the opportunity to get an education and play sports.

How heart breaking is it to not even know your real birthday.

I hear that and my heart breaks. I look at the TV and my heart breaks. I look around my apartment and feel guilty for what I have. I had a hamburger for lunch and it's not even settling right in my stomach because not so far in the back of my mind, I know the desperation there is almost 1400 miles away from me. And all I can do is send money.

I can't get on a plane and fly there. I can't go and lift up stones and bandage wounds and wipe tears away. I can't take a plate of food to that woman that is sitting on a pile of rubble. I can't hug that little boy tight who just watched four members of his family die and share with him the hurt that I would feel if my family had been ripped out from under me.

All I can do is just sit and ask God why it's happening.

I read last night the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. (Don't worry. I'm not going to get all Pat Roberston on you.) Abraham pleaded with God on behalf of those people. He knew their sin but he pleaded anyway. He said, "God, how can you, such a loving, compassionate God, look at a place like that and completely destroy it knowing that there might be righteous people there?" He pleaded and pleaded until God finally told him that if even there were a few righteous found, that he would spare the whole place.

Now we know that Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed but God spared Lot, because he remembered Abraham's compassion.

There's your hope.

Not matter what happens, not matter how horrible this all looks, not matter how many people die, God's got good in it.

Yes. It's very heartbreaking that most of the people who died in this catastrophe died without ever hearing the gospel. But the fact is that God doesn't allow things to happen without a purpose. And He will make Himself known no matter what. God doesn't just destroy cities and cause bad things to happen because it's fun. It's not fun. He allowed his own son to die for you and me. I'm sure that was not fun at all.

But there was a purpose. The purpose of salvation. The purpose of allowing someone perfect to come in a take all of my imperfection on himself, look the devil in the face, and say, "YOU LOSE. THIS ONE IS MINE." All for the purpose of freeing me from my imperfection so that I can be free to live a perfect life in Jesus Christ. And the hope (undoubtful knowledge) that I will one day sit with Him in the place that he has prepared for me.

"The Lord gives, and the Lord takes. May the name of the Lord be praised." Job 1:21

Please join with me, and the rest of the world, in prayer for the Haitian people. Pray also for the rescue workers and people there working around the clock to supply aid. Pray those who are literally dragging people out of the rubble and pray for those they are rescuing. This is not an easy thing for any part involved.

Also if you would like to donate to aid, check out the following ways:

• Compassion International
• Worldvision
• American Red Cross
• Hope For Haiti
• Anyone with a mobile phone and an account with a major wireless carrier can text the phrase “Haiti” to the number 90999 and donate $10 to the Red Cross. Amount is charged to the donor’s cellphone bill.
• Wyclef Jean's Yele Haiti Fund
• Text "Yele" to 501501 to donate $5 to Yele Haiti.
• Samaritan's Purse

Never Say Never Part Deaux

Remember this post when I cautioned to "never say never" because it just might happen and I found myself at my first-ever country music concert?

And then remember this one when I said I NEVER win anything?

And you wanna know how funny God is?

Really funny. A couple of weeks after I threw my I-never-win-anything interwebby tantrum, the Big Man upstairs decided to pull one over on me and give me just what I asked for.

I won a book!

Not just any book. Mary DeMuth's Daisy Chain. From one of my favorite bloggers, Annie Downs. Here's the proof.

To hear what Annie has to say about Daisy Chain, click here.

Hopefully soon, I'll have a little time to sit still and read it, instead of running around the world of athletics like a chicken with its head cut off.

And it'll look something like this.

Until then, I'm looking forward to my 7:15 date tomorrow morning with a cross country meet. In the rain. Good times.

What Have I Become???

Y'all...I am a bookworm. What the hey???

If you know me well, this should come to you as a surprise.

I don't know how this happened. All through middle school and high school, it was like pulling teeth to get me to read a book. I remember the annual Read-A-Thon in elementary school. Friends, family and neighbors would pledge a certain amount of money for each book you read. I, in my ever-illusive way would naturally just write down every book I'd ever read in my life up to that point. Including, the Bible and the entire Bearenstein Bears collection.

I don't think I finished one book in my whole middle school and high school career. Wait, no. Two. Night by Elie Wiesel and The Great Gatsby, or maybe I just think I finished Gatsby because we watched the movie after we finished the book. The others, I'd either get halfway through and quit or get to where I only had like two more chapters, and quit.

(I do have to admit that there was this one series of books called The Incredible Worlds of Wally McDoogle, written by Bill Myers, the acclaimed creator of the McGee and Me series. The first book was entitled My Life As A Smashed Burrito With Extra Hot Sauce. The series is a focuses on the strange adventures of 6th grader Wally McDoogle. While telling his real-life story, he writes his own hilarious science-fiction shorts that intertwine comedically into his life. A must read for a kid who loves some funny business. I used to read these in church when I was bored. I know. I know.)

I'm serious, y'all. I'd sit down and try to read and three pages in, I was conked out. The sheer thought of reading a whole chapter of a book put me in a lethargic state soon followed by a deep coma.

This is where my friend Ashley would come in. Ashley was a bookworm. I'm serious. She could probably sit down and read every Harry Potter book ever written in about 12 hours. Girl had some mad reading skillz. She was like SuperReader on steroids.

One of the reasons I never worried about finishing a book was because I knew Ashley had finished it two days after it had been assigned and I could always get her to fill me in. She was like my own personal human version of Cliff's Notes. It was great.

Except not really. Ash was really good at filling me in, but I would always forget that the teachers wanted details. BIG details. Especially Mr. Avalon. Dude would seriously take one word on page 162, Chapter 6, 13th line from the top, and go crazy on analyzing it. And I LOVED him for it. He was seriously my favorite teacher...and I'm pretty sure I was his favorite student. He made me a writer. But I digress.

Skip to present day. When in the past it would take me two months to finish just one book, I have recently read several books in one week spans (each), Multiple Blessings in three days, The Shack in four, and I just order three more books that I'm sure I will read quickly. I started Crowded Skies: Letters To Manhattan by Tara Leigh Cobble last night and had to stop myself before I read the whole thing in one sitting.

And not once was I tempted to fall asleep.

What is the deal?

Have I grown up? Has my A.D.D. dissipated? Or am I just reading more interesting books? I've actually, recently, bought some of the books that I half-read in high school, or found them at my parents house (Mom, did we get rid of those books?), just so I can finish them. Because I know they were good books. My teachers wouldn't have made us read them if they weren't.

So there you have it. My name is Katie Walden, and I'm a bookworm. Sue me. Or buy me more shelf-space. I'm totally running out.

It's Never Over

First of all...As hard as it is to believe that Christmas Day has come and gone, Christmas (and Easter for that matter), is never over for me. Both are year-round as far as I'm concerned. It's comforting to know what God did for us and what Jesus' birth and death and resurrection means for all of us and it gives a different meaning to the Apostle Paul's words, "Grace and peace to you all." Interesting, huh?

Now on to the less meaningful stuff...What did Katie get for Christmas?

Before I tell you about the one present on my Christmas list that I REALLY wanted and got, I'll tell you about everything else.

I got...

... a beautiful cross necklace from my mom. She really knows how to pick out great jewelry for me.

... several a couple of framed pictures of me and the nephew. One was from him. Sweet kid.

... a fantastic dress and cute cable-net sweater from Ann Taylor LOFT that I picked out myself. Now, I've just got to find somewhere to wear the dress. Maybe I'll crash a wedding or something.

... an awesome knee-length woolish maroon coat, also picked out by Yours Truly. I just wish it would be cold so I can wear it. This 70 degree weather in the heart of winter is killing me.

... a great yellow scarf from Casey which I just wear around the house for fun since it's too hot outside for it.

... PJ pants and slippers, a Third Day shirt and Jelly Bellies from Kel.

The next three things deserve their own separate paragraphs.

As many of you know, I've become quite obsessed with multiple births. I'm not really sure why. My mom says I should watch out lest I be cursed...ahem blessed...with more than one child at a time should I ever be given the chance to experience such an opportunity. I read several quad blogs -- the Steece's, the McNulty's, the Murray's, the Goerlich's and recently the Lambe's and Suzy (I don't know her last name but she just delivered her four bundle of joy on Christmas Eve). I also watch Jon and Kate Plus 8 every time it is on TLC. It's safe sto say, I'm obsessed. I talk about it all the time. It's insane.

So my sweet Daddy, being the observant one he is, got me this for Christmas.


I was so pumped. See, not only do I just love this TV show, I love this family for the testimony that they are living out day by day. Jon and Kate Gosselin have chosen to tell their story on television and in this book, along with various speaking engagements, without leaving out the most important writer of all, God Almighty. The parents of eight give God his due honor in every sentence that is written in this book. I started last night and I'm almost halfway through it.

One part that I've read so far was when the couple was urged to seriously consider "selective reduction". Both refused given their beliefs and Christian faith. They chose to play the hand God had dealt them and ended up with multiple blessings!

Last but not least, my mom and dad got me THE ONLY thing that I wished for this Christmas. Santa came through. I present to you...

The iPod Touch

I have not put this down. And to make it even better, my sister and bro-in-law gave me a leather case for it, considering my proneness to drop cetain expensive items (i.e. digital camera in Honduras).

I'm so pumped about this gift that all I've done for the past 30 hours (well, minus the 10 hours of sleep) is add free apps and play with my new gadget.

I think we've created a monster.

I hope everyone had a marvelous Christmas full of fun times with loved ones and true reflection on what the true meaning of this holiday season is all about.