Where should I begin? I’m never quite sure, but right now… I know that faith is my focus.
I wanted to blog in order to document our life and how important and necessary faith is. Like it or not, I believe that we all need Jesus.
Instead, I have found myself over-critiquing my writing and being worried about what everyone thought about it, or what I should write to build an audience. I mean, obviously people reading it is the point, but why worry about it? It won’t hurt me either way. I enjoy writing and that won’t change… even if no one decides to read it.
I only really care to share my faith, and hopefully bring someone closer to God in the process. Just one person softening their heart and allowing Him in is worth all the words I can say.
‘For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.’ -2 Timothy 1:7
I choose to follow Jesus because I know what a life without him feels like. Empty. Like something is always missing. No matter what we fill your lives with, there is always a void to be filled without Christ.
Since we have committed to attending church as a family nearly every Sunday for the past 4 years, we have benefited more than I ever dreamt. We want to be at church with our friends.. if we miss it, we all feel weird..
I honestly never thought I would feel that way. Church was something that was just always there, and a Sunday was another day to sleep-in and enjoy… we didn’t feel the need to go all the time. Easter, Christmas and maybe once a month was good for us… or so we thought.
We weren’t growing. Our faith wasn’t being made stronger. If anything, we knew what we needed but didn’t want to commit our schedule.
Thinking back.. we were being selfish.
God has given us this beautiful life and we couldn’t even commit to giving him Sunday mornings… just one dedicated time each week.
As a society, we are more committed to restaurants, bars, and coffee shops than we are to our creator! I want us to be better than that. I want to show how grateful we are for the blessings that He gives, and I want us to lead our babies in the right direction.
As a way to grow in our faith… my husband Nikko and I have joined what our church calls a “Growth Group,” and wow… I have needed these people more than I could have imagined. To let out my pain, and feel heard.
First of all, I was always so turned-off by the idea of going to someones home to talk about the Bible. It seriously seemed so strange… I mean, the people in the group are literally strangers…
Then I thought more about it.. we go places where we don’t know people all the time, maybe not into their homes, but it’s definitely a normal thing. We eat near strangers at restaurants, sing with them at concerts, stand in line with them at the grocery store… everyone is a stranger, until they aren’t. Right?
So immediately, I have grown.
I stepped outside of my comfort zone, and it turns out that I am even more comfortable now. I can speak openly and I feel more accepted than I thought possible. Plus, we made new friends. They are no longer strangers. We ask questions and reflect on times in our lives that relate to the people we are reading about, learning about eachother along the way.
We are now in our second group, and not only have my husband and I been learning as a couple, our group splits into men and women when it’s time to pray. Do you know what a huge blessing this has all been?? Time to speak to other women about our daily struggles. It’s seriously like counseling for all of us. We let our hurts be known to each other, and then we pray out-loud for the person to our left until everyone has prayed and been prayed for.
Now… Praying out loud… this was really difficult for me at first! Like you are being judged, but the only person judging you.. is you. Honestly. Praying is the easiest thing to do, but for some reason we all think that we need to be good at it.
…Good? Is there a bad way to pray? Absolutely not.
There is something about speaking out loud for others to hear though, it can definitely make you nervous. At least our heads are down and our eyes are closed. 😊 I take a breath when it is my turn, and then begin by thanking God for all of us being there together. I ask for God to place his hand into the situation of the person I am praying for. May He lead us all in the direction we should go, and also to keep us healthy and looking towards Him for guidance. It usually comes out a little slowly, but I can feel myself getting “better” at letting the words out with each prayer. The words flow a little easier every time.
On top of meeting weekly to get to know each other, answer questions, and discuss scripture, we have certain tasks to complete as a group during our 10 weeks together.
First, we had to plan an outing together outside of our regular meeting to get to know each other even better. To grow.
In our current group, we decided to go to our local pumpkin patch with all of our kids in tow! We picked pumpkins and took a hay ride all together, followed by a group picture to document our fun.
It really did help us to bond easier by being in a public place and just being ourselves.
Next, we had to give back to our community somehow. For us, we brainstormed ideas and none of them seemed like enough. So, instead we decided to involve our community in the gift giving process through Samaritan’s Purse International Relief for Operation Christmas Child. We assembled shoe boxes to be filled with Christmas gifts for children around the world and spread the word of God in the process.. ❤
We asked the people of our church to join us in filling boxes. We were all encouraged to write letters and include a picture of our family for each box. Our girls really enjoyed picking out presents to send to less fortunate children and they even made personalized cards for each one!😍
It actually brings me to tears when I think about it. We are so blessed to be able to give! I hope to teach my children about how important it is to give with no hopes of receiving. Being able to give IS the gift.
‘So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.’ -2 Corinthians 9:7
Our goal was to fill 100 boxes, and although we failed to reach our goal.. we contributed and collected a total of 97 boxes! We captured a picture of half of our group on the night we gathered all of the shoebox gifts to be sent and labeled them with tracking codes so that we will know where they all end up going. It will be fun to share that information with the rest of our church. (The second row of boxes is hidden in this picture, but I promise all 97 are there! 😄)
What a wonderful feeling knowing that 97 more children will receive gifts and learn about Jesus because of our group getting involved. Making a difference in our world takes so little effort, but it does take some.
The best part about our group, in my opinion, is all of our children. They are spending so much time together and were able to be involved in blessing other children around the world. They see how committed we are to our faith and how our everyday life now includes reading our Bibles. Ok.. maybe not every single day, but I think I am extremely close.😉
As a Mother’s Day gift in 2014, my hubby and two girls(at the time) gave me my pretty purple Bible… one with summaries before each book, and verses listed in the middle columns that relate to each verse you are reading.
It’s a study Bible, and holy moly has it helped me! I feel like I am actually understanding the scripture better, while also retaining the stories easier. I love it so much.
I now find myself thinking so much more about the people that wrote the scripture and how important their words are to billions of people since their time. How important their words are to me. They used their words to share truth, love, and acceptance by Jesus. What strong faith they had, knowing that they could be crucified for their love of Christ, and still sharing.
I want to be like them.
I want to be a woman who shares my faith without fear.
So here I am, sharing it with you.
‘..the solid foundation of God stands having this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His” and “Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.” -2 Timothy 1:9
In this short time of focusing on growing in our faith, I have felt myself become less stressed, closer to my husband, more patient with our children, and less connected to material items.
Don’t get me wrong… I am still super sentimental and struggle to part with things that provide me with happy memories, but my happiness is not based on keeping those items like it once was. Plus, giving things to people that appreciate them feels so much better than keeping them.
We have grown, and have no intentions of stopping.
We are building a stronger foundation as a family, and I am so grateful.
I encourage you to take a chance, make new friends.. go to church..
..and Say Hello.. to Jesus!
❤-Mama Katie
‘Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.’ -Colossians 3:2
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