2015 – Page 3 – Thoughts from Blue Eyes

“Hearts Like Ours” and the Assurance

“He is faithful. I don’t understand,” she laughed. “There’s a lot of grace.”

Brynna the RA and I took a long walk this afternoon through the park and down to the beach. The weather is beautiful, the end of the semester is near, and the campus is alive with shorts and flip-flops.

We hadn’t been able to really talk for some time due to work and school schedules, but I was so glad we were able to catch up. Her encouragement and experience is like a refreshing wave regarding some of the stuff I’m sorting through. God provides and speaks through our brothers and sisters more often than we know. I will miss her when she leaves for ministry across the world.

I continue to humbly learn how much I need Jesus. I need him to love others through me, to wake me up, to give me words that will help and not

“Hearts Like Ours” and the AssuranceKaitlyn2015-04-17T21:55:33+00:00

“Nothing Without Love” and the Struggle

Too much information + an analytic mind + a pressing internal desire to know God’s truth and get it right by his Spirit = (not sure yet, not at the end yet, is there an end yet?) Add Nate Ruess’s latest tune, and that’s been the soundtrack for today.

I met with Dr. M. this morning to process some things I’ve been learning in class and life. Namely, where do I fit in God’s designs for his children? I know my passions and giftedness; how do I honor him and not malign the Word when it comes to teaching the truth of the Bible?

This discussion is one that I’ve been turning over and over in my mind. I so desperately wish to serve God, and I want to “get it right” when it comes to what his Word means in light of A) who is given the green signal to teach

“Nothing Without Love” and the StruggleKaitlyn2015-04-09T04:33:16+00:00

“Space Oddity” and the Resurrection

I spent the weekend up in my Northwoods with a merry bunch of travelers.

Yes, our theme song was the infamous David Bowie track. Yes, we ate fish fry, walked in the woods, and stepped out onto the frozen lake near the house. Yes, we celebrated the merciful, amazing miracle of our Lord Jesus Messiah’s resurrection.

Death, where’s the sting now when the designer of all history and sustainer of the universe himself defeated you?

Returning back to campus for the final six weeks is going to be a long run, but reflecting on what Jesus did out of love for us is fuel and joy and motivation that yes, sin is conquered and can be overcome; yes, there is hope; and yes, there is victory.

My favorite account of his resurrection is in the book of John because of what happens to Mary Magdalene. She was redeemed at the Lord’s hand from tortuous

“Space Oddity” and the ResurrectionKaitlyn2019-10-08T02:29:19+00:00

Somewhat Soul-Refreshed

It’s amazing to see how the Lord works and proves his faithfulness even when I doubt.

I attended a ladies’ prayer night at a church down the street for a class assignment. I was observing local women’s ministries and writing reports for my ministry methodology class. I didn’t expect to be filled and refreshed vibrantly with the Spirit: renewed energy to serve Christ, and deep encouragement from the kind sisters who prayed with me.

Cue the conversation with my roommate. We had been dealing with some eggshells and tensions recently, and I honestly didn’t think it was going to end well. We got coffee, sat down, and the Lord answered my prayer. We were able to restore our relationship through forgiveness and honesty. Open communication is a gift.

Reflecting on Palm Sunday in worship this morning. our pastor talked about the reasons why Jesus had to die: to fulfill prophecy, to make redemption

Somewhat Soul-RefreshedKaitlyn2015-03-29T21:49:10+00:00

Somewhat Study-Driven

Fact: I’m in the library. Fact 2: I’m wearing a red t-shirt. Fact 3: Distorted Bible teaching makes me want to scream.

In my ministry methodology class, Dr. M said that accurate biblical teaching is the foundation for a church ministry, and I agree.

Why is it so hard to teach the truths of the Word today? Why can’t churches be doing what God has asked us to do? How come believers refuse to be uncomfortable, ask hard questions, see beyond March Madness and what the Kardashians are scandalizing today? One healthy helping of biblical illiteracy, fresh out of the oven!

I think it’s because we’re afraid.

If we truly believe what the Bible says about God and us, then many of us would be living with a ton more humility, reverent fear, and urgency. If we truly lived out the commands in the Bible, then we would conduct ourselves so differently. If we walk

Somewhat Study-DrivenKaitlyn2019-10-08T02:29:19+00:00

Somewhat Servant-Minded

What does it mean to love God? Answer: obeying his commands. John 14:15, 23.

How can we obey his commands? Answer: by the Spirit, by loving one another, by serving. John 13.

Serving. The paradoxical clarion call to all who profess faith in Christ: denying the flesh, proactively doing something for someone else instead of putting yourself first. Humbling yourself. Saying, “Yes.” When we are irritated, tired, tempted, prideful, or lazy, we are to remember our Lord and his humility, and to do likewise.

After all, Jesus still washed Judas Iscariot’s feet.

I’ve been reading about the Upper Room and meditating on the Lord’s demonstration of humiliating servant-hood when he stooped to wash the disciples’ feet. It never occurred to me before: why didn’t one of the disciples do it? It was an expected chore for a slave, but since there wasn’t one present to wash their dirty, dusty, road-caked feet, you’d think one

Somewhat Servant-MindedKaitlyn2019-10-08T02:29:19+00:00

Somewhat Sucker-Punched

The future can hit you straight in the stomach sometimes. Growing up is hard to do.

I find myself again in a strange moment of tension where I’m looking ahead to adulthood but hanging onto my childhood at the same time. I’ve evolved and matured over the past two years at college, and God has definitely been changing me during this time. I feel old some days, heavy with experiences and conversations, but returning home for Spring Break to the Northwoods is like the Twilight Zone. Things change, but slowly, in a bit of a vacuum. After all, when there’s only 12 people per square mile, not a whole lot is going on. My family is pretty well stabilized.

Praise God, though, for consistency and ever-present arms which welcome me back. Praise him, though, for a warm church community and for familiar faces. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord,

Somewhat Sucker-PunchedKaitlyn2019-10-08T02:29:20+00:00

Life as Ministry

I pondered his words over a vanilla latte this afternoon.

“I’ve been learning how to rest this semester…I was doing so much for the Lord — walking with him, doing ministry, and yet I ceased to rest in him. It was my most productive semester yet, but it left me burned out and empty.”

I call him Insightful Kyle for a reason.

As a believer, one aspect of growing in the Lord is recognizing that nothing is about me. I exist to glorify and praise my creator, which is a beautiful and freeing thing. I seek to do ministry to women because I deeply desire others to know their place as daughters in the Lord, members of the Body of Christ, and valued, purposeful disciples for the King (as my professor likes to say, ministering poets instead of unfinished poems). I cannot imagine doing anything else besides walking through life in the trenches with others.

Life as MinistryKaitlyn2019-10-08T02:29:20+00:00

Life as Collective

“Sometimes, when I get tired of campus, I go and sit with a homeless woman who lives down on State Street. I buy her coffee and keep her company until I’m ready to come back.”

Liz from Indiana looked earnestly at me as I blinked and smiled. She’s short, wears big glasses, and has fiery red hair with a cute scarf around her neck, but you would never guess that she grew up in rough inner-Indy, knows poverty well, and feels more at home on the South Side than on our chirpy, middle-class Bible school campus. For her, this is culture shock.

I find it fascinating.

Despite our backstories and contexts, Christ has brought us into the Kingdom of Light (Col. 1:13). Christ has redeemed us all. Christ lives in us.

I find it fascinating.

Despite our mixed bags of past and present, Jesus has strangely united us. This bizarre concoction that is the Body

Life as CollectiveKaitlyn2019-10-08T02:29:20+00:00

Life as Love

My heart is full. Three of my best friends and I adventured this afternoon to a busy coffee shop for espresso and chocolate hazelnut cookies in the bitter cold of Valentine’s Day. Chicago blustered with roses, Eskimos in sleeping bag coats, and Hallmark cards.

The talk was replenishing — oh, the chatter and encouragement of sweet friends who have not been together since September. True, even though we all live on the same dorm floor and spend time individually one-on-one, the last time we managed our schedules to overlap was for Hannah the Traveler’s birthday last fall.

We are so different, yet there are strands of similarities; the Spirit has bound us in our creativity, hearts for the Lord, and passion for people. The love that joins us is unearthly, because we are incapable of loving out of ourselves and loving those so unlike us. Moments like these underscore the depth of

Life as LoveKaitlyn2015-02-15T01:11:52+00:00

Yearly Archives: 2015