I LOVE My Small Group

In case you missed the title, I LOVE my small group.  The thought of a group of women, especially one that includes a couple of  pastors and pastor’s wives, can sound down-right scary.  There is nothing scary about this group of women.  Well…..scary: no…….crazy: YES!!!!  Revive has 3 small groups; a men’s,  Celebrate Recovery and a women’s. 

The Men are reading Men’s Fraternity and learning how to be the men God called them to be.  (Duh, right?  I’m not a dude so I can’t tell you everything they are doing….I think the first rule of Men’s Fraternity is you don’t talk about Men’s Fraternity.) 

Celebrate Recovery is open to everyone.  It’s a Christian based 12-step program designed to help everyone recover and get over their hurts, habits and hangups.  When I think of “recovery” I typically think of drugs or alcohol.  This program will certainly help with those addictions but it will also help us “normal folk” that aren’t “addicted” to anything. 

We are doing the Beth Moore James Bible study.  We are all being challenged and I can honestly say this Bible study has “seriously changed my life.”  Shout out Tracy 🙂  I’ve done a great job of ignoring those in need and James has slapped me several times.  We got together and made goodie bags to leave in our cars and hand out to the homeless; I had one bag left.  We stopped at a light and there was an older man sitting in his wheelchair holding a sign.  I reached for my bag only to realize it was in my trunk.  I wanted to get it but I was afraid the light would change and people would honk.  After a split second I realized that was stupid and I had Brandn pop the trunk.  I handed him the bag and he asked what was in it.  When I got to the gloves he got happy and said thanks, I really need gloves.  I share this with you NOT to make me sound like a really good person, but to show you how God used me to make a difference in that moment. 

The heart’s of these ladies are just amazing.  We pulled together and did a food drive for the Texas Baptist Children’s Home and this is what we came up with:

7 bottles of laundry detergent…5 packages of diapers…15 bottles of shampoo and soap…bar soap, toothbrushes and toothpaste…10 cans of veggies…several boxes of pasta…bags of beans and rice…15 rolls of toilet paper….2 gallons of milk….2 loaves of bread and 2 family packs of tortillas…eggs and chicken 

I LOVE my small group!

Thanks for allowing me to share my world with you…welcome to my brain.

My Brain Hurts

I wish the red “Easy” button from Staples was real. I know you can buy one, but I wish it would actually work. I would use it on my brain. I would tell it to shut up and then hit the button. I’m doing a Beth Moore study now and she said “Is it just me, or are ya’ll tired of easy answers?” Ummmm….NO! I would love an easy answer right now. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, there is a reason my blog is called Ridiculouskatie and I end each post with “welcome to my brain.” My brain, it’s a beautiful thing (can you feel the sarcasm?)

Lots of stuff on my brain but for your sake; I’ll just stick with one.

I can’t stop thinking about orphans and how I need to help them. Stop rolling your eyes and thinking orphans, there she goes again….stick with me here. As badly as I want to bring them all to my house and feed them and hug them and kiss their heads and wipe their tears and try to show them the love of Jesus on a level they can grasp and give them fun band-aids; don’t underestimate the powerful awesomeness of fun band-aids. I know 2 little girls that a fun band-aid will cure ANYTHING! I want to do all of that so badly that it physically hurts my heart that I’m not. I will do all that one day and I look forward to that day; but that day is not today.

In the past week I have had 4 people speak the same, yet different, message to me. They will remain nameless but if you’re reading this you know who you are. 🙂

I was told I’m too hard on myself and I expect way too much of myself. (The reason I expect so much of myself is Jesus expects so much of me. From Genesis to Revelations we are told hundreds of times to take care of the poor.) They told me I need to take a step back and realize that even though I’m not doing those things, I am doing things. That my family is my first ministry and I’m called to love and serve and show the love of Jesus right where I am; right where He has called me. I need to take it easy on myself b/c if I’m constantly bringing myself down, I’m absolutely no good to those around me. If I’m constantly looking elsewhere and ignoring what’s in front of me have failed EPICALLY!

So what does this mean? I’m still trying to figure that out. But in the meantime (“in the meantime” is not my favorite place to be. When I’m here, I’m forced to wait, learn, stretch and grow. These are all very important but hard and like I said at the beginning, I’m looking for that easy button right now.) I will love my husband and try not to complain to him everyday about my job, I will love on Danica even though her love language means playing “kitty-kitty town” or “grocery store” for hours. I will love my church and my church family. I will do better with keeping in touch with my family not in Austin and I will love those around me even if they are strangers.

If you’re reading this, you didn’t jump ship at the first mention of orphans, and I thank you.

Thanks for allowing me to share my world with you…welcome to my brain.

Kisses From Katie and James

So it’s now 2013.  This isn’t a blog post to reflect on 2012 or to give you a list of things I want to, but most likely won’t, accomplish in 2103.

On Dec 31, 2010 at midnight I prayed “God use me more this year than last.”  Dude…..did I mean it?  With all my heart.  Did I have a clue how He was gonna do it?  Heck no!  Did He?  Yes!!!  Is He done yet? No.

This past New Year’s prayer was a paraphrase of Psalm 37:4 which says “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will grant you the desires of your heart.”  I want the desires of my heart to be the desires of God and if what’s in my heart isn’t of God, I want Him to remove that desire.  If you get the signifigance of this, please pray for me. lol

I’m currently reading Kisses from Katie and the book of James at the same time.  These 2 books totally go hand and hand; I didn’t plan on reading them simultaneously  it just happened.  Katie, the girl giving the kisses, is from Tennessee who decided to take a risk, open up her life and follow God.  To make a very long, amazing and crazy story short, she ended up moving to Uganda to teach elementary kids.  She now runs a non-profit organization called Amazima Ministries, teaches and feeds hundreds of kids daily and is currently adopting 14 young girls.

The book of James is written by James, Jesus’ brother.  I love the book of James.  I think I love it so much because I can actually understand what it says.  The majority of the New Testament is written by Paul and he’s too freaking smart for me.  I read his stuff and I’m like “ummm….what??”  James doesn’t do that to me.  I read it and I’m like “Oh, I get it, you’re talking on my level….crap, I’m totally not doing what I should be.”  To some of you, that doesn’t sound like a good reaction.  Why would I want to read something that reminds me I’m failing?  Well because self awareness leads to conviction and conviction leads to change.

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Here are the 3 things that have slapped my face over the last two weeks.  I hope they speak to you and convict you like they have me…procede with caution:

– Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.  – James 1:27

– Anyone then who knows the good he ought to do, and doesn’t do it, sins.  – James 4:16

– Now that I know, I am responsible.  – Katie Davis, Kisses From Katie

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Straight up the Bible tells us to take care of orphans.  There are 146 million starving kids in the world and 2.1 billion people that claim to be Christians.  With 2.1 billion Christians there is no reason for 146 millions kids to be starving or for 16 thousand to die everyday due to starvation.

I live less than a mile from an orphanage; I drive past it twice a day.  There is no reason why I shouldn’t help.  There is a need.  I know it exists and now that I know, I am responsible.  I have a meeting there this Friday to take a tour and to learn about what they do and how we can help.

This year I challenge to step outside of yourself and see how you can positively effect those around you.

Thanks for allowing me to share my world with you…welcome to my brain.