update #3

this week: is exceptionally warm. but as for an update, i've had a sinus thing going on all week, which ≠ fun.

on my to-do list: youth sunday stuff, work on the HSM series

excited about: i actually COOKED last night! I made chicken salad, and it's pretty much the best recipe ever, and i came up with it myself [kind of. it's like chicken salad i've had before]: broiled chicken, mayo, fuji apple chunks, halved red grapes, celery. mix according to what you like most [for me- lots of grapes!] and indulge :)

procrastinating about: nothing really. why? because i'm awesome

book i’m in the midst of: the bible. go team. i really need to start reading again.

music that caught my attention this week: april smith [check out her song "Colors"]

anticipating: september 8th.

random babble: i passed my apartment inspection! [not that i doubted i would, i just worry about dumb things haha]

awesome story

check out my friend adam's blog.

stories like that are why i got into ministry. stories like that are why i follow Jesus.


you never know how God's going to use you.

update #2

this weekend: i get to see my brother! his birthday is friday, so he'll be home for it. i'm super excited because this is a rare occurence.

on my to-do list next week: pull everything together for youth sunday

excited about: Flipside starting up tonight! it's going to be crazy

procrastinating about: organizing the apartment [still]

book i’m in the midst of: oh gosh, well it was everything must change, but i just can't do that right now. i'm reading through a ton of small group curriculum [samson and the pirate monks, grace based parenting, and hayley dimarco's girls series. i also picked up rob bell's sex god.

music that caught my attention this week: the ting tings, rhianna, sara bareilles

anticipating: next week's episode of the hills. draaaama. [i know, that's a really dumb thing for me to anticipate. oh well!]

random babble: i'm really into the starbucks double shot energy+coffee drinks. not in like, an addicted way, but its cheaper than higher grounds and it actually wakes me up. its all good in the hood.

i'm baaaack!

man! it seems like i haven't posted in decades, but it's only been five days. the technological age is weird like that...

today is crazy because our wednesday night programming starts tonight, along with our NEW and IMPROVED 5th and 6th grade youth group- THE FLIPSIDE! i'm so pumped to get back with the kids on a regular basis as we learn about Jesus together. a lot of times they end up teaching us more than we teach them!

i've been super excited lately for everything God is doing in my life. i've definitely felt more clarity in my life lately, which is awesome since a lot of days i feel like i'm in a fog; it kind of makes following God a lot easier in the present when you have no clue what will happen in the future. I've been praying a LOT about grad school and timing and where i should go, and i finally feel like i have some idea of what's going on, but i don't want to jump the gun, so you won't get any big announcements for awhile. i'm looking at a couple different schools though, locally and nationally, trying to discern what's best for me in the long run.

in other news, today will be spent making new permission slips that actually cover us, legally. those old ones weren't even close, man...

and... a link for you all: Beloit College Mindsets

i'm so proud of my mom :)

These givers get an A+
Teachers, organizations and individuals are donating supplies to the needy
Published: 8/13/2008 12:00:00 AM
By: Katie Rogers


Caption: Elkhart Community Schools third-grade teachers Carol Nusbaum (left) and Jill Szyarto box food Tuesday for Church Community Services at Memorial High School. Nusbaum, a teacher at Eastwood Elementary, and Szyarto, a teacher at Riverview Elementary, were getting the food, donated by ECS teachers, ready for the trip to the local food pantry.

When more than 900 Elkhart Community Schools staffers attended a yearly back-to-school session at Memorial High School Tuesday morning, most brought along a basic food or personal care items to donate to Church Community Services.

The giving started with a simple e-mail from ECS Superintendent Mark Mow, asking teachers to donate on behalf of the school system and the Elkhart Teachers Association.

"The economy certainly reminds of us of the need to do these things," Mow said, "but I think that spirit has always been there. Elkhart has always been a very generous and giving and caring community in many ways."

At the end of the morning, tabletops in the school's cafeteria were piled high with goods, and an extra $665 in cash was presented to CCS, an organization often faced with dwindling food pantry stocks.

"It's bringing supplies we don't normally get otherwise," CCS executive director Dean Preheim-Bartel said after the donating was done. "They really went all out."

Then, Communities Actively Relating to Elkhart Schools opted to match the $665 donation.

"We saw a need and wanted to show people that CARES is an organization that cares about all people," CARES president Brian Buckley said. "We saw an opportunity to do something nice for the community."

quote of the day

"You should just start hanging out at tattoo parlors." -Pastor Paul

yeah... my boss is cooler than yours :)

update #1

I think I'm going to start doing one of these every Friday... easy to say now; we'll see how it goes [and I know it's Thursday, but I doubt anyone will read this before tomorrow... if you do, WOW! you're dedicated to my life, and i thank you for that!]

sidenote: definitely ganked this idea from marko. its a ymin thing...

this weekend: is insane... painters tomorrow, pulse festival saturday [without the bus; still looking for drivers!], and kick off sunday, complete with dunk tank [proof i love my students haha]

on my to-do list next week: develop media for The Flipside's first series on David, get some stuff together for the first night of HSM, find volunteers to help out with a cancer benefit [one of my students asked if we could help... Nathan, you're awesome!]

excited about: this apartment getting some color tomorrow! i feel like heaven's going to open up

procrastinating about: organizing this place... we have inspections next week and well, i have clothes everywhere and suitcases still packed from this summer [the clothes are clean, but i repacked when i came back from Elkhart and never unpacked], and basically a LOT of organizing since i've been gone all summer.

book i’m in the midst of: everything must change, by Brian McLaren. not necessarily the best summer read, as it's really heavy stuff. after that, unchristian, which has been on my shelf for a year now, followed by the third jesus.

music that caught my attention this week: alanis morrisette. there was an article about dave coulier ["uncle joey" from full house] finally responding to her song "you oughta know" [it's about him cheating on her], and as soon as i read the article, alanis got stuck in my head. so i've been rocking that and the killers this week.

anticipating: september 9th. my long-lost friend comes home from Europe :)

random babble: i'm really interested in getting a pidgin Bible. pidgin is Hawaii's second language, and it's really cool. example: Jesus say, "God wen get so plenny love an aloha fo da peopo inside da world, dat he wen send me, his one an ony Boy, so dat everybody dat trus me no get cut off from God, but get da kine life dat stay to da max foeva." (John Tell Bout Jesus 3:16). How can you not dig that?

Wisdom and Mercy

You can't whitewash your sins and get by with it; you find mercy by admitting and leaving them. -Proverbs 28:13 [msg]

how powerful...

the older i get, the more i enjoy proverbs. maybe its because i'm constantly praying for wisdom from God... maybe Proverbs are His answer. regardless, i love 28:13, because of its blunt honesty. you can't cover sin up and make it go away; admit you messed up, and leave it on the cross. Don't go back to it like a dog to its vomit, because then you're not really asking for mercy; you're asking for an excuse to cling to it- "but I prayed..."

we're lucky God loves us all so much. we are a disheveled people. God sees beyond all of that though, sees what we look like when we're all cleaned up, and man, do we look good that way!

good questions to ask

i know it's my job and all, but lately i've been thinking a lot about ministry and our church. i'm big on programming and curriculum and being effective, and after a year in ministry, my focus is clearer. and to think, i thought i knew everything already ;)

i want our programs to be effective; i want students to walk away saying "i want to be like Jesus" rather than "i have to be like Jesus." i want them to have a passion for ministry and an awareness of their gifts and how God can use them for Kingdom purposes. with that being said, i feel like some re-vamping needs to occur. Students desire connection; they feed off of their connections with each other [social networking sites, texting, classes at school, meeting on a weekly basis], with culture [the cult of celebrity, entertainment, hot button issues], and with the world [being green, politics, global crisis, etc], and all of that can be used to help them develop a connection with God. did they connect with God last year? yes. could i have done a better job? yes. my biggest struggle was balancing evangelism and discipleship and fellowship all in a half hour period. i focused a lot on discipleship- what does "Christian" mean? what about Jesus do we really represent? how can we redeem Christianity in the eyes of others? Because of this, evangelism lagged. Students brought friends still, and the topics still worked, but i feel like there's a better balance out there.

back to my "good questions," i think it's crucial to always ask these when you're working with people [whether in ministry or in business or whatever]:
1. What's important? [i.e. What do we know that others should?]
2. Who do we want to hear this message?
3. How is our leadership team gifted?
4. How can we make 1 and 2 happen, using 3?
i think that's the basis for ministry. when you can answer all four, you have a direction to go in. that's what i'm trying to do this week- trying to make things add up.

i'd love to hear comments on this. are there more questions we need to be asking?

and baby makes three

congratulations to Ryan and Jamie! Matthew joined the world a little while ago and from what I hear, all is well. You two are incredible people and are going to be AMAZING parents! Matthew is very blessed to call you Mom and Dad!

a good goal

Let’s be honest...church is not the place most people want to spend their Sunday mornings. Going to church is usually associated with boredom, hypocrisy, irrelevance, judgment, or guilt.

But what if there was a church that was different?

What if there was one that welcomed you regardless of your beliefs or past, and didn’t pretend that we had it all together? What if your kids begged you to come back next week because they had so much fun? What if you left church feeling empowered and encouraged instead of guilty and judged? What if our city was genuinely thankful for our church because of the blessing it had become in our community?

What if there was a church that helped you grow in your spiritual life, connected you with others in authentic community, and empowered you to transform our world?

that's from Catalyst in Ventura. I would love for this to be our goal as a body :) i feel like we're getting there.

oops!

a few minutes ago, i heard cleo crying/whining/whatevering, and she wouldn't stop, so i went to check on her. i thought she was out in the livingroom, but no such luck. i looked in the bathroom and nada. she wasn't in the office, either. then i realized she was scratching on the bedroom door from inside the bedroom! poor dear, i accidentally shut her in! it was kind of funny how she was fearing for her life on the other side of the door.

yet another reason why i have the cutest dog in the world :) she is precious.

TGIT

today has been awesome. i've worked on bulletin board stuff, i'm getting ready to go meet cindy and steph at los tequilos, and then i'm spending the afternoon working on postcards to remind the kids when youth group starts.

i'm excited for this new year of ministry, i'm excited for growth in my students, i'm excited for youth specialties in november and seeing old friends; it's going to be a good year.

i'm trying to think of more big events to do with the kids. i've also got some new fundraisers up my sleeves [one specifically for gas money, called "Eat here and Get gas!"]. i want this year to be a fun year. this job isn't as stressful after the first year.

i'm also painting my office soon. i think "blue wave" but "trout stream" is also an option, mainly because the name "trout stream" is ridiculous [they're both blue-green]. i got some sweet artwork when i was in minnesota, and i'll add that to the room as well. there's a lot of tiny things going on which really excite me, i guess, but it's definitely going to be a good year. this year feels different from last year. i don't have to prove myself as much as i did last year, which is stupid that i would have to in the first place, but it's a good feeling.

los tequilos is calling my name. adios!

Grieving, Forgiving, Living

i got a link from the Pepplers to a video of Steven Curtis Chapman's interview with Good Morning America [warning: the video is definitely an emotional one].

The subheading of the piece is "Grieving, Forgiving, Living," which stuck out to me. It's the process we're called to when we've been wronged or hurt or mislead. Grief in the loss we've encountered, forgiveness towards the person who caused it, and life which comes as a result of the burden being lifted off of us.

Forgiveness is a tricky thing, and yet, it's everything. We ask God to "forgive us our trespasses [debt, sins] as we forgive those who trespass against us." In as much as we forgive others, forgive us. A lot of times we don't see it that way. With the way it's written, we look at Christ's forgiveness of us, then the fact that we forgive others. Maybe it's because we have to accept Christ's forgiveness in order to understand the importance of forgiving others, or maybe it's a faith before works issue; we're forgiven because we're loved, not because we forgive others.

I find myself wrestling with forgiveness in certain instances because the grief can be so strong. I see it with my students, too. Maybe it's because we forget about life after forgiveness, or maybe it's because we never truly forgive. And maybe I'm just babbling, which is possible. I just know there have been times where I've truly forgiven someone and then the situation comes to mind and I find myself grieving again and starting the process all over. It was interesting what SCC's wife said; she commented on how, as a mother, all she wanted was her daughter back, but because she knew it wasn't going to happen, she had to look at life where she was at- her kids, her husband, her faith- and respond to them with love. She had to live out the situation and be relational rather than isolated in her pain. I think that's huge, and definitely worth noting. She mentioned something about "how can this story change others' faith?" and she said those stories would come and bring light to the situation, but she still battles the mother inside of her.

the chapman story is definitely one for the books when it comes to grace and love and forgiveness. i recommend the video; it's really interesting.

some thought-provoking questions

Mark Beeson had these over on his blog, and I thought they were worth sharing with my part of the world:

Five Questions
(pivotally important for a congregation considering radical outreach)

1. Do we want to know them?
Most of our Christians do not fraternize with really unchurched people.

2. Are we willing to go where they are?
Most churches avoid their city’s gathering places, where people engage in conversation and look for Life, lest believers be offended, or even tempted.

3. Are we willing to spend time with them?
Outreach ministry involves scheduled time, and sweat equity.

4. Do we want secular and outside-the-establishment people in our churches?
At least 80% of our churches fail ever to reach out to two groups of people:
(1) people who are not “refined” enough to feel comfortable in church; people who have never acquired a “church etiquette” need not apply;
(2) people whose lifestyles are too different from ours, or whose lives are too “

5. Are we willing for our church to become their church too?
A missionary context requires, in at least some services and ministries, that we adapt to the style, the language, the aesthetics and (yes) the music of the people we are called to reach.

pumped

we had worship planning yesterday, and i'm SO EXCITED for our new Sunday morning series: THE REAL CHURCH! it's going to be awesome.

God is really moving in our church, pushing us to be more than we ever dreamed we could be. I love it. I love the excitement that stems from that. it's awesome.

my kids keep asking me when i'm going to apply for grad school. gentle nudges, huh? haha. i guess my answer would be "in the next two years." lately, i've been feeling like God has something RIDICULOUS in store for my future in CC, and part of me would love to be right, and part of me is terrified that i'm right. So rather than saying what that thing is, i'm just going to ride it out and see what happens. Grad school would definitely help with said "thing," and i could finally get my work published. nobody wants to publish someone with a bachelor's even though I KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT! i'd love to get my senior project into an article/book, but that will have to happen in God's time, not Kara's. [lesson of the summer!]

God is SO good. I don't say that enough, but I really do mean it.


random fact of the day: i'm going to wear my new old man shoes. yesterday i wore my new old man sweater and new old man watch on a chain. i think i have a thing for the old man style! crazy...

help!

I'm having a hard time finding curriculum for my guys, and I get frustrated when I go to Christian bookstores and the youth interest section is all for girls, and the young men's section is "SKATEBOARD WITH JESUS!" or "Becoming a Young Man of the Lord" or something that would have been relevant 10 years ago.

granted, most boys don't read books these days, but what about Leader's Guides?

Julie suggested doing Nooma videos with the guys, which might work because they don't have to read, but they've seen a lot of them already.

does anyone out there have suggestions for guys curriculum? i'm looking for ages 13-18.

the story behind the name

all my life, the United Methodist Church has been stalking me .

i'm not one for denomination; i feel like loving Jesus is enough and denominational stuff is just splitting hairs. maybe that will change as i get older, but that's where i'm at right now. regardless of my feelings towards denomination, God has it in His mind to make me Methodist.

A timeline of my church history, if you will:

• 1984-1990: St. Paul's UMC
• 1997-1998: Trinity UMC
• 2002-2007: New Hope UMC
• 2007 [alongside New Hope]: Granger Community Church [also UMC]
• 2007 [also alongside New Hope]: Ridgedale Presbyterian Church
• Summer 2005-2007 employer: Impact 2818 [a UMC Camping Ministry]
• 2007-present: Columbia City UMC

so, with the exception of Ridgedale, my only experience with denomination has been UMC [and Ridgedale was really nondenominational; they worked with New Hope a lot and were closer to school]. I don't mean to be Methodist, exactly, but it seems to be unavoidable. Thus, "Accidental Methodist."

Ch-ch-chaaanges!

[for the old blog, click here]

most people who are into building empires or followings would say "don't change websites! everyone knows where you are!" but wordpress was getting annoying [it doesn't work well with my macbook, for starters], and life has changed A LOT in the last year, so it kind of feels like part of the process.

in 11 days, i will have had my job for an entire year. 365 DAYS OF FULL TIME MINISTRY! how awesome :) they always say your first two years are the hardest, but hopefully for me it was just the first year [haha, a girl can dream!]. I'm SO PUMPED to see what God does with this next year. The biggest change is the implementation of MINISTRY TEAMS! the hardest part of last year was having way too much on my plate, partially because i didn't know who to ask for help, and partially because i'm a control freak [God has definitely changed that this summer!]. in my interview, i said i didn't want to do ministry alone, so i've come up with a couple teams:

• Dream Team- visionaries for the future of the youth ministry
• Task Force- our missions team! they'll organize local and national projects, as well as fundraisers to help us make it happen
• Small Groups- a new part of our ministry! God's really been pushing this on me, and I'm so pumped to see new community groups form
• Programming- this group will help develop series and look for new curriculum to use in Sunday School, Small Groups, and HSM
• Snack Squad- they provide our HUNGRY students with some grub! it seems insignificant, but food really brings people together.
• Big Event Team- plan one big event per semester for students in our community

I've prayed A LOT about these teams this year, and I really think this is where God's leading us. I'm so excited to see how all of this works out, and I'm excited for the kids to own their ministry. It's going to be an awesome year!