London!

I've safely arrived at my Aunt and Uncle's house in London with 2 of my cousins! (In case anyone was really that concerned.)

Yesterday was my first jet-lagged day and we went to lunch at a cute Italian restaurant in Weybridge they walked around a little and hung out at home.

Today we're sight-seeing around London then seeing Wicked tonight! I'm so excited!

                                                  XOXO,
                                                  Kaitlyn

Across the Pond!

Today is my last full day in the United States, and of course, I procrastinated and am still finishing up my last pre-trip homework assignment. By Friday, I'll be headed to this place until Tuesday to visit my wonderful, hospitable and international aunt, uncle and cousins.

 

   Then Tuesday, I'm off to India! I'll leave you with some pictures that make me so excited to see in real life once I get there. Hopefully, I'll be able to find time and an internet connection to share all my experiences once I'm there.

                                                                      With Love,
                                                                        Kaitlyn

I'm not as smart and/or as creative as this really awesome blog post.

There's a blog by a girl named Heather Summers that is absolutely amazing. I probably sound like a huge creep because I don't even remember how I found her blog but she has some serious truth and she's freaking hilarious. She posted this post a few days ago that I had to share because it's something that I seriously believe in and find both convicting and encouraging :)

How Do We Get Back To Being The Body Of Christ?

Grace and Brothels

We all need the same grace. I said in my last post that I lack humility. I have sins and make mistakes that I have deemed "acceptable". I live in the U.S. and do what I'm supposed to do so I must be a good Christian. God must be really relieved that he doesn't have to give me as much grace. The nails probably didn't hurt as hard for me as they did for other people. NO. We all need the same grace and redemption. Jesus didn't have to die more for someone else than my sin. Every sin and mistake I make or have to make is a crushing blow, another lash of the whip, another nail in the hand. But it gets better. I've been learning so much about grace this past year, how much I need it, how much we all need it and how much I need to give it to others. To live a life marked by the grace, forgiveness and redemption of an extraordinary God.

I was reminded of this in a conversation I had a little over a month ago.

A few friends and I were discussing India and Hinduism came up. As we talked about how devout the followers were and how they would give everything for their religion. In passing someone commented "Yeah, they're so devout then they sell their own little girls."
The conversation continued but that single sentence stuck with me. What desperation must these people be in that the only option they see is to traffick another person, their own children?
Yes, I realize this example is pretty extreme.
But it's so easy to judge and compare.
But I don't know their situation.
I don't know that desperation. I have lived in such comfort my entire life.
That you can only get something to eat by selling your son into bonded labor or a daughter into a brothel.
Yes. It makes me so incredibly angry. But I know God sees their plights and their pain. He has compassion. He's a good dad. He's a God of justice that I can't comprehend. This doesn't mean that people will be punished, but rather responds with the same love, grace and redemption that he showed on the cross.
 I don't understand why or how human trafficking happens, but that's why God is God and I am not. That's why we all need the same grace.
If I ever think that I can't relate to someone, or just need a slice of humble pie, please remind me of God's grace and this post.
I need His grace. Daily. Just as much as the next person, even if that person in half-way across the world.

                                                    With Love,
                                                      Kaitlyn

Up

Grace and perfection and hypocrisy

Recently, I've been learning a lot about grace. I've realized it's something I'll never completely understand, but something I so desperately need. Here's why:

I lack humility. I work really freaking hard on everything I do. I'm a perfectionist to a fault. I like to be recognized for what I do and my achievements. Clearly, the exact opposite of humility. I'm really bad with judging people in my head. (That's actually really tough and pretty humbling to admit, but I'm working on it. The amount of times I've said "I'm working on it" on this block is gross. Give me some grace please.) Except I make mistakes and I have sins that I'm not proud of. Except I think my sins are more "acceptable". Except I was raised in a good family. Except I never got in trouble in school or gave my parents a hard time. Except I did what I was supposed to! Except I'm selfish. I'm stubborn. I get angry easily. I project it onto other people. I don't trust God the way I should. Sometimes I don't filter what I say, without thinking. I'm so incredibly impatient. Sometimes I'm bitter. I have road-rage. I'm hypocritical. I'm a perfectionist, I'm too hard on myself and get frustrated when I can't control things.

Except, Except, Except.

"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me." 2 Corinthians 12:9

The point of grace is that there isn't anyone that measures up. I can't be good enough. I can't earn grace. Some days, that's a pretty big pill to swallow. I like my facade of perfection. It's something I can hide behind. Even when my shortcomings seem decent or tolerable. I still need the same grace and forgiveness every second of every day.

According to Mounce's Expository Dictionary ( Is it weird that I own this? Probably, but I think it's awesome.) the word grace is equivalent to the Greek word Charis. Part of that definition is "Grace is a new domain in which and by which Christians live. In this realm sin no longer rules. By His grace, God affects Christians' personal lives, giving them the ability to obey the gospel from the heart, the ability to work hard and increase their joy in severe trials.

In my shortcomings and failures and weaknesses, God's grace is made perfect.

Do you know how much Joy that brings me?!

I'm still learning a lot about grace like I said before, and how much I so desperately need it. But I think everyone needs to hear this. God's grace is sufficient for you. ( I really want to put a "hashtag boom", but I'll restrain myself. Still if you haven't seen this video, you should.)

The url of this blog is "A standard of grace" we're a world of broken people who are never going to reach a standard of perfection. That's the beauty of the gospel though. We don't have to. His grace is sufficient for us.

What does this have to do with my upcoming trip to India?

I'm learning how so incredibly necessary grace is everyday. People across the world need to be freed from the shackles of reaching perfection to understand grace. Suffering and brokenness is universal and cross-cultural. The answer to that is still grace.  In the same way, I need to work on forgiving and extending grace to those around me because being in close proximity to the same fifteen people and through that much travel time, airports, trains, buses and not speaking the same language is going to require some grace and leeway for all of us.

I don't really have any answers, and this probably wasn't the most insightful post, but I think this trip will prove to have quite a few lessons, one of those being grace.


                                                   With Love,

                                                      Kaitlyn

Quotes, Grace and not doing it all

I always wanted to collect things when I was younger, but stamps and the like were never too appealing to me. So, I collected quotes. I have a really good memory so I usually have a good pop culture reference or quote from a book or movie. ( I actually had a bunch of literary quotes peppered in a dinner conversation last week but no one in my family got it. It was so disappointing.)

Throughout my journal I have tons of quotes from everything imaginable. I have a pinterest board of good quotes.  I probably change what my favorite quote is once a week, but this one has always stuck with me and rings true in all aspects of my life.


"It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view.

The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts,
it is even beyond our vision.

We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction
of the magnificent enterprise that is God's work.
Nothing we do is complete, which is a way of saying
that the kingdom always lies beyond us.
No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith.
No confession brings perfection.
No pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No program accomplishes the church's mission.
No set of goals and objectives includes everything.

This is what we are about.
We plant the seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted,
knowing that they hold future promise.

We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces far beyond our capabilities.

We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation
in realizing that. This enables us to do something,
and to do it very well. It may be incomplete,
but it is a beginning, a step along the way,
an opportunity for the Lord's grace to enter and do the rest.

We may never see the end results, but that is the difference
between the master builder and the worker.

We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future not our own.
Amen." - Archbishop Oscar Romero


It's a pretty wordy quote but it's such an incredible reminder. My favorite part is this:

"We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation
in realizing that. This enables us to do something,
and to do it very well. It may be incomplete,
but it is a beginning, a step along the way,
an opportunity for the Lord's grace to enter and do the rest."

So many times I try to do everything, and everything perfectly, but I fall short. I burn out. I don't have the ability or strength or handle all of these burdens, but that's where grace comes in. It's still something I'm learning and experiencing every day, but it is so liberating.

"From the end of the earth will I cry to you, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I." - Psalm 61:2


                                               With Love,
                                                 Kaitlyn