She's Walking

It happened yesterday. Without warning, feeling came back in her legs yesterday morning. By midday, she was standing and walking on her own.

Last night, through teary eyes, I saw her walk for myself.

During a prayer meeting on her behalf about a week ago, God led me to Psalm 20, a great psalm of blessing that lifts up God’s faithfulness in answering prayer. Verses 7 and 8 say this:

Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.

They are brought to their knees and fall,
but we rise up and stand firm.

I prayed that God would make this true of our sister, that she would rise up and stand firm, even as she lay in her bed in ICU, paralyzed from the waist down. And now, He has answered. He has done it. He has prevailed.

My heart is filled with gratitude, and my eyes are filled with tears, even as I type these words.

Our God is faithful and good. Let us praise His Name.

"Tuesday Nights Together"

One of my favorite things about youth ministry is the cylical nature of the school year. Students grow and graduate, new students are always coming in. Activities vary according to the season and school year.

Last night was our first event with the new class of JH students. During the summer we shift to "TNT" (Tuesday Nights Together), a less structured format which includes having dinner at a different students home each week. It's fun for the kids to host the group, gets the parents involved, and it helps us to get to know their families better.

So, last night was the first one of these for the summer. I was pretty excited that all of our incoming 6th graders were in attendance; I am eager to see them all get plugged in and make a successful jump from children's ministry to youth ministry. Our hosts did an incredible job with the food and planned out several fun games to get the kids interacting.

The game that turned out to be the biggest hit was a frozen t-shirt contest, with four teams each competing to be the first to unfold and put on a t-shirt that had been soaked, then frozen. This challenge was much more difficult than it first sounded, let me tell you!

That t-shirt was frozen into a solid rock, and it was hilarious to see the teams trying different strategies to manipulate it: banging it on trees, bouncing it off the ground, pressing it against their backs for body warmth, etc. Eventually, one team got their shirt opened and then on, but even then the other kids didn't want to give up!

We finished off the evening with a devotional from Ephesians 5, followed by ice cream and cookies. I can't wait till next week!

Tuesday Update

As of yesterday afternoon, no major improvements to report for our girl. She had an MRI scan, but hadn't gotten the results at the time we were there. Hopefully that will reveal something that the doctors can treat. The hardest thing right now seems to be the not knowing.

The good news is, now that she's out of ICU she can receive visitors in addition to family. It's been cool to see her room filling up with posters and flowers and stuffed animals. I hope all the love and prayers coming her way are an encouragement.

Meanwhile, life continues to fly along at the speed of light. Tonight kicks off our summer JH program, this Friday, Saturday and Sunday we'll be helping with our church's soccer outreach, and two weeks from today we'll be getting on a plane.

In the midst of the craziness, I was super blessed last night by a great time with our Guatemala team. Our students met with the Global Outreach Team at our church, for a time of sharing and prayer in anticipation of the trip. The church members are so supportive of missions and youth, and it's exciting to see them connect this way.

After the meeting, we headed up to the youth room to prepare one of the dramas we'll be using on our trip, "Thief". The team learned amazingly fast and we had so much fun working on it together. I love to see them growing together as a team, and adding to their repertoire of ministry tools we can use for outreach. Hopefully God will use their talents to bless many.

So for now, we'll keep taking it one day at a time. Thanks for your prayers.

A time for rain

We all know that life brings both the good and the bad, the rain and the sun. This past week has been no exception. The first part of the week was nothing but one graduation celebration after another - cheering students on into the next phase of their lives.

Only hours after the last graduation we attended, however, we were given an unpleasant reminder that life is unpredictable, and tenuous. We got a call early Thursday morning that one of our students had sustained a terrible injury from a fall during her grad night celebrations, and had to be taken to the emergency room in an ambulance.

We've spent most of the past four days in the hospital, holding hands, praying, talking with her family, checking with nurses and doctors, calling friends from school and church, and basically trying to help any way we can. I'm physically exhausted, but times like this have a way of spiritually sharpening you, reminding you what's most important in life. My dishes are piling up, and it's ok.

People keep asking me how I'm doing, and it just feels weird to respond to that. Has it been an easy week? No, but how can I complain of a little temporary tiredness when I get to go home and sleep in my own bed at the end of the night? (I won't lie and say I'm fine, but then I feel guilty for sounding complain-ey) I'm really not even sure how I should blog about this - I don't want to be insensitive, self-centered, or insincere. What can one say in this sort of situation?

Right now, there is an amazing young woman who has her flight booked for the Guatemala mission trip in two weeks, laying in a hospital bed without use of her legs. I don't get it. I'm really praying that the Lord wants to see her standing up in Guatemala, testifying to the power of prayer and a God that performs miraculous healings. And, I'm praying that His purposes in this crazy event will someday, somehow make sense.

I know that God is good. And, He often decides to work in ways that we just don't get until later, if at all. So, how that happens and what it looks like here remains to be seen. For now, we're taking it one day at a time.

Your prayers for this student are appreciated.

"Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord..."

Con-grad-u-lations!

Tonight wraps up the end of our involvement in this year's busy graduation season.

One of the 'features' of our youth ministry is that due to our area, and even more specifically, the location of our church, is that we draw students from numerous schools. (I remember doing the math at one of our high school small groups, and noting that the twelve students present represented nine different high schools. Wow!) This has its pros and cons, obviously. Anyways, in the past two weeks G-Dub and I have attended at least eight graduation events.

While some of you may be groaning at the thought of that much pomp and circumstance, I must say that I've actually really enjoyed being party to so much celebration. Where else do you see a gathering of so many celebrating families?

Also, it's been really cool to see how many of the graduates' church friends, small group leaders, and mentors turned out to support them. It was a vivid example of just how much community has been built throughout this past year.

The girls on the ministry team I led to New Orleans last March (aka Omega Girls, or 'Fab Five') have continued to pray for and encourage one another, and I was thrilled to see the whole group turn out for each of the two girls graduating from their junior highs.

One of our 7th grade gentlemen turned up with flowers at graduations of the 8th grade girls from the JH youth group- he doesn't even go to their schools! How sweet is that!

And finally, as our Sunday night HS group had one graduating senior, we all turned out to cheer for him in big red letters!

Congratulations, grads!

Trade as One

Worth checking out:

There are two worlds.

One where people are poor. The other where people have money to buy things.

Color us innocent, but we think there should be one world.

So we set up Trade as One so people in America can buy things from people in the developing world.

We get beautiful and useful things. They earn a living.

That sounds like a fair trade to us.

Trade as One (TaO) is committed to selling only fair trade products, giving others in developing countries a chance at earning a stable income, and deterring women and children away from sex trafficking as a way of life. Fair Trade means TaO allows artisans from around the world to freely express themselves through their products, and use their talents to make beautiful things for us. Visit TaO, buy something for yourself or a gift for someone special, and support an economically just global trading system.

Pastor Antonio - Video

I first met Pastor Antonio during our time in Guatemala on the 2006 World Race. Our team of five lived at his home and ministered alongside him everyday for three weeks. During this time, I was amazed by his tireless passion for sharing God's love and truth with his people, and the joy he found by serving God so whole-heartedly. I have never met anyone so devoted to living out what he believed.

When the time came to say farewell, I was excited to go serve in new places, but I have never stopped praying that I would be able to return to visit my Guatemalan family, the church we worked at, and most importantly, to bring others with me to see what God is doing there, and to join in that work. Praise God, He is answering that prayer, and three weeks from Tuesday (!) I'll be getting on a plane with my husband, mother, and five incredible students!

Pastor Antonio has also hosted other missionary groups, and one of the more recent World Race teams spent part of their time making a video about Pastor Antonio's ministry. It's delightful to see how God is blessing the congregation that begin in Jan 2006 (the month before we arrived) with only three or four families. The video gives a great description of the kind of work we'll be doing during our two weeks in Lake Atitlan.



Pastor Antonio from Sean Smith on Vimeo.

The Pilgrimage

Several of the South Africans I traveled with on the World Race in 2006 are now working with a South African organization called Global Challenge Expeditions. This group puts on several different world-race-like mission trips of various sorts.

They have put together a fascinating new program called The Pilgrimage, which is basically a study tour of biblical and church history, followed by opportunities to serve in places facing poverty and persecution.

Though most people probably don't have $10,000 and 6 months free time at their disposal, this trip looks like it would make a fascinating sabbatical for a pastor or professor.

Starting point: South Africa

Countries to be visited: Zambia, Ethiopia, Egypt, Israel, Turkey, Greece, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, France, England, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Cambodia, Thailand, India, Dubai and Oman

Curriculum content:

Africa

In Ethiopia, the birthplace of the early church, you will:
-Walk along the ancient church
-Read early church history
-Visit a traditional church

In Egypt, land of the ancient pyramids, you will:
-Study the leadership of Moses
-Travel the Exodus route of the Israelites
-Read through the Pentateuch
-Understand the origin and beliefs of the Muslim faith
-Prescribed reading: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, In the Name of Jesus by Henri Nouwen and Veritas module 1

The Middle East

While travelling through Israel you will:
-Be fascinated by the Scriptures in its historical context
-Start to understand the complexities of the Middle East
-Read and study the life of Jesus

In Oman you will :
-Study more Old Testament History.
-Prescribed reading: Job, 1 and 2 Kings, the Prophets, One of the gospels, Actsand Veritas module 2

Europe

You will visit the ancient ruins of Turkey and Greece and:
-Follow in the footsteps of the first apostles
-Develop a desire to have a deeper understanding of Scripture

Through, Italy, Switzerland, Germany and England, you will:
-See how God has been faithful to his church through the previous centuries
-Understand the suffering many of the early believers faced
-Commit to search and carry the truth in your own generation
-Marvel at the beautiful art, buildings and history there is to discover
-Prescribed reading: Paul, Peter, John’s letters and Veritas module 3

The Far East

Be amazed by the ancient history and culture of China and:
-Be challenged by the price fellow believers pay in their desire to follow Christ
-Be inspired by the lives of fellow Christians

In Thailand you will have the opportunity to rest.

In India, among the contrasting aromas and bright colours, you will:
-Study the main religions of the world
-Face the devastating effects of poverty
-Come to a deeper understanding of God’s heart for the poor
-Partake in a local church being planted
-Serve at an orphanage
-Prescribed reading: Revelation, Ester, Hudson Taylor, The Heavenly Man and Veritas module 4

I resemble that remark...

"...there aren't many pleasures I enjoy more than sleep. I sleep till I am done, normally, and haven't set an alarm in years. I'm not lazy, mind you, I just find it odd anybody would program a machine to wake them. God made the brain so it would wake on its own, and as a follower of Jesus, I am a strict adherent to His system. Call me a fundamentalist if you want."

- Donald Miller, To Own a Dragon

Dancing Through Life

Last Thursday, Gary and I celebrated our nine-year wedding anniversary! It's just mind boggling to me that the time has flown by this fast.

We met one another thirteen years ago at the very start of our freshmen year at USC; we were both in the marching band and had a couple of classes together. We were just seventeen years old!

After realizing we both had a passion for dance, we joined the USC Ballroom & Latin Dance Team, and competed as dance partners in numerous collegiate ballroom competitions throughout California. The first dances we learned were rumba and east coast swing, but we soon found that our talent was for waltz and west coast swing, our favorite dances to this day.

After a year and a half as best friends and dance partners, it was time to take our relationship to that next level. We dated for a year, got engaged, then married right after graduation. (Guys... take note - there might be something to this! I can think of at least four other couples that were dance partners first, and eventually got married!)

The rest, shall I say, is history. We haven't competed much lately, but still take the opportunity to dance at weddings, and have been known to waltz around our living room should a good song come on the radio. I consider myself blessed to have such a great partner for the dance floor, and for life.

I love you, Gary!

Gary & Katherine: the early years

Family Ties

Today marks the end of a fun and busy couple of weeks, and the beginning of the 'calm before the storm' - a few days of relative quiet before summer activities begin with a bang.

We've been blessed to spend a lot of good time with family this month - first was camping with the Bonus (G-dub's brother), followed by Gary's trip down to attend his baptism and visit with their parents, then this past weekend we enjoyed a visit by my mom. She'll actually be joining us on our Guatemala trip next month, and this was her first opportunity to attend a training meeting and meet the rest of the team.

Actually, it was the first time she's been able to come up and visit since we moved here last year, so it was fun to show her around our place and introduce her to all our peeps at church. Turns out, my parents lived in Concord for a brief stint early on in their marriage, and my mom was able to point out the neigborhood and house that was theirs!

(How random that though Gary and I both grew up in Southern California, our married life has brought us first to Sacramento, where I worked in the same neighborhood his mom lived in when she was in high school, and now to Concord where my parents spent a couple of years)

Anyways, thanks to everyone at Fair Oaks who welcomed my mom so warmly - it was a special weekend all around.