You Are More

This week has actually been kinda difficult, to be completely honest.

I've been faced with temptation more than I have in an extremely long time

It sucked.

But, there were three words that got me through some rough temptation.

YOU ARE MORE.

There's a new song by Tenth Avenue North by the same title, and the chorus has been ringing in my mind throughout this season.

It goes:

You are more than the choices that you make.

You are more than the sum of your past mistakes.

You are more than the problems you create.

You've been remade.

That's so true, and it's something I forget.

A lot. 

I mean, when the world is screaming at you to look and act a certain way or be scorned by society, it's very easy to feel like you're trash and no one could ever love or care about you.

But, because you were made and are loved by the one perfect God of the universe, you're worth SO much more that anything in this world.

He loved us enough to send His Son to die a horrible death so we could spend eternity with Him.

I tend to forget that in the face of temptation.

The devil constantly screams lies at us, and it's easy to believe them because they often agree with what the world is telling us.

We watched a video in youth today about how when we feel the most broken and hurt, that's the times when we're closed to God.

That's something I've never truly thought of before.

Props to Rob Bell for that.

I'm trying to live my life in the belief that I am more than all the stupid junk I've done in my life.

It won't always be easy, but with Him, I can do anything.

-Kati

Why I Love the Holiday Season

I used to be one of those people who despised the holiday season.

It's become one of my favorite seasons throughout the last 2 or 3 years.

Somehow, it just makes all the problems in life seem not so big.

I focus on all the things that God has blessed me with, and I forget about all the junk in my life for awhile.

And, you have to admit.

Christmas music is just wonderful!!!

I'm listening to it right now.

No, it's NEVER too early to get into the Christmas spirit.

It also gives me an opportunity to spend time with family that I don't always get to see.

It's nice to catch up on life with them.

Going back to the blessings, that's the number one reason why I love this time of year.

I get so caught up with the crap going on in my life that I don't see all the fantastic things He's given me.

This month, I've been posting one status daily about something I'm thankful for.

I thought it was going to be really hard when I first started it.

But, it truly wasn't.

Everyday, I would finally open my eyes to the innumerable blessings I've been given.

His blessings are seriously as many as the stars in the heaven, as the grains of sand on the beach.

I have been given so much.

I just have a tendency to focus on the bad stuff in my life.

I feel like no one cares about me or the junk I'm going through.

I have a loving family, an amazing second family in the LHHS Power Band, and wonderful friends who support me through the roughest of seasons.

My hope for anyone reading this is that you see what has been shown to me.

That life is SOOOO much more than the trials we face on a daily basis.

I know it's so easy to get consumed by them.

I've gone down that road, and all it's given me is a lot of pain and heartache.

Even if things seem like they'll never get better, take one minute to think of the blessing in my life.

It's shown me that I take a lot of things for granted.

I have so much in life to be thankful for.

So, Happy Holidays, and may God bless you through this season!!! (=

-Kati

Still Here...

This is the first post I've done from home in an extremely long time.

I kinda like it, but it's certainly not the same as posting from my quaint little sound/projection booth at NPC.

So, a lot of firsts have occured or are about to occur in my life.

First Halloween party in NPC youth, first timed writing in AP Lang (which I got a 6. not too shabby), first BOA regional in Atlanta, first AR band to place top 3 in their class in forementioned regional, and soon to come first HS swim meet of junior year.

It's been really exciting.

God's also been doing a lot in my life lately.

I just got home from swim, and I had a huge breakthrough.

I was insanely exhausted from the regional, and I had to make up practices.

I was also stressing about my chemistry test tomorrow, so my mind was totally scattered.

Yet, during one of the sprints we were doing, I just felt suddenly at ease.

Like, God was telling me that everything was going to be okay.

I've been trying to regain control of my life, and I felt that things were starting to fall apart again.

But, none of that mattered then.

I realized that I'd been letting the stupidest crap bother me to a point where I didn't care about life.

And, in the car on the way home, I heard the song "Still Here" by Superchick.

It's relatively new, and I highly recommend it to anyone.

It talks about how when life feels like it's constantly breaking you down, you find joy in the fact that you're still alive.

That's something I tend to take for granted.

I take life as a guarantee.

Which it isn't.

Everyday is beautiful, even when it doesn't seem that way.

Its beauty is found in the fact that you were totally blessed to receive that day.

I've seen loss affect so many people I genuinely care about lately, and it's made me rethink my idea of life.

I let days and opportunities pass me by because I'm fixated on my own problems.

During that moment I mentioned earlier, none of that seemed to matter.

Tomorrow holds no promises.

Tomorrow isn't even promised.

I'm trying to find the joy to appreciate the fact that I'm still here.

Through even the most impossible of temptations or situations, I can breathe.

I have a chance to change.

-Kati