The People: 2 Youth Groups, 4 Leaders
The Trip: CIY and Urban Missions in Chicago
The Prayer: "Dear God, it's been a while since you told me how it was. My life has been an easy ride for a while. I've always heard if your life is rolling easy then you must not be a big enough threat to Satan. Here I am completely devoted to you. Beat me up. Show my my errors. Give me something to work on. Use me. Show me ways in which I can be of service to you."
The Overlooked Obvious: GOD ANSWERS PRAYER
The Result: windows shattered, vans died, plans lost, exits missed, computers stolen, dogs lost, cockroaches crawled, sodas unclaimed, families missed, community broken, people failed, tears fell, hearts broken, speed limits unmet, peaches molded, loud freshman partied, pain grew, sleep forgotten, past remembered, ER frequented, GOD FORGIVING, GOD LOVING, GOD GUIDING, GOD PROTECTING, hugs given, smiles shared, relationships mended, love experienced, friendships built, dog found, futures exposed, caffeine consumed, dreams fulfilled, excitement grew, vans packed, church cleaned, home regained
The Conclusion: GOD IS GOOD, ALL THE TIME. ALL THE TIME, GOD IS GOOD.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Thursday, June 14, 2007
An oldie but a goodie
Mom: So are you enjoying writing on your blog?
Kenzie: Yeah, but it's not something I want to do everyday. Just when the inspiration hits.
So, this is three posts in two days.
This is something I wrote a while ago after a college memory was made.
The background information: My roommates and I went into David's Bridal and acted as though we were planning my wedding. We then posted pictures on the Internet of our wedding party, with no explanation. Obviously, there were a few confused people inquiring as to who my Phantom Fiance might be. I then wrote this public apology and explanation. And it's such a good story, I feel it deserves a comfortable spot here as well.
For all you inquiring minds:
I'm not engaged. I'm not getting married. No worries. BUT... David's Bridal thinks I am. You see, every girl wants to try on a beautiful wedding dress. But good ole' David won't allow this to happen unless your actually engaged. Who would have thought?!?! So...being the marvelous actress that I am (thanks to my wonderful drama teacher) I convinced David and his crew that I soon was going to acquire my MRS degree. We walked into the boutique and were quickly greeted by Courtney, who was obviously being paid through commission. It was sort of reminiscent of a lion surrounding it's prey. She offered me a catalogue and congratulated me on my new engagement. My girls and I, were quickly becoming the next ones to walk down the aisle. As the woman asked questions about my upcoming wedding, I shot off answers, the whole time keeping the "glowing bride" look.
Lion: "When is your wedding?"
Prey: October 2007
Lion: "What's his name?"
Prey: Bryce Williams
Lion: "His middle initial?"
Prey: Oh...uh...
Lion: "O?"
Prey: Uh...Yeah...O
Lion: "How many flower girls?"
Prey: 2
Lion: "How many groomsman?"
Prey: 3
Etc. etc. etc.
As soon as my dearly beloved, Bryce, and I were registered newlyweds, the modeling began. Of course only the most expensive dresses were brought out. Only the best for my Bryce. You could almost see the desire in the Lion's eyes and the drool in her mouth. As one of the girls pulled out a camera to take a few shots of me walking down the catwalk of deceit, she was quickly reprimanded by an onlooking predators. "There's no pictures. I'm sorry ma'am." I saw our plan crumble before my eyes. Who would believe we had pulled this off with any proof? With a tear in my eye, I informed her that my mother lived out of the state and she couldn't make it to help with the wedding preparations. The lions backed off, afraid of the "stressed out bride hormones" they were all too familiar with in their line of work. After all of our names, sizes, and dress style were put into the registry, we decided it was time to call it a day. We left with promises to return closer to the wedding day to retrieve the dresses.
So I suppose this means I have a few apologies to make:
David- Terribly sorry for your wasted time. But if you could do me a favor and take my name out of your registry, my mailbox at school can only hold so much junk mail. Although, I must admit the free (with the purchase of a $10,000 dress) 7 days honeymoon cruise was tempting...
Courtney - Our time together was almost as exciting as watching the Discovery Channel. Although for the first time in history, the prey escaped. Sorry!
Anyone with the name of Bryce O. Williams - Pure coincidence. I swear!
All my love,
Mrs. Bryce O. Williams
In with the Boss
"Good Afternoon! Thank you for calling CFS. This is McKenzie. How can I help you?"
God has put me in yet another situation to learn how to be grateful. My Dad, who is a business owner, has allowed me the privilege of working at his office as a secretary for the summer. Why is this an amazing opportunity? I get to make my own hours. I am paid better than I would be at any other summer job I could have. I get to spend most of the day with my Dad. Why can't I seem to remember the awesomeness of all this? I sit at a desk for 4 hours a day observing the comings and goings of the gas station across the street. Every once in a while the phone will ring, and when it does I am filled with mixed emotions. "Sweet! I have something to do!" "Please God, don't let them ask me a question." I have decent people skills, which would be what landed me the job to begin with, but I have the knowledge of a 2 year old when it comes to the workings of the business. But, being the boss' daughter, I play up the cuteness factor and plead ignorance, and it usually works out for the best. Although there was that one time when I put the decimal point in the wrong place. I guess $7,000.00 is different than $70,000.00. Who knew?
So today I decided I needed to begin to look on the bright side of this. So here are some of the accomplishments that have flourished from 1-5:00 M-F...
1.) I am not an avid reader, but with four hours in front of me I have managed to put on my reading glasses and dive into a few books that have been in my "someday" pile for sometime. To date I've spent some quality time with Donald Miller's Blue Like Jazz, and Shaine Claiborne's Irresistable Revolution.
2.) I found a website that has the capabilities of curing even the most chronic cases of boredom. http://www.bored.com/
3.) During a usual afternoon of gas station blues, I began Googling everything from BP's mission statement to the Columbus Zoo's Panda Bears. Somewhere inbetween I typed in "Inner-City Teaching." (To catch some of you up to speed, this is the plan for my Someday. I want to teach in the inner-city of Chicago. I'm sure there will be more on this later.) The first link was to an organization called the Inner-City Teaching Corps. It seems like a reputable source (although I haven't been able to find ANYONE who has heard of it, probably not a good sign.) and I am excited to check into it further.
So aside from the occasional phone mishap and the excitement of the thriving fuel industry, God has used this experience to mold me further into who I am to become. I guess it does pay to have an in with the Boss.
God has put me in yet another situation to learn how to be grateful. My Dad, who is a business owner, has allowed me the privilege of working at his office as a secretary for the summer. Why is this an amazing opportunity? I get to make my own hours. I am paid better than I would be at any other summer job I could have. I get to spend most of the day with my Dad. Why can't I seem to remember the awesomeness of all this? I sit at a desk for 4 hours a day observing the comings and goings of the gas station across the street. Every once in a while the phone will ring, and when it does I am filled with mixed emotions. "Sweet! I have something to do!" "Please God, don't let them ask me a question." I have decent people skills, which would be what landed me the job to begin with, but I have the knowledge of a 2 year old when it comes to the workings of the business. But, being the boss' daughter, I play up the cuteness factor and plead ignorance, and it usually works out for the best. Although there was that one time when I put the decimal point in the wrong place. I guess $7,000.00 is different than $70,000.00. Who knew?
So today I decided I needed to begin to look on the bright side of this. So here are some of the accomplishments that have flourished from 1-5:00 M-F...
1.) I am not an avid reader, but with four hours in front of me I have managed to put on my reading glasses and dive into a few books that have been in my "someday" pile for sometime. To date I've spent some quality time with Donald Miller's Blue Like Jazz, and Shaine Claiborne's Irresistable Revolution.
2.) I found a website that has the capabilities of curing even the most chronic cases of boredom. http://www.bored.com/
3.) During a usual afternoon of gas station blues, I began Googling everything from BP's mission statement to the Columbus Zoo's Panda Bears. Somewhere inbetween I typed in "Inner-City Teaching." (To catch some of you up to speed, this is the plan for my Someday. I want to teach in the inner-city of Chicago. I'm sure there will be more on this later.) The first link was to an organization called the Inner-City Teaching Corps. It seems like a reputable source (although I haven't been able to find ANYONE who has heard of it, probably not a good sign.) and I am excited to check into it further.
So aside from the occasional phone mishap and the excitement of the thriving fuel industry, God has used this experience to mold me further into who I am to become. I guess it does pay to have an in with the Boss.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Eat Your Veggies
The book Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne should come with a warning label. THIS BOOK WILL RUIN ALL YOUR HOPES AND DREAMS. I would recommend everyone read it.
It has made my comfortable life uncomfortable. It has shown me how my feet are firmly planted in my comfort zone. My feeble attempts at stretching my comfort zone were really just to make me more comfortable. I would go to a convention, hear a good sermon, or listen to a "good person" talk and begin to hear a buzz in my ear. Something would pull my earplugs of everyday noise out and let me hear the whisper in my soul, "Kenzie, there's more. You're missing the main point. You're feet are firmly grounded in perception, come see my reality." But after being filtered through my immature-Christian ears I would hear the Sunday school answers being screamed in my ear. "PRAY! SING! INVITE PEOPLE TO CHRUCH! READ YOUR BIBLE!" So I would read my Bible for a week. But I would read the comfort food verses. You know those feel good verses we read over and over again, highlight and leave the ribbon bookmark in, to make ourselves comfortable again. Like "God works for the good of those who love him." but we conveniently overlook "if you love me, you will obey what I command." and "do you love me? feed my sheep." Those aren't highlighted or marked with bookmarks because verses like that require action. They require movement. And once I had run out of Biblical mashed potatoes, I would be done and would sprint deeper into my comfort zone. I had silenced the already faint whisper and was ready to continue my life of comfort.
I've reached a place in my life where that's not enough. I have begin to dig deeper into the Word and reading the words in between the highlighted verses and saw my calling. So I challenge you, read between the highlights. Read the uncomfortable verses. Read the verses that call you to action. Eat the fruits and veggies that God is serving, and leave the comfort food for another day.
You may be asking yourself "Why would I want to read something that is going to make me feel uncomfortable?" and to that I would have only this to say: When you start eating your veggies, start with this one, Luke 9:23-27.
It has made my comfortable life uncomfortable. It has shown me how my feet are firmly planted in my comfort zone. My feeble attempts at stretching my comfort zone were really just to make me more comfortable. I would go to a convention, hear a good sermon, or listen to a "good person" talk and begin to hear a buzz in my ear. Something would pull my earplugs of everyday noise out and let me hear the whisper in my soul, "Kenzie, there's more. You're missing the main point. You're feet are firmly grounded in perception, come see my reality." But after being filtered through my immature-Christian ears I would hear the Sunday school answers being screamed in my ear. "PRAY! SING! INVITE PEOPLE TO CHRUCH! READ YOUR BIBLE!" So I would read my Bible for a week. But I would read the comfort food verses. You know those feel good verses we read over and over again, highlight and leave the ribbon bookmark in, to make ourselves comfortable again. Like "God works for the good of those who love him." but we conveniently overlook "if you love me, you will obey what I command." and "do you love me? feed my sheep." Those aren't highlighted or marked with bookmarks because verses like that require action. They require movement. And once I had run out of Biblical mashed potatoes, I would be done and would sprint deeper into my comfort zone. I had silenced the already faint whisper and was ready to continue my life of comfort.
I've reached a place in my life where that's not enough. I have begin to dig deeper into the Word and reading the words in between the highlighted verses and saw my calling. So I challenge you, read between the highlights. Read the uncomfortable verses. Read the verses that call you to action. Eat the fruits and veggies that God is serving, and leave the comfort food for another day.
You may be asking yourself "Why would I want to read something that is going to make me feel uncomfortable?" and to that I would have only this to say: When you start eating your veggies, start with this one, Luke 9:23-27.
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