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Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon.Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. Soon. 


Soon. This is the word that we've been hearing from God lately. Soon. Will be the transition from training to building. Soon. God will start speaking to us more and giving us more direction for our life. Soon. Robert will be graduating from college and getting a job by June. Soon. Soon. Soon. 

It's a little bit exciting, but as with everything....we don't exactly know what soon means with God. To God 1 day is like 1,000 years and 1,000 years is like a day. With that frame of time....what could soon mean?

Robert's graduating soon, but that's 1 month away. Hopes coming over soon, but that's 12 hours away. I get off work soon, but that's 1 hour and 1/2 away. 

There's no way to know exactly when soon is to God. Patience has to come with that answer, and when we know...we'll update....soon.

Until then, with patience and excitement,
Kate.

Prayer drawing: The hands of God and Adam.

          This is the first of my spiritual prayer drawings (yes I drew this!). This may be something a lot of you guys know about, but something I just learned about, and I really like it. I have found that there has been real power in the times that I am spending thinking about God and just letting my spirit pray.
          The other thing that I really like about it and what made me first try it when it was explained to me, is that it brings a new perspective to prayer. Instead of bringing a to-do list to God...it gets you praying about different things -more abstract things.


       This week I found myself thinking about how God reaches out to God and how I reach back to Him. This was really easy as it was Easter time...the ultimate God reaching out to mankind story. However, things began to get even more personal as the week went on....it was as if my week was following this reaching out theme.

       I have another post about how I'm going on a God-date with Robert. This is because God personally reached into my life and wants to celebrate my efforts as a wife and how I've stood by Robert's side during some hard times last semester. But God wants to celebrate something in my life. How crazy is that! It's a new way that I get to experience God. It's so cute. And it really brings me to look at God in a new way. It's not about rules and doing things. God wants a relationship with us, and like a parent, He wants to be celebrating our successes with us. God wants to be in on our community -in our life...not just us always striving for His... :)

        The next little story that I have has to do with one of my friend here at the college. We were having a random devotional life chat date and as usual God just blessed us with wonderful conversation. We were talking about where we were at with God and we were in the same place. We were both talking about how it seemed that God wasn't talking to us at the moment and how it didn't seem like we fit into the tradition explanations to why God was speaking to us (these generally are sin or that we weren't obedient to the last thing God called us to do).

         As we were talking we began to gain a new perspective on the situation. That perhaps it wasn't anything that we were doing wrong, but that we were just walking silently, side-by-side with the Lord, like two lovers who are completely content in the moment, just breathing it in. It's like when you get to that point in a relationship when you don't need to fill in the silences. When there aren't any directions needed for the future, no discipline needed -and you're just able to be content in each other's presence.

       So this week I would say that I've just gained some new perspectives on who God is and how He wants to relate in our lives. In a world where we are always being told we aren't enough...even in churches we are always being told the next spiritual thing to work on (listen to God, how to pray, etc) God is saying....just being with me is enough. Just spend time with me....no gimmicks, no three step plan to hear my voice, just simply spending time with me in relationship....it's taking it back to it's simplicity.

      I think we live in a world where we try to complicate and twist things. In America, we live in a society that says whoever is the most busy is the most important. We idolize church goers who volunteer for everything as the standard to live up to. But really, our relationship with God isn't about how much we tithe, how many hours a week we spend at church, or how much we are out there doing things for God....those are all missing the point.
 
       In any other relationship, it's not about how much we pay someone, how many hours we running errands for them...it's about spending time communicating with them...getting to know them...the heart to hearts. That's what God wants...He wants our lives to be a constant heart to heart with Him....so why are we complicating things?

God date part 1 (4-6-13)

SO, I'm currently getting ready for a God date....you may be wondering what that is...no it's not church. Really it's something completely new to me as well. You see God and Robert have been collaborating on a surprise date for me that's supposed to start in a couple hours and last all day.

CAN YOU SAY EXCITEMENT!


Okay, so you might be wondering how it all got started: A couple weeks ago God led Robert to the Proverbs 31 chapter -you know the one about being a Godly wife....apparently that's me. :) because God wanted Robert to tell me that He's proud of me (which is one thing coming from God and another thing coming from your husband)...it's already hard enough to grasp that God thinks I'm being a good wife -I mean His standards are pretty high....

But I guess God thought I needed some more encouragement, or rather Robert needed some teaching on spoiling me? I don't know, I don't pretend to understand God's motives. But He had Robert go on a God walk three different times and He has inspired Robert to make this super awesome date for me in order to spoil me :)

Well I have to get ready, so I'll update you when it's over!

Devotional on trust and intimacy (2-25-13)

Lately, God has really been teaching me and growing me internally.

When the semester started I really felt like God was saying: this semester is you and Me. Growth time.

And it has been. It is currently midterm week of my Junior year and looking back on it I've grown SO much internally.

• I have learned to embrace friendships and actually be a part of them instead of having one sided relationships. (for anyone who knows me now, I'm really good at letting people talk to me about their problems and I'll give advice, but before this semester, I would never put forth MY problems. Yea, I would say things that related to them, but never what I was struggling with now. 
• I currently have my very first VP. This stands for vulnerability partner. Right around Valentine's Day I asked one of my best friends to be my vulnerability partner and be my guinea pig as I learn how to share and open up about myself. This has proved to be one of the best things in my life because I've noticed that as I share with her, it becomes easier to share with others. 
• I am learning to fight for relationships and healing. I'm struggling to hold on to a friendship right now and struggling to be a part of this relationship for a different reason than the others. And I'm finding it hard to hold on to the friendship that God wants us to have because of the pain that we've encountered over the summer. And I'm struggling to learn to give up that pain and to trust someone who's bruised my trust (with the right motives). So that's some growth in progress.
• I've learned that trust is a choice. I was praying about a relationship I'm developing with one of my I guess you'd say mentor? and I was struggling about being involved and how I felt about it and whether or not it was safe and as I was praying I heard God say, "Do you trust her?" and my response was I could. He didn't like that answer and He replied, "Trust is a choice- do you trust her?" and in that moment, I made a huge decision for me. I decided, yes, I'm all in. She already means too much for me to lose the small bit that we have, so yes, I trust her. And in that moment I just felt such peace and happiness that only comes from when I KNOW I'm following God and His path. 
• One of the other things that has happened this semester is a trip to the past. I had a meeting with my old Sunday night youth group leader about hearing God's word and how you know it's from God. Spirit talk if you will. And as we sat there and talked for three hours about our lives and experiences we've had with the ways God has talked to us, it made us both realize how far I'd come. I used to meet at her house Wednesday mornings and chat with some girls from youth group....well I didn't do much talking. I wasn't able to open up and really be involved, and these three hours really showed how far I'd come.
• The other thing that I did was branch out into more friendships. I asked people that I kinda wanted to be friends with, but didn't know if they wanted to be friends with me. If you're a girl or an introvert, or anything like me at all, you know the feelings I mean...the awkward insecurity. And I really mean awkward because when I don't know where I stand in a relationship, I'm very awkward. BUT I did it! and we had a marvelous time -get this- talking about introversion and how it makes things awkward and we bonded over our mutual introversion. And hey, I know some people question how two introverts can be friends, but hopefully we'll make it work, and even if it doesn't, I'm rejoicing in this accomplishment.

And this is just the beginning. I know I have more to grow and stuff to learn -including wisdom- but I wanted to share with you these inner parts of me, so that way when I get where I am going, it will be a reminder to me and knowledge to you of the awkward, introvert with intimacy and trust issues that I started out as and a testimony to God of the person that I will become. 

Blessings,

Kate

Update-ish

Hey guys,

Just wanted to let you know for clarification...this isn't over.

God is working a lot in Robert and I and telling us things that He plans to do for us/through us for the future, but it's not anything that we can share (God's kinda into secrets).

Needless to say, this isn't a quiet time in our lives. God is speaking to Robert and I daily and often testing us two to three times a week to make sure we are listening to what He is saying and having Him as a priority.

Exciting things are ahead, and I'll share more as I'm allowed. :)

With peace and patience,
Kate Nowak

God's in control

I have been learning lately that there is a purpose and meaning for everything that I do. Everything that God calls me to do, or not do, is completely for the glory of who He is, and everything shows itself to perfect harvest in His times.

Recently I have not felt close to God, but He was allowing me to refocus my life and decide my routine and whether or not I would allow Him to be the focus of my school year, rather than my academics. (which if any of you know me, is completely backwards from my personality. I have once studied 12 hours straight for one test...) so the fact that my goal is no longer a 4.0 in school is crazy to me.

No longer am I going to study for long periods of time, just to appease my text anxiety. Instead, I will read and study and be confident in my understanding of the material, and trust that God will bless this.

This is because God has plans that are BIGGER than my school. BIGGER than my academics. BIGGER than my visions of my path.

Academics is my way to control my future, and I need to give that control up. Personally, with what God has called me to do, I don't need straight As -as long as I feel I have learned the material (and those of you who are naturally bad test takers like myself understand).

God is in control of my path because my path is His path.
I need to live in that. ^

Growing and living,
Kate

God's moving

This post isn't an update of our lives exactly, but rather an affirmation for someone that God is moving! He is doing big things, and not just through Robert and I. Big things are happening all over the place. Big things are in place, the Spirit is preparing people for a revolution, a Revival. Big things are going to happen in Big ways and in small ways.

Just know that God wants to move in you in a Big way. He wants you to see Him and get to know Him, and this, though seemingly small, Is a BIG thing! IT's life being consumed by Him. Letting Him guide you and caress you at night saying, "I will take care of you, go to sleep my child."

It's God saying, "This is how I want to work through you."

It's God speaking. To us. Now. In this place.

Wherever you are. God wants to speak to you. Maybe not in a grand open up the sky way, but in a still sweet voice that says, "you are my beloved, come spend time with me and let me take care of the desires and anxieties of your heart. I am here for you, just be with me and I'll take care of everything. The holes that you're feeling -I can take care of them. The insecurities that you have- I can get rid of them. The friends that you need -I can provide them. The love that you desire and were made for? -That's me."

It's this that makes our relationship with God soo vital and important. He doesn't want you to do things for Him. He doesn't want you to read your Bible out of duty, but because you desire to know Him better. He doesn't want you to pray so you can feel like a good Christian, but because you want to connect with your Father. He doesn't want you to love others and your enemies because it's a commandment, but because He wants you to understand how to love like Him. How to be like Him! -to be able to understand Him more and come into a fuller understanding of intimacy with Him!

He wants you! and He's willing to move in your life. You only need to surrender what's holding you back. The things that are distracting you, that you're trying to fill your holes with. You just need to be as you are and trust that HE will provide and heal you! Let Him come into the holes of your life. To make you WHOLE and HOLY. That's His PROMISE for you TODAY! Come to Him! Love Him.

with love and passion,
Kate