Just a small town girl...

I wish I could adequately put into words the emotions I have felt over the past five days. As some may know, it's been a particularly roller-coaster type week. Amidst the busy-ness of an amazing start to Club this Fall, this small town I have learned to love and call home experienced yet another death. Karla Brown lost a three-year battle to breast cancer. Karla is Maddie Brown's mother. Maddie is one of our Club kids, as well as an amazing athlete on the MHS Varsity soccer team.

I got the opportunity to hang out with Maddie yesterday for a while, it was such a sweet, sweet blessing. But, it is not our time together that I wanted to share with you right now, it's what happened last night...

There are moments in life that seem truly magical. Moments that you stand there and can't do anything but smile with a few simple tears rolling down your cheek. Last night was one of those moments. It seems as though Fall has finally it Idaho and last night we stood out in the cold watching the Middleton Lady Vikes take on Columbia High School in soccer. It was a special game... it was senior night, and we also had a moment of silence for Karla. Maddie came to the game. She wasn't dressed down, but she had brought her stuff in the event she wanted to play. She started the game sitting on the bench, but she couldn't sit still, watching her team play and not be apart of it. About half way through the first half Maddie decided she was tired of sitting and wanted to play. And play she did. She spent almost the entire second half in the game, and in the last five minutes, Maddie got an amazing ball, shot and scored an amazing goal. The moment that ball hit the back of the net, the entire bench, the coaches, the parents on the sideline, everyone, burst into tears.

There is nothing like watching an entire team come together to support one of their teammates. I have never seen a group of girls more unified and bonded then those girls are right now. At the end of the game the entire bench rushed the field to tackle Maddie with the biggest hug ever. It was more than the fact that they won the game, it was about a group of girls coming together and overcoming difficulty together. It was about that united front.

It's amazing what one group can do... and it's also amazing the lessons you can learn from a group of high school girls who have begun to realize that life is more about how you love and less about anything else.

I love what I do. I love so much that I get to be a part of the lives of high school students. I love that I get to watch them grow and discover that life is more than just satisfying their selfish desires. I love it. Oye.

Shocker... I haven't updated this in 8 months

I frequently think of things I could blog about but never get around to doing so. I constantly tell myself to be a more diligent blogger... to update this thing on a more regular basis and I fail miserably at that. Oye.

This summer has been absolutely crazy. On June 5th, I left with 20 Middleton High School students to go to Young Life's Malibu Club off the coast of British Columbia. We spent an absolutely amazing week there. We got home on the 13th, after a few restful days at home, I turned right back around and headed back up for my month long assignment at Malibu. I got the privilege of spending an entire month serving the Lord while hanging out with 44 high school kids from across the country. It was so fun to have a front row seat in watching what God was doing in the lives of kids while they spent a week at one of my most favorite places in the world.

While on assignment, we spent a lot of time looking at Psalm 18. Since that time I have been very stuck in vs. 19 of Pslam 18. It says... "He brought me out into a broad place; he rescued me because he delighted in me." What does it mean to delight in something? What does it look like to truly delight in something? I think about the things that I love: skiing, hiking, camping, hanging out with people, my family, my friends... am I truly delighting in them like Christ delights in me? I don't know if I am! And how do I delight in things that I am not necessarily happy about? How can I take joy in the things that I'm not excited about? I am sure there are so many times that God is not necessarily happy with me, yet he still delights in me, I want that kind of heart! I don't necessarily have answers to these things, but, I just pray as a new year of ministry starts that I would continue to learn how to take delight in and have joy in everything around me. Just something to think about...

I would be lying if I said I promise to update this thing more often... but I can at least try, can't I?!

Answering the call

"God shapes the heart of the leader through the call. This call is a divinely orchestrated setting apart of the leader for some special task. God's part of the call dynamic is to initiate, guide, position, and intervene. The leader's part of the call drama is to hear, respond, search, and order or re-order life."

Ohhhh my. The above quote is from a book I've had to read for Young Life New Staff training. It made me laugh so hard while reading. God is soooo all over every detail of my life it's ridiculous. The other day I was leaving Farmboy drive-in after hanging out with some high school kids and I just had to smile. I tried so hard to ignore what God wanted from my life at first. I tried so hard to be cool and hip and work at a sweet ad agency in Boise but it's not what I was designed for, I wasn't using my talents the best that I could. And all along, God was doing his part to get my attention. He stripped me of everything familiar (Portland, Salt Lake, my friends, etc.) and he moved me to IDAHO! Of all places, Idaho! Haha. God was guiding me and prompting me to get me in just the place that He wanted me to call me into a position with Young Life where I get the privilege of hanging out with high school kids, loving on them, being a part of their life and most importantly sharing with them a God who loves them so, so, so much! Ah! I love the way He intervenes in our lives, and I love that after a whoooole lot of God intervening, I answered the call. Man.

Just my thoughts for the day... :-)

God, you make me giggle...

As some of you know... I'm an incredibly diligent journal-er. I love keeping my journals, and I especially love going back and reading what I wrote. I often will go back and look at my thoughts from the prior year, and I did that last night. And what I found made me laugh really hard...

On 11/11/09 I wrote... "God, I so often wonder if my job at OR (the job I got that moved me to Idaho) was just a means of getting me to Idaho and not really what you want me to continue pursuing. God, would you make it so very clear to me if that's the case? Would you make other opportunities come before me."

Right... Ohhhh God, how faithful you are in answering prayers! When I wrote that I had NO clue that I would lose my job, and get hired on with Young Life in a small town in Southwest Idaho! No clue! Oh how different, yet incredible, things are with where I am now. It makes me smile to think that, that time was just meant to prepare me for where I am now. I love how God works. Seriously, seriously love it.

My Support Letter...

Friends, as many of you know, or are quickly finding out, I'm in the middle of support raising for my new Young Life area. Thought I'd post my support letter that recently went out, here on my blog so that you guys could be praying or send in support if you desire and never got a support letter from me! If you need the physical mailing address let me know.

July 2010

Dear Friends,

How quickly life changes, a year ago this time I had just graduated from the University of Utah and was embarking on my journey into the “real world.” Little did I know God had other plans for my career. This past March I was asked to join Young Life staff and start a new area in a small town, called Middleton, about 20 miles west of Boise, Idaho.

What is Young Life…

Young Life is an organization that desires to share the story of Jesus Christ with teenagers. Young Life leaders seek to meet kids on their turf in the interest of friendship. Young Life is completely committed to relationships. As the relationship grows, leaders are able to share the love of Jesus Christ.

My Story…

For many years I thought that joining Young Life staff would be a possibility for me; I just didn’t think it would happen so soon. In February, I lost the job that brought me to Idaho and was trying to figure out what to do next with my life. I applied for countless jobs and every door just kept shutting. At the end of March, I received a phone call from the Young Life regional director in Idaho asking me if I was interested in joining Young Life staff. He told me about this new area that was starting in Middleton. Before I even hung up the phone I was convinced that this was what I was supposed to do, I was supposed to start Young Life in Middleton, Idaho.

What I’ll be doing…

I will be starting a new Young Life area in Middleton. I will begin by building relationships with kids in the high school, which included taking kids to both Young Life and WyldLife camp this summer. I will establish a weekly club meeting as well as campaigners (Bible study). I will be building a team of volunteer leaders who will partner with me in building relationships with the kids at Middleton High School. I will also be forming a support group of adults in the community to pray, care for and assist me, and my volunteers, in reaching Middleton High School.

How you can help…

In order for all of this to happen I need to gather a team that can support me both prayerfully and financially. Would you partner with me in helping me share Christ with our young friends in Middleton?

I need people who can support me with either monthly pledges or people who might wish to make a one-time donation. I need to raise at least $10,000. Your gifts are tax-deductible. Your support will allow me to be able to dedicate my time completely to reaching kids for Christ. Any and all prayer support is essential and especially welcomed!

Enclosed is a response card along with a self-addressed envelope. If you are able to support me, please fill out this card as soon as possible. Young Life will receive your gift and you will receive an envelope for your next donation. You can also set up one time or recurring donations on-line at http://giving.younglife.org, just make sure you note that they go to Katie Cunningham, area ID-51 in Middleton, Idaho.

If you have any further questions or would just like to contact me, please feel free to do so. My phone number is (503)320-7344 and my email is kcunningham123@gmail.com

Thank you so much for your help!

God Bless,

Katie

Two posts in less than a month... Crazy, I know.

I was folding my laundry tonight when it dawned on me that exactly one year ago tomorrow I moved to this great state of Idaho. Holy cow! Where in the world did this last year go?! I thought about writing something super cheesy and sentimental about the past year and all the wisdom I have gained, but I'll spare you all and instead I'm going to give you a quick run down on the highlights of June 6, 2009 - June 6, 2010 in picture form.

So, I basically spent most of last summer missing this state... and visiting it often. The pictures between June 6, 2009 and about October-ish are seriously lacking.

Some of my most favorite Salt Lake friends came and visited me for the weekend and it was incredible.

Jess and Doug got married which provided for a wonderful reason to go back to Salt Lake and hang out with old friends!

I finally made friends in Boise who constantly laughed at me when I got super excited about them and called them my "new friends."

Went home for Christmas break and had an incredible time with the family!I went on some sweet adventures with my new friends!

Spent a lot of time skiing with these two crazy rad dudes!!

We managed to get the whole group from Salt Lake and the whole group from Boise to meet in Twin Falls for the Phil Wickham concert. It was soooo fun!

...and lastly, wonderful relationships have been created with incredible people!

It really has been a year filled with challenges and growth and laughter and new friendship and new experiences. I am so excited to see what the next year of my life has in store for it. If there is anything I have learned in the past year though it's that God truly, truly provides all that we need and that His timing and His plan is far better than my own, and for that I am so thankful.

So it's been a while... my bad...

My, oh my, how quickly life changes. God has such silly timing, such a silly plan for us. Long story short, in February I lost the job that moved me to Boise. I was unemployed for two months or so.

On March 25, I got a call from the Young Life Regional Director here in Boise. He mentioned that there was a position open to start a new Young Life area in a small town about 18 miles west of Boise. I knew instantly that this phone call was a massive answer to prayer.

I always knew that I would be on Young Life staff at some point in my life... I just didn't think it'd be this soon. It's funny the way God works... the way He moves. A year ago right now, Boise was never a place that was on my radar... and now I can't imagine being any where else doing anything else, until God says move again. You see, it's a funny thing when we're obedient to God's call, and I'm learning this more and more. I'm learning how beautiful it is when we submit our lives to God. When we get our feet dirty and we answer the call.

Lord, thank you for calling me to something that's greater than myself. Thanks for calling me to Idaho and to Young Life... this is a plan I would have never come up with on my own! :-)