Traveling Thoughts

Email: "Hi Kate, hope you are doing well! We are starting up our second season of Upward Soccer and we have lots of children already registered. We are looking for more coaches and one of the teens said she would be an assistant coach if she could coach with you. What do you say? Will you be a soccer coach this year?" A soccer coach, are you kidding me? I only played soccer one day in my life during a pick up game at a summer camp. My soccer career promptly ended 15 minutes after it began when a ball got kicked into my stomach, knocking the wind out of me as I fell to the ground. How am I supposed to coach a game I’ve never played? Also, I’m just starting to get used to working with children with the new position of Pastor of Children and Youth, my niche is working with teenagers! It was the beginning of 2016 and I was given the opportunity to get out of my comfort zone in serving. Believing the best leaders are servant leaders that led by example and understan...

The countdown is on – there are only a few more hours left before the end of the year! Once again, in the last few hours and minutes of the year, I find myself processing what has taken place and looking toward the future with a spirit of hope. This end of year reflection on the power of words is something that I’ve found to be a helpful and meaningful practice.  One of the quotes that I’ve found meaningful when moving into a new season, year, etc. and not wanting to take the baggage that is the past is this "Yearning for a new way will not produce it. Only ending the old way can do that. You cannot hold onto the old, all the while declaring that you want something new. The old will defy the new; The old will deny the new; The old will decry the new. There is only one way to bring in the new. You must make room for it." -Neal Donald Walsch  2018 – Celebrate In thinking through the word I would select for 2018, I was inspired by Colony House’s “Mo...

Words carry unbelievable power. Words have the unique ability to help, to bring joy, to encourage, to destroy, to cause pain, to shame, or to humble. Our words matter. This not only applies to the words we speak to others, but what we say to ourselves. I strongly believe that we can be our own worst critic and say things to ourselves that we would NEVER dream to say (or think about) to other people.   Knowing my tendency to listen to my inner critic and leaning into the idea of living a purposeful and meaningful life, ( check out the first part of the blog here ) I decided at the end of 2013 to select a POSITIVE word to live into in the coming year. That started a chain reaction of going year to year over the last 5 years as a way live a meaningful story and a practice I plan to continue.  My inspiration in sharing these past words and the word for 2019, comes from a graphic artist friend, Adam Cassidy . Adam created a logo for the Kettering  Before...

As each year comes to a close and we anticipate what is in store for the new year, I have found this period of "in-between" to be a sacred time of reflection.  Looking back to the end of 2013, I was ready to move on and for the year to be over (anyone else experience this some years?). It was a year of tragedy, loss, and grief with the passing of two people I deeply love only weeks apart. I spent the rest of the year reeling trying to make sense of it. For the first time, I grasped how finite life is and felt a deep drive to live my story in a meaningful way. One of the reflections I wrote down during this period was,  “Living an intentional life with purpose and direction isn’t something we naturally do. That part takes practice, commitment, and discipline.”  At the end of 2013, I wasn’t happy with what word I would use to describe my year. While thinking about this, I decided I wanted to start tangibly living out the quote above by choosing a word or ph...

This post was originally featured on the Colocate Ministry Consulting blog. When I was in high school and asked what I was planning to do “when I grow up” my response would always be, “I’m going to change the world!” This might seem like a starry eyed, even naïve response to this question, but my confidence was the product of the youth leaders who poured into me starting at age 14. Not only did they encourage me to be an agent of change while still in high school, but they offered the space, resources, and coaching in order to make ideas a reality. This drive to “change the world” came from my very first mission trip when my eyes were open to a loving, liberating Jesus that calls us to be partners of bringing the Kingdom of the God here to earth. My 14-year-old eyes were open to this new idea and way of life because of a 10-year-old girl at the  Tijuana Christian Mission . During that week, I witnessed this young girl care for the younger children at the orphanage – reading ...

A friend asked me today how I was feeling. The truth was, I was feeling AND thinking a lot, which is par for the course. However, I have always found myself being much more introspective at the end of the year. I have a feeling I’m not alone. As the year comes to a close and we anticipate the coming year, there is so much to reflect on. I’m not a regular “journaler” – but over the last 10+ years I’ve found myself writing down reflections at the end of the year. It’s amazing to look back at journal entries isn’t it? To see how we spent so much time worrying about something and to see how it all worked itself out. Or how things seemed to unfold in new and unexpected ways, often for the best even if we found ourselves unsure initially. Looking back on what I wrote for the end of 2013, I was ready to move on and for the year to be over. It was a year of tragedy, loss, and grief with the passing of two people only weeks apart. I spent the rest of the year reeling t...

“So what are you going to do with all your free time now?” A question a good friend asked after I told her that I turned in my last paper completing my seminary journey. It was a similar question I started asking myself this spring. I am a list person. I am driven by creating and meeting goals. I even make lists in my sleep. Seriously. Fewer things in life give me more pleasure than crossing off something from a to do list. So on a road trip to the Foothills of Ohio with a friend this spring, I made a list of 30 things I wanted to “check off” before December 2017. Why the December 2017 timeline? Well, part of creating goals is to have a time line for when you will complete them. This isn’t a bucket list of things I want to do before I die. It is a list of things that work to live out a meaningful life and story. Looking through the list, I can’t even begin to imagine what kind of stories I will be able to share and people I will meet along the way. I think that’s what is so ...