January 2012 - Christmas and other happenings

Our christmas was spent with my (Kristen) family at Disney World.  Yes, we did go during the absolute busiest time ever to go!  There were a few moments of us wondering "why in the world," but then we would see the boys and their excitement to meet their favorite characters and ride on some of the rides and we knew it was worth it.  Hunter was a little scared to approach the characters at first, but once he warmed up to them, he was hugging them and giving them high-fives!  We are so blessed to have such amazing family on both sides!

Since The Disney Christmas, Jessie has begun leading the Winter 2012 DTS and I have been taking care of the kids and the apartment.  Jessie is enjoying being able to lead another DTS, I personally think it's what God created him to do!  I, on the other hand, have simply been trying to get used to staying home and also trying to come up with ideas for the boys to do.

Today, while I was putting Evelyn down for a nap, I heard water running in the boys' bathroom.  Usually water running just means they are washing their hands (over and over again), but this time it was different…

I have been trying to remind the boys that if they need to wipe their nose, it is only necessary to use two squares.  Sometimes they forget.  I feel like when the boys are old enough to get married, we are going to have quite a few photos to make people laugh at their rehearsals!

Until next time!

Fall quarter winding down and lessons from being a mom

I can't believe we have less than two weeks of the lecture phase for the current DTS left!  It seems like the students just arrived yesterday!  This quarter has been an amazing experience and another step forward in establishing a Photography/Documentary DTS here at YWAM Orlando.  We can't wait to get the second one going next fall (one year to go)!
This past week, the teaching was mostly in regards to strongholds and how to recognize them and get rid of them in your life.  Long before Jessie and i were involved in YWAM, I struggled a lot with fear.  I remember nights laying in bed frozen because I was so afraid of basically nothing.  God has brought me through this stronghold of fear in my life and this past week, God used me to help a few other girls throw it out of their lives as well.  It is amazing to see students make the decision to throw off the junk in their past and decide to keep their eyes on Jesus!

On the family side of things, I have been learning a few good lessons in regards to the kids and also in regards to me being a mother and a DTS staff person.  The boys are getting to the age when it is important for them to interact with their friends and be away from their parents.  I love being able to see Hunter and Noah running around with their friends and playing games with them!  When it was time to head home today, both boys began to cry because they did not want to leave their friends!  Evelyn is also beginning to love interacting with other people.  I have realized over the past few days that being apart from me and Jessie a little bit is good for her as well.  Of course, Evelyn is only 6.5 months old so she needs a little more time with me in particular.
This past week has been a little more difficult in the area of my thoughts.  During the roughest of days, I constantly have to remind myself why we (Jessie and I both) are doing what we are doing and what God has called us to do.  Before we had kids, God brought us into YWAM in order to work with schools and disciple the next generations of world changers.  Along the way, God has spoken to us about leading a photography DTS (check) and hopefully sometime down the road and secondary training school as well.  I absolutely love working with schools and the battle in my head is having to remember that even with having kids, God has still placed that desire/passion/love for working with schools.  Through this past week, I have resolved and declared that I will push through the thoughts that "just because I am a mom" does not mean I cannot work with schools.  It is possible and I am going to push through to do what God has called me to do.  Of course, the kids and husband come first and my responsibility as a mom and wife is to make sure all things are taken care of on the home front.

Enjoy this photo of the kiddos!

Photo taken by our amazing and gifted friend Michaela Potterbaum with the help of Irene Lovund

why we do what we do

     This week with the DTS reminded me of how much I love working with DTSs.  Even though I am not leading a small group, I still get to witness and be involved in moments when the students become more free.  I found myself getting emotional as student after student stood up during the teaching this week to be vulnerable in front of us and choose to run closer to God and away from the "junk" they have been dealing with in their lives.  Its truly one of those moments when you lean back in your chair and think to yourselves… "Man, there is no where else I would rather be."

Michaela Potterbaum and Irene Lovund were the speakers this week for the photography DTS.  Michaela was in my DTS back in 2004 Irene is her roommate, whom I have recently met and already love!  Both Michaela and Irene have done several YWAM schools along with training at Bethel in Redding, California.  These two ladies have not only been amazing in regards to knowledge and inspiration with photography, but they are both completely in love with Jesus!  We as a photography DTS class have been learning this week about telling stories through the photos we take.  I have absolutely loved the teachings and i know the students have loved it as well.  One exercise they gave the class is to write down 50 dreams.  Getting started on this exercise was a little difficult for me because I kept thinking to myself, "I can't afford to dream!"  But, once I began the exercise, it was much easier to write out my dreams.  While thinking about this assignment, I realized one of my big dreams was coming true right now.  God gave Jessie and I the idea to do the photography DTS in 2007 and we are watching it come alive now before our eyes!

On the family side of things, the boys are having fun playing with their friends at the base, learning how to say their ABCs, found out how to make Evelyn laugh, and they love running around like superheroes!  Evelyn is growing quickly and I am loving each new stage!  She has recently been trying to scoot her legs under her belly, so she is on her way to learn how to crawl!

The following photo is from class this week with Steve Shamblin.

Week 4 Assignment is up!

During the fourth week of the photography DTS, we were taught by Al McBryan regarding the character and nature of God.  So, the photography assignment was (you guessed it!) the character and/or nature of God with the added requirement of using a slow shutter speed for one photo and a fast shutter speed for the second photo.  I have been doing the assignments along with the students and so far this was the toughest.  I think the hardest part of this assignment was finding the time to do it!  Here are my photos from the assignment along with a description:

This is my fast shutter speed photo (1/3200) and the idea behind it is simply that God has given us the freedom to choose Him because without that freedom, we would not be able to actually LOVE Him.

This second photo is obviously the slow shutter speed (1/3).  The afternoon I shot this was outrageously windy and i wanted to capture these plants going crazy in the wind.  If you have heard "How He Loves" by John Mark McMillan, one of the lines of the song speaks of God being jealous (He is jealous for me, loves like a hurricane, I am a tree, bending beneath the weight of His wind and mercy).  This line is the exact thing that came to mind as I was editing this photo.  The yellow plants were moving like crazy in the wind trying to catch my attention, just like i imagine God trying to catch our attention.

Here is the link for the students work FLICKR

Psalm 139

This week, the YWAM Orlando staff ladies got together for a night to bless the female DTS students.  I guess you could say Psalm 139 was the theme for this night (particularly verses 13-16).  The evening began with ice cream (how could a ladies night not have ice cream right?), then we had a few testimonies from the staff ladies regarding finding their identity in Christ and not in what the world says, and the remainder of the evening was spent reading over Psalm 139 and praying over each other.  Over all, the evening was amazing and I was so proud of the staff that prepared the evening and also of the DTS students that spoke out declarations.  The photo below was taken right before the students arrived.

During the DTS class time, the students were taught about different ways God seeks to touch, influence, and affect our lives.  This teaching typically goes into some debatable topics like predestination vs. freewill and if God "created" evil.  I am sure you can tell by the debatable topics that this week has been very heavy on the mind!  I spoke to one student yesterday who mentioned she is actually looking into why she believes certain things in her life.  It is super important to understand why you believe in different things, especially if you are sharing about your faith.

We have been taking it a little easier on the Photography DTS students due to last week being a heavy teaching (restoration & Father heart of God).  The assignment last week was restoration and this week it is God's character.  I will post a link to those projects once I have them uploaded to Flickr.

The kids are all doing well, aside from Hunter and Noah having a cough again.  We have been really focusing on disciplining the boys with gentleness and helping them understand that just because other kids are doing certain things and saying certain words does not mean they can do and say those same things.  We are big believers in speaking life into our kids and other people and we are trying to raise our kids to do the same.  Evelyn is growing and doing well.  She loves to watch her brothers play and they love to make her smile and laugh!  Sometimes I wish I had a superpower that would allow me to capture moments on video and photo straight from my eyes and mind!  I feel like we are missing so much in regards to documenting the kids' lives and I wish i could share everything with all our friends and family.  

Week 1 & 2 Assignments

It seems like our lives have been a blur the first few weeks of the photography DTS!  I know there are other people in the world that are busier, but we are definitely not used to this yet!  Even though we have been busy, we definitely love working with this school!  This week, they have teaching on Biblical Restoration and the photo assignment is to photograph restoration or the father heart of God (of course always open for individual interpretation).  Here is a link to the first too weeks of photo assignments for the students…

Flickr

Welcome to the new blog!

Hello and welcome to our new blog!  We decided to make the switch after finding out our previous webpage would no longer be working.  Now for an update:

Fall Discipleship Training Schools (DTS) are going really well.  As we mentioned in our last email update, we asked God for students who were on fire and He has definitely been faithful!  During the first day of our schools, we had students declaring they would step out in faith and run hard after God during this time they have set aside to focus on Him and learn about missions.
Along with having students that are on fire for God, we also have our photography DTS students who are excited to be able to use their giftings and talents to glorify God.  We are really focusing on helping the students understand they are not just taking good photos, but they are capturing the heart of God that is instilled in each culture and person they photograph.

On the family side of life, the kids are all doing well and adjusting to being out and about on the west campus almost every day.  Hunter and Noah are actually having a blast going on adventure walks and playing with their friends while at the west campus.  Jessie and I were talking the other day about the boys, we had a sudden realization that they are no longer toddlers.  They are little boys who have friends and love to make up stories to tell people.
Evelyn is also doing very well.  She is about 4 months old and is actually sleeping through the night!  I am completely convinced that she loves to sleep.  She is also a pro at turning over, reaching out for toys, smiling at anyone, and melting hearts!

I will be posting links to the photo DTS weekly assignment photos, so you all can check out the talented people we have with us.  Until next time, God bless!