The rewards

come each time we see that a difference has been made for just one child. That child whose life is turned around might just be the 'yeast' that over time, activities regeneration in

a family,
a community,
a region,
a country,
the world.

- Christina Noble

The MOMENT that makes it all worth it.

I'm back at work after one week at Summer Fun Camp with ROL. It was quite the week with around 140 kids, and about 50 staff we definitely had our work cut out for us when the week began Monday morning, complete with a few bumps along the way (is anyone REALLY surprised?).

Many of the kids at the camp were from Kidz Alive which was an incredible opportunity for our staff to show Jesus as many of these children don't know Jesus or attend church.

But along with 180+ people comes drama...especially when you throw kids into the mix. But God once again proved Himself incredibly, over and above, faithful when two women felt they needed to be praying for us.

That morning God's presence was so incredibly huge in "Wild Bible Adventures" as children went around the circle and one by one shared a moment when they felt God had been with them. Imagine that...children (some of which who don't have a relationship with God) identifying a moment in their life when they had felt God with them...and to top it off all the other children remained silent while they listened to their peers share their stories.

Little God moments like this continued to appear throughout the next few days. On the final morning a little boy who is highly ADD and ADHD, who's on regular medication came up to me and asked me to smell this hand. As I sniffed it (it smelt of frankincense and myrrh) he told me that the smell reminded him of Jesus. He then proceed to show me a rock he had which reminded him of God, because a couple days earlier he had used it to help build a monument to God.

Basically God is good,
and big,
way bigger then what I could ever think, ask or imagine,
He continually blows my mind as He works in and through people,
especially children.
Yes indeed...
GOD IS GOOD.

What's in a name (or title)

So, I recently heard of someone who was asked to take a "step backwards". This person had a job which is a sense gave her much "power," and their boss felt there needed to be some adjusting and asked them to take over a new area which gave them less "power". Knowing this person a bit...or at least knowing about them caused me to ask...how did they deal with it...

"Not too well."

This SO challenged me, because although this person may not have the same "power" or "pull" they're in a place of HUGE influence still, and they didn't take it well?

How much value do we place on a title? Do we esteem the "position" more then what we're doing while sitting in that place?

Here's something funny, I've heard this person speak before and they have said on numerous occasions that it doesn't matter what your position is, just as long as you're doing it with all your heart and building that which you are apart of. Interesting...maybe it's time to start practicing what we preach.

Maybe I need to re-evaluate what I'm preaching and make sure I'm living it as well.

On the other side of the world.

My brother has been in Japan for the past two weeks. It's been quite the past two weeks waiting for e-mails and excitedly reading messages on facebook. I now know what it feels like...

From January 2005 until January 2007 I was in Australia. I have a new understanding of how my mum was, waiting for me to log onto Skype or MSN or to write a new blog or e-mail.

It's interesting being on the other side of the world. I'm excited for the day when my sister gets to be the one on the other end...experiencing something new...while we all wait around the computer or phone for news of the world unknown to us.

242 more sleeps...

...until I'm a Furukawa.

I'm engaged to the most amazing man on the planet! He has a heart after God, and is truly the man of my dreams. My checklist is basically fulfilled:
1.pastor (not in the actual paid sense, but he does have a very pastoral heart...and there are those who are trying...haha)
2.surfer (he tried and succeeded in Australia!)
3.cowboy (I have seen him on a horse...and he was quite comfortable, by some people's standards)
4.rich (as far as money goes...we're working on it)
5.able to play guitar (you better believe it and he's actually very good at it!)
6.able to kill a gross and disgusting things that gross me out and try to attack and kill me by eating me! (ask him sometime about the bug as big as my head that he killed).

Matthew James is quite perfect really...and I'm hugely blessed by him, and at times feel quite inadequate and undeserving of someone so wonderful, but then I realize that he's exactly what I've always asked God for because he gets along so well with my family and is my BEST FRIEND.

In case you didn't know, I'm SO excited!

who i am and what i do.

Jesus is my first love. My relationship with him is solid, although the journey we're on together is a rollercoster.

Matthew is my fiance. He's my best friend, and I've fallen in love with him.

My family is of utmost importance in my life. They're pretty great. I would not be who I am today without them.

I'm pretty sure I'll be a student for the rest of my life. Not necessarily in an institution, but I love learning and know that there is still much for me understand.

I've spent two years in Australia...I'll be back one day.
Somehow my heart has ended up in the UK. I've decided to continue delighting myself in the Lord, knowing that He will give me the desires of my heart.

It's a bit of a secret, but I enjoy driving...and driving fast. I even like driving in big cities. But especially on highways, particularly in the praries. I also really enjoy being a passenger.

Give me a good book and a cuppa anyday and I'll be happy :)

I love children's ministry. Kids are the future (cliche, I know), and I'm so passionate about impacting lives young

...or old for that matter. I desire to be a world changer.

I work for a church, and I love it. Hate religion, but love the church...as it's called to be. Maybe one day we'll actually be doing exactly what we've been created to do.

In the fall I'll be on tv. I host the Saturday morning children's program on the Miracle Channel called The Edge. It's pretty sweet and I love it.

My Second Attempt...

at blogging.

We'll see how it goes.

This is my world...as I see it...

one day at at time...

as a daughter of the King...
a woman...
a fiancee...
a daughter...
a sister...
a friend...
an employee...
a history maker...
a world changer...

as

me...catherine jayne...