Michigan and Faith Steps
Last Monday I returned from my first trip as an official Shiloh Place staff member! I'll be honest, I didn't know what to fully expect but was excited for the opportunity. Back in May, I took a very short, last-minute trip with Trisha, a co-founder of Shiloh Place, to Virginia. It was the final confirmation for Chip and I that we wanted to pursue raising support and working with Shiloh Place part time. This most recent trip confirmed that God is in the midst of it all!
During the last week in June, Trisha let me know that she was going to need a dog sitter for her upcoming trip to Michigan in July. Those of you at the beach know this has become a regular part of our life here. She also mentioned she still needed a driver. At the time, I didn't think much about it as I knew the timing wouldn't work for my schedule, and we didn't have any support yet to offset the time away. As the next week progressed, we completed our letter and prepared to send it out to all of you beautiful people. Also during that time, I kept waking up in the night processing the trip with Trisha. I tried to brush it off, assumed that she had a driver already and kept moving forward with my normal schedule. Every time I tried to move forward though, it kept coming to the forefront of my mind, almost haunting me. "Don't mind the man behind the curtain," I would tell myself. It finally became such a focus that I asked Chip his thoughts and he immediately said that he thought I was supposed to go. Man, I wish I had asked him sooner, all those sleepless nights...ugh! We prayed about it for a few days and then I pursued it. Needless to say, every door opened and things fell into place!
When we left two Wednesdays ago, I still didn't really know what the agenda was or why it was so important that I go. Those of you who know Trisha can only imagine the travel time we had during our 14-hour trip. I think I may have joked at one point that we were on "Trisha and Katie's Wild Ride."
On Thursday evening, we attended a rehearsal and dinner for a bride and groom who Trisha had prophesied 6 months prior would find one another. She had told the now bride to not look for her "Sully" (she looked similar to Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman), but to wait for him to come to her and to pray and see what God was telling her. I think we can all deduce the result of her prayers. They asked Trisha to help perform the ceremony and gave her the platform to share as she felt led during the event. It was extremely encouraging to hear their story.
The big wedding day came Friday and it was truly beautiful. The ceremony took place on Lake St. Clair, which if I'm correct, connects Lake Huron and Lake Erie. Following the ceremony, we hopped on a yacht and sailed down the Detroit River for the Reception. Yes, I said yacht and yes, this was where God had led me. You can see the pictures here. (Note the picture of the grilled cheese donut from lunch the next day...yes it was delicious and yes mom has already figured out how to replicate it.) As we celebrated into the night, I took everything I could in, feeling a sense that Papa had some work to do.
I'll be honest, I'm not 100% sure that I didn't miss an opportunity to minister to someone on the boat, but Trisha didn't seem to miss a beat. She prayed over and shared a number of words for people on the boat. I'm so grateful for the grace-filled, safe, and free environment that was placed around me during this trip. There was room for me to act if I felt led, but there was also grace when I didn't act, or made a mistake. The experience was a very eye opening reminder. I realized that so many times I wait for "profound moments" to expect God to move or use me, but I need to be ready for anything!
We woke up Saturday and made our way further north to Burton, MI which is just outside of Flint. Flint has become one of the most dangerous and poverty-stricken cities in the US - due largely in part to a period of economic depression. I share this not to bring shame, but because it has relevance that I will share about in a moment.
We arrived at Judson Baptist Church early afternoon and settled in our host home. It was an adorable 2 bedroom home we had all to ourselves. As we began to unpack, we noticed it was a little warmer than usual, so I went to turn the AC down a bit. Y'all, we were in Michigan. It is cold a good bit of the year and I suspect that AC is probably more of a novelty than a necessity, as us first world Southerns feel to be the case. It was a bit of an adjustment. As time went on, we also learned that the cell service wasn't great and we only had Internet access at the church. These "luxuries" were literally stripped away and our focus was quickly tuned into what God wanted to say. We resolved ourselves to step into that fully, and I'm glad we did.
Saturday night was lovely. We had great worship, a time of sharing from Trisha, and prayer and prophesy. Afterwards, people came up and talked about how they were so glad Shiloh was back and that they had loved the visits from Jack Frost, Trisha's late husband and co-founder of Shiloh Place, in the past and were looking forward to hearing more from Trisha. It was during these conversations that God started to speak a little to me. Shiloh Place is alive and well and growing. These people didn't know it yet; in fact, they didn't even know that it had been existing in any capacity after Jack passed away. (Side note: Chip and I never met Jack, but we have seen and experienced much of the fruit of his obedience to what God placed in his heart). After everyone left, I sang a little bit with the senior pastor, we all had a lovely meal, and Trisha and I settled into our rooms for the night.
The next morning I woke up, opened my door and immediately sensed that the original plan was no longer the plan! Trisha let me in on what she felt God was wanting to share with Judson, what she needed for service that morning, and the part she thought I would play that evening - if I was up for it. I quickly got ready, went over to the church to search for the videos she wanted and linked everything to the new Power Point. While I was working on it, the pastor asked me to sing "Break Every Chain" during worship for the morning service. Little did we know how well it was going to play into what God had planned.
During the service, I kept feeling God say, "This is wonderful but I don't need you to shout to get my attention." As we began to sing Break Every Chain, His words became louder and louder in my head. The song finished, I stepped off the stage, and the pastor pointed and asked me to go back up and sing it again. God was moving in Judson that morning. He wanted all kinds of chains broken. We sang some more, released healing and freedom over the church, community, and city and I began to step off again. This time, Trisha started to share about how God wanted to release them from the poverty spirit that has pervaded their city, and had me sing again. I must say, for a song with four chords, it didn't feel like it. The congregation started singing over their families and themselves; it got quite loud and then just as I was about to leave for the fourth time, God pressed upon me to share the word that He had placed in my heart earlier. I proceeded to say that a shout wasn't necessary to get His attention, that He would accept a whisper if that was all they could give. The atmosphere shifted at that moment. We went back into the song and as it closed, an intimate silence came over the congregation. It was at that moment that I knew exactly why I was there! Trisha shared on the prayer of Jabez, prophesied over a few people and invited them to join us for the Sunday evening service.
That evening, we didn't teach! I lead worship, with the pastor accompanying me. Trisha would signal me to back off the mic and she would proceed to prophesy and pray over people in attendance. While I was leading the congregation in "Redeeming One," the song Chip and I wrote together last fall, she had a word for me. It was one of four words I received that evening. They were "birth," that God was going to wake me up with heavenly lyrics in the night for new songs, that He planned on me traveling, and that I was in a new season in which I would have to take steps of faith in and trust Him to provide for me. I'm not going to sugar coat it. I cried a lot on that last one. I don't know if you remember what I said at the beginning, as this is so stinking long, but I didn't think I could go on the trip because of work scheduling, but also because of finances. It was Sunday evening, we were leaving the next morning to head home and He spoke directly into my weakness and what this trip was all about. Faith steps and Trust! We are still a ways to go to being fully funded, but I stepped out anyway to go on the trip, and God blessed me big time and poured to overflowing His Love upon me. It was an incredible way to officially start this part of the journey.
By the way, as I close, I'll share that Chip was back in Myrtle Beach dog sitting and leading worship at Seacoast Vineyard, and God moved in a mighty way there as well. You will have to ask him to share, as I am out of words. See you next year as I am not much for writing. J/K - I guess I hold it all in and over-share when I do blog! Thanks to those of you who stuck it out with me through this novel :).
Katie
During the last week in June, Trisha let me know that she was going to need a dog sitter for her upcoming trip to Michigan in July. Those of you at the beach know this has become a regular part of our life here. She also mentioned she still needed a driver. At the time, I didn't think much about it as I knew the timing wouldn't work for my schedule, and we didn't have any support yet to offset the time away. As the next week progressed, we completed our letter and prepared to send it out to all of you beautiful people. Also during that time, I kept waking up in the night processing the trip with Trisha. I tried to brush it off, assumed that she had a driver already and kept moving forward with my normal schedule. Every time I tried to move forward though, it kept coming to the forefront of my mind, almost haunting me. "Don't mind the man behind the curtain," I would tell myself. It finally became such a focus that I asked Chip his thoughts and he immediately said that he thought I was supposed to go. Man, I wish I had asked him sooner, all those sleepless nights...ugh! We prayed about it for a few days and then I pursued it. Needless to say, every door opened and things fell into place!
When we left two Wednesdays ago, I still didn't really know what the agenda was or why it was so important that I go. Those of you who know Trisha can only imagine the travel time we had during our 14-hour trip. I think I may have joked at one point that we were on "Trisha and Katie's Wild Ride."
On Thursday evening, we attended a rehearsal and dinner for a bride and groom who Trisha had prophesied 6 months prior would find one another. She had told the now bride to not look for her "Sully" (she looked similar to Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman), but to wait for him to come to her and to pray and see what God was telling her. I think we can all deduce the result of her prayers. They asked Trisha to help perform the ceremony and gave her the platform to share as she felt led during the event. It was extremely encouraging to hear their story.
The big wedding day came Friday and it was truly beautiful. The ceremony took place on Lake St. Clair, which if I'm correct, connects Lake Huron and Lake Erie. Following the ceremony, we hopped on a yacht and sailed down the Detroit River for the Reception. Yes, I said yacht and yes, this was where God had led me. You can see the pictures here. (Note the picture of the grilled cheese donut from lunch the next day...yes it was delicious and yes mom has already figured out how to replicate it.) As we celebrated into the night, I took everything I could in, feeling a sense that Papa had some work to do.
I'll be honest, I'm not 100% sure that I didn't miss an opportunity to minister to someone on the boat, but Trisha didn't seem to miss a beat. She prayed over and shared a number of words for people on the boat. I'm so grateful for the grace-filled, safe, and free environment that was placed around me during this trip. There was room for me to act if I felt led, but there was also grace when I didn't act, or made a mistake. The experience was a very eye opening reminder. I realized that so many times I wait for "profound moments" to expect God to move or use me, but I need to be ready for anything!
We woke up Saturday and made our way further north to Burton, MI which is just outside of Flint. Flint has become one of the most dangerous and poverty-stricken cities in the US - due largely in part to a period of economic depression. I share this not to bring shame, but because it has relevance that I will share about in a moment.
We arrived at Judson Baptist Church early afternoon and settled in our host home. It was an adorable 2 bedroom home we had all to ourselves. As we began to unpack, we noticed it was a little warmer than usual, so I went to turn the AC down a bit. Y'all, we were in Michigan. It is cold a good bit of the year and I suspect that AC is probably more of a novelty than a necessity, as us first world Southerns feel to be the case. It was a bit of an adjustment. As time went on, we also learned that the cell service wasn't great and we only had Internet access at the church. These "luxuries" were literally stripped away and our focus was quickly tuned into what God wanted to say. We resolved ourselves to step into that fully, and I'm glad we did.
Saturday night was lovely. We had great worship, a time of sharing from Trisha, and prayer and prophesy. Afterwards, people came up and talked about how they were so glad Shiloh was back and that they had loved the visits from Jack Frost, Trisha's late husband and co-founder of Shiloh Place, in the past and were looking forward to hearing more from Trisha. It was during these conversations that God started to speak a little to me. Shiloh Place is alive and well and growing. These people didn't know it yet; in fact, they didn't even know that it had been existing in any capacity after Jack passed away. (Side note: Chip and I never met Jack, but we have seen and experienced much of the fruit of his obedience to what God placed in his heart). After everyone left, I sang a little bit with the senior pastor, we all had a lovely meal, and Trisha and I settled into our rooms for the night.
The next morning I woke up, opened my door and immediately sensed that the original plan was no longer the plan! Trisha let me in on what she felt God was wanting to share with Judson, what she needed for service that morning, and the part she thought I would play that evening - if I was up for it. I quickly got ready, went over to the church to search for the videos she wanted and linked everything to the new Power Point. While I was working on it, the pastor asked me to sing "Break Every Chain" during worship for the morning service. Little did we know how well it was going to play into what God had planned.
During the service, I kept feeling God say, "This is wonderful but I don't need you to shout to get my attention." As we began to sing Break Every Chain, His words became louder and louder in my head. The song finished, I stepped off the stage, and the pastor pointed and asked me to go back up and sing it again. God was moving in Judson that morning. He wanted all kinds of chains broken. We sang some more, released healing and freedom over the church, community, and city and I began to step off again. This time, Trisha started to share about how God wanted to release them from the poverty spirit that has pervaded their city, and had me sing again. I must say, for a song with four chords, it didn't feel like it. The congregation started singing over their families and themselves; it got quite loud and then just as I was about to leave for the fourth time, God pressed upon me to share the word that He had placed in my heart earlier. I proceeded to say that a shout wasn't necessary to get His attention, that He would accept a whisper if that was all they could give. The atmosphere shifted at that moment. We went back into the song and as it closed, an intimate silence came over the congregation. It was at that moment that I knew exactly why I was there! Trisha shared on the prayer of Jabez, prophesied over a few people and invited them to join us for the Sunday evening service.
That evening, we didn't teach! I lead worship, with the pastor accompanying me. Trisha would signal me to back off the mic and she would proceed to prophesy and pray over people in attendance. While I was leading the congregation in "Redeeming One," the song Chip and I wrote together last fall, she had a word for me. It was one of four words I received that evening. They were "birth," that God was going to wake me up with heavenly lyrics in the night for new songs, that He planned on me traveling, and that I was in a new season in which I would have to take steps of faith in and trust Him to provide for me. I'm not going to sugar coat it. I cried a lot on that last one. I don't know if you remember what I said at the beginning, as this is so stinking long, but I didn't think I could go on the trip because of work scheduling, but also because of finances. It was Sunday evening, we were leaving the next morning to head home and He spoke directly into my weakness and what this trip was all about. Faith steps and Trust! We are still a ways to go to being fully funded, but I stepped out anyway to go on the trip, and God blessed me big time and poured to overflowing His Love upon me. It was an incredible way to officially start this part of the journey.
By the way, as I close, I'll share that Chip was back in Myrtle Beach dog sitting and leading worship at Seacoast Vineyard, and God moved in a mighty way there as well. You will have to ask him to share, as I am out of words. See you next year as I am not much for writing. J/K - I guess I hold it all in and over-share when I do blog! Thanks to those of you who stuck it out with me through this novel :).
Katie
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