Let Us Run With Perseverance the Race Marked Out For Us...

On The Wings of Faith

Spread your wings of faith and fly

Don’t let opportunities past you by

Rise above your impossibilities

Soar over your adversities

Don’t let doubt scheme

It destroys your hope and dreams

Doubt is your worst enemy

It brings fear and agony

Doubt closes but faith opens the door

So fly on the wings of faith and explore

You can’t see the wind but it blows

That’s the way faith flows

Without faith you can not please God

So fly on the wings of faith and rise above the odds

by

Patricia Bankhead

On my way into work this morning, God gave me the most amazing gift! I still can't believe it! I had to take a picture!! The picture above is of a beautiful rose that is still red and alive in days worth of many inches of snow and ice. The only one in the entire rose garden on Georgetown's campus to make it into the sunlight. What a gorgeous miracle!!! The sun was shining on it and the snow around it was sparkling. People were just walking by, not noticing it. But I stopped dead in my tracks as soon as I saw it and grabbed my camera. Thank you God for showing me that there is beauty in hope, strength, and endurance...and that I am never alone.

Hebrews 12:1-3

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! : )

Merry Christmas!!!

For many reasons, I'm not mailing Christmas cards this year (or last year...or the year before):

1) My handwriting is seriously illegible. (I shoulda been a docta). I'm saving you from retinal damage and eye strain...you're welcome.
2) I didn't want to fight that "sweet" little old lady over the last box of "Merry Christmas" cards at the CVS. This isn't your typical CVS, people...this is a CVS in DC. And in Georgetown no less...these people are used to getting what they want when they want it...it makes SE DC look like a playland! Plus, she looked like was ready to go round for round and quite frankly...I had already fought some rather huffy college girl over the last box of Light Ash Blonde Clariol hair dye (and won..Hello!), had my arms full of cheesetastic santa/snowman wrapping paper, and still needed to grab some deoderant...I wasn't ready to scrap properly. Plus, it's Christmas...tis not the season for giving old ladies black eyes.
3) Have you seen the price of stamps!? (Not that you're not worth it, I mean, you totally are...but you are just going to throw the card away eventually anyway! Sure, you might keep it for a little bit, but only out of guilt. I don't want you to feel guilty. Again, you're welcome.)
4)....I'm gonna be honest....I didn't want to. It's not you...it's me...

SO...instead..I am thiefing this GORGEOUS picture of the White House Christmas tree (thank you Google!) and am doing a "The Dailies Merry Christmas Blog 2009" for all my loyal subjects...I mean followers...I mean FANS. Phew!

Without further adeu:

"The Dailies Merry Christmas Blog 2009"

Dear Friends, Family, Fellow Humans, and cute little puppies, (Hmmmm puppies can't read. Please read to puppy),

Merry Christmas! What a wonderful year 2009 has been!!!!! I am so thankful to God for all that He has blessed me with! My best friend Julie and I said that 2009 would be The YEAR. The best year EVER. Although it has come in a completely different package than what we expected (I love that about God!), it's been a fantasticly amazing year full of learning, growing, loving, new things, healing, moving, and living and loving life more than we ever have. Every year we say...this is THE YEAR...and every year...it is. Each year just brings more and more of God's blessings. I feel so blessed that I can hardly contain myself. I am so thankful, grateful, and humbled by God's love. I love my new job...I've never been able to say that with total honesty before. It's so important to love what you do and I feel so grateful to have the job I have and get to work with the most amazing people every day. I love all the med students, residents, fellows and doctors that I get to work with every day. They have been so amazing to work with. What a wonderful group of people!! I love my new apartment...I never ever thought I would live in DC. I didn't think I could do it. But here I am...and I love it! I love my friends...I have some of the best friends a girl can ask for. I consider most of them family. Without Wajhma, Julie, and Heather...just to name a few...I don't know where I would be. I love my family...I have the most amazing, loving, caring family anyone could wish for. Without my Mom, Dad, and brother I would probably not be here. They are too amazing for words and I pray with every fiber of my being that God bless them above and beyond anything they can ever imagine. Each year my heart grows and grows...it's hard to imagine that it can hold so much love and happiness. I feel like the Grinch, when his heart grew two sizes....I'm just thankful that I didn't have to steal Christmas from a village of adorable little Whos in order to gain my new perspective. : ) I can't think of anything better in the whole wide world than to give the gift of love. Just thinking about sitting around the fire with my friends and family...talking and laughing...it just makes me smile till it hurts. This is the only gift I want. Friendship, family, and love. I pray that God bless everyone with the gift of love this Christmas...whether you celebrate Christmas or not...it doesn't matter....God's love is for everyone and He wants to give it to you and me. I pray that God bless you and your family every single day. I pray that God's love flow from you to others effortlessly. I pray that your cup over flow with blessings and love! Merry Christmas to all....!

Big love and blessings,

Katie

This is just hilarious...

Every year Slate (MSN online magazine) does a year-end Explainer "Question of the Year". Take a look at the link below...HILARIOUS!!!

http://www.slate.com/id/2238241/?GT1=38001

I voted for this one...

• Are there really special agents like 's Jack Bauer working for the U.S. government? Just total bad@$$ muthas who can basically do anything? Or are Navy Seals and Army Rangers the toughest we've got?

Big Props to Mama and Papa McNemar

"Love is a temporary madness. It erupts like an earthquake and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have become so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion. That is just being "in love" which any of us can convince ourselves we are. Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident. Your mother and I had it, we had roots that grew towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossom had fallen from our branches we found that we were one tree and not two." -St. Augustine

Praise God for parents that are one tree and not two! I know that I am very very blessed to have parents that are still married. In a time where divorce rates are through the roof and commitment is a four-letter-word...it is all the more important to see that it's possible...it's possible to stay married...to become one person...to be a family. I'm not judging anyone that is divorced or whose parents are divorced...I really am not...but I am taking a moment to give some big props to my folks for sticking together through some super duper hard times. They have shown me that you really can make it through things that might seem like deal-breakers. Thank you Mom and Dad for loving eachother (honestly...it's kinda discusting how lovey-dovey you two are!) through thick and thin, sickness and health, richer or poorer, the good times and the bad! Thank you for making our family a priority. Thank you for refusing to give up even when it might have seemed easier at the time. Thank you for growing into one strong tree that can withstand the wind, rain, and cold. When things, people, and life tried to seperate you...your roots grew deeper...your branches closer together. No tree can survive without the Sun, and I thank God that His Son is the center of your strong marriage. Through the Son you gain strength, wisdom, love, forgiveness, patience, and kindness. You've shown me that all things are possible with God...as individuals...and as a pair. Thank you for not giving up. Thank you for not running away when the pretty petals fell to the ground. Thank you for enduring the pain of growth. Thank you for not caring what other people thought. Thank you for believing that God is good and faithful. Thank you for loving eachother. Thank you for loving me.

THANK YOU!!!!!!

Why Church...? Part 2

Why go to church?

I've heard a million excuses...many of them I used to make myself.

"You don't need some building to believe in God. I have God in my heart and that's what's really important."

"Churches are just full of a bunch of hypocrites that come to Church on Sunday just to look good and then go out and do whatever they want."

"All Churches want is your money."

ETC....

But no matter what excuse you use to not go to Church...Church is a vital part of your relationship with God.

But why!!?

The Bible tells us why in several places. If we are willing to follow only the parts of the Bible that we like...then are we really following God? When we start picking and choosing what we want the Bible to say then we are creating our own god...and I'm pretty sure that's bad...just ask the Israelites who worshipped the Golden Calf.

Here are some verses that clearly show the importance of Church:

Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. Hebrews 10:25

God made ten commandments (PS- One of those commandments were about not worshipping self-made gods). And Jesus tells us which one is the greatest of all of the commandments: 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."Matthew 22:36-40

... so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. Romans 12:5

The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. 1 Corinthians 12:12

Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!" On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. 1 Corinthians 12:14-23

To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder ... Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. 1 Peter 5:1-4

Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Ephesians 4:2

So there are just a few verses that I hope help outline my point.

The Body of Christ isn't a building. God's Church isn't made of mortar and iron beams.

It's people. The Body of Christ is the people of Christ.

So it's not the church pew that you sit in that makes you a Christian. 'Cause it's made of wood and doesn't have any magical God powers that give you an automatic ticket to heaven.

Church is about worshipping God, praising Him for all He has done for us, and fellowshipping with eachother...supporting eachother...growing stronger in God TOGETHER!

The Human body only works as well as it's parts. If you don't have legs, you can't walk on them. If you don't have eyes, you can't see. It is the same with the Body of Christ. The closer we are to eachother, the more we can move more fluidly towards God and His purpose. We use our unique spiritual gifts together...as a body...and support eachother and just as importantly...support people outside of the church. It also gives us the opportunity to Love eachother as we love ourselves just like God commanded us to do.

And if none of the above convinces you...then how about the fact that Jesus went to church. Luke 4:16 says, "He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom." If Jesus is who you say you Love and you want to follow Him and His ways...then why not go and meet with other believers just like He did?

I think the reason why there is an issue with church attendance at all is because there are A LOT of dead churches in the world right now. Churches aren't able to keep people coming because the Spirit of God isn't there. No matter how big your building, how great your free coffee is, or how much your worship team rocks out...it doesn't matter one bit if the Spirit of God isn't there. It's God who draws people to Him. He uses His people to fullfill His purpose...but it's not us that people are drawn to...it's Jesus in us. It's important that you find a church where God's Spirit is alive and present...and the preacher and congregation are following the teachings of the Bible. Once you find that...going to Church will be something that you actually look forward to. It will be a place to recharge your Spiritual battery. It will be a place where you feel fed by the Word of God. It will be a place where you can go to praise God and thank Him for all He has done for you. It will be a place where you grow in your knowledge of God. Yes...there are hypocrites in Churches. It happens. But that isn't your concern. God is the only One who can judge and is the only One who knows our hearts. So it doesn't matter if there is someone at church that you know is cheating on their wife....that has nothing to do with your relationship with God. Yes...lots of people have had bad experiences at church and never want to go back. Well...lots of people have also had bad experiences at work...does that mean that they quit working and give up!? Lots of people have had bad experiences in relationships, but does that mean that they stop trying!? No...they keep going to they find the right job, or the right person...or the right Church!!! : )

Our relationship with God is like any other relationship we have in the natural. Taking dating for example....the more we know about someone...the more we are able to decide on whether we want to be with them or not. We need to know someone before we decide to let them into our Heart. Once we decide they are right for us...the more time we spend learning about them....the more we love them and want to be with them. Spending time with this person is the only way we will ever be able to trust them and believe in them. Spending time with someone shows us who they really are. Each moment spent with that person is another brick in the foundation of your relationship. This is how we decide whether or not someone is right for us...this is how we come to truly love someone.....we spent time with them.

The more we know the heart of God, the more we know God's character, the more we know God's purpose...the more we love Him. The more time we spend with God the more we realize what He does for us. The more time we spend in the presence of God, the more like Him we will become without even trying to. Knowledge and wisdom are KEY. God isn't asking us to blindly follow Him just because "we should" or it's what's "good".

God tells us:"Happy is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who gains understanding; for her proceeds are better than the profits of silver, and her gain than fine gold. She is more precious than rubies, and all the things you may desire cannot compare with her. Length of days is in her right hand, in her left hand riches and honor. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her, and happy are all who retain her." Proverbs 3:13

"Through wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established; by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches." Proverbs 24:3

"For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding; He stores up sound wisdom for the upright ..." Proverbs 2:6

Just like we are when we are in a relationship with someone here on Earth...we don't want anyone to say they love us...just because they think they should. We want someone to love us with all their heart, someone that can't wait to spend time with us, someone who wants to learn about us...God wants the same from us.

LOVE you all!

Why Church...?

Why go to Church?

It's an extremely important question...with lots of super great answers. I could talk for hours about it...and if you know me...you know that I'm not exaggerating..lol.

I have many opinions about "why church"...Jesus tells us "why church"many times in the Bible...so while I was contemplating on how to answer this question in the shortest and sweetest way possible...this song came to my head and I think it does a pretty good job of bringing home one of the basic reasons for "why church" using 100 words or less.

So in the style of the great Mary Katherine Gallagher of Saturday Night Live fame...I feel that my thoughts are best expressed through the lyrics of the theme song to the 1982 hit situation comedy...Cheers:

Making your way in the world today takes everything you've got.
Taking a break from all your worries, sure would help a lot.
Wouldn't you like to get away?
Sometimes you want to go
Where everybody knows your name, and they're always glad you came.
You wanna be where you can see, our troubles are all the same
You wanna be where everybody knows Your name.
You wanna go where people know, people are all the same
You wanna go where everybody knows your name.

: )

SUPA STAR