Katie McGrew: Seeing Jesus

Ten years ago, April of 2010 we were busy cleaning our house and selling everything we didn't think we would want in a year when we returned from Nicaragua.  Our plan was to spend a year in Nicaragua, actually, Dwight's plan was 6 months.  Our plan was for such a short time because if the kids were struggling or if it wasn't a good fit for us, then we could change plans and return to the U.S..  We rented our house furnished.  We all packed two suitcases and were ready to leave for Nicaragua on June 28.  The evening of the 27th we got a call from American Airlines saying our flight had been cancelled.  Wait a minute I thought; we are moving to Nicaragua, our bags are packed, we have left our house, you can't cancel our flight.  But they did and rescheduled us to fly out two days later. That is how our life has been over the last 10 years.  We make a plan, and our plan, for the most part, has not gone at all as we expected.  I think we are better for this.  Our expec

About a month ago, during a small group meeting, my friend Kelly began to cry as she was realizing that maybe our boy's graduation wouldn't happen as we had hoped and imagined it would.  Inside I thought, "well that is fine, they'll still finish high school and move onto college, what's the big deal?"  Then Amanda, our usual voice of reason, wisdom, no-nonsense and not a lot of emotion says, "all losses are loss Kelly, of course you are sad".   I considered again my response. My beautiful small group We talked about lament and praise, and that when we are healthy they will go hand in hand.  Being a faith-filled person does not mean, that we will not experience sadness and disappointment; it means, that when we experience sadness and disappointment we can still praise the Lord. The thing I am most confident of in all of my life, is that God is always good.  Even when things are falling apart, when life is painful and it is not how I hoped it w

I stopped writing this blog a long time ago... I was tired of others always knowing what was going on in my life and with my family, well... tired of the ones that used my experience in a negative way.  But when I stopped writing because of the negative motives of one,  I kept the testimony of God's goodness from so many others. If my story can be an encouragement then I want to share, if my story will help someone know Jesus more then I want to share, if my story brings glory to God then for sure I want to share.  So I will try to share how I see Him working every single day.    I have learned a secret that leads to contentment... I believe contentment waits for us in gratitude and serving others.  Apart from these two things it is very difficult to have a lasting peace in your heart.  I have become a bit predictable in the groups I lead, there is one question that I feel is important... How have you seen God at work today?  This is a question I started asking a long time ago

When we first moved to Nicaragua, Dwight and I said we would stay for at least 1 year.  We would decide after 6 months, (January 2011) if we would stay longer.  Our visas required us to leave the country in December 2010 so we traveled to Costa Rica for a few days.  I jumped the gun and asked Josh and Maggie how they were feeling about staying longer than a year in Nicaragua.  TEARS.  We were in a tropical paradise and my kids were sobbing at the dinner table.  Maggie wanted to be with family and friends and Josh just wanted to be playing hockey.  Sobbing... Josh was the Captain of his team before leaving It was one of those moments when I thought I had made a horrible mistake to take them away from Edmonds. Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4 Josh, Maggie and Will wouldn't trade their time growing up in Nicaragua.  They know what they have given up but they feel they have gained so much more than they could have

Josh got on a bus today to travel 24 hours to Panama City, Panama. He will be gone until the 14th of March participating in a conference called HACIA Democracy (Harvard Association Cultivating Inter-American Democracy). He is a Nicaraguan delegate, representing the U.S. on their stand on gun control. He has studied and now will discuss and argue with others about this topic. Dwight said to me yesterday, as we are packing his suit, how did he grow up so fast? And my question was, did we do a good enough job, what have we missed? The time with our kids is so short and I am so thankful to know that every minute of their lives God has been right there loving them, teaching them and protecting them. They love Him and that is all I could ever want. I am so proud of each one of them. They don't spend so much time cuddling together but I know they love each other and desire the best for one another. They always support each other in their work, fun and dreams. They other night we

Dear Friends, The month of January was quite a busy month with school starting up again, Basketball starting, and really, just getting back into the swing of things, coming off of a month of Christmas vacation! Going back to school was tough! The teachers decided to hit us right of the bat with big loads of homework, and also, I resumed my HACIA practices. HACIA Democracy is a simulation of the OAS (Organization of Amercian States), organized by Harvard University. They prepare an annual conference, this year located in Panama, where students from all over the western hemisphere gather to practice debate, diplomacy, and consensus building. I am a part of the 15 student team from my school that will travel in March to participate in the conference in Panama. To prepare for the conference, I have been going to weekly practice sessions, writing multiple papers, and meeting with my assigned advisor on Fridays to help with certain debate strategies and topic preparation. Apart from HAC