A great interview!

There is this group called ontimeblind and they go around the country doing skits about Christian life. I had the incredible chance to interview one of the members of the team, Kathlene Smith. Heres my questions and her answers. 

1. How long have you been part of onetimeblind.

I have been a part of onetimeblind since the beginning of the ministry in 1994.  There was a group before I joined called Face2Face that ministered but then it changed people and we all agreed to change the name as well.

2. How did you guys get started in this ministry?

Most of us went to the same college and that college was looking for a team to go to camps and do drama.  They didn't have a team that did that, so a few people volunteered and the people at the camps liked it so much they wanted them to come back.  We weren't sold on doing just drama, but that is what God wanted us to do and since the most important thing to us was to get the name of Jesus out there and God wanted us to do drama, that's what we did.

3. How has onetimeblind changed your life (other than schedule)?

LOL.  Onetimeblind has flipped my life upside down.  Well, God has flipped it by using onetimeblind.  I had a plan after graduating college.  I had a job and an apartment lined up.  But God wanted something else for me, and I'm so glad.  I've been able to experience God in such ways I would've never been able to if I wasn't in this ministry.  He is so amazing and faithful if we just follow Him.

4. What are some conflicts that you have faced with onetimeblind?

We have faced several conflicts with the ministry.  It was very hard at first to get along with everyone.  I mean, we were all friends, but we were all very different and we had to learn to love DEEPLY, forgive one another and love again.  It was great practice of who the church should be.  I felt we were able to start growing up in Christ.  The ministry has faced conflict after conflict.  We have almost missed traveling accidents by minutes.  We have had lighting trellises almost fall on us.  We have struggled financially.  We have struggled personally with our families and not being with them at times.  But in all, God is faithful.  There will always be conflict in our lives.  It’s how we deal with it that makes the difference.

5. What is your favorite skit that y'all do and why?

My favorite skit used to be Trust Fall, but I think lately it has been More Coke.  Comparison is the stealer of all Joy.  God intends to fill us up with Himself.  He gives us gifts and so often we don't do anything with them or we could care less what He gives us.  It reflects my heart sometimes and always speaks to me.

6. Where is the coolest place that you have been with onetimeblind?

Well, there are several places that have been cool.  I love seeing the country and I have many memories.  One of my favorite places is Estes Park Colorado.  It's in the mountains and just breathtaking.  But, I have also enjoyed Hawaii, Portland, Keokuk Iowa, Tennessee, oh, there are too many.  I love to find out the cool parts of each town we are in.  Like where the eagles fly or where there are armadillos.

7. What is your favorite part about being part of onetimeblind?

My favorite part about being in onetimeblind is the people.  I love meeting new people and seeing what God has done and is doing for them.  God is amazing and the more people I meet the more God becomes real to me.

8. Do y'all have a theme verse? If so what is it?

John 9 is what our ministry was built on.  We have always wanted to open the eyes of the blind.  And even of those whose vision has been blinded by the things of this world.  We hope people will one day say, "All I know is I was once blind, but NOW I SEE!"

9. What is your favorite bible verse and why?

Jeremiah 1:5 is my favorite verse.  "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."  I have always loved the idea of God knowing me before I was in my mother’s womb.  To me, that means there was a time I was intimate with Him.  Just me and Him face to face.  I want to spend my whole life getting back to that place.

10. What are some of your hobbies?

My hobbies are answering emails for cool girls I meet on the road-;-)  , journaling, hiking, photography, making journals/crafts, hanging with friends, letterboxing.org (VERY fun), cooking, oh, I have too many.

Thanks, Kat, for doing taking time out of your schedule and doing this interview for me!

Winners!

Congratulations to the second place winner (drum roll) picture # 2 sent in by Emily of Picture 'em Photography!!!

And our first place winner is Allie Reid of Allie Photography!!!

Congratulations to you guys and thanks to all who voted and sent in pictures.

Vote Now!!!

I am going to cut off votes on Saturday so if you want to vote, you need to quickly. Many of you have voted already and thank you. I will post winners on Sunday or Monday.

Photo Contest Pictures

Hey guys! My photography contest ended yesterday. If everyone would please vote for their top three favorites, that would be great. Thanks to everyone who sent in pictures. They are great!

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Forever Magazine

Hey Guys,

I just found this new magazine for christian girls. Its called Forever Magazine. If you are intrested in being on the staff, go to forevermagazine.webs.com. You have probably seen me post stuff about bloommagazine.webs.com and this is just like it. Lord willing, the first issue will come out November 20,2010. to be a subscriber you can go to that website and sign up.

Thanks a lot guys!
Jessi

Photo contest!

My photo contest will end TODAY! I will probably post the pictures tomorrow or Monday. If you will please let all of your friend know about this so I can get more pictures in, that would be great. So to look at the guide lines look at three post befor this one. It has all you need to know. Thanks alot! Oh! and If you have a picture that fits the headder that would be great too!

Ummm..... Birthday and stuff......

So in about 31 hours it will officially be my fourteenth birthday. I am sooooo excited. My family plus my friend Allie (click her name to go to her blog) are going to an Astro's game. They are having a fait and family night thinggy where a band comes and plays after the game. This Faith and Family Night/ Day, MercyMe is playing. I am so pumped because MercyMe is one of my favorite bands. My brother came down from college this weekend and so did one of my best friends. I can't wait to see her.  This weekend is going to be epic.

Now on to other stuff. I had to write a story for language arts and I loved it. read it and tell me what you think. I actually wrote way more than I was supposed to but oh well! Here it is. Its called A Life for a Life. I am very proud of this story. Mostly because I spent like four strait hours writing, editing, and more editing this.

It was like a scene out of a movie. Everything was in slow motion and muted. I had a blank face trying to hold back any and all emotions. I looked to my right and watched my husband scramble out of the car and head toward the accident. There was a woman, maybe 25, lying on the ground with minimal signs of life showing. The tiny thread of life in her was begging to get out. There was a man running toward the mangled car. And two children, maybe three years old, crying out for their father or mother or someone to comfort them. My husband ran to the woman screaming with tears streaking down his face. She was his sister, the man’s wife, the children’s mother, my sister in-law, and my best friend.                                  

The day started off normal. The annoying buzz of my alarm clock woke both Scott and I at promptly six thirty in the morning. Scott, the love of my life, and I had been married for exactly eight years on that day. Whenever there is a birthday, anniversary, or any excuse to get the family together, we do. Everyone on Scott’s side of the family comes to celebrate the merry occasions. That means the twins, Allison and Erik, the big brother Scott, and their baby sister Theresa are all under one roof. Of course, husbands and wives come also and so do a few lifelong friends too. That would be Megan, Erik’s wife, John, Allison’s husband, and Greg, Theresa’s boy friend. Also Seth and Lauren, friends of the family for ages, tag along too. We always met for lunch at the most amazing restaurant in New York, Bella Amore. Scott and I had a few errands to run, before the “Big Gathering” as they are so proudly called, so on that Saturday morning we headed off at eight. All of the necessary things were taken care of leaving the minute things for the next day. We ran into Allison at the store while she was shopping for a present for us. She said that John and the kids were at home but they were going to meet us at the restaurant. John was her husband of four years and her close friend through her childhood. John, Lauren, Seth, Allison and I were the closest friend throughout our years even though there is a difference of four years between Lauren, the youngest and me, the oldest. When Al (Allison) and Erik were 19 both of their parents died in a triple flip car accident. Al became severely depressed and we all stuck together in that situation and helped her through that.  John and Al had two beautiful, twin girls, Penelope and Alex. We parted from Allison and ran home to freshen up some before our anniversary celebration.

At the restaurant we laughed about old times and planned out next “Big Gathering.” The date was set for September nineteenth. We ate our amazing food, we laughed at out incredibly slow service, we talked about our hum-drum jobs and we shared memories of our old tree house in the woods. At about three o’clock we all left Bella Amore and headed to my house.

Scott and I were driving down the road and chatting about what a grand time we had. “Catherin! Don’t forget to take that exit!” I swerved and barely made the exit. Scott laughed at my mistake. I looked in the rear view mirror and saw a black car swerve too (probably because of me). It looked like Al’s car but I thought she was in front of me so I paid little attention. I looked behind me again and saw the car flip. It flew into the air and I slammed on the breaks. I pulled onto the shoulder and stared behind me at the tumbling car. It rolled onto the grass median and crashed into a tree. A woman was thrown out of the car and looked lifeless. I stared intently at the woman and realized it was Allison. I saw John slam on his brakes and run to the car screaming, “AL! AL! ALLISON!!!” Penelope and Alex were screaming from their car seats for someone to come to them. Scott jumped out of the car and ran toward his sister. I sat there, blank and unwilling to move. At some point a life flight helicopter came for her. I stared at the blades, spinning slowly and silently. 

When she arrived at the hospital, there was a problem. She had holding something glass and when it shattered, a big piece lodged into her stomach. They wanted to wait to remove the shard because they didn’t want to cause more internal bleeding than necessary. The other conflict was that with every passing minute she was growing weaker and weaker. So they decided that they were going to have to take their chances and remove the glass. They gave her anesthetics and rushed her into the O.R. I was frightened out of my mind. Erik, Theresa, and Scott were all pacing up and down the hall. A nurse had come up to give us a pill for our anxiety which helped slightly. About thirty minutes later after she had given us the pill, the room became fuzzy. I heard someone calling my name but when I looked around no one was there. “Catherine! CATHERINE! Come on Catherine! Open your eyes!” I heard Scott’s voice yelling but his voice was distant. My surroundings became clearer and clearer. I could make out a warped face hovering above mine. It was Scott. He was yelling but I could barely hear him. I was hardly conscious and I couldn’t feel anything. I was numb and cold. I managed to cough out a few words, but they were not understandable. My eyes were open and all that was in me yelled to get out. I heard a helicopter in the distance but couldn’t see anything. It seemed as if the world was spinning but I wasn’t. What seemed like ages to me was only seconds in reality. My vision of Allison on the ground was happening, but not to her, to me. I had imagined it all while I was unconscious. Sooner or later I felt someone pick me up. I was lowered onto a gurney and backed into fire truck red helicopter. That was my end. I was alive but not conscious or willing to be.

I woke up some time later with an immense pain in my stomach. I looked around and saw a face grinning back at me. Scott. I managed to ask him what had happened, where I was, and how long had I been there. “You had a triple rollover accident after lunch when we were going back to the house. You are in the hospital and you have been unconscious for three days. You took it pretty hard babe! You are lucky to be alive.” He gave a half hearted smile and I knew it hurt him to see me that way.  I smiled back and stammered,” But weren’t you in the car with me?” He responded with a puzzled look. “Man! That accident really wiped out your memory huh? I was riding with Erik to talk about a business deal between our companies.”

Everything turned out fine and about a month later on September nineteenth, we had out next “Big Gathering” at Bella Amore. This time, it was without any accidents.

How do I get there?

Often, I find my self thinking why I am not getting anywhere. No, not like to the store or mall or a friends house, but somewhere in life. I think I'm trying hard. I will pray and pray. I will study and study. I will work and work. But I will never get anywhere. Its like in a dream when you are trying to run away from something and no matter how hard you try, you cant escape. Its unavoidable. You will always get caught by that monster or person or whatever is chasing you. Some times I feel like that. I feel like no matter what I do, I never do anything. I never make a difference.

Then somedays I work sooooooo very hard on something that doesn't matter and I don't realize what really matters. My friends. My family. My God. I will slip off into a daydream and put things off until later. I will say that I will finish my homework later, but I don't. I will play a game with my family the next day, but I don't. I will do that project with my friends the next weekend, but I never get around to it. I will pray tomorrow, but I never do. I will read my bible later, but I never do. I will put off what is IMPORTANT until the next day. Jessi's life is not what's important right now. I realize that to get somewhere, I have to DO something. I have to do that homework NOW. I have to play that game with my family NOW.  I have to do that project NOW. Pray NOW and read my bible NOW. To make a positive difference, I need to act now. I need to do the things I need to do first and put off the things that are not important until later.

" For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord. Plans to prosper and not to harm you, plans to give you a good hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

God has plans for me and they don't include sitting around waiting for things to change without an action. He has GREAT plans for me. He is using me to glorify Him. He wants me to act now. Not later.

Make a difference now and not later before it's to late.

Photo Contest!

So I posted about this before but I changed it a little so here it is again. I am holding a photo contest.
My people can leave a comment to vote on witch one or two they like the most. Heres the rules:

The picture can be of any thing

MAXIMUM  of 5 photos can be submitted by one person/blog

You preferably have to be a follower of my blog, but if you're not, its okay.

ALL PHOTOS MUST BE SUBMITTED BY SEPTEMBER 18

(winners will be posted shortly)

What do the two winners get?

2nd place gets there blog link permanently posted on my side bar

1st place get their picture and blog link permanently posted on my side bar.

So, if you want to enter pics, than leave a comment saying that you want to enter. If you already have my email, then you can just email the pictures to me.

Thanks Guys!!!

Ummm... I don't know what to title this...

Hey Guys! I don't know what to title this but it is about Allie's blog. She has 49 followers and if she has one more, she is going to have a give away. Just click here to go to her blog or find her in my followers.  Also, check out her new button.

Thats pretty much it so.... BIE!!!

Header!

So I didn't feel like drawing another picture because just these two took three hours each! So here they are. I have already changed the header because I like it BUT y'all can still leave a comment and tell me what y'all think.   Enjoy! :)

The only reason it took me three hours to draw this one is because i had to re- color the road like 7 time!!!

Ok! so now on to other stuff! I am hoping that I can get some of you guys that are into photography to send some pictures! I was going to ask for a new header picture from y'all. You all know the name of the blog and have read my little blog description... hopefully... and if you photographers would like to send in a pic. that has to do with the theme that would be GREAT! I understand that It is kinda hard to get a picture that has to do with the theme so if you have a picture that you think is just sooooo cool you can send it in to.
     If any one sends in a picture for the header and wins they will have there picture as my header and will also have a permanent link to they blog on my side bar. The winner of the pictures that don't have to do with my header will get there picture posted permanently on my side bar as well as a link to there blog.
     Just leave a comment on my blog saying that you are interested and also your email... of you are comfortable with that... I will get back to you. Thanks Guys!!!

Sighhh.....

Ok so some where between algebra homework, history homework, band homework (yes band homework), language arts homework, science homework and much, much more I find time to write this. It seems lately that I have just been so busy! Stuff for church, stuff for school, and stuff for home. I feel like I barely have time for my self, and I love it! It gives me time to think (something I haven't done in a while). When I say that I haven't had a lot of time to my self lately I mean to do things I want to do. I found myself thinking Tuesday about how AWESOME God really is. You hear all your life that God gave his only Son for us. Honestly, I don't think I got the gist of that. I had never really THOUGHT about it. I hadn't grasped that a perfect, pure, holy, (this list could go on forever) man died for ME. I was listening to a Casting Crowns song called Blessed Redeemer and had a revelation. God mad me realize what I had been missing. Here's the lyrics:
Up Calvary's mountain one dreadful morn
Walked Christ my Savior, weary and worn
Facing for sinners, death on the cross
That He might save them from endless loss

Blessed Redeemer, precious Redeemer
Seems now I see Him on Calvary's tree
Wounded and bleeding, for sinners pleading
Blind and unheeding, dying for me

"Father, forgive them," my Savior prayed
Even while His lifeblood flowed fast away
Praying for sinners while in such woe
No one but Jesus ever loved so

Chorus
Oh, how I love Him, Savior and Friend
How can my praises ever find end?
Through years unnumbered on Heaven's shore
My songs shall praise Him forevermore



Chorus 


I got it.  I realize what God was trying to tell me all along. I was in tears. I just sat and let the music play and listened to it. Usually when I am upset, I will analyze lyrics from a song and this is just what I did. I search for the TRUE meaning of the song and I found it. It wasn't the music that made me cry, it was the words. Up Calvary's Mountain that one dreadful morn walked christ my savior weary and worn.  Facing for sinners, death on a cross that he might save us from endless loss. He saved us. He SAVES us. We can't save ourselves. It is impossible. Only he can cleans us. Only he can change our hearts from stone to flesh and make us truly live. Read Ephesian 2: 1-10. Jesus is the only way to the Father.  He is the way the truth and the life. You have grown up hearing these things. But do you REALLY believe them? Check your self. Is it true faith or are you just fooling your self?


Its a beautiful song and if you haven't listened to it, you should.