Missouri Christmases and Zechariah's Song

It's Christmas Eve.
And it's a very important one for the Waters fam-- the nuclear fam that consists of me, the mom, the dad, and the bed-ridden brother. It's our first Christmas in Missouri (we usually spend it in Georgia with extended family) since 1989, folks. And, for those of you counting, I was born in '90, so... do the math. ;) The reason behind our change in plans was sudden; it is also the reason behind why I referred to my brother as "bed-ridden." He had to receive emergency surgery Wednesday to repair some damage from an old soccer injury, which postponed our trip; after looking at this weekend's forecast, the trip went quickly from postponed to canceled.
Now, there's talk of embarking on the trip a day or two after Christmas-- which is exactly time I'm scheduled to head to Denver, CO for a Campus Crusade Christmas conference. So, sadly, if the annual GA Christmas trip takes place, I will, for the first time in my life, not be tagging along.
Weird and slightly sad, but I'm okay with it :)--
Mainly because I was blessed with opportunities to see both sides of my extended family during the semester, as they decided to come to US during my fall and thanksgiving breaks.

It's been an interesting past few days, then. I'm really enjoying this here Christmas break, even if it does look different than to what I'm accustomed. So far I have:

*had lunch with two dear friends at the Tea Garden-- a long-time local cafe/restaurant that's unfortunately going out of business
*gone out for Sushi and to the movies with my dear roommate
*ordered TWO Christmas gifts on Amazon (they both arrived right on time! imagine that...)
* spent some LOVELY time in Harrisonville/Kansas City with my wonderful boyfriend/his family/my friend Emily (who is also a H-ville resident)
--> I must add that Kyle planned a fun KC date of P.F. Chang's on the Plaza, Ice-Skating at Crown Center, and dessert at Skye's rotating restaurant! He's a good one, he is.
*contracted a nasty cold
*decorated Christmas cookies with da fam
* had a hair-dying party (mine is now a lovely shade of dark auburn) with my dearest HS girlfriends
*skyped my grandparents in GA and my sweet friend Lindsay P!

This list is full of fun and very very good things that I have supremely enjoyed, but it makes very little mention of the one most vital and life/peace/joy/hope/rest- giving thing of my existence-- and that, my friends, is (you guessed it!) Jesus.

Of course, Jesus was present in my ice skating and sushi eating and hair-dying... don't get my wrong. I believe that he fully delights in my joy and in these earthly relationships that I love so much-- but I also believe that above all else, he delights in my bringing him Glory and Honor, and the gift of my open heart.

Let's be honest, it's been a while since I've cracked open a Bible for more than 5 minutes. In fact, that's what I was doing before I came here to write this-- though I fully intend to return to the Word after I've shared what I discovered to be so important.

Reading Luke, I came upon Zechariah's Song, and it might as well be mine own. This HUGE HUGE gift of Messiah, of Emmanuel, is more powerful than we tend to make it when Christmastime rolls around. I've been deeply convicted the past couple of years to remember that Christmas is not Martin Luther King Jr. Day-- we're not just celebrating a famous person's birthday. We are celebrating Jesus as the King and Savior who CAME, who DIED, who ROSE, and who is COMING AGAIN :D This is big news, human-kind! Open your ears, your eyes, your hearts! God is WITH us. He kept his promise 2,000-something years ago, and He keeps it still, as we await Jesus' return.

Zechariah got it. He knew that his son John was to "prepare the way of the Lord." And he knew what this would mean for the world. Read his song and let it be your own-- joyfully and expectantly welcoming our LORD into this fallen world:

"Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,
because he has come and has redeemed his people.
He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David
(as he said through his holy prophets of long ago),
salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us--
show mercy to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant,
the oath he swore to our father Abraham;
to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all our days."

Luke 1: 68-75

The Blah-gging Mood

I'm in a Media/Technology class this year-- it's part of my education degree. One of my assignments has been to create a blog, and it has sparked a new excitement for blogging in these bones. I've spent the past hour or so browsing the internet for new blog templates... it's addicting. And I don't like it. Except that I do... oh so very much. :)

Anyway. Prepare for this post to be simple and to-the-point. My eloquence is lacking tonight!

Some things about life in Freddy 458...

- What's Freddy 458? Oh, yeah. It's my dorm room. Yep. I moved back into the dorms. Chrissy and I felt the Lord leading us here to live among freshmen girls and minister/be Jesus to them. It's not at all where I expected to find myself at this point in my college career (location-wise), but it's a beautiful place to be, I have found. And despite the lies the enemy tries to feed me daily, it is making a difference. I'm loving it.

- Becoming more okay with a simple life after college. Those dreams of going abroad and living in the slums and teaching English to impoverished children are not gone-- but I'm becoming more okay with that story being someone else's, not mine. I'm okay with serving the Lord by being a plane jane high school English teacher. Nothing is at all set in stone for me (the future is just as wide and gaping as it ever was), but my heart has been softened toward this possibility. We'll just have to wait and see what He's got planned. :)

- Along with that ^, going on staff with Campus Crusade (for at least a year or two) is becoming more of a possible reality as well. That's kind of exciting, eh?

- I'm learning a lot about how distorted my view of the Lord is. Hard, but so so good. :)

- Kyle has managed to get stitches in both his hands (to repair injuries from two totally separate incidences) since the beginning of the semester. He's a little bit accident-prone. But he's still wonderful-- an instrument of the Lord to me daily for encouragement, peace, and compassion, etc. etc. etc... We've been dating for almost 10 months now! Praise Jesus for this beautiful blessing.

- I actually try to read for my classes this year. It makes school a heck of a lot easier. Imagine that! :)

- My love for coffee/coffee shops is continuously growing. I think that's... great. :)

- I miss having a kitchen, but I like that I have so many friends who live off campus who generously let me borrow theirs when I need to. :)

- There are probably a tonnnn of things that have happened that I'm forgetting. And this is something I've learned about myself-- just because I forget about it, doesn't mean it wasn't important. I just forget a lot of things... often.


Until I'm inspired again,

Kelsey :)

Bring Me A Dream

Last night, I had the coolest dream.
Well, sort of.
It was kind of violent and I woke up feeling slightly anxious and disturbed.
But then I remembered the dream in its entirety and my anxiety melted into a weird kind of awe.

So here's the scene my subconscious conjured up for me while I slept:

I'm in a nice, well-furnished room in a house owned by an upper-middle-class black family: a man, a woman, and a gender neutral baby (at least from what I know). The man's occupation? A sailor. (ha.) At the beginning of the dream, as is normally the case, I'm merely an observer... I'm in the movie, but I'm not actually a character. I'm an outsider. Anyway, now that we've established my point of view...
I'm not sure what altercation had previously taken place, but somehow this black couple had got into a lot of trouble with some mafia-type gangsters. Two of them, I think. The baby had been taken away, and the sailor-husband was bound and gagged in another room. The woman is lying on her belly on the floor behind one of the couches in the room that I am also in. She is hiding from the mafia men. One of the mafia men comes in the room to search for her. She is terrified. I stand in the corner and wait for something to happen, I guess. When he finally discovers her (there was really no way for her to escape), he holds a gun to her head, but he doesn't shoot. She moves to the couch and sits down with him. The mafia man's accomplice comes in the room. He looks a lot like Peter Pettigrew, from the Harry Potter movies. Of the two, he's clearly the side-kick. Maybe they interrogated the woman (who, while I'm at it, bears slight a resemblance to Michelle Obama) or discussed their next move.

Suddenly, in marches Mr. Sailor. The mafia men calmly ask how he managed to escape.

"Because I'm a Sailor!" the man replies. (I have no idea why the sailor thing was so important-- but it was.)

Peter-Pettigrew-man whips out his gun and shoots sailor-husband. I, the observer, am shocked.

The head-mafia-guy must have been shocked too, because he promptly re-aimed his gun at his side-kick and shot him in the eye (yes, the eye), then twice in the back, and then once in the shoulder. At this point I'm about be sick in my own dream. Realizing that I am actually in complete control of the situation, I start to wonder if I should abort.

But then, something hits me. Peter-Pettigrew-mafia-man is not yet dead-- though he probably should be in reality. Knowing his life is hanging by a thread and could end at any moment, I take on a more active role and officially enter the world of the the mafia/sailor/Michelle-Obama drama (dang, I couldn't have planned that rhyme any better).

I rush to the aide of P-man (that's what we'll call our Peter-Pettigrew look-alike from now on) and the first thing I say to him is this: "Have you ever heard gospel of Jesus Christ?"

He says no.

"I have to tell you! Can I tell you? This is important. You need to hear this-- you could die any moment!"


I launch into evangelism-mode. P-man listens intently as I explain the significance of God's perfect plan for creation and our destruction of it. I tell him of our separation from the Lord because of our pitiful sinful nature. I claim the truth about God's supreme justice and the need for our sin to be punished. I preach the gospel message of Jesus Christ and the freedom he offers us by his sacrifice. I invite my horribly injured dream-friend to accept this good news as truth and live his life (the minutes of it that remain) nestled deeply in the bosom love of Christ.

Seriously. In complete clarity. It's the only part of my dream that really made sense.
And it's the part that changed what could have been a downright unsettling nightmare into one of the coolest dreams I've had in a while.
Because really, this dream made me aware of two things:

1. They say (I don't know who 'they' are, but I feel like they're credible) that what you dream about can indicate something you know well or have learned well and has been brewing in your mind. I remember my first dream in (accurate!) Spanish two years ago, when I was in the midst of trying to learn it, and being super excited because "I must really be absorbing it if I can do it in my sleep!" Maybe it's a stretch, but I feel like it's semi-significant if I can share the gospel clearly and concisely in a dream. It means I've got it on the brain (cool!) AND I'm able to grasp it even in my subconscious (double cool!)

2. The urgency and brazenness conveyed by my dream self in sharing the gospel kind of struck me as relevant. For dream-Kelsey, it was perfectly natural for her immediate thoughts regarding the dying man before her to be "I MUST TELL YOU ABOUT JESUS!" For real-life Kelsey, the situation is slightly different. Real-life Kelsey goes to a state university in the midwest-- she attends classes in the late morning and afternoon. She does homework and completes reading assignments when she can find the motivation. She lives in a residence hall filled to the brim with 700 + other students (mainly freshmen-- and mainly girls). She follows and loves Jesus the best she can, and when she has a free moment she goes to casually share about him on her campus. She doesn't live in a world of mafia-type gangsters or crime-scene dramas... but nonetheless, the dream world and the real world are more similar than real-life Kelsey allows herself to admit most of the time.

I am faced with hundreds and hundreds of wounded, dying people every day. I can look in the mirror and see a former wounded, dying person who has been mercifully healed and redeemed by Christ. And should my response to the death I'm unfortunately surrounded by in this concrete world be any different than that of my ridiculous dream-self's response? I have to admit that I think the dream-Kelsey that appeared in my dream last night might have more of a handle on evangelism than the Kelsey whose fingers are currently typing this. I wonder what would happen if I decided that tomorrow I was going to approach everyone like P-man-- with a "This can't wait!" kind of attitude. Granted, if I actually ran around the university screaming about everyone's pending death, I might be arrested and the message of the gospel would likely be lost in my fanaticism. Definitely don't want that.

But really. Do I see the faces of my peers and classmates and realize the gravity of their fate without Jesus? Despite what they do or how they act or what they say, am I so apathetic that I do not have compassion upon them and long to tell them the truth of the gospel?

Something to think about.

Most of my dreams are completely ridiculous. This one included.
But who's to say the Lord can't use figments of my subconscious imagination to reveal truth to me?
He's creative enough. He's innovative enough. I wouldn't put it past him. :)

End of the Road

Well, blogging world, it's been a substantial "while."

At a job interview today, I was asked if I ever read for fun.
"I'd like to," I responded.
Dang. I let that simmer for a minute... when's the last time I read something because I wanted to?

The interviewer went on: "Do you write for fun?"
Dang,again-- "...I used to."

My forlorn responses solicited empathetic laughter from my interviewer, a former student of English and Theatre. He's been all up in this rut I'm experiencing now. It's almost ironic how much I have resisted books and blogging and writing things down ever since I started to study English here at Missouri State. Burn-out syndrome has definitely set in, folks. And I've only been here two years so far...

Speaking of which... two years. Good gravy. I just can't seem to soak it up enough.
Am I really 20? Am I really almost a JUNIOR in college?
I'm probably going to be asking those questions of myself until the day I die (i.e. Am I really 40?"; "Am I really a grandma?"; "Am I really in a nursing home right now?").
But really. I'm loving this journey He's taken me on. Never in a million years would I have thought I'd be here right now, if you asked the 17-year-old version of myself. But that's why He's in charge, not me. :)

And so, for posterity, here's a quick picture-y update on life this past semester...

Went to Denver Christmas Conference (in Denver, Colorado) with Campus Crusade and had an AMAZING experience... phenomenal speakers who challenged (and continue to challenge) my heart, and wonderful fellowship time with my fellow students. This picture is a group of my girls at the $5 prom that wrapped up the week. Un.for.gettable.

I turned 20! (I feel like I should be 16...) And my bff Chrissy threw me an amazingly secretive surprise party! A group of some of my favorite people congregated at Zio's for dinner to celebrate, and then several rounds of my fave. game, Bananagrams, at Potter's (local coffee shop that I love!).


This guy asked me out on a date. Italian food, Ice skating, and coffee at Rendevous. We dated for about two weeks, letting the Lord lead, and on January 30th, 2010, he (his name is Kyle Gilbert) asked me to be his girlfriend. I accepted. And let me tell you, this man is incredible. Such a compassionate, dedicated pursuer of Jesus who challenges me, encourages me, and makes me laugh-- hard. :)


I've been more consistently involved with International Club (a ministry for International Students led by some really awesome people) and have developed such beautiful relationships! This is a picture of an authentic Chinese meal our friends Jimmy, Crystal, and Shawn made for us. Mouth watering-ly good.



CRU held a formal masquerade ball this semester! Note: I am the only one wearing a mask. It really was a masquerade, I promise.

My girl Amy came down to Springfield one Sunday and we visited the Unitarian Universalist Church here. This picture represents how we felt both during and after the service...

I love the people in this picture a lot. I only met them about a month ago. And I only spent about 24 hours with them. This, ladies and gents, is the team I'm following Jesus into the mission field with this summer. North Africa. 6 weeks. Less than a month before we leave. A small margin of my heart succumbs to fear every once in a while, but for the most part, I couldn't be more excited. I've already seen evidence of the Lord doing great things in North Africa and within the lives of my teammates. It's gonna be a crazy summer. :)

I went to the City Museum in St. Louis with some friends a few weeks ago, and it was awesome! My first driving experience in 'Da Lou' was a little less than enjoyable... but I hear that's not abnormal. :) Several of our International friends got to come too, which was a blast! Always love getting to spend time with them.
All's well on the relationship front. We even bought a lake house. (Just kidding... we just went to the lake and took a picture in front of it.) This Friday we will hit the 3-month mark! Kyle has blessed my heart more than I could have ever anticipated. There aren't enough positive adjectives in the dictionary to describe his wonderful-ness.

Went back to BHS Prom with my good friend Michael this past weekend. We had a blast, as always :)




Oh, don't worry. The dynamic duo is still very much in tact. And still very much... well, us. Living life, sharing burdens, acting like silly 6-year-olds at times. I thank Jesus for my sister and kindred spirit, Christinalinaritalya Leigh Shinn. (Okay, her first name's Christina. Or Chrissy. Whatever. I like to embellish.)


And that's about all I've got in me for now. It's taken me half of a day to kick this puppy out, and I'm noticeably less motivated to be creative and eloquent at this point...
I don't know when the next posting will be.
But I'm pretty sure I'm okay with that. :)

The Day Before Easter...

I wrote my Heavenly Father a letter:

What a remarkable journey we have been on together this year, eh?

Bound by the guilt of my sin and trapped in the lies of failure and performance, I have found such freedom in your overpowering forgiveness. I know that I’ll be in the throes of learning your kind of grace for a long time coming, but this season of life has opened my eyes to yet another facet of life with You.

We celebrate Easter tomorrow—officially, as a body. I’ve been feeling guilty because the distractions of life and relationships and school and scheduling (all good things, when brought under your authority, I’ve realized) have been my focus lately, instead of the sacrifice that we’ll formally recognize tomorrow.

But I’m beginning to understand that while I’ve been hurtling a million miles a minute the past few months, and beating myself to a pulp when I fail to “measure up”, You’ve been stirring in my heart. At times, you’ve been silent, but you’ve been no less fully present in my struggle to grasp how truly gracious you can be.

You don’t require me to handle my time effortlessly, flawlessly. Sometimes I make mistakes. Sometimes I refuse to follow you into an uncomfortable situation and I miss an opportunity. Sometimes I distract myself with mindless activity instead of reading your word and praying and listening and… being. You don’t ask me to be a machine, producing good works for your approval. My time with you doesn’t always have to look a certain way in order to be “right” or “normal” or “on track.”

But… you are HOLY. You are RIGHTEOUS. You are flawless— WITHOUT SIN.

Shouldn’t you want holy, righteous, perfect, sinless people, Lord? Isn’t that what you deserve? (Answer: Absolutely.)

And herein lies the conflict. It is a conflict that should exist, but doesn’t—this conflict between our sinful nature and your perfect divinity. We cannot possibly, through any power of our own accord, be the people you deserve. And when it comes to what we ourselves deserve, well… it’s not much. It’s just death, really.

And it all comes back to this event that occurred some 2,000 years ago, which I’m going to sing about and reverently observe tomorrow.

How real you have made it for me this year, the heaviness of your sacrifice. I don’t have to live under the shame of my failure and selfishness. You are not an angry judge just waiting for me to screw up to a point where you have to take something away. My walk is not blameless because I am living blamelessly, but because Christ did, and He took my place. You left your throne and became the least of these so that we could live in freedom.

And so how could we ever be the same? How can we keep on living a life of works and performance?

“I don’t have to carry the weight of weight of who I’ve been, ‘cause I’m forgiven.”

Praise the One who paid our debt. This resurrection life cannot stay silent!

Oh. My. Goodness.

Ohmygoodness Ohmygoodness... God is goood. Good enough for three o's. And a million or so more, if goodness levels were measured by the amount of o's between the 'g' and the 'd'.

I need to write a lot of things down here... sometime. I have a bounty of JOYOUS note-worthy things to report. Soon.

This Psalm has been the prayer of my heart these past few lovely days:

"You thrill me, Lord, with what you have done for me. I sing for joy because of what you have done!" --Psalm 92:4

He is faithful and SO DANG GOOD at orchestrating lives.

Details to come. :)

Eye of the Tiger

Remember the super-athlete I used to be in High School?

... yeah, me neither.

However, this semester at MSU I was asked (possibly against someone's better judgment) to play on the Campus Crusade Co-ed Intramural Soccer Team! Or, for short: Cru Crew. :) With little to no help lent by my own mad skills, our team advanced to the championships and came out on TOP! (Yes, that means we won!) I love my Cru Crew! :)

However, a downside to being a part of this team (there really aren't any others-- and this really isn't even much of a downside) was the fact that our games were always at ridiculously late hours on school nights-- i.e. 10 or 11 pm. Additionally, our season lasted well into November, which means we played in freezing (okay, near freezing) temperatures! Sometimes, I must admit, it was hard to get motivated before a big game... which brings me to this video-- a pre-game dance session set to possibly one of the most motivational ballads of all time!

feast your eyes...














starring: kelsey waters (altenrate mid-fielder/defender for the Cru Crew champs) and chrissy shinn (loyal fan/soccer mom/house-mate/motivator extraoridanaire)