I am From

I am from sheets of music
Lying on the bed
Guitars propped up

I am from brothers’ clothes
The buttonhook on dad’s hand
In the backyard of summer

I am from bike jumps and bloody knees
Prayers and backrubs by my bedside
Dad’s surprise tickle attacks

I am from kleenexes
Tucked in a sleeve in case of tears
I am from a late night movie
On a school night

I am from cake rolls
Cinnamon gum in a purse
Crowds of people laughing
Cousins joking
Till stomachs hurt

I am from dirt paths
Cutting down Christmas trees
A small cabin overflowing
The clean plate club
Pink curlers and the boxcar children
Popcorn clouded skies
Endless with dreams

I am from sock fights on rainy days
Mochas and listening from blue eyes
The patience that taught me to drive
Taught me to live

I am from hands that let go
Freedom to become
Freedom to sing my own song
That love
Even so

I am from bike rides and road trips
Books on tape
Stories around a campfire
Guitars around a campfire

I am from cheers at soccer games
I am from cheering
At football
At basketball
At the Depot

I am from being amazed
At songs they write
At their humor
At their love
For a sister in tears
Or a sister on an amateur stage
Or at a project on beach
Or a sister in a fight
Even so
They love

I am from drums in the basement
Microphones and speakers
Crowds of boys in the house
I am from wanting to be cool
Like them

I am from the Christmas walk
Birthday Breakfast in bed
Cinnamon Rolls on Christmas
From homemade dinner
From buttons re-sewn
From fingers calming my back
Hot chocolate after
The snow jumps we made

I am from clothes on my back
And shoes on my feet
Dinner on the table
Every night
Lots of kids don’t have that

I am from fights and misunderstanding
And a powerful grace
Moments of re-creation
Redemption at work
A puzzle never-ending
Still being pieced

I am from a goofy face
Peering in the door crack
Holding a football blanket
Asking to sleepover
Night after night
Late night chats about mistakes
About redemption
Backrubs and peanut butter
Harmonizing to songs

I am from his hands
Showing me A, B, C, D
From power chords
And re-writing songs
His help, his intellect
His honesty
Another goofy face
Making me laugh
Making me think deep
Over coffee
Over a kid’s ice cream cone
Creative ideas
Made into real life

I am from the tree house
The boat, the music
I am from vanilla dipped in chocolate
At the drive through
Chocolate chip cookies
Baking

I am from their genuine songs
Ears and eyes
Gets louder, wiser
Freer
Over time

Happy Girl

There’s no other way to say it.  I’m just so happy I could BURST ya’ll!  If you’re one of those peeps who knows me REALLY well, then you know its been a real fight to experience some solid joy over the past five months due to some circumstancial meltdowns in my life.  And that is REALLY a long story made short.  Perhaps the long story will make its way to the blog soon.   For now,  clap your hands with me and REJOICE in God’s faithfulness!  OH how GOOD he is!!

WANT TO KNOW WHY??

His mercy.  His steadfast love.  The way He does what is IMPOSSIBLE and CHANGES me!  Oh yea, AND He just created me to LOVE music and to be stirred to love Him more through it.  Amen!  I am doing something that stirs my affections for God more than any other thing in my life!  I have been writing so much music my apartment could explode with lyrics that NEVER could have been produced had the Lord not taken me through some of life’s greatest challenges I’ve yet experienced at this ripe age of twenty-four.  I am recording some songs that are undoubtedly the most raw, human, and soulful songs my heart has ever written.  Who would have imagined I’d have to fall on my face SO many times to write from such a raw, real and vulnerable place in me?  Seeing God carry me through so much askjkfjasdnfkasmfakmkaj…. thats just what it feels like to describe the past year of my life… is just unspeakably satisfying and amazing.  And it is SO worth singing about.

I bet my entire life on the belief that Jesus Christ offers the MOST freedom and joy that can be found above ANY other thing on the face of this earth.  The reality of how he holds me, loves me, and does not condemn me is just bouncing around in my soul.  I long for others to feel this total unabandoned love.

Tonight, I say to you, whoever you are, my dear reader, my fellow seeker of happiness in life, that Jesus Christ is worth surrendering to.  He is worth CRYING to and POURING OUT YOUR HEART TO.  No matter HOW old you are.  No matter WHAT you are going through. He doesn’t want a “better” you.  He just wants the REAL you.

Oh, my friend.  Do not lose heart.  Don’t give up.  Don’t worry about being better.  Just allow yourself to be honest and real, allow yourself to cry.  Allow yourself to be held and welcomed in the reality of Jesus.  Don’t lose another second of enjoying this MERCIFUL, GENTLE, PATIENT God!!  (no, I promise this isn’t a thirty second “sticker for Jesus” advertisement.)  This is the most sincere way I can think of loving you.  Its like sharing my lottery money with everyone I know.  But its better!  Its the real, true and alive God who is in a deeply intimate relationship with His beloved children.

I am going to figure out a way to post one of my songs to this blog in the near future…

I’ll let you have a listen soon.

Whatever you LOVE doing the most, seriously, take a day off of being an American who gets TOO many things done and then still has more to do and…  remember what that one lost passion is.  Just do what you LOVE doing more than anything else… chances are God has given YOU a passion that stirs your heart to love him more too… and chances are that He wants to USE this wisely designed gift of yours for His kingdom… you think?  I think God is a dreamer WAY more than we earthly folk are.

So what plans can you cancel in order to creatively worship God?

Or if your the planner type, what can you pencil in somewhere in the midst of it all to get some affections for God flowing?

Don’t be afraid to ask God to show you what you love.  But mostly, don’t be afraid to BE loved.  To fall and to be held.  This is where we begin to rise into the person that God has created us to be.  What if we could be what God intended us to be to the fullest?  Not in an obsessed with productivity way, but in an obsessed with BEING way… to just BE!  aaa… that sounds nice.

To rest in a deeply contented, satisfied identity in Christ.  Yes, God, make this real for me and for all who seek you!

My Life In Pictures!

This has been my resting place as of late. God pours His light through this window, and I have been spending time processing through a lot of things journaling and reading here. I am thankful for a season to rest and feed on His Word.

I have spent almost ever free moment I have in this musical corner pouring out my heart to the Lord in song. His grace and pursuit of my heart has overwhelmed me with the reality of Jesus. Writing and recording is my rather introverted way of trying to be extraverted about how AMAZING Jesus is!

Our kindergarteners at Hope Academy graduated! Praise the Lord for these blessed children of the city.

Nick surprised me randomly with this binder filled with worship song guitar tabs and lyrics. He spent weeks copying hundreds of songs from our church and compiling them into this huge purple thing! He is so thoughtful, and I am so thankful God gave me this husband!

We spent a day in Stillwater, a quaint riverside town in MN

Nick and I have had to forgive each other more than we ever thought we'd have to in these past few months. It is sweet seeing God's grace change us and redeem our marriage again and again. After our sin being revealed so transparently and vulnerably, its amazing I still love Him, and He still loves me! Only through knowing a merciful God is this possible. Thank you, Jesus.

I am a now a hair-stylist! This was so fun. I did my cousin Hannah's hair for her prom! I love this girl

My first "boy" hair-cut! Yes, I cut Nick's hair for the first time. Downside: Our floor was really hairy You like? I think he's pretty cute if you ask me.

Into the Light

Into the Light
By Katie Stromwall

Song Lyrics written
Sunday, March 09, 2008
11:56 AM

V1
The lights are blinding
Driving Home
On this two way road
You’re in control
But you’re losing it now

You’ve cut ties with everyone
Made your wish
That this could all be done
I know
Because I’ve been there

Chorus
Hold on
I’ll stay by you
Till this is through
In battle cries
We will rise
Into the light

V2
When it seems impossible
To hope when you feel strangled
By a world of lies
It will addict us to anything
To escape momentary affliction
Its so appealing
Just to be set free