October 2011 Newsletter

October 2011 Newsletter

To see this newsletter on the Scribd website, click the link at the top of the post :)

If you would like to become a part of our support team, please visit www.yfc.org/give. There are several different ways to give which you can select by clicking on the appropriate link. When you get to the "Donation Information" section, please be sure that you select "VanWyk, Austin & Katy" from the "Designation" drop-down menu.

If you have any questions, or if you would like to receive our newsletters in hard copy, please shoot us an e-mail at hossandkatylin{at}gmail{dot}com

His,

August 2011 Newsletter

August 2011 Newsletter


To see this newsletter on the Scribd website, click the link at the top of the post :)

If you would like to become a part of our support team, please visit www.yfc.org/give. There are several different ways to give which you can select by clicking on the appropriate link. When you get to the "Donation Information" section, please be sure that you select "VanWyk, Austin & Katy" from the "Designation" drop-down menu.

If you have any questions, or if you would like to receive our newsletters in hard copy, please shoot us an e-mail at hossandkatylin{at}gmail{dot}com

His,

All Around the House . . . er . . . Apartment

I spent the first half(ish) of my day on Saturday transforming our apartment back into a livable space. It's been kind of crazy around here lately - Austin was gone to camp for nine days, then we had company, then four days after they left we went to Madrid for a work trip (World Youth Day) for 6 days. We came home last Sunday at midnight and ran straight into a work week, so, needless to say, very little cleaning, unpacking, laundry, etc. got done.

As I was cleaning, I snapped some pictures of the many Pinterest-inspired projects I've completed over the past few weeks!


I kept seeing a ton of awesome pillows, so I went out, bought a glue gun, scooped up some interesting fabric in the form of old clothes from the recycle center, and came up with these:





This project was the merging of several different Pin-spirations :)



I'd been seeing a ton of awesome menu board ideas, combined with the DIY white-board made out of a frame concept + threw in a few fabric flowers for good measure :)


What has been inspiring you lately?

His,

Say "Hi!" Sunday II

I'm participating in Say "Hi!" Sunday hosted by Three P's in a Pod again this week! :) I like this because it's a very simple blog party, and it's a fun way to find new blog friends. It's really not complicated . . . at all . . . just hop on over, link up, visit some other links, and say, "Hi!"

I decided that on my blog, I'm going to combine this little party with a Scripture every Sunday. Because Sunday should be about rest and fellowship and worship and the Word!

This Sunday, our chaplain spoke on these verses from Romans:

Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.
Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.
Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
Romans 12:9-13 (NIV)

I also love the way the Message puts it:

Love from the center of who you are; don't fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle.

Don't burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don't quit in hard times; pray all the harder. Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality.
Romans 12:9-13 (MSG)

Getting ready to hit the sack! Another Monday is nearly upon us :)

<3,

What I'm Pinning . . .

It's official! I am totally hooked on Pinterest!

Totally...I could spend hours scrolling and pinning, it's a very dangerous thing!

Here are a few of my favorites from the past week:

Source: toostinkincute.blogspot.com via Katy Lin on Pinterest

I desperately want an indoor herb garden, and I loooove these tea tins to house my herbs!

Source: obit-mag.com via Katy Lin on Pinterest

She's just so classy...no matter what she's doing!

Source: amazon.com via Katy Lin on Pinterest

I can think of dozens of amazing meals to be made with just this single appliance

Source: sunsurfer.tumblr.com via Katy Lin on Pinterest

Breathtaking!

Source: threemanycooks.com via Katy Lin on Pinterest

The thought of these flavors combined in one sandwich makes me a little bit giddy!


I'm going to do a Pinterest how to/etiquette post at some point. Maybe. And I'm also going to do many posts about the projects/recipes I've made that I've found on Pinterest. (Once I remember to start taking pictures of my projects...I'm a little bit out of practice.) Because, though some haters people say that all Pinterest does is suck your time away while you feel creative looking at other people's creative endeavors while never having any of your own, I have found Pinterest to be incredibly inspiring and have actually made several items as a result of a pin. So there you have it :)

Find me on Pinterest here!

Have a great weekend peeps!

Great Aspirations

Oh my poor neglected blog.

You must think that I don't love you.

That could not be farther from the truth! I've decided that my problem is I love you too much! Every time I think I should really go post __________ on my blog, I remind myself how long it has been and how much of my life has yet to make it onto the blog and how if I start at NOW everything that happened in the big gaping hole that is my post-less-ness will be lost into the great abyss never to be thought of or posted . . . ever!

And that's a lot of super amazing stuff that I want to have on the blog. Not because I think it's all that interesting for everyone else out there (sorry dear readers . . . if you're still coming back to see if I will ever post again . . . I love you . . . really, I do . . . but there's more to this blog than just that), but because I know that if I don't have it "published" somewhere, I really will forget it some day. And that would be tragic.

The past two an a half years have truly been a great adventure, and God has been stretching and growing and shaping and molding and moving us in ways that I always want to remember.

All that to say that my anal perfectionist need to have everything posted in chronological order has gotten me all pent up with what to post and how and when - which has really just kept me from posting anything!

So . . .

I'm going to try to let it go . . .

really . . .

I'm not giving up on the dream of posting stories from the whirlwind that has been our lives since 2009; however, I'm going to do that as I am able and as I have time. I will not allow my fear of being imperfect to hold me captive any more ;)

Hope you're having a great week! Tomorrow's Friday!

<3,

Say "Hi!" Sunday

This is my first Sunday participating in Say "Hi!" Sunday hosted by Three P's in a Pod

It's really not complicated . . . at all . . . just hop on over, link up, visit some other links, and say, "Hi!"

That is all :) Have fun!

<3,

Then Sings My Soul Saturday

This is still one of my all time favorite worship songs! We sang it a few times at service project, and there is nothing like the sound of 300 teenagers and leaders singing their hearts out about how much He loves us! :) God is so good!



He is jealous for me,
Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,
Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.
When all of a sudden,
I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,
And I realise just how beautiful You are,
And how great Your affections are for me.

And oh, how He loves us so,
Oh how He loves us,
How He loves us all

Yeah, He loves us,
Oh! how He loves us,
Oh! how He loves us,
Oh! how He loves.


We are His portion and He is our prize,
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes,
If grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking.
And Heaven meets earth like an sloppy wet kiss,
And my heart turns violently inside of my chest,
I don’t have time to maintain these regrets,
When I think about, the way

Have a great weekend!

~ My Husband Rocks! ~ My very best friend!

Click here to read about why I started MHR Fridays!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We laugh together . . .



. . . we cry together.

We have so much fun together!



No matter where we are, how much money we have, or who else is around, we are who we are - each others' best friends! I have been so very aware of this fact all week, and I have also come to the realization that this is not a reality for everyone! I am so blessed to have a husband who loves me, who defends me, and who will always go to bat for me!

I am thankful for my
sweet,
strong,
sensitive
husband!

I am so very blessed!



My husband ROCKS!

Hope you all have a fantastic Friday, and a wonderful weekend!


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am the only person who has the ability to add blogs to the MHR blogroll. If you are a MHR blogger, and have not been added to the blogroll, plase comment or e-mail me at katylinvw{at}yahoo{dot}com and I will gladly add you to our little group!!!

(if you would like to add the MHR Fridays button to your sidebar, use this code ).

<a href="http://honestandlasting.blogspot.com/2008/06/my-husband-rocks-friday.html"><img src="http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn135/katylinvw/mosaicmhrf.jpg"/></a>

If you're not a blogger, but still want the world to know about your amazing husband (or wife, or husband to be, or wife to be, etc.) leave a shout-out in the form of a comment! If you're unable to comment, e-mail me at katylinvw [at] yahoo [dot] com and I'll add your shout out to this post!

As always, on Fridays Union 28 will refund your shipping on any order of two or more items if you mention the great adventure and ~my husband rocks! Fridays~ in the "how did you hear about us?" section of your order form, so run on over there and check them out, too! Thank you Union 28!

Book Review: Courting Trouble by Deanne Gist

"Tired of waiting for a match made in Heaven, she'll settle for one made in Texas."



"It's 1894, the year of Essie's thirtieth birthday, and she decides the Lord has more important things to do than provide her a husband. If she wants one, she needs to cat him herself. So she writes down the names of all the eligible bachelors in her small Texas town, makes a lists of their attributes and drawbacks, closes her eyes, twirls her finger, and . . . picks one. But convincing the lucky "husband-to-be" will be a bit more of a problem."
(quotes from the back cover)

It's summertime and the reading is good :)

I just finished Courting Trouble by Deanne Gist, and I was very impressed!

The story covers about 8 months in the life of a 30-year-old single woman, Esther (Essie) Spreckelmeyer, in the small town of Corsicana, Texas in 1894. Essie is the only child of the town's judge, and beloved by almost everyone in her delightful little hometown.

This book is well-written and obviously, thoroughly well-researched; however, through the first few chapters I was afraid that I was not going to like it. This was mostly because I got that "I'm so embarrassed for you" feeling on almost every page reading about Essie's attempts to catch a husband. I should have realized that that was actually a very good sign - I was already emotionally connected to Essie.

Throughout the rest of the book, we follow Essie as she wrestles with God's plan for her life, and at some points, takes matters into her own hands - with some heartbreaking consequences. I'm pretty sure that the people at the laundromat thought I had lost my mind. There I was, folding clothes and reading simultaneously, and weeping as Essie and her family worked through some of the more serious issues together. (I'd make that a much better sentence, but I'd hate to give away the good parts :D)

This was such a beautiful story of God's grace and redemptive power in a person's life. It was also a wonderful, realistic look at how the choices we make effect everyone around us, not just ourselves. The author also did a fantastic job of looking at God's forgiveness and the importance of accepting His forgiveness by forgiving ourselves.

All in all a great, emotional read that I would highly recommend! I both shed some tears and laughed out loud, and I can't wait to get my hands on the sequel: Deep in the Heart of Trouble.

Hope you have a tremendous Tuesday!

June 2011 Newsletter

June Newsletter

To see this newsletter on the Scribd website, click the link at the top of the post :)

If you would like to become a part of our support team, please visit www.yfc.org/give. There are several different ways to give which you can select by clicking on the appropriate link. When you get to the "Donation Information" section, please be sure that you select "VanWyk, Austin & Katy" from the "Designation" drop-down menu.

If you have any questions, or if you would like to receive our newsletters in hard copy, please shoot us an e-mail at hossandkatylin{at}gmail{dot}com

His,

March 2011 Newsletter

March Newsletter

To see this newsletter on the Scribd website, click the link at the top of the post :)

If you would like to become a part of our support team, please visit www.yfc.org/give. There are several different ways to give which you can select by clicking on the appropriate link. When you get to the "Donation Information" section, please be sure that you select "VanWyk, Austin & Katy" from the "Designation" drop-down menu.

If you have any questions, or if you would like to receive our newsletters in hard copy, please shoot us an e-mail at hossandkatylin{at}gmail{dot}com

His,

I need...

. . . okay, I couldn't even finish the title. Need is definitely strong.

I REALLY, really, really want a 220v KitchenAid mixer.

Yes.

I know that even thinking the sentence "I need a KitchenAid" proves that I am a very spoiled American. And that is the truth.

However, I don't think I know how to cook/bake/do anything culinarily related without a KitchenAid.


Isn't it beautiful?
It is all I've ever known! My parents had one in their kitchen, so I grew up with it. We received one as a wedding present, so all of the years we lived in Iowa, it was my faithful kitchen companion.

Now here I find myself: smack in the middle of Germany, no KitchenAid to be found. *sniff*

Actually, that's not true. They have KitchenAid mixers here. I would just have to promise my first-born to the store to get to take one home.

So, I will make due with my trusty hand mixer. And be thankful for it :) - honestly! I know that life could be so much worse, and the fact that I can even think to pine for a KitchenAid means that I have more to be thankful for than about 90% of the world's population.

Thanks for indulging my whininess :)

Hope you're having a great day!

His,

January 2011 Newsletter

January Newsletter

To see this newsletter on the Scribd website, click the link at the top of the post :)

If you would like to become a part of our support team, please visit www.yfc.org/give. There are several different ways to give which you can select by clicking on the appropriate link. When you get to the "Donation Information" section, please be sure that you select "VanWyk, Austin & Katy" from the "Designation" drop-down menu.

If you have any questions, or if you would like to receive our newsletters in hard copy, please shoot us an e-mail at hossandkatylin{at}gmail{dot}com

Blessings,

Newsletters

In the next couple of days I will be posting our newsletters from the past few months. Sometimes I'm a little slow, and forgot that this was even an option :) From here on out, I will be posting them as they are written/mailed.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to comment, or shoot us an e-mail at hossandkatylin{at}gmail{dot}com

His,

Tuesday Evening Randomness

I can't seem to come up with a coherent post to save my life, so here are some of the many thoughts I've been batting around.

Summer in Germany is much different than I expected. It is HOT...and it has been HOT for several weeks already! I don't really know what I expected, but I just don't think of hot weather when I think of Germany as a "concept." I know, that's weird! It also stays light much later than I anticipated. It's 10:15pm right now and it has only been dark for about half an hour.

I met an amazing, godly woman this week. Her name is Maria Anne Hirschmann, better known as Hansi. She spoke at chapel on Sunday morning, and again this morning at PWOC. Click here to read her bio and see her ministry website. She is a former Nazi youth leader who came to Christ after WWII. She has an incredible story, and I would definitely recommend her book. One thing she said that really stuck with me today was when she was talking about living in fear. She quoted 2 Timothy 1:7 which says "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind." (NKJV) And she said, "The power is the power of the Holy Spirit, God is love, and a sound mind is the mind of Christ." That was just really profound to me. I also love her attitude towards the United States, and towards freedom! She believes that God is keeping her alive to tell her story as one of the few remaining witnesses to the atrocities of WWII, and she has the greatest sense of humor!

Saturday will be the second 5K run that we participate in here on post. I'm by no means a fierce competitor in this "race." In fact, I use the word "race" very loosely. We mostly go for the fun and as long as I beat my previous time, I'm a happy camper. And no, I will not at this time reveal my personal best - it's slightly embarrassing ;) I will hopefully have some fun pictures of Austin's costume next week! (No, it is not a costume race, but he and our friend mike put the "fun" in "fun run" by going in costume!)

This month we will hit our six month mark of living in Germany and working with Club Beyond. It has been a crazy, wild ride, but God is so good to us, and it has been incredible to see Him at work here!

Hope you're having a great week!

His,

Happy Blogoversary to Me!!!

It's hard to believe that I started on this crazy blogging journey 3 years ago today! It's crazy to look back through my posts and see all the twists and turns life has taken since May 23, 2008! It really is a "great adventure!"

Thanks for making this a fun place to be for the past three years!

<3,

Sunday Song & Scripture

Two of my favorite parts of every Sunday church or chapel service are the praise and worship songs and the pastor (or chaplain as the case may be) sharing from the Word. So, on this Sunday, I thought I'd share a song and a Scripture that have been on my heart!

SONG:

The past few days I have woke up first thing in the morning with this song stuck in my head, it's that good! :) I just love it!

How Can I Keep From Singing
by Chris Tomlin


SCRIPTURE:

Tuesday past was the last day of this semester of PWOC (Protestant Women of the Chapel). I have been a part of the group doing the Breaking Free study by Beth Moore. One of the central passages of the study has been very precious to me during the study, and I have therefore set out to commit it to memory.

Isaiah 61:1-3 (NIV)
The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,[a]
to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the LORD
for the display of his splendor.

I hope you are all having a wonderful, restful Sunday and that you have a fantastic week!

His,

SSMT Verse for February 15-28

Okay, I'm a little late, but here we go --->

This is my February 15 passage (from memory):

Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from His love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose. Don't be selfish, don't try to impress ohters. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don't look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though He was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to.

Philippians 2:1-6 (NLT)

My selection for 1 March is the second half of this passage, Philippians 2:7-11.

I highly recommend reading Beth's post on 2011 Siesta Scripture Memory Team Verse 5, and if you'd like to join the memory team, just leave a comment for her with your verse for the next two weeks. If you haven't yet, read Siesta Scriputer Memory Instructions for a complete explanation :)

Hope you're having a great week!

SSMT Verse for February 1-15

Hey everyone!

I was so excited to see that Beth Moore is still doing the Siesta Scripture Memory Team on her blog! I participated in 2009, and I decided to give it a go again this year! If you have no idea what I'm talking about, click here to see all of her posts on the subject for this year, and if you'd like to join the team, click here for her instructions!

Here's my verse from February 1 (from memory):

But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty
and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer
but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.

James 1:25 (NKJV)

Have a fabulous Tuesday!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Day is not for

saying "I love you."



it's for saying "I love us."



I love who we are together,



how we've grown from our nervous



conversations to the [one] we two have



become.

Valentine's Day is taking the time to say;

I love us ♥

Happy Valentine's Day!

Just the facts . . .

Hello blog land!

I've missed you! Really, I have! I know I have been sporadic at best and MIA at worst for most of the last year, but not without good cause! I'm working on a series of post to explain my absence and everything that occurred between right now and December-ish of 2009 (wow, that's a long time), but for now I thought I'd get everyone up to speed with the who's, what's, why's & wherefore's :)

1. I'm still Katy Lin, still married to my crazy, amazing, handsome hubby Austin.

2. We live in Germany now.

3. We are missionaries with Club Beyond/Military Community Youth Ministries. Austin is working as associate staff, and I'm the International office admin at their international service center.

4. God is good.

Hope you're all doing well! Chat at ya again soon!

Worship . . . for only me . . . ouch!

I may have posted this video before, but I was watching it again today, and it's a very powerful video. I think it bears the repeat :)


WARNING: This video may cause painful self-evaluation


Happy Monday!