My latest newsletter... 

June 2009

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.”

~ Ephesians 2:8

This verse has been one of my favourite verses, since I was a young girl. Recently, I was preparing a talk on God’s character, to present to our Friday night Blast Off kids. I focused on a series of five “God is…” characteristics, one of which was gracious. As I thought about God’s grace, I was immediately transported back to my days in the AWANA program – a little girl feverishly trying to memorise her verses and finish her Sparks book. It was at that time that the word “grace” was forever etched into my memory. I still remember the definition that was given me for the word – grace is God giving me a free gift I do not deserve. Since coming to understand what grace is, Ephesians 2:8 has been a verse I have always loved. It is so amazing to think about God and His grace. What an amazing gift He has given us in sending His Son to die for our sins and offering us eternal life! And, I love how the verse says – “… And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.” We were lost and without hope – we were incapable of saving ourselves. Most certainly, we did not deserve this awesome gift of salvation – but, we have a God of grace!

Having already made mention of the Blast Off youth program, let me continue on along those lines. I cannot even explain how much I am enjoying being involved in the Blast Off ministry. When I joined the team at the beginning of the year, I was excited about the new opportunity to be involved in children’s ministry. However, I had no idea that my involvement would be such that I would have the opportunity to do something I am extremely passionate about – using creativity to step beyond the “what’s required” to make learning fun for kids. Each week, Blast Off has a different theme, and we have games & a talk that correspond to that theme. We have had such evenings as: Fear is Not a Factor, Chocolate Hands, Talking Donkey, & You’re Invited – just to name a few. Blast Off has been such a wonderful fit for what I love to do; God knew and He brought me into this ministry for a reason.

The month of March brought us a small mission team from Pine Island, Minnesota. It was an enjoyable time having them with us for nearly three weeks. They were able to participate in many different ministries, and Kevin made sure to keep their schedule full of life and activity. Cortney especially enjoyed the time because one of her good friends, Mackenzie, was part of the group – it is always special to have an extra girl around this house of boys… While the team was here, our first school term also came to an end, thus allowing us a 2.5 week holiday. Holiday time is always much anticipated and enjoyed around our house, and we did our best to make the most of it. An added bonus was that there were quite a few public holidays during the month of April, so the kids and I really appreciated the fact that we follow the South African school calendar – having a few scattered days off throughout the month was a wonderful treat.

Just a few weeks after the Pine Island crew returned home, we welcomed two from our home church in Prior Lake, Minnesota – Pastor Ron Groschel and Dr. Pat Casey. It is always exciting to have guests, but it is even more special when they come from “home”. Once again, Kevin made sure to keep their schedule packed with ministry and activity, so we actually saw very little of them on the home front. But, the time we were able to spend with them was a great blessing and encouragement.

All year long, excitement builds in the Zak house, in anticipation of the month of May. “What happens in May?” you may ask. Well, the answer is Central’s Church Getaway. The Zak’s have always been avid fans of church family camp – they have attended many camps over the years. However, I have had very little exposure to church camps, throughout my lifetime. In fact, my first exposure to church camp came last year, when I attended Central’s Getaway. Last year was a great experience, and I quickly understood why the kids were so excited from January all the way through to camp time. They will be the first to tell you that I was just as energetic and excited about camp this year as they were. Once again, it did not disappoint – it was a wonderful weekend. Sure, there are the fun and crazy camp games and the late nights of talking and playing games with friends; but, the highlights for me were the praise & worship times. The first night, we enjoyed an amazing time of praise & worship under the stars – simply singing praises to our great and awesome God. The following night was a similar experience, simply a change in location and some added instruments. In my book, those nights could have gone on forever and the awesomeness would have never faded.

Well, the month of May vanished almost as quickly as it arrived, and we have welcomed the month of June. But, that isn’t the only thing we are welcoming. All of us here in the Zak household are anxiously anticipating the arrival of two special guests from the States. On 3 June, Grandma Miller (Sarah’s mom) and Paulette Quiring (a long-time friend of my family, and a member of the Zak’s/my home church) will be flying into Johannesburg to spend two weeks with us. We are all very excited to have them here for a visit. As I said, we love having guests, but friends & family from home are even more special.

It seems that there is always more to write; but, let me just quickly summarise a few more things. I am still involved with the worship team at Central Baptist Church and greatly enjoying it… I have recently stepped back from my involvement in the Sunday School ministry, so as to give others more of an upfront role; I do, however, still play the piano for opening exercises… Nathan & I recently went with Kevin to Kodumela Primary School (just down the road from our house), where we gave a volleyball demonstration and spoke with the principal about coming to teach the kids volleyball – this will be a really great ministry opportunity, and we are looking forward to pursuing it further… I am still doing quite a bit of running – a race nearly every Saturday, as well as running at the gym. In March, I accomplished a major feat in finishing a 20km race. After training and working toward that race, it felt really great to be able to finish and meet the goals I had set for myself… In a couple weeks, we will all be attending the wedding of a close family friend, Mary – it will be an exciting day… Another school holiday is coming up in a few short weeks, and many of us are looking forward to attending camps or being part of mission teams… And, in case anyone is wondering, Sydney (my pet snake) is still doing very well and growing very nicely.

With all of that, I will close. Thank you all for your interest in my ministry. Your prayers, support, and encouragement mean so much to me. I feel so blessed and encouraged when I get messages saying I am being prayed for – wow, that is an amazing feeling – so, thank you. May God abundantly bless you all, during these summer (for those in the States) / winter (for those in South Africa) months.

Attitude...

Every once in a while, I get in a mode where I just feel like writing. Sometimes I have no clue what to write about. Other times, like now, there are things close to my heart that I am just bursting to share…

Attitude. This has been something I have struggled with ever since I was a little girl – keeping a positive, good attitude. Often, I have battled with overreacting and seeing the bad in things, then focusing on those things – not even attempting to see the positive side.

During my time in South Africa over the past 2.5 years, God has really challenged me to work on that attitude – to change my perspective on life. Throughout this time, it has become my goal to always try to find the good in every situation – to look for the positives, even when it seems the negatives are dominant. God’s blessings are always present and abundant. However, we sometimes allow our vision to get so clouded that it takes extra effort to find those blessings.

One practice that has helped me to “find” the blessings each day is to write down seven specific things from the day that I can thank God for. Some days the blessings are just so evident, and seven simply isn’t enough to contain them. Other days, I find myself thinking through each hour of the day, grasping for something to write. But, truth be told, there is not one day that I could not come up with at least seven specific things for which to thank God.

God has also changed my outlook on sad or devastating circumstances. Previously, I used to fear and worry about how I would cope if something terrible ever happened in my life. Now, God has given me a true peace. I know that is probably easy to say when I am not faced with any of those tremendously difficult situations. However, I know that, should God choose to send them my way, He is not going to leave me to bear them alone – He is going to be there with me, each step of the way. No doubt, it will be difficult and it will be a struggle; but, I have no reason to fear because God has a plan – and, I am confident that He will use each situation for His glory.

Many of you may be wondering why I decided to write about attitude. Well, recently, for about a period of one week, I temporarily reverted back to my old ways, as far as my attitude… I allowed myself to dwell on the negative things, and even draw negativity out of things that were not negative at all. My perspective and vision then became so clouded that I couldn’t manage to “find” the good things, the positives things – God’s blessings. I know they were there, but I was in such a frame of mind that I didn’t even want to find them. It was more “fun” for me to just continue on in my misery, self-pity, and complaining.

Looking back, I see how incredibly irrational and downright silly I was being – not to mention, how wrong I was for allowing myself to be overcome like that. I tried to use my circumstances as an excuse for my attitude and my responses. In reality, those circumstances were just revealing what was already in my heart… This principle is one that I have often referred to in discussions with people, as well as in evaluation of my own life – but, it is one that I allowed to temporarily slip my mind. Thankfully, God gives us friends who will confront us in our sins and will tell us what we need to hear, rather than what we want to hear.

One night, a friend confronted me about my attitude – he reminded me that circumstances are not an excuse; they are simply a revelation of what is already inside. And, hearing him repeat back to me all the negatives and complaints I had just laid in front of him, I realised how absolutely absurd and crazy they sounded – they were nothing to even be complaining about! At that moment, I was struck by the fact that I had allowed my bad attitude to overtake me. I was not being me – one who tries to find the good and positive in every situation, one who tells people to smile because there is always something to smile about, one who encourages.

I went home with a very heavy heart – knowing I needed to change my attitude, but not exactly knowing how to do it. The next morning, I did my Bible study in Seeking Him and it was exactly what I needed to get over that hump and back to the right frame of mind. At that moment, my perspective shifted back to where it needed to be – even then, the whole day looked brighter. It is amazing the joy and peace you can feel, when you know that God is in control and that there is always something to be thankful for! And now, I am even more thankful for a God who is always faithful – who never gives up on us – and for friends who are willing to tell you the hard things, in order to help you grow and walk in a right relationship with God.

So, that’s it – that is what God has been laying on my heart. And now, I have hopefully satisfied that burning desire I had to write. I know this turned out to be quite a long exposition, but I hope that it may serve to be an encouragement, and maybe even a challenge, to you. Take the time to find God’s blessings in your life!

Again, it has been a long time between posts. I apologise for that… I am back in South Africa, again, and have found my way back into the daily routine. Well, sort of… Things are a bit crazy around the Zak house, at the moment; but, we are still doing well. We have undertaken a huge project in having the kitchen and our main bathroom remodeled, so things are a bit scattered and unorganised. We are basically living out of our dining room and game room. And both, currently are without lights, due to some electrical problem. It's interesting to say the least, but it's definitely nothing to complain about - we still have it very easy and convenient compared to so many people. But, I must say that I am missing the oven terribly - I have this great desire to bake & I can't. So, I am very much looking forward to having the kitchen completed...

School with the kids is going well. Though, it is hard to keep them motivated and focused with all the distractions with workers going in and out, and all the loud noises - but, we are making it. Right now, we have a family of 6 staying with us - they are an American missionary family to Zambia. Their youngest daughter has been having eye troubles, so they brought her to South Africa to see some doctors. Anyway, we have have taken the first couple days of this week off from school. It is nice to have a couple unexpected days "off" (from school, at least - there is still plenty to do)...

As many of you probably know, I joined the Blast Off program at Central this year. For those of you who don’t know about it, Blast Off is a Friday night program for kids in Grades 3 – 6. We get together at the church, play games, have Bible lessons, etc. It is a really great program, and I am really enjoying it thus far. And, it is neat because all of the children I had in my Sunday School class last year have just "graduated" into Blast Off, so I get to continue working with them - it is so great!

Another recent happening… I have joined the Agape running club. I still don’t know when I found this love for running; but, I am really enjoying it. Last year, I pretty much did only 5km races, with a few scattered 10km races. But, this year, I am going to aim to do mostly 10km races. I am definitely not the fastest runner; but, I have set myself some goals that I hope to achieve this year…

The weather here has been terribly hot - but, I guess that's what to expect in the middle of the summer months. Though, I think my brain still has a hard time comprehending February as summer. I spent a little bit of time outside recently, and got completely sunburned. Though, it is good to have a little colour back in my skin, after losing it all in the Minnesota Winter Wonderland. [By the way, as a little side note… My trip back home for the holidays was absolutely wonderful! It was such a great time with my family & friends, and I am so thankful for the opportunity I had to go home, and to bring my friend, Daniel, with me…]

And, for those of you who have not heard, I just got a pet snake, Sydney. I am pretty excited about it, and I really like it a lot…. Most of you are probably cringing at the thought; but, really, she is a wonderful pet and so beautiful. J

Well, I think that is going to be all for now… I hope this update finds you all doing well, and having a great day! Thanks for checking in, and thank so much for your thoughts, prayers, and words of encouragement.

~ Krista

Favourite Photos of 2008...

Primary Sunday School Department at Central Baptist Church. I co-taught Grade 3...

Scraping the ice off the car windows, in Africa, in June. Doesn't seem logical, does it?!

Strength. Beauty. Amazing.

The simple beauty of a butterfly...

Too much fun with an amazing family...

Daniel doing his Fear Factor food challenge. I will never forget that day - so gross...

I still can't believe I did this. What was I thinking?!

Just one that I like - the colors, the memories...

A cheery, colorful almost-family photo...

Black Friday. Enough said.

Our beautiful Christmas tree...

Fun at the Wild game...

I just love this photo of me & my dad...

The annual "kids" photo in front of the Christmas tree - and, the first photo I've had with both my brothers in almost 2 years..

The breathtaking Rocky Mountains...

I am still in awe of these waterfalls...

This photo is great and it has memories to equal...

And, there they are - my top photos of 2008!

Currently Another Journal Entry By BarlowGirl see related

Since I haven't posted in a while, I just thought I would let some photos do the talking... Here are a few of my favorites from the past few months...

Me, Annie, & the Zak family after running in the 5km Spar Women's Road Race...

Me feeding a giraffe at the Lion Park...

One of the lions that was right next to our car at the Lion Park...

Birthdays, Birthdays, Birthdays!

My 24th birthday party with the Zak family...

Daniel's 22nd birthday with the Zak family...

Luke's 13th birthday, and his Alvin & the Chipmunks cake...

Well, I have to run for now; but, I will try to post some more photos later.

Hope you enjoy the photos!