June 4, 2009
Inside, Outside, Upside Down Kingdom
Yes, those are my toesies. 
Tuesday my family cleaned our church. The lady who has been cleaning the church once a week (an unpaid position, btw) got a job and isn’t able to do it anymore. My beautiful, wonderful mother volunteered us to do it this week. Now, when she first informed me that I would be helping her clean PWAC, I thought to myself “On top of the 2038476560 things that you do in a week you want to lug us all up to the church and clean it? We do not have time. I don’t want to.” But other than the dirty look I gave her, I kept that to myself. To be frank, I didn’t want to. And though I didn’t think about it at the time, I was being quite arrogant and more than a little bratty in my heart about having to do it. Somehow I thought that I didn’t deserve to do that. WHOA, Kalyn…wrong, wrong, wrong.
Mom and Josiah cleaning a bathroom...
I invited my friend, Hannah, to come and play the piano and sing while while we cleaned since we could turn on the sound system…so she gets up there and starts to play. She is a great worship leader. I’m vacuuming the entire sanctuary (eh, Tessa helped a little.) And God is doing a work in my heart. I begin to be so grateful for the people who never get seen. The ladies who have been cleaning that church for years never get much recognition…the people scrubbing toilets and vacuming sanctuaries for years on end–those
This is a big room to vacuum, folks.
are the most faithful among us and we rarely remember to thank them. I’m thinking on this, feeling so very grateful for the men and women accross the U.S. who have been doing things, unpaid, that don’t get seen. I begin to realize that this is the most glorious leadership position in a church! It’s the secret place. It’s a place of service that only Jesus really sees. As I’m coming to this realization Hannah begins to play Misty Edward’s song “Servant of All.” Some of the lyrics of this song are:
“And you gotta go down
if you wanna go up
And you’ve got to go lower
if you want to go higher and higher
And you’ve got to hide and do it in secret
if you wanna be seen by God”
Wow. She’s singing, I’m vacuming, God’s smiling. Here are some more lyrics to that song:
“Cause it’s the inside, outside, upside down kingdom
where you lose to gain and you die to live”
“I wanna be Your lover
so show me how to go how to go lower
For in the depths I will find You
where You’re serving my brothers”
I’ve been singing that song for years, but it was really never a reality to me until I saw that doing this hard, not-so-fun thing was deepening my relationship with God. I found Him in the depths of serving my brothers.
So now do I love to clean? Will I be excited to go back and do it again next week? Nope. I don’t have it all together, but I love what this is doing in my heart. It’s refining it.
Now–go find the lady who’s been scrubbing the toilet that you use for years and thank her. But, then again, she doesn’t really need your thanks, because her Father in heaven sees what she’s doing…and His reward is far better than your thanks.
Peace & Love,
Kalyn
June 3, 2009
For the Facebookers
I asked my Facebook friends for brainstorming ideas on my next blog topic and decided to fufill all of their requests, so here you go.
Oh, Dad…
First off my Dad, Ken, said this: “Yes, write one on how to keep your room clean!” — If you’ve ever met me, you understand that keeping a clean room is something I’ve never mastered. Funny, Dad, funny.
“A Day In the Life of a Mullis” for Natasha, who responded “Yes. Life as a Mullis. Describe your day.” Here you go, Tasha.
Wake up! This is usually around 8 am or so.
(sometimes my mommy has to kick me out of bed–im not a morning person). If it is a Tuesday or Friday I wake up at 5 am (by myself.) to go to a prayer meeting with my friends before school.
Breakfast.
School. Fun stuff like Chemistry, American History, blah blah blah… (this is soon to change because of summer! praise Jesus).
Lunch. I usually make lunch for my family. Sometimes my sister Tessa does it and sometimes my mom, but many times I make lunch.
Clean up. Everyone helps.
More school. Whoo!
Work. On a few days a week I will head over to. The Mill Bakery and Cafe for work after school.
Supper. Usually my mom makes supper and we help clean up.
Then we piddle around until bed time.
Living in a family of 9 is anything but average, but we really live an average homeschool life. It’s pretty boring.
Now, Carol Korakas responded with this one: “Topic: How God is calling me to step out…and face my fears in the midst of difficult things…for Him.” Very good one. Here you are Carol:
Well…I know exactly what Carol was talking about. Last Sunday I helped my Mom lead worship at PWAC. This is no small feat. I’m scared to death of, well, singing and playing in front of people. And I did it! My Mom has been asking me to do this for months and we have gotten in all out arguements about why I’m not comfortable with this and how I just didn’t want to! BUT–that all changed when I read the book I’ve been talking about recently “Do Hard Things” by Alex and Brett Harris (I highly reccomend it). The book challenged me to do things that I find difficult for Jesus. Does this mean that I suddenly enjoy worship leading for crowds? Nope. But I conquored something that I was quite afraid of and I’m glad I did it. So that is one way that God has been calling me to come out of my shell a bit.
The next one was from Carol Korakas too: “What I want to be when I finish growing up”
Well. I don’t want to grow up. Just kidding. I have been asking myself this question since I was old enough to think. I’m not sure why I have always had such a fascination with the future, but I have been aspiring to be a grown up for as long as I can remember…now that I’m on the brink of adulthood it’s not as appealing, but I still can’t wait to see what the future holds. To answer the question plainly: I don’t know. As I grow older I’m seeing a clearer picture of things I’m interested in and the direction I may be going. First off, as silly as it may seem to you, I feel called to blogging. I’m not so great at it and haven’t done a whole lot of it, but I feel like God wants me to be a voice in the blog world and I plan to do it. Secondly I have always been very passionate about political issues such as abortion. I definitely feel as though I will be involved in politics. I know it’s geeky, but I can’t really think of anything more exciting than campaigning with a godly candidate. Government, politics, law, journalism, blogging, and Jesus…all things I can see myself getting into. [I reserve the right to change my mind, as I have been switching interests once a week since I was 7 years old ].
Monica Smith said: ” School’s (almost) Out For Summer! ”
Yes it is! I’m so glad. This summer means Jesus Culture in Atlanta, Camp Living Waters, and making up Chemistry that I didn’t finish this year (not so much looking forward to that…).
There you are Facebook friends!
Peace & Love,
Kalyn
May 27, 2009
Homosexuality and Jesus [oh, boy]
The [oh, boy] disclaimer in the title is due to the fact that YES, I know what I am about to do. I am about to get a whole lotta hate mail. I am about to offend homosexual people. I am about to put my inexperienced, teenage, slightly ignorant, jesus loving opinion on the internet for all to see. So, yes, I know what I’m doing. I am, as the rebelution blog would say, doing something that I think is hard because I know it’s right…and that’s what this blog is about for me–it’s a place to let the world see my growth in God, and this is what he is showing me.
Yesterday (5/26/09) the California Supreme Court decided to uphold the ban on gay marriage (Proposition 8). I twittered some “praise jesus! #prop8″ type tweets out of my excitement because the word of God was upheld in California and I personally know many intercessors who have been standing in the gap for California…because history has shown that California is usually the forerunner for the nation. I got a couple not-so-thrilled replies…
I just want to say here and now: Jesus loves the homosexual. Jesus loves you, me and everyone else. Jesus created you, and He didn’t make any mistakes [psalm 139, jeremiah 1:5]. He is madly in love with you, one glance of your eyes ravishes His heart [song of soloman 6:5]. No matter what. He would give His life for you (he did). He wanted to make the ultimate vow of love for you, there is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for his friends [john 15:13]. He endured the cross because of the joy set before Him [YOU!] (hebrews 12:2). He wants no one to perish, but ALL to come repentance.
BUT, along with many other types of sin, the bible calls homosexuality sin. [1 Corinthians 6:9-11] Our society (especially in the deep south where I come from) has pretended like homosexuality is a sin worse than any other, and that simply isn’t true. In fact, Jesus calls it the same “level” of sin as being a drunkard (southerners don’t like to hear that). Bottom line–we all struggle. No one can live up to the glory of Jesus, and that is the beauty of our relationship with Him! He has taken on the sins of the world so that we can be free. God wants for all of us to be free. I am not against the homosexual, and neither is Jesus. I am against immorality, and so is Jesus. I am against anything that would keep you from a relationship with Him, and so is He.
So, if you’re looking for someone who thinks that Jesus is cool with homosexuality, I’m not your gal. But if you’re looking for someone to talk to because you recognize that homosexuality is keeping you from Jesus, boy have you ever come to the right place. He is here for you, He is waiting for you, He can’t wait for you to see Him for who He really is.
Peace & Love,
Kalyn
Hebrews 12:3-4 Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. [He did it for you, remember His love. His love the most real thing I have ever experienced.]
Comment, kids. Let’s open up discussion.
May 24, 2009
Here I Am
May 24, 2009
Dream big.
I have been reading an awesome book called “Do Hard Things” by Alex and Brett Harris (teenage twin brothers of Joshua Harris, author of I Kissed Dating Goodbye). If you are between the ages of 13-20ish it is a must read. [Check out their blog here -- The Rebelution.] This book is like the theme song of my life. It was quite the strange phenomenon when I began reading it because I had this pit-of-my-stomache feeling that God destined me to read this book, and more importantly to apply it’s message in my life. A lady I love very much came to me a couple months ago and told me that I simply had to read this book and she was going to give it to me to read and every time she opened it she knew I needed to read it. She kept telling me this, yet kept not bringing me the book. I heard of a book by the Harris twins but had no idea it was the same book that this lady insisted I read. Finally a few days after I hear of this book and think I should read it she brings it to me at work and lo and behold, it was the same book. Any book by homeschooled teenagers who love God and had their foreward written by none other than Chuck Norris himself definitely has my attention.
For as long as I can remember I have been deemed “mature for my age” –which is something adults like to categorize you as if you have any sense of responsibility, love for God or kindness in your heart. But in reality, this should be reflected in all teenagers. The standard that our society has set for youth is so low. God is raising up a standard, a rebelution. The Harris brothers have invented this world, my new favorite word: Rebelution. A combination of Rebelion and Revolution. Because God is bringing a generation out of the complacency of low-to-no standards, a generation that will rebel against the low expectations of the world, causing a revolution that the world has never seen before. I have personally witnessed many different groups accross the U.S. who are a part of this rebelution. This new breed of young people are tired of doing nothing and they insist to dream unreasonably, love unconditionally and are truly prepared to take on the high calling of Christ.
God has called all of us, not only my generation, to dream. Who do you think gives you those dreams that you have always felt out of reach? Who do you think wants to see the change that you’ve been dreaming about your entire life? That would be Jesus. He formed you, he knows you. He knows your sitting down and your rising up [psalm 139]. He wants you to stop putting your dreams away because you think it can’t happen, wont happen, or is simply too out of reach. God is looking for dreamers! God is looking for lovers! God is looking for history changers. In the words of John Mayer we have been just been waiting on the world to change. God is saying that we have the ability to be the change that we want to see in the world. Teenagers are the embodiment of potential shackled up by low expectations. It’s time to break free…because I think that God is wanting to change the face of Christianity in one generation. What if we would allow ourselves to dream? What if we beleived that we, even as youth, could make as big a difference as any adult? We have been lied to and told that we can’t do big things, we can’t change the world until we’re older, and that we aren’t ready yet. We have been told through the society we live in to just have a good time while we can and settle down later, but God is ready to move in the earth and He is looking for willing, dreaming hearts. I’m in. I am saying “Here I am, God, do what you will…” Be the revolution, be the revival, be the change, be the rebelutionary that abolishes abortion. Be the rebelutionary that awakens the western church. Be the rebelutionary that takes over the media industry for Jesus! Be the rebelutionary that dreams of a day that when people think of Christians they don’t think of hypocritical, stuffy, boring people. Be the change. Be the REVIVAL!
Sorry if this was just one big ball of overexcitement that didn’t quite make sense, I have consumed a lot of caffene and a lot of scripture today which puts me in a whole other category of excited. I am about to go to the Firehouse (the prayer house in my region) because we are starting IHOP’s Song of Soloman series today. I’m excited about that, I’m sure plenty of blog posts will spring from learning of Jesus’ unquenchable radical love for His bride. Ahhh. I so love our Bridegroom.
Peace & love,
Kalyn
May 18, 2009
What I Have Learned…the Hard Way.
1. Do not let yourself be affected by people’s negative words.
2. Avoid potholes.
3. Wear non slip shoes in Washington DC, otherwise you will fall a lot.
4. Look out for mailboxes when backing out of someone’s driveway.
5. Eat breakfast.
6. If you burn easily, wear sunscreen.
7. Keep blank CDs in your house, you’re always going to need them.
8. Nothing satisfies like Jesus does.
9. Reading is good for the expansion of your vocabulary.
10. Do not keep your iPod dock on the same table as your sister keeps her open coke bottles. Disaster waiting to happen.
11. Keep up with your checkbook…
12. Don’t buy colored pencils without a pencil sharpener.
13. Do not keep your cell phone in a bag with a water bottle in it. 14. Do not take your cell phone out of your pocket in airports…
15. Journal your dreams, you will forget them.
16. A soft answer turns away wrath…
17. Listen to your best friend, they usually know you well enough to know what is best for you.
18. Never, ever give up on your dreams… That is when life becomes meaningless.
19. Be protective of people you love.
20. Love before you correct people. Most people who seem to need correction simply need to be loved.
21. Tell your Mama you love her. 22. Do not play on a merry go round with big kids when you’re a little kid…you could break your collar bone.
23. Money is just smelly green paper.
24. Don’t wear itchy sweaters on long trips.
25. God is faithful, especially when you don’t expect him to be.
26. Don’t say the first thing that comes to your mind, take a minute and think.
27. Grape koolaid is yucky.
28. MSG causes blindness in infants and nursing mothers, lay off the Chinese food. 29. IPod’s come and go, but you have to keep the sisters who ruin them.
30. Wear shoes on tile floors, they are really cold.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
May 11, 2009
A Toast(er) to Mothers
I’m so so so so very sorry for not posting for the past, you know, 9 months! Apparently I’ve been going through a non-blogging season in my life. Maybe it’s over. Well, now that I’ve discovered Posterous.com you’ll at least be getting some indirect posts.
Yesterday was Mother’s Day, Happy Mother’s Day moms! I bought my Mom a toaster. Yes. A toaster. She loved it, alright!? I’ve been defending the fact that I bought her something so practical for the past 2 days. She has been talking about how badly she wanted one but didn’t want to buy one for weeks, and so…I cracked and bought her what she wanted, no matter how lame it may seem to the likes of you.
I WILL be in touch.
Kalyn
August 19, 2008
Bound4Life in the Washington Times
The Washington Times has put out an awesome piece on Bound4Life.Click here to read it.
August 18, 2008
8/16/08
This was a historic day. The Call DC ‘08…70,000+ radical beleivers gathered to pray and fast for our nation. Can a nation be changed in a day? I believe it was. The fruit of these national solemn assemblies will be very interesting to watch come into play.
Besides attending The Call I also turned sixteen on 8/16…I find it interesting that my heart was so enraptured with this Call and it just so happened to be on my birthday.
This was my first trip ever to DC and I absolutely fell in love with it. I love the city, the monuments, the 20398475 Smithsonians…lol. Capitol Hill is beautiful and magnificent (and it dosent hurt that there is a Starbucks on every corner). Who knew that a rural small town girl like me could love a city like that! I can’t wait to go back…
That’s the short story of my week in Washington DC. If you want more–ask and you shall receive.
