New hobbies...

So there are some fun things that happen when you are in your mid twenties. You have many friends who are getting married and it feel like a I have even more who are having babies right now. I have 7 girlfriends who are pregnant right now which led me to an idea. I thought 7 baby showers that can get expensive, and living on a small budget can be difficult at times. So I figured I needed to learn a skill and make some home made gifts! That skill you ask....is crocheting! I love it!! I just started a few weeks ago. My plan was to make baby blankets for my girlfriends but first thing first... Christmas. I have made quite a few Christmas gifts this year and had gotten good enough I thought maybe I could start selling them. So as of tonight I have an etsy store!

www.etsy.com/katbarton

Check it out!! Let me know what you think! I only have two items for sale right now and depending on if they sell I will put more up!!

ONE YEAR!

So we had our one year anniversary this past weekend! What a year it has been. We have had so firsts in this one year together and it has been so wonderful to share them together. For our anniversary Brett planned a little trip for us to get of town for a weekend, just the two of us! We went to Petit Jean State Park in Arkansas. It was just a fun weekend of hiking and spending time together! We both love the outdoors so much so this was perfect for us!

We spent one night in Little Rock just exploring the town and relaxing. 

Posing for a picture togethr right when we got to the park! 

And another at the entrance of the park. 

High Foliage! Beautiful!!

Brett, watching the sunset :)

This was on our 5 mile hike the next day!! We needed  picture break!

We found this beautiful grotto...

and a natural bridge out of rocks

Finally we made it!! Time to head home :)

National Conference

National Conference

Well, it's that time of year again! Campus Outreach New Year's Conference recruitment time that is. However, this year there are a few changes. Normally NYC is in Nashville, TN and there are about 5 CO regions that come together for 5 days to learn about the Lord, grow in their persoanl relationship, worship, and have a ton of fun! But this year we will be in Chattanooga, TN and wont be just 5 CO regions, it's going to be ALL of the CO regions! That's right, every 10 years we have a National Conference where all regions come together for a mega-conference! We are expecting about 5,000 students this year!

Please visit the CO National conference webstite and read about and watch a few of the teaser videos just to better familiarize yourself with the conference. You can find it at :

http://conationalconference.com/

Will you please now join us in prayer 

1. for the students who are going to spend 5 days of their Christmas break to develop their relationship with Jesus Christ. 
2. Will you pray that the students who come who have not accepted Jesus as their personal Lord and saviour would commit their lives to Christ during or before the conference. 
3. And would you pray for the students who are coming in who already have a relationship with God that they would come in with teachable hearts ready to learn and develop and grow in their sanctification with the Lord. 
4. Would you pray for the speakers and for their preparation of the talks that they are going to give; that they would speak directly to the hearts of the students and that it would be the Holy Spirit speaking through them for God's glory!

Unlikely location...

So I just got home from 858, which is our campus wide weekly meeting and I am so excited and had to share it with ya'll. Normally we have 858 on campus somewhere in a meeting hall, however this week literally everywhere that would work was booked. So we were not sure if or where we were going to have our weekly meeting this week. Brett and Russ have been spending a lot of time with the PIKE fraternity building relationships with them. And they mentioned to their president our predicament and he offered us the PIKE house to have our weekly meeting at. 

After praying about it we decided that it was a great option for a few different reasons. Looking into God's word we see Jesus continually meeting with the tax collectors and sinners, loving them, and sharing truth with them. We looked at this as an opportunity to come onto the PIKE's turf and do just that. We knew that we might receive some push back from the religious just as Jesus did from the Pharisee but we were just fine with that. Yes this is a house that most Friday and Saturday nights probably is not reflecting anything to do with the Lord, but this Tuesday night it was!! How exciting is that! And the cool thing, is that the Lord is really working there. The guys were all awesome and so welcoming to us and opening their house for a "religious" meeting. 

What a blessing the PIKE fraternity was to us tonight. Please be in prayer for them and their relationships with Brett and Russ. Pray for salvation for men in that house who don't know the Lord. 

Below are a few fuzzy pictures of the meeting. We had about 100 college students come and choose to hear God's word and a Gospel message. 

After the meeting tonight we enjoyed some hot chocolate and played some volleyball and got to continue building realtiohships with students and loving on them! All in all it was a great night!

Above is a very fuzzy picture of Brett that I wanted to share with ya'll giving a talk at 858. He spoke on the truth about Religion that night and really brought some convicting points out. We are trusting that the Lord will not allow his word to return void!! (Isaiah 55:11)

Family Weekend

So last weekend, I drove up to St. Louis, MO to visit my family! It was such a great time to see my everyone especially my nephews! They are getting so big! It's sad they are not babies anymore, but I guess that is how it goes. One of the days there were in town we went to the ZOO! 

Here is Jack and Jared and my brother and sister in law as we were all getting ready to ride the train!

Sweet Jared, posing for Aunt Kitty

I walked over to Jack to find him climbing all over the seals in the front of zoo. Then as  I looked down I saw a sign that said, "No climbing on the sculpture." Good luck!

Jack LOVES his horsey ride!

Now its Jack Jack turns to pose for Aunt Kitty! To cute :)

Lord's teachings...

Hey All!!!

So it has been a little longer than I thought it would be before i would write again! We have been in a continued state of activities on the campus and with students so much! The Lord has been doing so much in mine and Brett's heart lately. Although we are both learning two very different things.

This week we kicked off Chi O bible study and it was so great! There were 10 girls there which is a huge increase from last year so I am super excited about that. I pray that will just continue to grow as the semester goes on. Brett kicked off Pike and KA bible study this week as well, which both had about 30 guys at! So that was a huge blessing and it seems like the Lord is already doing a lot in so many of the students hearts!

I just finished having breakfast with a student this morning involved in our ministry. It was encouraging as I got to listen to her heart that wants to serve the Lord in whatever capacity He chooses. I am thankful for her openness in telling me how she was really doing and her openness to be vulnerable with me. She, like so many before is having to wrestle with the Lord in His area of goodness. And why things happen that we cant seem to see any good in at all. I have been through this and seen many people go through this. With perseverance we come out on the other side stronger for it, believing truth and simply trusting that the clay can not tell the potter what they should do with their creation and that God is good no matter what. (Romans 9:21, Romans 8:28, Jeremiah 29:11)

I just got back from Murray, Ky last weekend visiting some of my old disciples! What an awesome trip it was! I was so thankful to spend time with them for a few days encouraging one another! At least I pray that I was an encouragement to them. Here they are below!

I actually am going to be traveling again tomorrow, heading up to STL to see my family for a few days. My brother and his wife and children are going to be flying up to my parents house for a few days. So of course I have to go up and see my adorable nephews and family for a few days as well. I am super sad to leave my hubby behind again for a few more days, but it's always so sweet when we see each other after being apart for a little bit.

I'm sure I will have plenty of pictures to show off next week after a weekend with the cutest little boys in the world!!

3rd post in 24hrs

So I guess I am trying to make up for only posting like once a month and now here goes...my third post in the past 24 hrs. But after I updated you all on our new home now I wanted to update you on our new friends and the campus ministry.

Below is Russ and Elizabeth Porter. Russ is the campus director here at ASU and his wonderful wife Elizabeth and I have become fast friends! We so enjoy the both of them and good thing because we spend a lot of time with them!!

Next we have Brian Evan and Mary Finley. These are two of the older students here at ASU. They have both caught the vision to multiply their lives into students while here at ASU and for the rest of their life wherever the Lord takes them. They have both caught individual men and women for the Gospel of Jesus and are both leading these students in discipleship groups now.
Below is two best friends, Shelby Qualls and Chelsea Domino. These two girls are Sophomores at ASU and are just coming off of our summer project down in Tampa. They both accepted Christ into their life last year and have been seeing radical changes for Christ. They are going to be heading up a Flag football team in hopes to share the gospel with their teammates and represent Christ to them.
Again underneath is Shelby and the girl on the left is Stevie Overby. She too is just coming off of her first project and fired up make God's name known on this campus. She is making a big decision to go through sorority recruitment with the plans to share Christ with her sorority sisters through life on life relationships with them.
So the Lord is already doing so much on campus and we are so excited to jump right in and be a part of it. Brett is going to be co-chaplain of the football team, and he cant even say how excited he is to get to know so many of the guys and start a bible study in there. He is also gong to be spending a lot of time with the PIKE fraternity, as well as with some independent guys who live in one of the biggest dorms here on campus.

Thank you all so much for your prayers! We are abundantly thankful for you all and have been praying for you as well. Just to end with a few specific prayer requests:

1) I am going to be leading the whole women's ministry in a Beth Moore bible study. We are really excited about joining all the women together for a semester to grow and learn similar things and have an opportunity for weekly fellowship with the whole female body of Christ.

2) There will also be smaller care groups before the Beth Moore time where there will be a little more intimacy and the girls will be learning in small groups from an older woman many topics on biblical womanhood.

3) Please be in prayer for Brett to be able to impact the Football, PIKE, and Arkansas Hall men. Please pray that he will have favor in those areas and that we will see 5 guys commit their life to Christ this semester through his ministry in those areas.

4) Please pray for me as I will be leading a volleyball bible study and spending time with the Chi Omega sorority. I am excited to get to know the girls in these two areas and excited to see what God will do in these areas!

Post Paint...

So for some reason my computer wont let me add the other video I made so I just had to post the after's with pictures.

Above is the guest bedroom/my craft supplies room. I am going to paint it grey and go with a grey and yellow theme that is o so popular right now!
Above is Brett's office. This was his birthday surpirse. From the before that you can you see in the previous post to the after! I was so proud of my self and he was beyond thrilled!
So we got the kitchen painted which was one of the biggest spots I wanted painted. I am really happy with paint color in there!
And now for the living room. Sorry for the lighting I should have turned on more lights. But the original color I wanted to go with in here with a darker yellow called Naples Yellow but the worker talked me into this color thinking it would go better with the furniture. Brett loves it but its not my favorite. Hoping it continues to grow on me.

And then finally we have our bedroom. I was really wanting something light and airy in here. I think we achieved that with the green. We are going to be getting a new duvet cover soon that will really go well in here I think and hopefully tame down the green a little.

We are completely blessed and spoiled by our parents who have pretty much furnished our whole home for us. Realistically 85% of our furniture in our home was from either Brett's or my parents and we can't even say how much of a blessing that truly is to us. So as most new wives when we moved from STL to Jonesboro and were actually moving into a home together I had big aspirations. I became obsessed with HGTV and having the "perfect home". What a facade I was chasing after. We have been in our home about a month and half now and it didn't take me too long to realize there is no such thing. I really had to evaluate my motives as to why I felt the need for it to be exactly right. One of God's big truth's that I had forgotten amidst the excitement was that this is not my home nor will ever be. I was falling prey to the lie that I can make this perfect and I will be satisfied when this gets painted or when we can afford to buy this or that, the list went on and on. It wasn't until I was spending time with one the women whom I really look up to in my life that she reminded me, "Kat, this is not your home, this is merely where you are passing through and laying your head at night." I needed to hear that and re-focus my eyes on Christ. " But our citizenship is in heaven. and we eagerly await a Saviour from there, the Lord Jesus Christ." Philippians 3:20 See this earth is not our home, if we are in Christ then our home is with him in heaven and we are simply eagerly awaiting him. Please do not misunderstand me. I do not think it is a bad thing to have a nice home and for it to be furnished and decorated well. However, I do think the problem lies with the motives of having it furnished/decorated well. In my case I wanted to receive the glory for my decorating skills or craftiness instead of giving them to the Lord on High who deserves them all. I am thankful that I was remind of truth and that I can not find satisfaction in a nice home just like I can not find true satisfaction in anything beside the Lord whom I serve.

Pre Paint....

This is a video I made for Brett's mom to show her our new home and kinda what we were doing with the furniture and everything...

HI ALL!

Here we are writing to you for the first time from Jonesboro, AR! We are so excited to be here and to be able to finally settle down a bit! We have been here for a month now and and three of the four weeks we were doing some significant travel. Once to Murray for a wedding, once to memphis for 4 days for seminary class, and once for almost a week and half to Tampa, FL for CO return training for our students on summer project. So we are finally getting settled.

Brett's birthday is next week and I had a big surprise for him a few days ago! Brett's office had been totally neglected since we have been here. He was using an end table for his desk and had no real organization of furniture mainly because he was missing the key element to an office. SO I had been looking on cragistlist for a few weeks for a great desk at a great price. And the Lord provided! While Brett was out of town for a day I painted his office, got his desk and furniture all moved into the office and hung his map, cork board, and guitar on the wall! When he got home and saw his birthday surprise he was beyond thrilled and couldn't believe his eyes!! I was so excited that he loved it!!!

So now we are just trying to get the small updates to our home taken care of before school starts! So we painted our living room yesterday and finally got everything for the walls hung up, and tomorrow we are starting our bedroom and hallway! I'll be back with pictures soon!

Barton's on the move...

For those of you who don't me really well, I have a small obsession with the Duggar family. I was trying to think of a title for this post and I thought of the one above and immediately thought that sounds like a title for an episode of 19 kids and counting!

That was just a little random tidbit! But since I posted last we have:

- Moved to Jonesboro

- Unpacked all of our things (for the most part)

- I went to Murray, KY last weekend for one of my disciple's wedding

- Traveled to Memphis, TN for a seminary class on apologetics

- And had our first house guest, my best friend Katie Sparks, come and stay with us for the weekend!

So we have been busy busy busy! And this coming up weekend, we will be driving to Tampa, FL for something called Return Training. As most of you know, Campus Outreach has multiple summer projects all over the world. However, many of the students involved in the ministry here at ASU have spent their summer in Tampa, FL growing in their walk with the Lord. Tampa Project, also known as TP, is a ten-week training program where our students come down to Florida and get full time jobs. During the night they attend multiple seminars and rallies that develop them in their walks' with God. It teaches them how to walk with Him for a lifetime, to be constantly growing Christians who love the Lord and love others. So, Return Training is the last week of the project where we as the staff go back and help to spring these students back onto the college campus. It's an exciting time to think and plan and put all that they have learned over the past ten weeks into practice!

When we get back from project, we as staff will be in full planning mode. We will be thinking and praying and discussing our strategy on campus this year. And in only a few short weeks, the students will be here and we will be ready to roll! One of our favorite verses to recall about being here at ASU is "When He saw the crowds He had compassion for them because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few." Matthew 9:36-37

This is what the college campus represents to Brett and I. Thousands of 18-22 who are harassed and helpless and looking to find the way. The harvest is so plentiful meaning that there is an abundance of people in need, but those who are seeking to give them the truth are few. We are excited to be the people who will be doing that and who will be training up others to do that as well.

There are people who are close to Brett and I who don't agree with what Brett and I have given our lives to and think that we are living in sheer arrogance to say that our way, is the only way. But yes since I do believe God's word to completely true and inspired and breathed out by Him, I take it very seriously when Jesus says that "I am the way and the truth and the life and no one comes to the father except through me." See he did not say that I am a way a truth or a life, but THE WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE! It's as though we have the lifesaving medicine for your cancer and we are refusing to give it to you because we don't feel as though we know you well enough or maybe it will be awkward. No, that would be hatred for us to withhold that from you. So yes, because we are completely convinced that Jesus is the way we want to tell others about Him, we want Christ to be most glorified here on earth. And, He receives glory though people living for HIM! We have seen God change hearts and minds so many times, and we know that His word is the one and only authoritative word. We desire greatly for those who are living "according to the price of the power of the air" (Ephesians 2:1-10) to know that there is a one true God and He is mighty to save. We find it a great privilege to be giving our lives to this on the college campus.

wedding season...

What a busy season the summer is! Brett and I are gearing up to move this weekend but before we could get back up to STL we had an exciting celebration with our close friends. Aimee and Kendall tied the knot this past weekend and it was so fun to be with close friends and celebrate the joining of two people! They both mean so much to me and it was such a joy to be a part of their big day!

Aimee is so beautiful inside and out and made a beautiful bride!

A few of the bridesmaids posed for a picture just before walking down the aisle!

This handsome little man is some of our really good friends Chris and Jen Devine! We were so excited to finally meet little Dominique! Chris and Jen are a couple that we are thrilled that we are only going to be an hour from when we get to Jonesboro.

Mother's Day....

Mother's day weekend was a special weekend for the Sampayo Family. We had three birthday's and Mother's Day all in the same week. My sister in law had planned a surprise birthday party for my brother's 30 th birthday! So Brett. my mom, dad, and oldest brother Nick all loaded up in our cars and headed down to Birmingham, AL for a fun weekend with family! And that's exactly what it was! It was so wonderful to my two nephews (Jack and Jared) whom i am so obsessed with! They are the most precious boys in the whole world! I'm not biased if you cant tell! Above are a couple of pictures I took this weekend of the boys.

I was also so excited because Jen (my sister in law) had planned a family portrait. Jen and I are probably the only ones in the family that care about stuff like! But we loved it!!

Brett and I have recently started praying about going forth and trying to purchase a home. So now we are beginning the hard work of finding one and finding the right bank and all that so if you could be in prayer for that we would really appreciate it!!

Happy Week!

Celebrating another birthday....

25! A quarter of a century....Well when I say it that way it does not sound too old. This past Saturday was my birthday and it was such a fun day! I worked in the morning but as soon as I got off I was surprised by my best friend Katie who came up for the day. Gosh I miss my girlfriends and it was so wonderful to get to some great time with her.

The weekend before my birthday it was 80 and sunny the whole weekend so we got the idea to have a pool party! All week long I was checking the weather and hoping it was going to be as nice as the week before. But as I woke up Saturday morning to rain and freezing temperatures outside my hopes of a warm sunny day went down the drain. But I wasn't going to let that stop me! I vowed earlier in the week no matter what the weather or the temperature I would be jumping into that pool! So here we are taking the polar plunge. Of course my husband and best friend would have to accompany me and my brother in law was up for the challenge as well! Our faces say it all! I think the thermometer was reading in the 40s that day and the pool I would have to say was not too much warmer!

We were so thankful for the hot tub once we flew out of that pool!

I was so spoiled this birthday! My mom and dad and brother Nick came up to STL to celebrate with me. My wonderful in-laws prepared all the food and had this beautiful cake made! It was such a great day with my family and close friends! :)

Support Update...

Well to follow up my last post we are seeing some real momentum right now with our financial support! Brett and I are so thrilled every dollar and percent we get closer to the end! We have $640 a month left to raise and the light at the end of the tunnel is so close we can almost feel it! Thank you all so much for your prayers and your investment into Brett and I's life and partnering in sharing the gospel at Arkansas State. We cant wait to get there and see the Lord work!

Support Update...

I hope that many of you reading this are on Brett and I's financial support team. After months of our support basically standing still we have seen some recent progress. This past two weeks we have had 6 new supporters join our support team for various amounts. We are left with $700 monthly to raise. We see the end so clearly now and are excited for the next chapter in our lives with one another. However, we have come to terms more than ever that we will be provided for when the Lord so chooses to do so. In the mean time we are loving each other and loving where we are at as best we can.

Continue to pray for our time here in STL. We have been blessed greatly by you all and are so thankful to each one of you!

The mill...

Above, my sweet friend Fran came to visit me a few days ago, and a little lunch date we came back to the apt. to do a little baking! As some of you know I mill the flour for most of my flour foods that we eat. Things like our bread, biscuits, cakes, pancakes, muffins, and on and on. I first learned about milling your own wheat while in college from the woman who discipled me (Jen Devine). After Jen and another close girlfriend became so convinced of this being the only way to eat bread and many other flour products, I became very intrigued and decided to do some research myself. There is a wonderful website for any of you interested in why this is so important at www.breadbeckers.com.

"At The Bread Beckers, we believe one simple thing can change your life: real food. Our mission is to show you how easy real food is to make and how delicious it is to eat...Here's why. What passes for food today bears little resemblance to the living organisms God created. The only way to know what you're eating is to make it yourself. We'll teach you how to do it in just a few minutes a day and help you take the first steps to a healthier life. Fatigue, sinus problems, constipation, high cholesterol and even warts are just some of the conditions our customers and our own families have overcome by rejecting processed foods and fueling our bodies with the whole, delicious fuel they were designed to use."

This is basically their mission statement and after reading many of the articles under the information part of the website I really felt like the Lord was leading me into a healthier lifestyle for myself and my family one day by milling my own wheat to make my own wheat and flour products. If my body is my temple because the holy spirit lives inside of me then I want to be putting good nutrient rich healthy things in it!Above is Fran holding my mill. Now this was an investment for me and I saved money for about 3 months to buy it! But now that I own it, I am so happy that I do!
Here I am just pouring some what into the mill while it's grinding it into fresh flour...
Then, tadaa! Fresh flour!
So today Fran and i decided to make homemade bread and some chocolate chip muffins. Both jam packed of fiber and all the goodness that comes along with freshly milled flour.
Adding a little cinnamon to our muffins...
and the picture above is our bread dough after it had been kneaded in the mixer for about 7 minutes...
Here are the muffins getting ready to get popped into the oven!
And above is the bread dough getting ready to rise for about 2 hours. The bread can be quite a time consuming task so I only cook it on days when I know I have at least 3 hours to dedicate to it! But the good thing about that is that for about two of those hours it is rising which is great time to get some laundry done or do some reading!

Did you know that after a grain of wheat has been cracked it begins to oxidize (loose it's built in nutrients) immediately. If you don't use the flour it makes within 24 hours it is basically completely nutrient-less. Which is part of the reason I started making my own bread. I would love to go into great detail here but why not read it for yourself at breadbeckers website if you are interested! If you have any questions please feel free to post below or e-mail me at brett.kat.barton@gmail.com.