A Whole New Way of Living

Attention everyone!

I'm sure you have noticed that I haven't posted in awhile. Well...I have a new blog! Please follow me there if you want to stay updated. It's called A Whole New Way of Living (http://awholenewwayofliving.blogspot.com) so please go read some of the newest postings!

In addition, the latest exciting update: we are expecting our first child in April of 2014! Our son, Liam Valor, will be arriving very soon. Pictures to come on the other blog so you can keep up to date there. For now, below are some pictures from Christmas and the latest baby bump picture. We are 31 weeks now so only 9 more weeks to go! Love you guys and many blessings to you and your families!

With Great Expectation,

Mary Kat Ehrenzeller

The Ehrenzeller Wedding October 1st, 2011

It was the best day of our lives. On October 1st, 2011, I married the man of my dreams. I never truly believed that one could be this happy but God has proven me wrong and given me the desire of my heart! "Hope deferred makes the heart grow sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life." This, my friends, is bringing so much joy and life to my soul! I have loved Andrew Ehrenzeller from a distance for 3 years but never really knew it until this year. I am so thankful that God has been faithful to His promises for He never disappoints! 

Andrew and I have always had a connection and a chemistry that we just couldn't deny or fight. It was the Lord drawing us closer and closer until the veil was lifted and Andrew realized that I was the one for him. The day he told me, "Mary Kat, I am in love with you." is a day I will never forget. I was pinching myself when he said those powerful words to me. Little did I know, a few months later we would be happily married. I am now one of the happiest women alive. 

Nothing is ever perfect and absolute utopia but for the first time in my life, I feel at rest and much more complete than ever before. God uses Andrew to sanctify me everyday and I am grateful to Him for such an amazing gift who is perfect for me. I love Andrew Ehrenzeller!! Blessings and may you experience a life of God revealing how much He loves you with good gifts. He loves to lavish upon us amazing treasures!


Here is just a sneak peak from our wedding.  I will update again soon. Until then, I hope you enjoy!

Another Storm...

As I sit and watch the dark clouds roll in with their ominous appearance, I feel the wind blow. It is the calm before the storm for the waters up ahead seem calm and their waves seem faint within the distance. In the stormy season, it is almost as if I feel at times, "Oh Lord, I cannot bear another storm." It seems this season has been more stormy than the others and it has taken me by surprise.

In these storms, I have felt more weak than I have ever felt. It's as if I have no fight left within me to stand yet again through it all. The storms have increased as my hope has been set upon another. As disappointment has come and tried to make a dwelling place, I have had to stand yet again, striving to believe.

I know that He is doing something within His master plan. For He is the Creator and all He does is perfect, righteous, and true. He is going to those deeper places that no one else can go. He is touching the deeper parts of my heart that no one has ever been before.

In it all, there is pain. For as He has journeyed these hidden places, they have felt tender to the touch. Many tears have come with this process. I have said to Him, "Come and have Your way! Take it all!" Then right after I have felt the thoughts of:  "Did I make a mistake? This is too much!"

Though the pain has seemed too great and my dreams haven't seem to come and the wait has felt too long, He has moved. He has made His victories even in my resistance. He moves. He breathes. He fights. He believes even when I don't.

Emotions can come with the storms I never thought I could feel. The questions have come and I have found no answers. When a God comes and transforms a fallen mind and heart, all of what you thought to be true gets shaken. Everything you thought you knew becomes destroyed. It becomes nothing but ashes burning to the ground.

Thankfully, after the dark of the storms have made their path, the morning always comes. The Son rises upon all that was once dark and shines the Light making way for Life to bloom again. How I long for that day. May it come quickly.

It's Only A Season...

In times of transition, we can lose our footing. It's almost like God lets us lose ourselves that we would find ourselves all over again. Some seasons you can become comfortable and there is an ease and a familiarity in it all.

Those seasons are almost like a sense of home where you can come and just rest. You know where all the bathrooms are located. You know where all the dishes are in the kitchen, including the cleaning supplies and trash bags. You know the junk drawers well and even exactly how long the junk has been in there!

Yet, in transition, your identity can be tested. The questions can rummage through your mind of: "Who am I really?" You don't know where anything is. You've never even seen this place before.

It's uncomfortable and, at times, your heart can't even comprehend what is actually happening. You feel like you're going crazy or, better yet, you think it's the devil. However, most of the time, it's God shaking what can be shaken in your heart so only He can remain. He shakes the things we are trying to identify ourselves with that are not of Him.

He will tear us down to build us back up. He has been known to do this all throughout the Bible and He's really good at it. I love the quote that Kristine Mueller sings: "Redemption is so much better than perfection." These words have riveted straight through my heart because God is not about us being perfect in our own strife, but redeeming us from ourselves! 

He wants to break us down that He can remake us. He wants to take away everything we have relied upon to make ourselves perfect in our own strength. He desires for only His fingerprints to remain that we would see His power.

Yes, we know the truth is that we have been made new in Christ. Yet, it didn't stop at salvation. No. He continues to make us new more and more everyday! He continues to strip off the old man making us more like Him!

So, as I speak to myself and you, take heart! If you are in a transitional season, this means there is movement. Movement means there is LIFE happening and it's happening all around you! It's time to rejoice for joy comes in the morning. Change is challenging but being made more into His image? Why not? Though it be painful at the time, it truly is worth it. Be encouraged, it's just a season.

Come and Have Your Way

Though the storm may surround me, I will not fear. The clouds may grow dark and low, yet I will not fear. In the chaos and confusion, you teach to me how to trust. When I cannot see ahead, You are my Light.

When I cannot hope, You breathe it in me. Though my head fall to the ground, You come and lift me up. You never give up on me. You never leave me. You never let me go. You are not a man that You should lie or turn from Your promises.

Your faithfulness stands firm forever. Your Word is eternal. In grief or sorrow, You understand. You know the pain for it is not unfamiliar. You are a God who comprehends the small and tender heart. You alone truly fight for it. You alone stay the same. You alone never change or are inconsistent.

You say it, You believe it, You do it, You are it, You live it, and You are. Why should I fear when the storms come my way? Let this wind blow where it may. I will stop fighting. I let go. You win. I give in. Just come and have Your way.

Come and take it all. For when I have sought my other lovers, they turned their backs on me but only You stayed. As I set my eyes on what lays before me, I only see You. I will not struggle. I will not hide. Where else can I go? Where else can I run? I have no other options. I choose You. Come and have Your way.

It's Time To Fly...

After another day of disappointment, my heart hurts. Today, I realized that I need to take more risks. I thought I was a risk taker but it's time to risk even more. I have dreams in my heart, but it's time to stop being afraid. I am about to attempt a dream that has been in my heart for years. I don't see how it will be possible in such a short amount of time but, with God, the possibilities are endless. Lord please let this work. It's time for me to fly again. This time, I need to go it alone.

Artists' Self Promotion?

Lately, I've been asking a lot of questions to the Lord regarding this idea of artists' self-promotion. Is trying to sell your art self-promotion? How do you NOT promote yourself? Is it okay to promote yourself if you are an artist? If you have to promote yourself to get somewhere, what is the point? These are some of the questions rummaging through my head as of late. I don't feel we need to strive to promote ourselves to get places we would like to be.

I feel this tension between wanting people to enjoy what I have created as an artist and letting the Lord alone discover the treasures of my work. Yet, maybe some work is meant to be heard by others and some is only for Him. It's all for His glory anyway right? Yet, perhaps my personal convictions are different than others. Perhaps it's not okay for me and it's okay for someone else.

Honestly? I just long to be in the secret place. If someone discovers what I have written, so be it. If not, the Lord will provide for all my needs and He will get the glory. At the end of the day, I don't want to write songs so someone can give me money because it was a hit. I long for God to be revealed in it all! I long for people's lives to be changed. That's the point. Now in that, someone has to discover it somehow. How does that happen without self-promoting?

Whether I am singing just for Him or in front of others, He gets the glory. Let us not forget who this is all for anyway. Let's celebrate one another, exhort one another, but always in thankfulness to what the Lord has done. For He has done great things and He continues to do great things through us. What are your thoughts?

Trust...

It can be a battle when all you have to do is trust.

The questions lie within you, why should I?

It takes time.

You can't trust just anyone.

Yet what about the words, "Love always trusts?"

It should be so simple and it was meant to be.

Yet, time and time again others fail you and let you down.
You find it a struggle to believe the best.

No one has attained perfection.

Where is your hope?

It lies within no person.

Only One will never disappoint.

Continue to risk.

 For what is life if it is hidden in self-protection?

You can never live hiding from those who might hurt you.

So, here goes.

Take the step.

Choose to risk even though your flesh resists.

Choose to believe even when it hurts.
In this, you will discover true love.

None Like You...

Where can I run where You will not find me?

Where can I go where You will not see?

Your eyes are on me always.

Your gaze is on me always.

Where can I lay my head?

Where is my home?

Where is my hiding place?

I find it in You.

You don't push me away.

You invite me to stay.
You beckon me to come.
Through it all, You remain.
Through the storm, You remain.
Through the calm, You remain.
You never change.

There is none like You.

Take Heart...

In life we can face many trials, sufferings, joys, dreams, adventures, hopes, and fears. I awoke this morning at 4:30 a.m., which is an usual time for me as I am not a morning person. I heard the words of Jesus so clearly from John 16:33, "In this world you will have trouble, but take heart, for I have overcome the world." Even Jesus said we would have trouble but in all of it we must never lose heart. Instead, we take it! We must take heart and take ground!

I was also awakened to the sound of a song written by Laura Hackett with these words: "The battle is raging, the battle is raging. I don't wanna be sleeping, while the battle is raging. I don't fight as one who beats the air, give me eyes to see and ears to hear." These words riveted right through my heart this early morning. As much as I would like to live in a world full of utopia and good feelings, the truth is that there is a battle going on and it's raging.

We do have victory in Him. We win. This is our hope and that is why He says, "Take heart!!!" At the same time, we must never lose the awareness of this raging battle and of an enemy that would love to take us out. We need eyes to see and ears to hear what is REALLY going on.

We do not fight as one just beating the air as Paul the apostle proclaimed. We are not fighting just to fight. We fight the good fight of faith. We fight in believing God is who He says that He is. This throws down strongholds and the high places that exalt themselves against the knowledge of God. This destroys the schemes of the enemy and shifts things in the Heavens. It defeats the Goliaths in our lives as David faced.

Every time we believe God and His Word, it becomes another stone to destroy the giants of fear that try to take us out. These little "stones" are our steps of faith. They may seem small at times and they may feel like they aren't really doing much, but the reality is they are. David had only three and they were small, yet each one targeted the giant in such a way, they eventually destroyed him.

We never give the enemy glory, for "Greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world." Yet, we can't escape this war. We were made for this war and we have what it takes to overcome it for He dwells inside of us. Therefore, we don't run from the battle, we face it knowing the prize awaits us on the other side.

There are many lies a person can believe in trial and in fear. They can seem overwhelming at the time and try to make one believe something that is not true about his or her identity. Yet the truth must always remain right in front of us as if it were a mirror.

This truth is of His love for us and who we REALLY are. Even on our worst day, the Lord never changes His mind about us. He calls us lovely. He calls us chosen. He calls us qualified. He stays the same. These are our stones we can use to destroy those giants. Therefore, we take heart. We never lose hope. We. Have. Victory.

You Call Me Lovely...

You call me lovely.

You call me beautiful.

You are not swayed.
You are not moved by my lack of faith or unbelief in You.

You are not swayed.

You are not moved when I try to hide or when I run from You.

You call me lovely.

You call me beautiful.

You stay.

You stay.

You stay, You stay the same.

No matter what my circumstances try to tell me.

No matter what the voices try to convince me.

If You notice the sparrow,

How can You miss my face?

If You notice the sparrow,

How can you miss my presence?

For You made my frame.

You gave me my name.

And you saved me from the death I was layin' in.

You breathed Your life in me.

You spoke Your light in me and You called me beautiful.

You call me lovely.

You call me beautiful.

For this is who I am.

This is one of the songs I have been working on for two years now. Although, I don't feel it is quite complete for it could go on forever, it is almost done. I have been thinking about our fears and how they drive us to do the craziest things. When in fear, we make unwise choices and abort the very things that God wants to bring into our lives. I have been known to do it time and time again.

However, the Lord sat me down this very night and whispered in my ear, "I have never left. I have never strayed. My love lasts through eternity and all of the ages. It has never let you down or disappointed you. Your trust lies in Me. For I am your hope. You are safe and always have been." His words led me to write these very words above.

He calls us beautiful. He calls us lovely. We rest in what He says we are, not what the voices of the world or condemnation try to tell us we are. Our identity rests in Him and it always has. This is where we truly find life and freedom to just be. Thank you Jesus. I am grateful that You remain and that You are faithful.