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QUESTION #1: ACQUAINT

There’s much more to food than palate and preference. How does a go-to meal at your favorite hometown restaurant reveal the true you behind the web bio?

I grew up in Louisville, Kentucky, and have the best memories of playing outside until the street light came on, the changing colors of the seasons and our big Kentucky-family gatherings for every holiday.

It was always loud with lots of laughing, staged talent shows with all the cousins and tons of food. Sweet potato casserole with a toasted marshmallow topping was always on the kitchen counter during the holidays.

We honored the tradition of getting together as almost sacred. As the years rolled on, the cousins grew up and started out on their own paths. I had found a passion for storytelling with a natural bent for justice. I began working in the local news business as an on-air radio and TV reporter.

I loved my job, but no matter what city I was living in, I always made it a point to get back for Christmas in Kentucky. Nearly two decades have passed since then, and my crew is now a party of four. (My husband, Jorge, and I have two boys.)

When my husband had to relocate, we moved down south to Orlando, Florida. Orlando is a destination work town with a ton of transients from all over, and most I’ve met don’t have family here either. So since plugging into our church and community, we host Friendsgiving every holiday season. We invite our neighbors, friends who have no family in town and new friends we meet through our outreach events. Even though we are in the key lime pie capital, I always serve sweet potato pie casserole. Family is what you make it.

QUESTION #2: REVEAL

We’ve all got quirky proclivities and out-of-the-way interests. So what are yours? What so-called “nonspiritual” activities do you love and help you find spiritual renewal?

People always ask, “Are you a beach person or a mountain person?” Well, I jokingly refer to myself as “Mountain Mama.”

Even though we live in Florida, I’m a Kentucky girl at heart. Every year around our anniversary, my husband and I trade off where we will spend our vacation weekend. My suggestion is always the mountains, and this was my year to choose!

I scheduled a trip to Utah to hike the Grand Staircase. It was a whirlwind itinerary of four parks in two days. This Mountain Mama’s love tank was full — witnessing the majesty of the towering mountains and miles of canyon that faded off into muted tones as far as the eye could see.

It was humbling and equalizing. These stony walls thousands of feet tall had withstood heat, cold, abundance, drought, life and death. They were an ancient testimony of a witness. Then I was reminded of the Scripture in Luke 19:40, when Jesus said, “I tell you, if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”

In and out of life’s seasons, our highs and lows, we should always remember who holds us together. He is on the throne. He sees me and my heart’s dreams and desires in the midst of everything else going on in the world. He is the King of the universe, the Creator of the mountains and the Shepherd of my heart. That should provoke such praise out of us. Then we truly can join the great song of creation to the One who was, who is and who is to come.

QUESTION #3: CONFESS

Every superhero has a weakness. Every human too. We’re just good at faking it. But who are we kidding? We’re broken and in this thing together. So what’s your kryptonite and how do you hide it?

When I was 7 years old, I was in a play at my Christian school. The verse I had to recite was, “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit” (Proverbs 18:21, NIV). Little did I know that the power of words would make or possibly break me during a pivotal time in my life.

I had always loved storytelling and the power of how a story is told could provoke any emotion. The power of words drew me into the TV news business, and I quickly learned how opinion, when persuasively expressed, could sway anyone. Spin happened regularly, and the lines blurred between what was fact and what was narrative supporting an agenda. I learned so much about the power of a script’s words.

But the biggest lesson for me came from a person working at the station.

I had been swept up in a dangerous dynamic of verbal and emotional abuse brewing in the workplace. I became the unfortunate one caught in their crosshairs. Rumors circulated about the unstable mental health of a colleague. Day after day, I would hear their judgmental slurs, projected rage, screaming and threatening.

The thing is, anyone in the news business knows you have to stay at a station for a minimum of two years for it to count on your resume. So I was determined to hang in there, but the harsh words took their toll, and after some time, I started to believe the lies. I started doubting my creative voice and, ultimately, my worth. I began to binge eat secretly at night, packing on the undereye makeup the next morning to conceal my tear-stained, puffy eyes. I always showed up to perform on camera for the evening news, but when the bright lights turned off, so did the light in my eyes.

QUESTION #4: FIRE UP

Tell us about your toil. How are you investing your professional time right now? What’s your obsession? And why should it be ours?

Coming out of that heartbreaking season of verbal and emotional abuse in the workplace that mentioned before, I could barely put one sentence in front of the next. But the one thing I did do was keep the channel open with the Lord.

I began to ask him the hard questions as I navigated through my healing. As abuse victims know, after hearing the same lie over and over, you start to believe it. So I asked the Father for the truth. I asked him, “How do you see me?”

What began as journal entries during a healing journey became the unlikely seed for my book, “Reign: Restoring Identity,” and an epiphany about my real identity: I am his. I am filled with purpose. I’m his ambassador!

That realization was a game-changer.

Now, I have no greater passion than to see others set free so they can find their true identity in Christ and walk victoriously in their divine purposes.

“Reign” is a 40-day quest to discover who we are as Christ’s ambassadors. In it, readers learn what it means to carry the fullness of God every day, partnering with his heart and pulling heaven’s culture down to earth.

I’ve always been a creative, and I am thrilled to announce REIGN Art will be released along with the book project. I have a passion as an artist to connect with the artist. Each piece in the REIGN Art collection was painted during worship. As a result, they speak to the Holy Spirit’s influence and bear witness to what is on his heart — how he sees us as his masterpiece. You can learn more at TheReignBook.com, which is a part of the YourStoryIsNotDone.com brand.

QUESTION #5: BOOST

Cashiers, CEOs, contractors or customer service reps, we all need grace flowing into us and back out into the world. How does the Holy Spirit invigorate your work? And how do you know it’s God when it happens?

My husband and I are the founders of Revolution Media Ministries. Throughout our 14 seasons of active production, we’ve witnessed God-touches everywhere.

From near misses with lightning while filming outdoors to an unforgettable meeting with Linkin Park’s Chester Bennington just a year before his death, the Holy Spirit has been writing our script the whole time.

One of my favorite stories is from when we were filming our second interview for a new pilot series called “Your Story Is Not Done.” We were filming in an old warehouse space downtown. As anyone in production knows, your sound has to be clean.

All of a sudden, in the middle of shooting, we hear this thunderous, hammering noise begin. It shook the floor under our feet.

We soon found out the loud sound was coming from construction on the I-4 ramp right outside our venue. Unbelievable!

Our guest was so gracious, but it was killing me to keep having to stop her interview and pray until we could start rolling again.

But interstate construction waits for no one. The clanging sound continued. Our videographer leaned back and whispered, “Kat, I don’t think we can do this.” Searching for an answer, I looked at my husband, who had a strange look on his face. He jumped up and said resolutely, “Just give me 10 minutes.”

About five minutes later, Jorge strolls through the doorway beaming. “You guys, the Holy Spirit, told me to find the foreman. And sure enough, we know the guy! His son plays on our boys’ soccer team. They said we could have an hour!”

It pays to listen to the Holy Spirit’s nudges as my husband did — because stopping construction on I-4 for our filming is easy stuff for him.

QUESTION #6: inspire

Scripture and tradition beckon us into the rich and varied actions that open our hearts to the presence of God. So spill it, which spiritual practice is workin’ best for you right now?

“Abiding time.” This is what I call the first part of my day when I grab my coffee, my Bible and my journal and enter into a quiet conversation involving a lot of listening.

I ask Jesus the hard questions, things weighing on my heart like “How do you see this situation?” But my favorite question is “How do you see me?”

Every day he highlights something new, a Scripture, a song lyric, a picture, a conversation — it’s always affirming. This running dialogue of me asking and listening continues all day, from “What should I do about this?” to “Speak your truth to my heart on this.”

This awareness of a real God speaking all around me all the time has helped fine tune my ear to hear him more clearly and pay attention to the creative ways he speaks.

Most recently, I have picked up my paintbrush again. Years ago, I would paint on commission, but this time, I felt like the Lord wanted me to worship him with it. It’s been the most exciting and fulfilling process — as an artist partnering with the Artist. I put on instrumental worship music, dedicate the canvas to him and ask him to speak to me.

Sometimes he’ll speak — almost audibly. One day he said, “See differently. See me differently.” And as the minutes progressed, what started as brash slashes of color on one side of the paper flowed into bright pops of color on the other. You could almost see where I was receiving a level of healing!

Other times I see images or colors combined in stages and almost always in layers. After all, aren’t we all very layered? The rough edges, unfinished seams — all of it he calls his masterpiece.

QUESTION #7: FOCUS

Our email subscribers get free ebooks featuring our favorite resources — lots of things that have truly impacted our faith lives. But you know about some really great stuff, too. What are some resources that have impacted you?

One of my favorite ministers and authors is Bill Johnson. His book “Born for Significance” helped further affirm the journey I was on, which was realizing our real identity as citizens of heaven living on earth.

Bill Johnson’s approach to walking as Jesus walked, a servant king, is the very definition of what Christianity should be — ruling with the heart of a servant while serving with the heart of a king. This heart posture of preferring others and knowing your place in the kingdom of God is a reflection of the Father’s love, and when we love as he does, we can change the world.

Danny Silk’s book “Culture of Honor” also has helped me understand the importance of empowering others through honor. It showed me how to run counter to the culture. When the world says, “Build my brand, and know my name,” a culture of honor says a real leader makes other leaders.

These two concepts of serving and ruling with honor can pave a path for unity. And when we all are functioning together in our unique positions led by the Father’s heart, we can pull heaven’s culture down to earth!

We all have things we cling to to survive (or thrive) in tough times. Name one resource you’ve found indispensable in this current season — and tell us what it’s done for you.

I am, at my core, a simple person. The Word of God is infallible. It has stood the test of time, and people living during the rise and fall of civilizations have held to its truth.

With the rapidly increasing applications in technology and communication, there will always be a highway to get information. But for me, my Bible and a journal filled with blank pages are all I need.

During these unstable times, I find my greatest peace and real strategies during my prayer and abiding time with the Lord — my Bible opened, ready to dictate what he highlights to me.

He wants to be invited into our real, and he takes delight and pride when we ask him to help us. He is always eager, just waiting on us to invite him in. The journal entries astound me with how creatively he answers me, from song lyrics, a poem or a drawing to an audible answer. It’s always so encouraging to see how real he is and how creatively he likes to communicate with us.

QUESTION #8: dream

God is continually stirring new things in each of us. So give us the scoop! What’s beginning to stir in you but not yet fully awakened? What can we expect from you in the future?

Nothing gives me more joy than to see people set free from past bondages and living fully alive, activated in their God-given giftings and purposes.

I wrote “Reign: Restoring Identity” as a devotional with small groups in mind. I would love to see groups spin off and grow, perhaps with a conference in the future.

I would be thrilled to see the REIGN Art collection expand, too. Each piece will be available as a print on the website, reminding us all that he sees us as his masterpiece.

We continue to produce the “Your Story Is Not Done” film series, available on ROKU and Prime. As the lead producer on this film project, it’s truly humbling and inspiring to be able to share powerful rebirth stories, stories of radical turnaround and real-life comebacks in which the Author of faith was invited to rewrite their story.

As God wills, we will continue to share his stories and amplify hope.

You’ve probably heard the popular passage from Psalm 139 plenty of times: “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well” (v. 13-14, ESV).

But how many of us actually believe that we are “fearfully and wonderfully made” or, as Kat Vazquez phrases it, God’s masterpiece? And how many of us fall for the lie that this passage applies more to other people than it does to us? Perhaps we sometimes look at our flaws and wonder what God even sees in us.

Today, what if we chose to focus less on the places where we fall short — and more on how God doesn’t? Because thanks to the perfect life Jesus lived and the price he paid, we are now “a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession” (1 Peter 2:9, NIV). And God isn’t done with his masterpiece yet.

Kat Vazquez is an award-winning journalist, author, TV host, producer and speaker. Her passion highlights how God weaves his storyline into humanity. After working as an on-air reporter for television and radio, Kat freelanced as a TV host for several networks. She and her husband, Jorge, produce two series: The Revolution TV and Your Story Is Not Done. In all their endeavors, their goal is to awaken people’s hearts to their true identity as sons and daughters of God. Kat and Jorge have two boys and currently live in Florida. Visit TheReignBook.com and YourStoryIsNotDone.com to learn more!

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