Well! It's about that time again! I know you have been waiting for something new and I have been longing to share with you about what's been going on. Recently I returned from my final recording trip in Indiana. As you might know...LEVEL 3:16 has been working on a self titled album that is set to release December 28th of this year. We have officially FINISHED the ALBUM!

While I was there I was able to shoot some footage of what I love to do and share my heart for the Lord. I can't believe some days that the Lord allows me to do what I do for Him. It's like everything we do should be to Him and for Him but it's not often you see a DJ doing his or her thing to and for the Lord. I am so excited about how the Lord will continue to use this as a platform to make His name famous and not my own. I do love Jesus and get so excited about being able to know Him and love Him.

Until next time...check out the clip...

DJ SNS Final Render from Jonathan Tremaine on Vimeo.

Until my next heartbeat,

KB

Food for Thought...

This morning was one of the most incredible mornings of my life. No exaggeration. The Lord is so amazing and that in and of itself is a tremendous understatement. Can I just say that I claim to know nothing but Christ's death, burial and resurrection? Thanks.

As some of you may or may not know...periodically I have been taking 7-10 day trips to Indiana once a month to finish up the self titled LEVEL 3:16 album due to be released December 28th. This process looks like 12-14 hour days, each day, in the studio. We are writing and recording...well for me, as the DJ, I am doing a little bit of everything. My day can look like MPD for hours, blogging, fan pages, producing, conceptualizing shows, practicing my mixing and scratching for hours with some occasional writing and recording.

This trip has been no different than the trips before other than the intense pressure there is in this session being the final recording session before the work is finished!

BUT...this morning, I was able to encounter the Lord in our time together like no other time before. We were talking about some of the most recent headlines on CNN and it lead to a very obvious observation of this "human condition" we are all born with. We all were kind of grieved at the state of our society until a split second later our grief was turned into thankfulness at the very thought of our own ability to be in similar states apart from the Lord and the power of His changing work on the Cross.

Not only did this cause me to reflect on my process in coming to the Lord and surrendering my life to Him but it caused me to think about the cost of that very decision. I AM A PRISONER OF THE GOSPEL. What does that mean? And when was the last time I thought about the implications of that in my day to day life? Honestly, it has been a long time. I have since enjoyed and pursued the benefits of being a Christian. Not just the eternal benefits but the earthly ones as well. Not necessarily referring to "things" but, you know, the presence of God and the fruit of the Spirit. This in NO WAY has been "wrong" but I was reminded today that not only should I be thinking about what I can obtain from a personal relationship with the Father through Christ...but also what liberties I can forfeit because of my personal relationship with the Father through Christ. All so that people can be pointed to the goodness and glory of God through my thoughts, words, and actions.

Otherwise, why am I hear if my life is not "showing off the glory of God in every area..."?

Until my next heartbeat,

KB

Roanoke and Back in 3 Days!

Home sweet home! I guess...! Last week I got to visit my home for 3 years, Roanoke, Virginia. You don't know how much you miss a place until you leave it. I mean really...I really do miss being on one side of Roanoke and 20 minutes later have gone around the entire city!! OK, maybe that was a bit of an exaggeration...but really if I got all green lights I think I could make it around the city in 20 minutes. I really miss having no traffic to sit in just to go around the corner. I also miss only having 4 options of places to eat when I'm hungry. I liked being able to drive downtown and not have to stop for pedestrians. Oh, Roanoke, how I love thee!!

But this trip wasn't about reliving my favorite past-times, it was an opportunity to reconnect with the people I love and to share with others what God is doing. I found myself driving to Roanoke at 7-something in the morning, just for my GPS to take me to Richmond and THEN to Roanoke. As you can probably imagine, I was slightly frustrated mostly because I missed church. I did catch the last 30 minutes though but I guess that's the most important part, that's when the Gospel is shared.

I was able to reconnect with people I hadn't seen since May. I was extremely encouraged to know that there were people who had been praying for me, following my blog and following my page on Facebook. Who knew?!?! This, naturally, is acting as a motivation to update my blog all the more. In addition to being able to sit with people whom I had connected with during my time living in Roanoke, I was also able to connect with students whom I'd served during my time there.

I was able to visit Patrick Henry High School during the lunch periods. This was a highlight because during my time living in Roanoke, I visited this school almost every day as a means to build relationships with students and tell them about Jesus. I missed the smell of high school cafeteria food...(ok...not really:-))

If I had to sum it up in one word, my time in Roanoke was WONDERFUL. The climax was the dance party Wednesday evening. Just imagine...60 to 80 high school students gathered in one space, ready to dance and have fun to Christ-centered music. It was surreal seeing the very same students that I had "done life" with stepping up and being leaders. It made me proud to see the once young freshman boys now grown into mature graduating seniors. It was an honor to witness the growth that had taken place over the summer. Some of these students had really taken hold of the Gospel and wanted to start impacting their school and communities for Christ.

Though my trip was short lived, it was refreshing to see my family and friends who have impacted my life in more ways than can be expressed. I don't know when I'll be able to visit Virginia's best kept secret again, but until then, they will forever be in my heart and also in my prayers.

Until my next heartbeat,

K.B.

Hey guys! It's been a while since my last heartbeat but rest assured that I am alive and kickin! I have been extremely busy but I am in a place to update you all with what's been going on since the summer. Before I jump into all of that though...check out this video of the group!

Level saw hundreds of lives changed this summer, in fact over a thousand, between all of the bands that participated in the summer music project! Since August Level has ventured off to build their ministry partner team. Like many other missionary organizations, Impact staff members have the responsibility to develop a team of financial partners who provide the necessary finances for their outreach, including their salary and business-related expenses.

So, Level has had to put the creative process and touring on hold temporarily so that we can build those relationships and make those connections with others that want to be a part of what the Lord is doing through our group. We earnestly believe that He is able to meet our needs and wants to use those that we know and even those that we don't know to meet the need so that we can quickly return back to the mission field. Check out this video to see and hear more...

Thanks for checking in and keeping up with the blog. I really appreciate the love and support. If you yourself are interested in helping to meet the need of Level 3:16 as a group or my individual needs there are a couple of ways to do that.

To support the group go to:

www.indiegogo.com/missionlevel316

To support my ministry with the group go to:

http://give.impactmovement.org/staff/kristen-betts

"...Go DJ...that's my DJ..."

So...I just spent the last 336 hours riding over 5,000 miles in a 12 passenger van with 11 people for the sake of the gospel impacting the lives of 199 people for eternity. Yes! As a result of Level 3:16's 2 week tour 199 individuals indicated that they began personal relationships with the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at the Lord! Look at what He does when His people are intentional about sharing the gospel. I get completely blown away when I think about the fact that the Creator of the universe has this massive plan that I am only a speck of dust in...but yet still allows me to be apart of what He is doing. Not only that...but He allows what I contribute to actually impact the lives of others for eternity. THAT is extremely HUMBLING! A God that doesn't need me or any of us chooses to use "a DJ".

A DJ? So...I have come to the recent observation that......(wait for it).....I AM A DJ! Yes! The DJ for the hip-hop group LEVEL 3:16! You might be thinking..."yes KB...we were fully aware of that". But if I were to be honest...I could only say that this well known fact has only recently become a reality for me. As I reflect on the past two weeks and think about the entire summer mission as a whole and about the next year of doing music full time I realize that "I AM A DJ". How amazing it is to serve the Lord period! It seems even more unfathomable that the Lord would allow me to serve Him with 2 turntables and a mixer so that people would come from darkness to the Light. Yeah! C'mon Somebody! That is exciting!

Now that tour is over I am actually missing the long van rides in close proximity of my band mates as we ate, slept, talked, and laughed together. I miss the variety of pizza and fried chicken that we seemed to eat every single day. I miss the feeling that comes right before a show starts. I miss the conversations with people after the shows. I miss the pre-show "hype up". But most of all I miss that moment right before Megan would read off to all of the band how many people began relationships with Christ or who wanted to talk to someone about Jesus, that was priceless. Lastly, I miss the set up and break down process...wait...not really! :) Just kidding!

Thanks for your support. Please be praying that I would continue becoming confident in my ability as a DJ. Also, that I would keep my expectations high for what the Lord can do through 6 surrendered people and Hip Hop music.

Until my next heartbeat,

KB

John 1:20

Hello all,

Welcome to my Heartbeat! I started this blog so that I could keep family, friends, supporters and all others up to date with what is going on in this new season of my life. As some of you may know, I have been given an awesome opportunity to be a part of what the Lord is doing through The Impact Movement. Level 3:16, a band comprised of six members including myself, has been asked to join Impact in a partnership with Cross Movement Records for the next 15 months. This journey began June 7, 2010 with Impact Music's Summer Mission where I reunited with Level, the group that I served with last summer.

I have experienced a plethora of emotions since my arrival in Indiana. There has been excitement from meeting new people, building relationships with sisters in the faith, seeing familiar faces, engaging in the creative process and writing music. On the opposite side of that excitement has come apprehension about what this journey will look like and some about the writing process. I am required to make beats, DJ more frequently and offer input and insight during the creative writing process. This can be overwhelming and frightening at times because serving as a full-time musician is new territory for me.

I have already been put on my face!!! Over the past two weeks God has shown me more about myself than I would have liked to know which has brought with it a lot of humility. I am discovering more of Him, who I am in Him and why He has put me here for this time. As some of you may know, last year I was given an awesome opportunity to share my story in Level's set during tour. I came back to summer mission thinking, "I can't wait to see whose story we will use this year". Shortly after I arrived, I was informed that I would be telling my story again. This past weekend I went away for the story retreat and I asked the Lord to show me what angle or perspective He would want me to highlight in my story. He met me in a real way and has shown Himself to be my Comforter in vulnerable times.

One of the highlights of this year, so far, has been the cameras! Summer mission is already exciting and eventful; to add to the package this year, we are being filmed! A documentary is being put together this summer to chronicle the daily journey of the six members of Level 3:16. Some may find it extremely awkward and uncomfortable...and that is exactly what it is! It is exciting though because once you get past the fact that there is no more privacy you think, "The world will see people that say they're Christ followers living genuinely and authentically in community, under pressure, in the creative process and amidst conflict, pain and pressure". They will have a behind the scene look at what it means and looks like to be surrendered to God. My flaws and mess are put out there so the world can see the redemptive power of Jesus Christ!

I would ask that when it comes to mind that you be in prayer for me. Specifically, for my skill set, which I am continuing to grow in and for my ability to trust Him for and during the creative process. Please also pray that I will continue to grow in the knowledge, wisdom and understanding of who the Lord is.

Stay tuned for more sneak peeks of my transition to full-time music ministry. I will update with not only written blog but also some videos. Thank you for all your support - spiritual and financial - thusfar, for believing in the gift God has placed in me and for your interest in what the Lord is doing in and through my life.

Until my next heartbeat,

Kristen "K.B."