St. Louis Fun

Above our some pictures from my St. Louis trip! I always have such a hard time saying good-bye. If feels like home to me in a lot of ways. I spent a lot of time with my sister Pat. We are very close in age and grew up together. I got to see my other sisters too and it was wonderful! I got to see my forever friend Kate. Kate and I have been friends since the 7th grade? We got to know each other through choir and having mutual friends. Kate can sing like no other. Her voice is my favorite and she actually sang at my wedding! I love Kate for so many reasons. We share a lot of memories growing up together. The best part about Kate is she asks the deep questions about God and she always reminds me that God is so much bigger than me. She challenges me and her mom is also a dear mentor to me in the faith. Kate doesn't let me hide and she will always gets right to the point. I love that about her. I missed seeing my other dear friends from high school though. :)

Love to you,
Karen

Our God Is An Awesome God

11 years ago today I became a believer and follower of Jesus Christ. I was 16, going on 17 and in my life I was deeply troubled. I somehow got asked to attend a Girls FCA Camp in Cuba, MO that spring and I went for fun but I came back with a new name and a new heart. Jesus radically changed my life that weekend and I was never the same.

I have been through some deep waters since that beautiful spring...but God remains my constant purpose and peace. As I celebrate my life in Christ today I am thankful that He continues to change me and that he doesn't leave me the way I am or could be.

During our last hour at the Girls FCA camp we got caught up in singing praise songs to Jesus. If you can picture this..we were in the middle of no where at this beautiful camp and about 40 girls were in a big circle in this open room with the sun coming in. We were holding hands and singing Our God is an Awesome God acapella. I think I can still hear their voices sometimes.

Love to you,

Peaceful Weekend

I got a chance to head to St. Louis for the weekend to hang out with my family. I had the best time with them. I will post pictures later. We did a lot of fun things and I drank way too much coffee and stayed up way too late talking to the people I love. I even got to see my forever friend Kate.

Me and two of my sisters stayed at my parents house last night. I love staying at my parents because their place is so quiet and peaceful. The best part of the evening was eating Doritos and french onion dip (a Morgan favorite) and rearranging things in my parents home just to get a laugh out of them in the morning. Yep, my parents went to bed and the three of us were up to no good. :) Of course my parents laughed a lot the next morning and we denied we touched anything. I could tell my parents loved having us there and our mom sent us off with an awesome breakfast. I love them so much.

Besides the great conversations and fun, I did a lot of reflecting inside. Things I have been thinking about and reading about, God was confirming in my heart. I am so in awe of His patience with me. For the first time, in a very very long time I am loosening my grip on my life. My hands are becoming unglued and I am opening them up. I am one grateful daughter in Christ.

Such a person feeds on ashes; a deluded heart misleads him;
he cannot save himself, or say,
“Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?”
Isaiah 44:20

Love to you,
Karen

Trying Out My Wings...

I have started and stopped too many posts. I think too deeply sometimes which makes it hard to convey what I am thinking and sometimes I just don't think!! :) I am going to stop giving myself such a hard time about writing and just write.

Bryan bought a bird feeder for our kitchen window and what do you know...I like looking at all those little birds. I am a bird watcher people!! I felt a bit old school picking out a feeder but I gave in and I like it. One night during dinner, Bryan mentioned something about the feeder and he said something like.."Some of those birds eat the leftover seed on the ground when they can easily fly up to the feeder and get the seed themselves". I think I swallowed hard after he said that. It spoke to my wandering heart. I do that in my own life, don't you? It may look differently for all of us, but I know what it looks like for me. Why do I stay down low, waiting and wanting what everyone else has? Why do I think I can't spread my wings and fly too? Why don't I just dive in and get my own seed? I think I will. I want to fly high and receive what God has for me. :)

"What a wonderful opportunity to grow"

I had a college professor who was a faithful man of God. I was always in awe of his wisdom and his gift to reach other people. He made me fall in love with counseling. He was kind and generous with his words. Anytime I would express a concern or share a personal struggle he would come back with one line..."What a wonderful opportunity to grow." He looked at struggles and circumstances as fertile ground for personal growth. No setbacks.... only opportunities. The Lord brought that to my mind this week and I cherish the wisdom of it.

My husband planted flowers in front of our house last year. A sweet and thoughtful gift. I have been excited that the flowers returned again this year. They still have a while to reach their full potential, but the other day I came home and noticed this flower decided to bloom....all by its self. It reminded me of my determination to grow, so I captured the moment with a pic. :)

Writing it Out

I have been writing in my gratitude journal about all the things I am seeing and learning. So I picked it up and started to read my writings from the last few weeks. Here are some of the reasons why I smiled looking back on what I recorded.

3. Kate's encouragement

4. Erin's thoughtfulness

13. Laughter with my co-workers

17. The beautiful display in the sky....when I was all alone driving.

21. Nora's smile and long hug

26. Laughing until mid-night over American Idol

30. Bryan's smile and joy in the morning

35. For a fluffy puppy

42. How Bryan sorts the purple and orange candy hearts in the jar

49. Getting a random Starbucks gift card

59. For Jen's hug

And the list goes on...

Love to you,
Karen

Time Together

Bryan and I got a chance to head to Branson for a marriage retreat this weekend. It gave us a time to laugh and to remember the reasons why we fell in love. The whole retreat was refreshing and time with our friends made it perfect. Above all...I am so grateful that God is holding us together.

Morning

I have never been a morning person. I sleep best in the mornings because it takes me a little bit to fall asleep at night. So in the morning, I usually stumble, and mumble, and act as if getting up is the end of the world. But lately..this chica has changed her tone. I just wanted to share the JOY it has brought me to get up early and get moving the last two weeks. I definitely had some accountability in this. Thanks, Jen!

I have been getting up and working out for 30 mins and then reading the Word. After I work out I am more alert to read and don't feel sluggish. The book of ACTS has been jumping off the pages. I am constantly like...what was Peter thinking or why did Paul do that? I am thinking and internalizing things before 6:30 am! This is a miracle!

I am really grateful for this new routine and thankful that it feels good to possibly become more of a morning person. I don't have it all figured out and I am sure you will catch me snoozing again here and there but I am really trying. So grateful for God's patience with me!

Love to you,
Karen

TESTIFY!

I don't want to miss out on recording some things that are taking place. I don't want to miss out on testifying to what God is showing me. So...here is my Tuesday Testimony!

I read this blog post here. I don't know Holley personally but I love her writing and her blog. This post meant a lot to me because one of my memory verses is Matthew 17:20 "I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." Her post encouraged my thoughts towards this verse.

While I was in the car wash today I decided to say my memory verses...I prayed Matthew 17:20 in the car. On my way home...not even 5 minutes into my driving...the song Mighty to Save by Hillsong came on the radio. The chorus is below..

Saviour, He can move the mountains,
My God is mighty to save,
He is might to save

Forever, Author of salvation,
He rose and conquered the grave,
Jesus conquered the grave

I was blown away! I read Holley's post yesterday....and then when I prayed the memory verse today...the Mighty to Save song came on. I couldn't help but record it and say Amen!

Love to you,
Karen