growth spurt

There is always room to grow.

That's what they say, right? I believe it. My spiritual life is the perfect example, and I'm sure your's might be too. Some of the growth happens slowly and I don't really notice it until I look back and see how far I've come. Other times it happens in an instant, and I can pin point the exact moment when I realized something new that transformed my way of thinking.

I love seeing growth. The new perspectives serve as a reminder that the Lord is ever present in my life.

Last week I had one of those instantaneous moments of revelation- one that I know I will be forever changed by. Let me share with you the story....

If you know me very well at all, then you know that I am not a morning person.

 I loath them. This is a perfect description of how I generally wake up... with the exception of going to Disney World and Christmas morning.

 So anyways. The past few years I've been trying to have regular quiet time with the Lord- time to pray and study. I was not very consistant. I'd have a few great days then I'd go weeks without picking up my bible study. When I tried doing it in the mornings my excuse was that I wasn't a morning person and had absolutely nothing to give, so I'd decided to do it in the evening or afternoon. Of course, my evenings were filled with a variety of excuse- mostly being tired after work. Then there was the battle of working and not working. When I worked I felt busy and I knew I would be better when I wasn't working. Well when I wasn't working my schedule varied too often and so I'd put it aside for my more structured schedule when I would work again. 

But Satan used something even more powerful than that to keep me from my studies. Growing up the big message to my generation was that every action done in faith needed to be genuine rather than "going through the motions". So internally I had this fear of doing my studies when I wasn't "feeling it"- such as the dreadful mornings and exhausting evenings. In my heart- I was conflicted between the act of spiritual discipline versus genuine action. Satan used that to keep me from my quiet time. If I didn't feel like doing it- then I shouldn't do it because that's not what God wants. And in the mornings- I had nothing to give. In the tired evenings- I had nothing to give. 

The past couple of months I've really been praying for guidance and strength in the area of bible study and time with God. Boy... did He ever bring it. 

I recently joined a bible study group where we are studying "Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World" by Joanna Weaver. Reading chapter 7 I was completely mesmerized. 

This author sounded so much like me...

"If there was an adequate pause, I'd spend some time with the Lord. But lately, more often than not, my busy days had slipped by without a quiet time. And my life was revealing what I had missed."

"One day I'm hot: "O Lord, I love you! Be glorified in me." The next day I'm lukewarm: "Sorry, God, have to run." I have found the words of the hymnist so true: Prone to wonder, Lord I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love." 

"What it really came down to was I only met God when I felt like it. And that, I was learning, just wasn't enough."

Then she started to help me understand where I'd gone wrong and how to change that....

"I have to be willing to make room in my life if I was to experience the Better Part" (Better Part meaning intimacy with God) 

"If you don't put the big rocks in first you'll never get them in later"

"...he's (God) not looking for buyers; he's looking to buy- you and me. He wants a people who are sold out to him. All the way. Total liquidation."

"But whatever it is- whatever keeps us from spending regular time with God- it is sin."

"... learning to abandon my emotions as a compass and start exercising my will."

"I didn't have to wait until I felt spiritual to spend time with God. I just had to make a decision of the will, and the spiritual feelings would eventually come around."

And then she gave me the most encouraging reminder....

"The Better Part is not out there somewhere. It is inside us, where Christ dwells by his Holy Spirit. Isn't that wonderful? We can't misplace the Better Part." 

I realize that this has become a long post, and to those of you who've made it to this point- THANK YOU.  I promise I'll wrap this up soon! 

She talked about the idea of letting our will take control over our emotions- which is of course very spiritual. What I realized is that if in the morning I don't feel like getting out of bed to do a bible study- using my will as my driving force behind my quiet time doesn't make my time less genuine. My will can come from my desire to serve God. I don't have to wait until I feel I'm in the right spiritual mindset to begin my quiet time. It's quite the opposite I'm learning! 

I wake up at 6AM, feeling very much like that picture above, and when I'm through with my quiet time at 7:15AM I feel completely renewed. I even did this on Sunday before church- and was so amazed at the difference I felt during church. I've only done this a few days now but I've challenged my will to do this the entire month of November. This is SO out of my ordinary- and I tell you this not to brag- but to say- LOOK AT HOW THE LORD HAS CHANGED MY PERSPECTIVE! He's grown my spiritual life to a whole new level! Praise Him! 

I don't know what's going on in your life or where you are in your walk with the Lord, but take hope my friends. The Lord will help you with your challenges and struggles when you bring them to Him. The devil is luring us everyday and we must rely on God to stand firm against his evil schemes. I'm so thankful that I decided to really lift this struggle to Him~ because He is delivering me. And He'll deliver YOU too. 

my 5 favorite things about teaching pre-k

I've been teaching Pre-K for a whopping 2 months now and honestly it's been SO much fun! I really was not expecting to enjoy it as much as I have been. When I wake up I never dread going in. (However I do dread opening my eyes and actually waking up... I'm not a morning person... that will never change!) When school is going on I'm never counting down the minutes until I can go home. I'm generally always feeling happy and positive. So I thought I'd make a list of my 5 favorite things about teaching Pre-K. Here goes....

My 5 Favorite Things About Teaching Pre-K

1. The kids always love me. It doesn't matter if they've just gotten in trouble. It doesn't matter if you didn't let them go to the center they wanted. Even if you've just made them pass along their favorite classroom toy to someone else... they will ALWAYS give you a sweet hug 5 minutes later. Oh if we could learn that skill from them...

2. Songs. Songs. Songs. We sing all day long and I love it. Every thing we do can be turned into a song. The kids don't care if I'm making up the tune as I go. They eat it up. 

3. They are excited about anything you want them to be excited about and then some. They see a cloud in the sky... "MS. KRISTIN!!!! I SEE A CLOUD IN THE SKY!!! DO YOU SEE IT????" Some people might think you need a room full of toys to keep them happy but I'm convinced we could have absolutely no toys and still have a blast. 

4. The love of books. Those kids love their books. And I love to read them their books. They are fascinated with stories and I love to read stories to them. 

5. I have kiddos to do all those fun crafts with that I see on Pinterest! I can't tell you how much fun that is! For years now I've been looking all over Pinterest and have collected many ideas for crafts... but I wasn't going to make handprint firemen on my own. I needed some kids. Now I've got them! 

I could go on and on. It's been a lot of fun! These holiday times are even more fun I think! I feel so blessed to have a job that I enjoy so much. Of course, not every moment is perfect. There are times when I have to do things I'd rather not do and there are moments when my patience is tested. Those things are going to happen with any job. 

In the end I'm just happy to spend my days with the sweet smiles of my precious 4 and 5 year olds. They are a treasure! 

so good

I came across a post I wrote on facebook a few years ago during a time in my life when I really was struggling through an emotional battle. I think life will always continue to bring hard times- as well as times rich with good things!

The important thing to realize is that the hard times come from the enemy- not God. This post was written shortly after I truly came to believe that truth. I look at how the truth has helped me through the last few years and I am amazed. We've had some tough things going on recently- and I've felt so much stronger than ever before. I think that the conviction of this truth has shown me how to turn to God through my struggles and allow His Spirit to live in me and fight for me.

Anyways, I thought I'd share this old post. Hope you find some encouragement in it!

So Good: January 2010:

There is a misconception that I think many people often face from time to time. This is that the Godly person is happy always. Don’t get me wrong, it’s definitely important that Christians display the joy that comes in the Lord and joy in the blessings He bestows. But let’s face it, everyone has times when they don’t feel their best. One of my favorite bible characters is David, most likely because he was a very emotional person. We can read his psalms that display much sorrow and then on the next page see God’s name being magnified. Psalm 13 is one that I personally find very comforting:
1 How long, O LORD ? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?

2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
and every day have sorrow in my heart?
How long will my enemy triumph over me?

3 Look on me and answer, O LORD my God.
Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death;

4 my enemy will say, "I have overcome him,"
and my foes will rejoice when I fall.

5 But I trust in your unfailing love;
my heart rejoices in your salvation.

6 I will sing to the LORD,
for he has been good to me.

Thinking about the trials David faced make me very wimpy, but to see how David chooses to link those trials to evil help me learn a lesson. Verse 2 is especially important. David is saying that when he is feeling down he is letting the enemy triumph over him. Now, David’s physical enemy happened to be a gigantic army and a King, but I think this is relatable to other situations.

When we dwell on our sorrows I believe those feelings can begin to take us away from the Lord. The devil wants us to become so focused on our own sorrow that we can not focus on God’s love. See how David chooses to change his thinking in verse 5 and 6? David continues to sing to God and claim that God has been good to him because he doesn’t want the enemy to overcome him. When a Christian feels down, even if it is about something small, I think it’s important to remember to praise God and trust Him- and to not let the enemy overcome! This is not easy, but fighting temptation never is. But isn’t it encouraging to know that fighting negative emotions is something that is faced by lots of Godly people? We can rest assured that the Lord understands our pains that we face and that they do not come from Him. Because the Lord has been and is and will be good to us. 

life is just interesting

Life is just interesting.

All types of twists and turns.
Some of them easy. Some of them hard.

Sometimes you find yourself in an oasis~ a little pool of cool water near a waterfall. Those times are full of fun, laughter, and play. We find joy.

Sometimes you find yourself on a path that's not clearly marked. There are high brushes to walk through, stickers that get stuck to your shoes, but mostly you just have no clue where you are going and everything just seems hard. More than anything you just want to find a clear spot- no matter how small- so that you might at least have a moment of relief. Those times are full of frustration.

Sometimes you find yourself on a clear path, but it's got a lot of obstacles in the way. Injury, loss, rivers and hills... a storm. Sometimes there are ways to go around the obstacles but many times you just have to go through them no matter how uncomfortable or inconvenient it is. Those times are full of hardship.

Some times you find yourself in the dark... unable to see what lurks beyond the small circle of light that's in your presence.  You can hear noises but can't see where they come from leaving your imagination to roam free. Those are the times that bring fear or worry.

But here comes my favorite part....

Though it's dark every night- the sun always shines in the morning. Offering hope.

Though there are often many obstacles and sometimes suffering- we'll always learn something as we face them. Offering revelation and wisdom.

Though our path isn't always clear- we often find unexpected pleasures- or place of relief. Offering revival and strength.

Sure, it would be lovely is our whole life could be in an oasis, with no confusion, obstacles, suffering or worry. But God didn't design our life to work that way. He created us to experience it all. It might seem like joy can only be found in the oasis times of life- those are the easiest!

But we find joy in hope. We find joy when the light does come and we see how God brought us through it and met our needs. We find joy in wisdom- joy in understanding that's God's perfect will and plan for our life is so great that we can't even comprehend it- joy in the wisdom of who God is. And we find joy in the strength we receive from Christ. Joy in knowing that because the spirit of Christ Jesus lives inside of us- we have HIS power running through us and we can get through anything that may come.

Life is full of twists and turns.
Some of the easy. Some of them hard.

BUT if Christ is your savior than joy can abound in all of those twists and turns!

Yes, life is interesting.

"Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." ~ Acts 2: 38

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:16

the obsession floating on pinterest

I'm not ashamed to say that I spend quite a bit of time on Pinterest. You know... the sight full of recipes I'll never make, pictures of the dream kitchen I'll never have, DIY crafts that I'll never do, inspiring words I can't get enough of. I honestly can't get enough of Pinterest.

With this obsession with Pinterest I have to watch myself. It's so easy to get caught up in feeling like I have to make everything from scratch, craft away, decorate beautifully, dress perfectly,  exercise constantly, and just in general... be perfect.

But I'm beginning to notice another warning zone on this ever so popular social media site. The quarter dressed women. (I say quarter dressed because they are QUITE less than half dressed.)

As I scroll down the page I continually see pictures of women in their undies and bras and bikinis~ and gals are pinning these pictures linked to weight loss and fitness articles to their "Inspiration" boards. The idea behind it is~ look at how wonderful her body is... I can get there too if I keep trying hard. Or it might be in reference to the weight someone has lost. Either way these girls are dressed in next to nothing and I have to be honest- I don't want to see it.

Something I find interesting is that I can't imagine some of these women I know posting such pictures on their facebook pages. For some reason, because Pinterest has mostly women reading it, that makes it OK. This brings us to another topic. Is it OK to wear  revealing clothing when we are only around girls? I have to say, "no".

"... whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." ~ 1 Corinthians 10:31

This includes dressing ourselves. When women dress immodestly they are dressing to glorify their body. Even (or I would venture to say especially) around other women. Why does another women need to see your perfectly flat stomach or your plump bosom? So that she might think you have a great bod? So she might think, "Oh wow! That girl is in shape!".  That doesn't glorify God. Being obsessed with our body doesn't glorify God. I'm not talking about the desire to be healthy and feel better- that is important. God wants us to treat our bodies as a temple, nurturing it and taking care of it. But this obsession we can have with our bodies, is, I fear, from the enemy. To God be the glory- not our bodies.

Now, back to the Pinterest pictures. Posting all of these pictures feeds into our obsession with our bodies and our visual appearance. It can have a huge impact on our personal security. I'm reminded of something Beth Moore wrote in her book, "So Long Insecurity".

"My generation is the first in all of history to grow up in a media driven society. What we’re dealing with is unprecedented; we cannot look to the generations before us to see how to handle it. We are drowning in uncharted waters, and it’s time we learned to swim. Most of our great-great-grandmothers had access to compare themselves to a few hundred women in a lifetime. We can now throw ourselves up against tens of thousands if we’re willing… We’d better step it up if we want to compete, and if we don’t, we might as well have the word loser inked on our foreheads.

In a telling article in Psychology Today, studies show that “women who are surrounded by other attractive women, whether in the flesh, in films, or in photographs, rate themselves as less satisfied with their attractiveness – and less desirable as a marriage partner.” Since the mark of real security is the ability to be around anyone, regardless of how attractive or intelligent, and still maintain personal confidence and contentment, that study says a lot about our need for a change. The primary point for now, however, is that we no longer feel inferior to ten other women the way our great-grandmothers might have. We feel inferior to thousands, and as a result, we become less and less satisfied with ourselves until much of our lives are lived on the slippery slope of self-loathing. We honestly talk ourselves into believing that media princesses, whether on the page or the stage, are the norm and that we are the pathetic few in the entire universe who can’t keep up. We hang these near-perfect images like an enormous collage on the walls of our brains, making common experiences like acne, extra pounds, a flat chest, or large nose twice the benefactor of insecurity that they once were."

When we post picture after picture of women with bodies that we personally desire or admire we are adding to the images in our head telling us that we are not good enough. We are also putting this picture on display for our sisters to see- putting the image into their minds too. Also, when we dress to show off our bodies in ways that are not modest we are adding to those images. 

We should definitely feel accomplished when we loose that weight we've been wanting to loose or meet a new fitness goal. But there are ways to share these accomplishments in modesty. We can see many weight loss transformations when we wear our normal clothes. And it's not necessary to see your washboard abs to know you've gotten healthier. It's amazing how modesty goes out the window when we are talking about fitness! 

Now, it's easy for me to say this all.  I've got plenty of pounds to shed and I certainly am in no position to be wearing indecent clothing. But even if I was, I wouldn't want to! God calls me to bring HIM glory- not myself. And my relationship with God is much more important than my pride. And I don't want to fill my mind with images of other women's bodies either.

 It's time we stop obsessing with the "perfect" body and realize that we are made perfect and beautiful only through Christ. It's time we stop feeding our and our sister's insecurities and focus on being secure in our relationship with Christ. 

Yes- focus on making healthy improvements in your life if you need them. Do it for the right reasons though. Don't do it for your own personal pride. Our pride is in Christ- and Christ is perfect. Christ has made us perfect too. 

And please please stop posting at and looking at pictures of quarter dressed women! 

summer low down

So a lot has happened recently. Here is the low down on our summer:

- I went to JourneyLand Camp with our 3rd-6th graders. ~ It was fun. It was also very hot. But really, I was really happy to get to know some of the kids more. Knowing the children of my church is one of the ways that makes church feel like home to me. It's nice to have a kid wave hello to me on Sunday mornings. And I love being able to wave hello to them back! :)

- I've got to hold my friends' babies! Amanda had Genevieve and Kayla had Juliana! So happy that I get to see both of my good friends from time to time and that I get to hold and see their precious daughters.

- Blake's sister got married. We went to Bartlesville and saw a bunch of Blake's family whom we hadn't seen in years. Always fun to have a reunion over a joyful event. Nick and Heather are now happily living in Tennessee and they are being their smart medical selves!

- Blake's been working and learning all about this new industry he is in. Definitely different from AFB stuff!

- I've been working too! I got to work as the children's ministry intern for 4 weeks at church. It kept me busy and it's been so much fun! VBS was awesome!

- Family. Family. Family. We are spending lots of time with my family. And it's fun! I'm so thankful to get to see them more that a couple times a year.

- I went to Camp Bandina. And wow did it make me feel old for SO many reasons. About a million things have changes since I last was there in 2008. But the important thing was that the kids had an awesome time. And once again... I got to interact more with some of the kids from church. Always a good thing.

- My friend Yamileth came home from China!!! She has been teaching English there for the past 2 years and I have not seen here for over 3 years!!! She is in the US for good now and it's been amazing catching up with her... though there is still so much more to do!

-And lastly, I got a job!! Very excited to be the new PreK teacher at my church's Friendship School. It's 3 days a week and just perfect. I'm doing some professional development training this week and I'm starting to get excited. It's definitely a new type of  job for me, but I have a gut feeling that I'm going to LOVE it! I'm already brushing up on my Raffi songs!

So far this summer has been wonderful and full of the Lord's blessings. It's had is moments of uncertainty and stress- but the Lord has helped me every step of the way. I'm working really hard to do the Lord's will. And I think HE knows that, and because of that desire I have... he is clearly making his presence known in my life.

And I'm telling you... that is THE best part of being a follower of Christ. It's that feeling that He is always there. No matter what happens... you know it'll be OK... because you know you'll be able to find Christ in your life always.

I hope your summer is going fabulous and is rich with blessing just as mine is. Even if it isn't... don't give up God... don't wonder where He's hiding. Look for Him.... He never leaves us. Trust He is there and you'll be able to find Him!

Wishing you many many blessings~
K. Marie

letting Him put the pieces together

I'm one week and one day into my short term job at Memorial... and I'm loving every second of it. I love being in the church office and the conversation that takes place between all of the staff. I love that the stuff we are talking about is considered work... because it's the stuff that I love to talk about! Love ordering supplies and shopping and making phone calls. Love planning. Love thinking about the Lord within my tasks. I'm in my element. 

And I'm SO thankful for the opportunity to be in my element again, even if it is for a short few weeks. 

The other day I was going through one of my older prayer journals and came across this particular entry from Friday, May 16, 2008:

"...Also Lord, please let me get an internship at Blueberry Lane Church of Christ next summer. If that's where you want me. I would love to get to work there with "my friend". If you could just put your power into making that happen... please." 

OK the church was not called Blueberry Lane and I actually did write the name of my friend instead of "my friend"...  but those details do not matter. 

What matters is that I did NOT get that job I asked the Lord for. In fact.... before I could really even be interested in it, the job was filled. And I couldn't understand. I couldn't understand why if something seemed so right.... that it wouldn't work out. Especially since it involved serving the Lord! 

Because I didn't get that job... I suddenly became available for other opportunities and by that next January I was offered a summer internship with Memorial COC in Houston. 

Which... hey... isn't that where I go now? Where I temporarily work now??! 

I had an amazing summer with Memorial that year and I was living at home planning my wedding at the same time. Funny how things end up working out huh? And the thing is... because of my internship at Memorial a few years ago, Blake and I had some good connections there and were able to feel at home there when we moved to Houston a couple of months ago. 

I could not possibly feel more led to Memorial than I do right now. And I just feel SO thankful to the Lord for working things out like he has. 

So as I bite my nails in anticipation for what lies ahead after my 4 weeks of work are up, I can reflect on that journal entry. I can reflect on God's awesome presence in my life and know that He has always been there for me and always will be. Even when I can't put the pieces together... God can. 

And He is. 

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.  ~ Romans 8:28