The Window Dresser

When I was in my 20’s living in Toronto, my family scattered across the globe, I remember going for a walk one night. As I passed by a street of beautifully decorated houses, I stopped for a minute to have a conversation with God. I don’t remember the exact words I used, but I do remember having a lot to say. I remember seeing the lights on in one of the houses and watching a family inside. As if window shopping, I told God, I want that. I REALLY want THAT! I didn’t hear a response. I only felt the bitter cold, and the wind biting at my cheeks as I walked home alone. That night I wondered if God was really listening. What I know now, is that He was listening. I just never stopped talking long enough to hear His response.

The truth is, we long for things. We look in the windows of others lives and whisper, if I had THAT. We’re only human. We want the precious baby that would complete our family. The job that could give our family so much more. A cure for cancer so our loved ones would not have to suffer.

Whatever you long for in the “window” of your heart, with gratitude and thanksgiving and hands toward heaven, lay down your request at the feet of Jesus. Surrender it to Him, and then, well, stop talking. Wait. Listen. Be still and know. Know that the God who created this world, the God that sent his Son to die for us....He’s already got your window decorated. He’s prepared it so tenderly with His love, that you would weep if you were able to see it all at once.

I wish that in my 20’s I understood that. Move along Karen. What I have for you is not in someone else’s window. Wait until you see what I have prepared. The things I have for you will be there....in my time. God’s perfect timing.

Rest in the truth that God has your life planned right down to the finest detail. The things you long for, the things you talk about and ask for, God knows. He is listening. He has never left you even for a second.

He is the window dresser of your heart....in all things.

This Christmas, as you stop to admire the beautifully decorated windows of your neighbors, Thank Him for the ways in which Our Heavenly Father has decorated YOUR life here on earth, and into eternity.

Philippians 4:6 Don't worry about anything;instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank Him for all He has done.

Hebrews 12:28
Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe

Thanksgiving

Colossians 3:15-17

And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Today my daughters and I lied down in the grass and giggled. We made up silly stories under a cloudless sky, felt the ground beneath our bodies and squeezed each others hands. We said "Thank you for this beautiful day Lord" and we meant it.

Thankful. FUll. In Jesus name.

As Thanksgiving approaches may you give thanks for all things great and small.

Rainbow Catching

I’ve been playing this sweet little game with my 3 year old daughter. In the morning and at dusk when the light pours through our windows we see rainbows all over our dining room and bathroom. Colors pour over the table, climb the walls, and spill onto the floor. We curve our hands into hearts and frame all the rainbows we can find. If our hands get too close to the rainbows, they create dark shadows over the light and so we hover our hands just slightly above the light so we can see the beautiful picture inside our hearts. We call it “rainbow catching”. It delights me to watch Annalise frame a rainbow and pretend to put it in her pocket for safe keeping. Our game doesn’t last long as the sun rises or sets but long enough to hear my Father in heaven whispering to me and I share this lesson with both of my daughters....Jesus gives us messages that He wants us to capture and share with others but we must be careful not to put too much of ourselves in the message or like our dark shadows over the rainbows, we risk blocking out the most important part... God’s beautiful light.

I love you Jesus. You fill my life with so much beauty. Beauty there are no words for. Everyday in your sweet way you show me, whisper to me, fill me, equip me, and shine your light in my heart. I pray that neither my hands ,nor my words will block out that light. You are everything.
p.s. Rainbow catching is my new favorite thing!

2 Corinthians 4:5 Our message is not about ourselves. It is about Jesus Christ as the Lord. We are your servants for his sake.


2 Corinthians 4:6 For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

What's in your back yard?

I grew up living in military housing. The houses were small, plain and simple. My mother always made time for wallpapering and decorating to make our space more desirable but trust me, PMQ’s (permanent married quarters) as they called them had their limits.

I can remember moving into a civilian house of our own. We drove into the quaint little cul-de-sac of our new neighborhood and parked in front of a modest ranch style bungalow. My sister and I burst into that house like we were on an episode of Extreme Home Makeover, only no-one said “move that bus!” We ran around each room, claimed which ones would be ours and ended up in my parents master bedroom breathless and peeking out of their windows. As we looked, my sister and I gasped simultaneously and then I said: “NO FAIR! Our neighbors have a pool in OUR back yard!” My parents giggled. “That’s not our neighbors pool, my mom said. It’s ours.” Two squealing girls went wild with excitement and danced around the room in a fit of joyous laughter. OUR pool?! Can we jump in? Can we jump in? (My parents love to tell that story.)

In your Christian life, have you ever felt like a little girl peeking into your own back yard and not feeling worthy enough to receive something so extravagant? I sure have. I have asked for forgiveness and even as the Lord presented the nourishing drink of salvation, like the pool in my back yard, I still questioned. I still thought that somehow it wasn’t meant for me. I punished myself for the sins that Jesus had already erased clean. I’ve had thoughts like: THAT gift is for HER, not me and I can’t tell you how many times I have shyly turned the other way thinking that someone else was better gifted than I was for doing the Lord’s work. Don’t believe the lies friends. That pool in your back yard? It’s not your neighbors! It’s yours! Accept it. Swim in it! Be thankful for it! Don’t let your spiritual life dry up because you’re afraid to dive into your own pool of salvation! Dive in and begin to let God transform your life in ways you never knew possible. I’ve chosen to jump in and I can tell you, it’s refreshing and I have found myself dancing in fits of joyous laughter because of it, just like when I was a little girl.

Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.

Romans 8:32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?

John 4:10 Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water."

It's Never Too Late...

It’s never too late to be what you might have been - George Eliot

Every morning as the sun rises we have a choice.  We can get out of bed and choose to be on autopilot as we perform our daily tasks just like the previous day OR before our feet even touch the floor we can say thank you Lord for giving me another day to be who you designed me to be...and we can go about our day with purpose and meaning.   If somehow we failed yesterday, today is another chance to live out the chapter he has written for us because "we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him" Romans 8:28  I am so encouraged by God's grace and His plan for my part in His Kingdom and with every new day I choose to serve Him as He teaches me to be the woman He created me to be.

Before your feet touch the floor in the morning, be thankful for your life and choose to live it in a way that honors God because whatever season of life you are in, it's never too late to be what He has created you to be.

It’s the little things.

My girls hands in mine

Dripping ice-cream cones

Little bare feet

Books piled high waiting to be read

An invitation from a friend

Downy fabric softener

A swim, a shower, pajamas and fresh sheets!

Cinnamon buns bubbling in the oven

Missing my husband while he’s away...kissing him when he comes home

God is so good.

Summer is in full swing. It just began and yet it is almost over! In less than eight weeks school bells will ring and we’ll never get the summer of 2011 back again! So how do we SLOW the days in order to savor them more? Ann Voskamp has some thoughts about that. In her book “One Thousand Gifts”, Ann writes about the beauty in the everyday things we sometimes take for granted. In her quest for the good life, she discovers that gratitude is the key to joy and that never having enough time is something we can change by simply choosing to appreciate every little moment God gives us. This small town farmers wife and mother of six will chase the moon and bring it to you wrapped in a poem so beautiful your heart will sing. Read it, pass it on and enjoy the longest, slowest, most blessed summer ever!

Psalm 118:24 This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

What If?

If you are a mom then chances are you’ve held your child in your arms and asked yourself “What if?”

When we bring home our precious new baby still sleepy, completely vulnerable and dependent on us for every ounce of nourishment, it’s only natural that thoughts of “what if” begin to creep in. What if I can’t nurse? What if there is something wrong with my baby? The “what if’s” only intensify as the years pass and the bond we share with our growing child becomes unbreakable. What if my sweet child gets sick? What if I get on a plane and the plane crashes leaving my child motherless? Women worry about things like this. We worry and we question and I’m told it doesn’t stop when our children leave the nest.

As a mother of 2 girls I’ve let my mind go to those dark questions that can unravel a woman in a heartbeat. Once on a vacation in British Columbia my family and I enjoyed a leisurely afternoon by a beautiful lake with mountain views. I watched my children run into the water like baby turtles drifting in the tide. When Annalise, my youngest had had enough she plunked herself down at my feet to build sand castles and in the seconds it took for her to show me her masterpiece, I had lost sight of my older daughter by the lake. Seconds. She wasn’t where my eyes had left her. My eyes frantically searched left and right. I am up walking. Running. My heart beating. The beautiful lake setting now a backdrop to a nightmare. My child. Where is my child? The “What if’s” strangle my thoughts. What if a stranger has taken her? What if she drowned? What if I never see her again? A very long 5 minutes later she came running to me and the squeeze around my heart loosened.

I was lucky that day. The what if’s came and left just as soon as I embraced my child but what about the moms that have asked the “what if’s” and then been faced with the reality of having to live through them. What if this pregnancy doesn’t go to term? What if my child gets cancer? Amazingly the women I know who have had to live out these unbearable questions have battled the sadness, pain, anger and age old question of “Why me Lord” with such beauty, grace and unbelievable strength that can only come from God alone.

I don’t know why bad things happen to such good people, but I do know without a doubt that the “what if’s” are best given up in prayer to the one who can heal, the one who gives hope and mercy and the one we call Lord and Savior.

I’ve seen through these sweet courageous women, the power of God’s love pouring out to greet them where they’re at, breathing life into their souls and giving them goodness, beauty and joy where there is heartache and ugliness. These women have been through the unthinkable and yet when you look into their eyes you see peace. Beauty. Gratitude. Love. And I can honestly say the only question that I’m glad I never have to ask is “What if” they didn’t know Jesus?

Give your “What if’s” to the Lord in prayer. Trust Him.

A mother who walks with God knows He only asks her to take care of the possible and to trust HIM with the impossible; she does not need to fret. ~ Ruth Bell Graham

I Want to be a Princess!

My husband met me in the moonlight to watch a girl become a princess and in that hour I witnessed not only a little piece of history unfold but I also felt a deep desire to BE “that girl”. Who wouldn’t want a dress tailored by the finest and a diamond tiara borrowed from a queen? A prince stealing bashful glances at you with a sweet smile as if to say “I’m the lucky one”? A choir of boys whose voices hail straight from heaven itself and a husband taking your hand in his to help you into a cinderella carriage so you can be whisked away in utter style and grace?

My breath was taken away by the beauty, chivalry, respect and sweetness of the Royal wedding and after all was said and done, I squeezed my own husbands hand and thought to myself “I’m going to act more like a princess from now on!”

What is romance to you? What makes you feel like a princess in your marriage?

For love is from God and everyone that loves is born of God and knows God…for God is love.

1 John 4:7-8

For all of our young daughters who will one day want to marry and have been asking what it takes to be a princess...

1. Dress like a princess. You can dress modestly and still be gorgeous. Dress like a class act to attract a class act.
2. Manners. The Queen Mom (or in this case, your future mother-in-law) notices and expects a good mannered gal for her son. Respect your elders.
3. Get a life! “Waitie Katie” as Kate Middleton became know as did NOT actually sit by the phone crying. She had a wide circle of friends, kept active on a rowing team and studied diligently in pursuit of her dreams. You are much more attractive when you know what you want out of life and go for it!
4. Respect yourself.
5. Have high standards. Tell your future prince that before you dated him Jesus was your boyfriend! YES!
6. P. S.T Pray. Surrender. Trust. God has a plan for your life.
7. Express Gratitude every day.
8. Know that you are the daughter of a King!
9. Be yourself. Just be who you are. You will attract the one that’s meant for you by being authentic and genuine.
10. Move to North Wales, become best friends with Prince William and casually ask if he has any brothers. ;-)

Women in the Bible

Which woman in the bible do you most relate to and why?

A dear friend asked me this today and naturally I answered her with an in depth comparison analysis complete with bible verses recited from memory. She was so impressed!

Actually what really happened was I stared at her like a deer caught in the headlights. Blink.

Love the women in the bible but need a little help remembering who’s who?

Check out this fabulous website on women from the bible for women on the go! It’s a great way to refresh your memory and get tons of interesting facts about the lives of women in ancient times. www.womeninthebible.net/index.htm

Have you signed up for the Women’s Retreat? Click here for more information and to read about which women of the bible they’ll be discussing at the retreat. www.acfellowship.org/631661.ihtml

Want to start/join a book club? Email me at kare2write@hotmail.com if you are interested in reading/discussing the book “A Lineage of Grace” (Five stories of unlikely women who changed eternity): by Francine Rivers

I'll check back in next week and share which woman in the bible I can most relate to.

Who do YOU relate to?

Random facts: Number of times the word “woman” appears in this blog: 12

Have you ever had a day like the bird in this video? How about a season? This lovely little cardinal has been thrashing into our living room window for 3 whole months now! In fact, our family can count on him to say his "special hellos" on a daily basis. Sometimes I catch myself uttering: "how's that working for ya?" to my feathered friend. Other times, I think: "God are you trying to tell ME something?"

Some birds are very territorial and from what I've read, cardinals react aggressively when they see a reflection of themselves because they mistake the image for another bird.

How many times in our daily lives do we look in the mirror, mistake what we see and lash out. I'm not good enough. I have nothing to offer. I'm not worthy. I'm not smart enough for that job so why bother applying. Thrash. Thrash. Thrash. Thrash.

If we looked in the mirror and saw ourselves the way God created us to be how would that translate in our lives? If we stopped the lies: "My husband doesn't care how I feel" Thrash. "If only we had a bigger house..." Thrash. If I just lost 10 pounds then I could be..." Thrash.
God promises that if we follow Him, our lives will be on the right path.

Scripture says:
Psalm 32: 8 "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go: I will guide you with my eye

1 Corinthians 3:16, 17 Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?

Romans: 12:2
“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—His good, pleasing and perfect will.” (NIV)

Fly toward God my friends and watch as you soar...the beautiful creation he intended you to be.

Confessions Of A Stay AT Home Mom

My husband has this affectionate little nick name he likes to call me as he is frantically searching for his keys, wallet, sunglasses or work pass. It's starts with "honey have you seen my...." followed by: "honey I love you but you are a "closet stuffer!". Gasp. Me?

When people come to my home they tell me how clean my house is. If they happen to say it while my husband is standing there, I watch him bite his lower lip. "Closet stuffer!"

After I had my second baby girl I felt like I could hardly keep up. She had some tummy issues that seemed to be soothed if I walked around the house with her in my arms for hours. The dishes piled high, the laundry seemed to mock me as it grew and the clutter from daily life overwhelmed me so I started stuffing things in closets and drawers. It worked beautifully because, well you know, out of sight out of mind. That is, until years later the stuff I stuffed was forgotten and now lost without a trace. If you walked into my house you would think this girl has it together. Look how her floors shine. But if you came in and opened a closet door you would have to run for your life before the avalanche would devour you whole. If you've ever felt overwhelmed as a mom, you can understand how having a disorganized house can cause a domino effect...constantly looking for long lost things, waisting time and energy trying to get organized, being too tired to see what bad habits you've gotten into.

Recently while on a walk with my daughter I found myself praying this prayer: "Dear Lord, please show me the things I am doing wrong."

My eyes were opened to the things that I needed to pay attention to in my family. Things I needed to change. He revealed the things I was doing wrong so that I could fix them.

I need to pray that prayer more often because it was supernatural the way I was able to tackle the things that seemed so overwhelming. Wow.

Have you ever felt overwhelmed as a mom, grandmother, wife? If you try and manage your life on your own with everything the world is throwing at you, you are bound to at some point feel overwhelmed. You might start to believe that the only way to make your life look presentable is to start "stuffing" away your problems. Trust me. Out of sight and out of mind can prolong the mess and make everything worse. Ask God for help. Ask him to show you what you need to see and watch as he points to those closets and drawers and sets you FREE.

2 corinthians: 5:17 All things have become new.

He takes our burdens. He restores. He gives new life.

Love Hope and Faith

This Christmas as I danced through family visits, celebratory dinners, shopping trips, Christmas shows and the sweet moments of innocence I saw reflected in my children's faces, I saw beyond my own decorated door step into the lives of others...and it was there that the Lord shone his light revealing the true spirit of the season.

I saw a Godly woman tending to her husband who underwent triple bi pass surgery. I was struck by her words when I asked her how she was doing. She said: "I'm okay if he's okay." I will never forget those words. She is living proof of the wives we are called to be. Her hands reach out to the Father in LOVE.

I saw a mother sitting by her 11 year old son's hospital bed reading Christmas cards from loved ones. She's not sure how to ask the Lord for a new heart for her son but she trusts that whatever her prayer looks like, He will answer. Her hands reach out to the Father in HOPE.

I saw my dear friend at the mercy of her granddaughters cancer diagnoses praising God and giving Him the glory even though her heart was breaking. I watched her joy increase as she shared the most tender moments with her granddaughter... holding her little body tight in the midst of a storm. Her hands reach to out to the Father in FAITH.

I don't know what blessings or challenges lie ahead for me but I do know that I can aspire to be like the women I admire and I am thankful to a God whose loving arms receive those who reach for Him reminding us that there is the promise of something greater than our own understanding will allow.

May you have a joyous new year filled with love, hope and faith.