What a Wonderful Wednesday!

Wednesday was the first day of my women's fall Bible study.

I love the beginning of a study.

My book smells new...

I have my new pen, new hi-lighter, and felt-tipped pen ready for action.

I meet new friends and see old friends that I haven't seen since spring.

I anticipate all that God is going to teach me through the new study.

I tear-up as I open in prayer, because I KNOW that God is going to show up!

He's going to grow me

stretch me,

retrain me,

change me!

HALLELUJAH!!!

Bring it on!!!

In 1 hour's time...

I learn something new!

I hear something old that becomes afresh!

I look forward to this week's homework.

I look forward to meeting Christ on the pages of this study.

Of seeing what His Word has to say about my heart

and what it mean's to make it a dwelling place for HIM!

Wednesday afternoons are precious to me.

Sacred.

A MUST!

Thank You, Jesus for speaking through Your Word and through Bible study teachers.

Help me to be obedient to what it is that You will call me to this semester!

I love You!

Disturb us, Lord!

Disturb us, Lord, when
We are too well pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we have dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when
With the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision
Of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wider seas
Where storms will show your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.
We ask You to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push into the future
In strength, courage, hope, and love.
[Sir Francis Drake]

So Much to Say and Update, but a MUST right now!

I have been struggling with change in my church family!

For awhile!

Some weekends are ok, but others are not so ok!

It's me!

I KNOW!!!

But my flesh has been pretty stubborn lately!

And of course, like in all things, I want to run away!

Maybe it's the fact that I know we aren't leaving College Station

anytime soon, so church is the one thing I can "leave" and still remain in this town.

I rationalize my thoughts about finding a new body.

I convince myself that I'm justified in my feelings!

But then a friend who loves me more to tell me the truth than to be afraid of my reaction speaks truth to me!

I know she is telling me the truth,

but dangit!

Either because of my current sin or my past

I ask God

please confirm this AGAIN!

I know, I know!!!

I'm hard headed!

stupid

stubborn

And whew!

He did!

Of course

He did!

Church isn't about me!

I know that!

It's not about my boys!

i....k..n..o..w....th...at.....?

My God, is big enough!

My God will capture their hearts in HIS TIMING!!!!

In HIS WAY!

HE WILL CAPTURE THEM!!!!

Not a church,

not a program,

not a person!

This may not make sense for the 2 or 3 of you who actually read this,

but I had to get it out of myself!

Still need to process!

ALWAYS! need to pray!

Every Sunday, need to be humble and ready for GOD!!!!

not the sermon...

not the music...

not the program...

not the friends...

BUT...

HIM!

It's ALWAYS ABOUT HIM!!!

Thank You, Jesus for reminding me of that this morning!

And thank You for whopping me upside the head!

and thank You for being so patient with this stupid, but wanting so much to be in Your Will, child!

I do love You so much!

I Need Chiseling! How Bout You???

Profound!
Don't forget to turn off the music below
before you push play!

What a wonderful way to spend $7!!!

That would be 2 trips to Starbucks!!!

You can get some free music from FFH 

and a free Tshirt for helping children!!

Please go here and be a part of my 

Mocha Club!!!

Thanks!!!!

http://mochaclub.org/joinme/KariStephens

Compassion International

Recently, I have heard a ton about Compassion International

A friend of mine, Jen Bacak, put on a 5K/10K run raising funds for Compassion.

And a few of the blogs that I read often, are currently in India, Calcutta to be exact, on a trip to minister to the children over there, but learn more about the organization.

There posts have been meaningful, profound and touching to say the least!

I have cousins, who have been sponsoring children for over 10 years now!  They have 1 per child for each child of their own.  In fact, they recently made the journey overseas and actually met their sponsored children in person!  Amazing!  How neat is that!!!

I have wanted to do this for a LONG time, and have yet to do so!!

In college, a girlfriend and I sponsored a little boy for a semester.  I so wish I still did!

As believers, we are to take care of the orphans, widows, poor.

How am I doing at that????

Terrible!!!

I want to be better!!!!

I'm not going to be foolish and begin with 3 children right away, but want to begin by sponsoring 1 and growing to 3!!!

To sponsor a child, you can click here.

For $32 a month, you can change a child's life!!!

Check out their blog and read the stories.

When I get my child's info, I will post a picture!!  It will be several weeks, but I will keep you updated!!!

Things that Make You Go Hmmmm........

How is it that some days are like this...=>

and other days are like this...

<=

??????????????????????

Seriously!

What is it that really makes the difference?

My quiet time with God?

Yes, that is important!

My heart?

Also, very important!

What time my children went to bed the night before?

What time I went to bed the night before?

I believe all of those things and more affect my day.

But I really think I need to take notes of what specifically happens on "good" days.

Today was a "good" day.

Can't put my finger on 1 specific thing that made it a good one, but it makes me pray and hope tomorrow will be another one!

It did help that the weather was so beautiful!

Warm with a nice breeze - Spring!

It also helped that Kru and I could take an hour or so and go to the park and swing!

It also helped that I was very aware of being present in the moment!

I didn't spend as much time on the computer!

I spoke in a gentle yet firm (when needed) voice.

I sometimes like to ignore how much I affect my home, my husband, my children!  

But, if I'm wanting to be the woman God created me to be, I can NOT ignore that!

"Let the words of my mouth 

and the meditations of my heart 

be acceptable in Thy sight, 

O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer."

Psalm 19:14

I must, need, have to be aware of what I am saying, thinking, meditating on!  And it MUST be the Lord and pleasing Him and being obedient to Him.

I am so selfish and get so caught up in making sure I'm taken care of!  That is sin!!!

So....

I must seek Jesus daily, hour to hour, moment to moment if need be, to be the woman He created me to be!  The woman that He put here in this place for this moment.  And to really there!  Awake!  Involved!

I never did post my scripture memory verse for the beginning of April, but it goes well with this post.

It was Proverbs 31:26

"When she speaks her words are wise, and kindness is the rule when she gives instruction."

Ouch!!!

This past Sunday's sermon was on love 

the agape kind 

the 1 Corinthians 13 kind

ooouuuccchhhh!!!!!

Yup! Ouch!

Not ouch, make me mad

Ouch, like, I am not doing so well with LOVE, CONVICTION!!!!

Not that any of us can do any of the above mentioned without Jesus!!!

I've heard it said many times, "Our ability to love others is from the overflow of our love relationship with Jesus."

OUCH!

Truth hurts, ya know! =)

My birthday is on a date surrounded by love.

In fact, on any given year, I really don't like having my birthday on Valentines Day.

But that is not what this post is about!  

We sang of Christ's love for us and that He loved us before we ever loved Him.

(Do I love family, friends, neighbors, enemies before they love me? OR do I wait for them to show me love before I love them?)

It was a good cleansing service.  

But man,

I HAVE SO FAR TO GO!!!!!!

am I patient?      the ability to be wrong without retaliating 

no

am I kind?           considerate of other's feelings, useful, do good

not often enough

do I boast?          bragging making other's think of my strengths

some

am I proud?        arrogant - making it all about me

too often

am I rude?          inappropriate tones, facial expressions

Jesus help me, way TOO often!!

am I selfish?       do what is best for me, want my way

yes

do I get angry?    quick tempered, agitated easily

YES, and I don't even know why!

do I keep a list of the wrong things done to me?

sometimes

do I always protect?

not always

do I always trust?

not always

do I give up?

sometimes

am I always hopeful?

not always

am I perseverant?

sometimes

LOVE NEVER FAILS!!!

LOVE NEVER ENDS!!!!

WOOFTA!!!!

OI!!!!!!!

I got me a long way to go!!! 

I have much to learn about how much God loves me

and

I have much to learn about how I need to love others.

But thankfully, I'm not doing it alone or in my own strength!!!!

I pray that I will allow the Lord to continue to do a work in me and mold me and grow me into who He wants me to be!  Jesus I need You help!!!!

Where to Begin???

Today was the first day of Bible study in a new semester!  All I can say is WOW!!!  Look out!!!  Beth Moore's newest study is this one!  She filled it last year and it became available for purchase in November '08.

From the moment the video begins, from intros and exits filled on location in Washington DC in front of the White House, this study it so pivotal & poignant "FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS"!  She had no idea who was going to be inaugurated yesterday, or who the Secretary of State would be a year ago, and everything she said was so perfect for what is going on today.  Amazing!  God is perfect and so is His timing!

I can't wait to see what He is going to reveal to me through this study!  I believe with all my heart that there is big stuff ahead for me to learn and change!  I know that God has something important for me to learn about my destiny through this study!  I also know that God is going to do something new through this study too!

For a while now, I have been feeling not quite sure what God was doing.  The direction that He had last told me to go suddenly got blocked.  A little confused, but understanding that this was His thing, I assumed that He had something else for me to do instead.  Still don't know what that is, but I know I will when He is ready for me to know!

The times I remember feeling this way and being in this place have always resulted in major life changes, not like moving or even changing jobs (although that has happened once before), I'm talking about dealing with my stuff, freeing me, teaching me something new, showing Himself to me in a different way.

So....  I'm full of anxious anticipation, hope, in what God is going to reveal, teach, show, change, grow me!  I will try to write about it, but who knows now, we will have to wait and see!  So.... here we go, into the book of Esther, that doesn't use the name of God once, but as Beth said, "He is all over it, because it is His Word!"

One Vote

This was shown Sunday at church!
So powerful!
Enjoy!

Don't forget to scroll down and turn off the music so you can appreciate this as well.

My Person

I must confess, I am a GREY'S watcher!

It's true!  

I am hooked!!!

I wasn't going to watch this season, but I am!

The more I watch, the more I look at it and think, 

Meredith needs Jesus!

But then, I guess it wouldn't be a hit TV show then 

because there would be no drama!

I just watched the premiere last night.

Meredith and Christina have been friends for a long time.

They know one another very well, dark well, if you know what I mean.

They are each other's person!

In the premiere, Meredith NEEDED to know what

Christina thought, what she said mattered and was

super important to Meredith.

The whole time I thought, "How often do I do that?"

Make what someone else thinks more important than

the Spirit living inside of me, who IS telling me what HE

thinks!!!  Too often, but I pray less and less!

The deal is friends are important!  I value my friendships!  

I miss my friends who I no longer live near.  

I cherish the new friendships I have made here in Texas over

the past 3 years!

BUT.....  friends will NEVER take the place of the Lord in our lives!  

There is a place for them, but NOT in the place that is for the Lord.  

When I begin to make them more important than the Lord, 

I am going to have some issues!

When I value their opinion more than the Lord's,

 I'm going to have some MAJOR issues!!!

Oh, if only I knew this many years ago, heartache, mistakes 

and errors would have been saved.

Yet, I know that that is how we grow!  

I'm not the same as I was when I got saved and 

God is forever changing me, growing me 

to be more and more like Jesus!

Thank You, Jesus!!!

I pray that I would always look to the Lord for advice, 

love, healing, appreciation & most importantly salvation!!!

Jesus IS my person!!!

Lessons from Ike - Intro

I have thought often about starting a blog for myself.  One that I could write about whatever I had on my heart.  But I already had a blog so I really didn't need another one!  So even though my blog was supposed to be about my 3 boys, I would take occasional liberty to write about some of mu musings that I had.

Well, then 2 weeks ago, Hurricane Ike came to Texas.  For almost 1 week my life was completely consumed with it.  Our church was a Red Cross shelter that officially opened on that Friday, Sept. 12th,  when the storm was to hit the coast.  We didn't get too busy until Saturday and eventually had 175 people staying there.

I spent the good part of my weekend at church helping and then into the next week as well.  We were officially shut down on Wed. the 16th.  I got to know some of our guests well, the Lord just drew me to some and after all of that....  I didn't know what to do.

The Lord was at work in me and I needed to process.  I needed to get it outside of myself for myself.  After posting a few posts about Ike on the boys' blog, I decided it WAS time for me to begin one for myself.  I'm not even sure if I'm going to give this address out much.  I really just want to write this down and blogging seems to be the easiest way to do it and I can add some great videos, music and whatever else I decide to put on this!

So the next few posts are going to be about lessons that the Lord has taught me through Ike and working with my new friends at the shelter.  It's going to me processing this supernatural experience that I had 2 weeks ago, especially before I forget what I saw, felt, smelled, touched, experienced.

There was a purpose to it all.  I don't know fully exactly what, but I know the Lord had me there for reasons that some He has revealed to me and others will be revealed when its His timing!  All I know is that I'm not the same as I was 2 weeks ago and I don't ever want to be the same again.  

I want to be different.

I want to be transformed.

Used.

Changed!

For His glory!!

Here is another post on another blog from a Houstonian who doesn't want to be the same either and to learn through this ordeal, but not only learn, be changed forever!

Card Board Testimonies!

Go down and turn off the music to hear this!