Good news :D

I wanted to write about something...but for lack of more time right now...

I just want to update to say that

I GOT THE SECOND JOB!!! :D :D

No...it's not yet a teaching job, just a second job at the outlets for some supplement to my other income.

I found out this morning and I'm so very excited.

It is difficult to find a second job. Way more difficult than I ever really thought until I started looking.

It's a frustrating process but it counts to stick with it. :)

(and I'm not taking credit, this was so smooth, it was only God.)

More later!

What I'm loving Wednesday.

I like links-ups, so today I'm linking up over at "this kind of love" for WILW. :)

I'm loving... that it's already Wednesday even though it feels like it's Monday. Yay for short weeks!

I'm loving...the feeling of what it is when things feel they WILL work out. I had a very positive job interview at the outlets yesterday and I'm just hoping, hoping, hoping....(eeek...don't get your hopes upp Kariii) that I get this job!! But of course if I don't, it's not meant to be.

I'm loving... Reading this book that I'm *ahem* almost done with already..? can this be..? People go buy it! Read it! Now, now, NOW! It will change your life. :) You won't be sorry.

(and no, I'm not getting paid to promote this..ha)

I'm loving...how easy and convenient it is to reserve things at the library. It results in getting exactly what you want and sometimes doesn't even take that long!

What are YOU loving this Wednesday?

:)

Thy Will Be Done

Today has been a very relaxing day off!

I slept in. (Which I absolutely love, love LOVE doing.)

I went to the gym and may or may not have embarrassed myself a little bit while trying out some new exercises with one of those rubber exercise balls. HA...

Ya know, I was really hoping no one would be back in that little section that has the balls, but of course there was a girl there today on a machine. I pretended she wasn't there and tried my ball routine anyway. ;)

I took an afternoon NAP! I can't even tell you when the last time I did that was. It was glorious.

I also started the book I mentioned yesterday called "Under the Overpass". I'm almost halfway done already. haa..it's very good. I won't tell you any of those stories because I don't want to spoil it for when you read it yourself... but I will share a quote I liked...

It's like trust means something different when you don't feel in control.

How very true.

This weekend at the mini retreat we were talking about how we often close ourselves up to things.

In my journal time, I wrote about how I close myself up when I have to deal with any change.

(I know you're thinking, here goes Kari talking about change...AGAIN. Bear with me)

I don't like change because when things are different and that makes life uncomfortable for me. I...like most everyone like things to be all cushy and comfy. I try to fight the change process, and I only make things harder on myself. I try to control it, and stop it from happening.

But I've been learning more recently that when I let it go, and give up my illusion of control....I just have to trust. A lot of the change right now deals with people in my life. Everyone is changing... obviously I can't control that, and so I have no other choice but to trust!

I wrote this the end of my journal time...

"If I don't welcome change, I'm denying myself chance for growth in all areas."

I can't ever grow if nothing ever changes...

God is teaching me to rely on Him because He is leading me. And He of course doesn't change. ever.

Hope you can make some sense out of that! ha

Happy Pres Day!

Original source of image can be found here.

Over the Underpass

Hi friends :)

Have I mentioned that I have a four day weekend? It's just about exactly what I needed. It's been so so great so far!

I don't really even know where to begin with this post.

R and R yesterday was great. This morning at church I heard Mike Yankosi speak, you might remember me mentioning that in my last post... (I was looking forward to hearing him ALL week!)

...let me tell you folks, he did not disappoint.

Wow- Talk about a heart change.

He talked about how he grew up knowing there was homelessness and poverty...but that it was just an abstract idea... it wasn't until he went to the Dominican Republic on a mission trip in high school that he encountered homeless children...most who weren't even wearing clothes, one who was playing with a bottle cap attached to string..aka garbage. That's when it went from an abstract idea to an actual person. These are people.

Just

like

us.

God's created.

He went to a Christian college and somewhere down the road wrote about paper about the passage in Matthew that we know of as "The Good Samaritan". He decided after that to live homeless for 5 months and 6 different cities.

It was appalling to hear how they (him and the friend who went homeless w him) were treated by some churches. (not all...but some)

I guess they sat near them and went to church to see how they would be received..

He told a story that really made my jaw drop, literally.

Him and his buddy were hanging out outside of a church on a Saturday and they woke up to the smell of bacon, eggs, and pancakes..etc. I think he said they had been homeless for about 4 months at this point so they were used to eating out of the garbage...

They were so excited, thinking to themselves..yes! It's saturday, church breakfast. We'll get to eat today. Two men, then come out loading things and going back and forth. One shouts to them, "You have to get out of here..." and keeps walking doing what he's doing.

They stay... when the man comes back he says.."why are you still here? I told you, you need to go, this building isn't here for this.."

Mike wanted to debate with him, saying why is it here? The man said look...it's not for this, and you need to leave.

Then they got up and left.

The next day they arrived to the church again for Sunday morning service. They were about 30 minutes early because they mixed up the times. Slowly but surely, the sanctuary filled in all around them. Except, where they were sitting, there was about a 10 foot radius because no one would sit near them.

Then, comes a man's voice..."GUYS!!" and runs up to them. "I'm soo glad you're here!!" and gives the men a hug. It's the man from the day before who told them to leave.

He is visibly broken up (maybe crying) and says how sorry he is and how convicted he became afterwards. Then, the man puts his hands in his pockets and kind of looks at the floor.

He says to the guys, "I'm kind of embarrassed to tell you this, but I'm actually the director of the homeless ministry at our church."

That's where my jaw dropped....wow.

How sad is that?

He told us the homeless ministry for that church was on Tuesdays...

This guy had so compartmentalized.

He helped the homeless on Tuesday....but it's Saturday, and was "me" time for him. Church breakfast time, not homeless helping time.

That hit home. Mike related it to Jesus and how Jesus was available at all times. He stopped to help people. When a random woman grabbed his coat in the market, and the disciples were like "come on Jesus! We can't stop, you need to do this miracle here" Jesus was like..."no, someone touched me..who was it?" He stops to help! Always. It's not about Him...

How true?

That's just a little tid bit of what I remember really stuck out from his message.

What he said makes me want to reach out and help all the people I can! I want to feed the homeless now. I want to talk to them and not ignore them like everyone else.

I strongly encourage you to go buy or borrow the book he wrote though!

It's called "Under the Overpass". I haven't read it yet but I got my copy this morning and Mike signed it :)

I'm so excited to start reading it!

He also shared with some statistics.

There are 760,000 Americans from each US city who are homeless.

Today there are more slaves, children and adults, than there were total during the Transatlantic Slave trade.

It really put things in perspective.

Get his book! I believe it will change and challenge the way you think as I know I was challenged this morning.

Fill it yo

I haven't done a Fill-in-the-blank Friday in what seems like ages! So here we go..

Now, I'm doing last week's fill in the blank, not this weeks' ;)

1. I started my blog because.. I wanted an outlet to record memories, crazy happenings, big events, and all things floating around in this brain of mine. I mostly wanted to record what God is doing and has done in my life. It's SO fun and amazing to look back and see all the answered prayers and spiritual growth..!

2. One thing I love seeing on other blogs... is definitely when someone is just being them. I love reading personal stories, (because I lovee people!) and relating to others emotions and life experiences! It's not always easy to put yourself "out there" and be raw and real, but I really love and appreciate when people have the guts to do it! We're all human here..;)

3. Something I love about blogging...is getting to "meet" other people and learn about how others do things. There is this whole community of bloggers who are SO real and plain awesome. It's a fun thing to be a part of. :)

4. A favorite blog post of mine is probably...That's really tough...and I honestly don't know, but I always enjoy going back to this post. ;) Give it a read if you wish! God is greater..

5. Something my friends in real life know about me that I've never before mentioned on my blog is... That's kind of tough too, because I like to be really honest and real on here..hmm. I guess I don't talk about what I want for my future much (because that's in God's hands not mine..thank goodness) but I really can't wait to have my own family some day! I much look forward to meeting my future husband and starting my own family. :) I can't wait to be a mother!

6. My new favorite blogs to read are.. hmm. these aren't new favorites but I love reading Katie's blog at loves of life, my best friend Christin's blog : Journeying Home, blogger friend Lauren at He's not finished with me yet, and lately I've started reading Susan's blog at The life of Susan.

:)

7. Some things I tend to avoid doing on my blog are.. complaining too much and talking about others.. (sometimes I fail...heh)

I'm super stoked for this FOUR day weekend!!! WOOHOOOO!

Today I'm doing things that I've put off doing, so I have my list. :)

Going to the gym...relaxing, that sort of thing.

Tomorrow I'll be going to R&R, possibly hanging out with a sweet friend afterwards and I have an interview for a second job in the afternoon. We'll see, but my hopes aren't too high for that at all..

Sunday Mike Yankosi is coming to speak at church! SUPER EXCITED about it!! He is a man who chose to live homeless for 6 months in 6 different cities. He's written a book as well, and I'm just plain excited to hear him speak.

Then, of course life group Sunday night.. ;)

Monday...unsure of.. but I KNOW it will be GREAT!

:) Happy Friday!

Acceptance

It's a warm day in the summer and I'm at a friend's birthday party.

I can clearly remember focusing on my polly pocket watch toy that I had just gotten at a Mcdonald's, or somewhere like it, while my eyes well up with tears.

I'm five years old; already discovering the hurt and pain of what it feels like to be on the "outside".

I'm sure I had happily arrived at that party, but somewhere along the way the girls started whispering to each other and they wouldn't include me.

Even at that young age of five, especially at that age, but even now in my twenties, I had and still have the longing to be included in something. We all want to know that we belong. We want to feel it. We want to be loved and accepted.

It truly hurts and pains us when we feel, for some reason or another, unaccepted for who we are.

We've all felt it. You know in your heart of hearts, it feels plain good to be accepted and welcomed.

It's something that's been swimming around in my head, and I'm trying to make sense of it.

There's been some point in your life that you haven't felt accepted by someone or a group of people. It bothers us... at the same time, knowing what it's like to be accepted, I think sometimes we (and I know I'm guilty of it a time or two) turn around and do the same thing to others. We don't include them, or we judge them or in some way or another whether we show it or not...we don't accept them.

I'm so guilty of it, and I know others are (but that's not the point)

I'm just trying to grasp it and understand how odd it is. We ALL want the same thing...to be loved and accepted, so why can't we do that all the time for each other?

It's such a vicious cycle... and I think maybe in our brokenness, sometimes it feels good to put people on the outside like people put us on the outside. It makes us feel justified to judge and control and manipulate.

Just thinking...

I want to love and accept everyone all the time, and I'm praying to get better at it.

Of course God, always loves. always accepts. and never casts out. He will never reject us or put us on the outside. Jesus was the best example of that.

Ohh, how I still have so much to learn!

Hope you enjoy pondering on that with me today.

:)

Camera strap :)

Today, I spent a good portion of my day making my own camera strap cover for my camera. :) I'm so happy with the way it turned out, I'm sharing some pictures for your viewing pleasure.

Ruffles are so fun to make!

What do you think?

It even has a pocket on the back for my lens cap! :)

Happy weekend.

shhhh

So…I’m doing it.

Never have I ever done this before, but I am blogging at work. (shh don’t tell!)

Now it’s probably not exactly what you think. I’m not IN blogger, that would be crossing the line people.. no no, I’m just in Microsoft word.

And, did you know, you can set posts to go up at a specific day and time?

It’s pretty handy, I’ve done that a time or two.

I’m sort of having a conflict of interests in my brain today.

Maybe you've dealt with it before.

I’ve been hanging around a group of girls who you could kind of classify as a “church group”. It’s been pretty good, and I really like the girls and their company.

But lately I’ve felt kind of a weird hesitation in my stomach.

They’re believers in Jesus like me, but it’s like they almost have different standards than me.

I have things that I just don’t feel comfortable with. (like for example foul language.)

I don’t like it.

It offends me.

And in my book, Christians are supposed to be different and NOT do it. Sure, it might be cool to the rest of the world, but us? We’re supposed to hold a different standard. That’s just one example. They make it seem almost like it’s okay, and that it’s cool or something…idk. (..sorry feels like middle school again.)

I also know that self-consciously when a person is hanging out in a group of people, they kind of adapt to be like them. Purposefully or not, it happens people.

You start to act like them and say the same things.

I’m just now becoming aware of it and now I’m really trying to guard my heart. I don’t want to feel like I need to change myself to fit with what they do and how they are.

(again don’t get me wrong) they are great, amazing girls. Just something I’ve had a bad taste in my mouth about. =/

Ever felt like that?