3 months has gone where?

Hello lovely friends!

Three months is already GONE. What? That's just blowing my mind!
Guess what though? Two months to go...and they'll be spent in Morocco!!!
Crazy! Crazyyyyyy - crazy how God has changed me so much and how He's now taking me to Morocco to change me and push me to love on Muslim people and lovely Moroccans. He is so amazing.

So here's my team:

Aren't they beautiful?!:) I love them all - so pray for all of us! And especially for Kent our leader as he's working so hard and leading us across the world!

I don't have any thing else to say - its a sentimental day since all the outreach teams are leaving and we'll be a small little family for two months separate from all our other DTS buddies. God has big things in store for all of us - I can feel it.  He has done a great change in every person the past three months and now its time to get into action and love love love people all over the world!

Here we come MOROCCO!

Strong Love - Jon Thurlow

 I LOVE this song.
Enjoy it my friends.
Worship some too.
Oh, and dont forget to dance around a little.
:)

Now everyone hold hands.....

Alright. Its Saturday afternoon and I'm the only person in the Main House Lounge... this is a first! Its nice to have nothing to do except nap in a hammock, and no one around for a few hours because then i can...blog! :)

Well, Thanksgiving was 2 days ago. Didnt feel like Thanksgiving though since it was warm outside and I was surround by europeans and canadians and Kiwis who don't celebrate when the Pilgrams and Indians feasted peacefully together giving thanks many many years ago. We had curry fish soup for dinner and at that point I decided I would bring a little home life to the little YWAM picnic table. Typically my family on my Dad's side would all gather for a large meal at my Grandpa's house. Everytime someone would say "Now everyone hold hands and tell us what you're thankful for!" So, looking cute in all our flannel and smelling the fresh venison and turkey out of the oven we would all say something about how we love family, friends and food. :) Yeah!

I didn't make everyone at the picnic table stand up and hold hands, but! We did go around and say what we're thankful for. A few of my favorites: Apples and Peanut Butter, Germany, and Martin was thankful for being the only boy at a table full of girls. hahaha! It was lovely though, and then we had ice cream.

Goodness, there are so many things I'm thankful for. There are so many stories I could write about. There are so many thoughts and deeper understandings about God that I can't wait to share! But I will pick one today and then you should go to facebook and look at my two new picture albums to see ME and New Zealand:)

Well, yesterday we had a huge long day of prayer and intercession and confession and thanksgiving and encourgament with Mark Parker our speaker of the week. It started at 9am and we didn't leave each others company until 2 am this morning. CRAZINESS! The whole day has many stories, but at the end of the day, after laying down sin, giving God our dreams to be used by Him alone, and baptisisms!! (love them!) We were praying and encourgaing one another. After an hour or so we were anointed with oil and prayed for and encouraged to worship God and ask Him what He had for our lives. Oh! I just feel over and started laughing joyfully with Jesus! He showed me I would get to hold babies! I was holding little African babies, South American babies, South Pacific babies, European and Asian babies! Oh it was a beautiful thing! Well, I continued to pray and we had communion afterwards and worshipped more. All I know is that I am very thankful the Lord is revealing to me more of my calling and passions and I can't wait to see how He'll lead me on an adventure to get there! woo!

Alrighty, have a lovely holiday weekend - eat some more pumpkin pie for me since we don't have any here and stay warm and cozy!

Crazy Times

Alrighty, here's the epic tale of Faith Weekend... dun dun dun

Thursday -
Well, Thursday we had lectures until 1pm and then we went got in vans and they dropped us off at various spots around the area of Oxford to depart on our "Faith Weekend."
Oooh - what a weird feeling! Not a feeling that I want to have again thats for sure. Watching the van drive away I had a split second thought of maybe I should've opted out of this... but I had Devin on one side and Abby on the other so there we went!

haha we actually started in the wrong direction and an old man turned around after seeing our sign for Picton and told us to get on the other highway. He was thoughtful! SO 15 mins later we get picked up by a lady I had met at the farmer's market that previous Sunday. She took us to Woodend, about 45min ride I guess? We go from there catch a ride to Waipara, after stopping to ask a cute old farmer man if we were aloud to hitch a ride on that road and what Motorway meant haha! He was chatty. The next right we got was from a kid with a bunch of raw sausages in a bag beside him so Abby got to side all cozy with that in his tiny car. Little did we know that he dropped us off in the middle of Vineyard land! It's beauitful country with lots of vineyards..and its rural... but we were talking about lectures and walking with the sun at our back and wondering what the heck the thumbs up or left or right or shurgg of shoulders we were getting from drivers meant! Well, an hour and a half later we see a nice Mazda pull off and a buisness man get out and rearrange the stuff in the back seat... trying not to look desprate we decided to jog instead of sprint up to him. :) He was very friendly and was going home to Blenhiem which was maybe 20/30mins south of Picton. Sweet! Well, Abby and I discovered that Devin is a fabulous conversationalist with Buisnessmen so we chatted and napped as we drove through mountains covered in bright yellow flowering bushes and started winding around the coast of Kaikora.

Its a beautiful drive, although it was cold and windy and I was praying he wasnt going to drop us off there. Instead he took us to this road side spot where you hike for about 5mins to go to a small waterfall/ pool area where there was 20 baby seals! They were so cute! And they blobbed up onto the rocks that were a foot in front of us and just stared a posed and looked like the most adorable babies with giant brown eyes EVER! ahhhh, I was so mad I didnt have my camera with me! Well, it was dark and I just prayed he would offer us his living room floor or something - but i snoozed. When I woke up he had stopped in Blenhiem for an errand and Devin told us he offered us his guest room and sofas! Yessssssss! We get to his house and Abby and I conk out on the guest bed after reading some of John out loud and praying.




Friday -

Well, lemme tell ya - waking up in a total strangers house is really really weird! ACutally pretty draining too. Plus, Simon had gone to work and his wife Michelle greeted us with her 1 yr old and 3yr old. She was very friendly and gave us toast for breakfast and we really had been sent out to bless people as much as we could so Abby babysat her kiddos while she went to the store, Devin mowed her lawn and I vaccumed her house. Okay - what the heck?!! She left her kids with 3 complete strangers?! It was fun beacuse those kids were cuties! But still, weird!

She got us some morning tea snacks and also let us fix a sandwich for lunch. She then drew us a map of the best spot to hitch hike out to Picton.We find that spot across the bridge and pop out our little paper sign and eat some cheesy chip things we had and smiled at the super big vans zooming by with plenty of space for us in the back. Right as I took a picture of Abby and Devin this dude pulls over and takes us right to downtown Picton. Oh! Picton is a beautiful nautical harbor tourist town. I really would love to go back and visit again. WE sat down for a minuet to "relax"  and I was praying God secretly to have some nice old couple walk up to us and invite us home for the night. NOPE. We find information building and with no luck there we went to three hostiles and asked if we could work in the morning and stay the night in exchange. NOPE. Ahh, so our next plan was to go find a church and see if there was any work there or an open chapel to sleep in.

Well! We're wandering around the restaurant shops area of the town and as Abby and I go to the supermarket to ask for the closet church, Devin approached a few ladies outside. We go out and walk up and these ladies knew of YWAM and considered ywamers like family The only problem was that they didnt have room at there homes so they called a little pastor man from one of the churches - Ron. Ron pulls up in a van and swaggers up to us as a sarcastic, good natured 70 yr old Kiwi man who shook our hands firmly asked what we thought we were doing and nodded to the van for us to hop into.  He proceeds to drive us up to one of the very hostile's "The Villa" who had turned us down. Ha! He marched us right in, so GENEROUSLY paid for three beds for the night and told us to go up to the Retired Veterans club in half an hour and he would arrange for dinner for us. AHHHHH! We were totally blown away! haha! I wish he could've joined us but his sister was coming into town so with a hug he left. We sat down in the room we were in with three bunk beds and a big bay window and just sat in awe. We were safe an warm and food was on the way and a complete stranger just showed us amazing Christ like love and generosity. I will never forget that lovely old Kiwi man.
At that point I wasn't peaceful at all, but I felt secure in the moment to think I had dinner and a warm bed for the second night of faith weekend. haha, we walked up to the retired veterans club and were the youngest people in there by at least 30 years! Oh, it was priceless. haha. The amazing thing was he had a pork tenderloin dinner waiting for each one of us. It was a feast!

At this point I realized the New Zealand culture has still managed to hold onto being a friendly, hospitable, trusting nation. They still take into consideration your outward apperence I won't pick up sketchy looking hitch hikers, but with regular back packers and travelers the overall feeling is - you are trust worthy until proven differently. Whether this is good or bad - it's the reality over there and so that was the only way we were able to survive the weekend! Thank God for hospitable friendly Kiwis!!

I Went to bed sort of early that night praying the Lord would continue to hold me in that safe peaceful spot close to Him.




Saturday -

Oh! It almost felt like home stretch, one more night before we got to go back to base! Well, we took showers and went on a short hike up to the Harbor Bay lookout. It started to rain so we went to the edge of town held out our sign and thumbs and sort of thanked God for the rain to provoke the drivers going by to pick us up sooner! haha. Well and big van picked us up and a nice Christian family took us back to Blenheim to the best spot to be picked up when trying to go South. It only took maybe 10 mins before a guy pulls over and tells us he's going all 4 hours to Christchurch that afternoon. Sweet! Destination accomplished! He was a winery manager who was very knowledgable and interesting to hear him talk about all the ins and out of making wine and bear and managing a vineyard. He was, like the other Kiwis I've talked to, eager to engage in conversation and talk about what ever you want to talk about. Like I said, these people are friendly and amiable and not hard at all to get along with. However, small talk is very draining to me if its not mingled with deep topics about God and such. Anyway Abby and I both got naps this ride south which was nice! So, 4:45 we get dropped off at Hagley park in Christ church and its cold, foggy and drizzling outside. The dude said his friend didnt have any room for us and we walked away hungry because we hadn't had any lunch.

We wandered around the park talking and praying and at one point we three are holding hands outside the public washroom praying. Abby starts telling God she's hungry and says it would be really nice just to get some food. I said NO! Be Specific!!! What kind of food?! What kind of food do you really want?! Abby beautifully said "Chocolate Cake." Yesss, that always hits the spot! Well, we felt a little more encouraged after that prayer pow wow and we start searching for a church to go work for the night in exchange for a place to stay. We walked around where there was still a lot of earth quake damage so we ended up walking through Hagley Park to an area of town called Riccarton. We needed to ask for directions for sure, and the question was who were we going to ask?

Three girls were walking towards us but they were in a hurry so we approached an older couple. We asked them for directions to the closest church and ended up telling them honestly our situation and that we didnt have money for the bus to get to where they were trying to send us to. Ah, cute Mr. Ian said well, just come home with us and I'll just drive you over to the Baptist church or something. So Barbara and Ian walked us to there precious park side house and ushered us into there cozy living room. At this point I was so happy to be with a cute, comforting old couple that I was feeling chatty. Barbara starts fixing us "Lunch" because we hadnt had any lunch. However it ended up being lunch and "Tea" (which is what they call dinner.) She heated us up some sausage rolls. While we ate those she chopped up a tomato, sliced some cheese, spread some Tartar sauce on white bread and layered the ham on top of it all. Hahaha! Oh! That was the best ham sandwich I've ever had! Oh, but it didn't stop there! nope! She heated us up Slavoes or something like that which is the Kiwi version of a hot dog, and we HAD to have one each since they are so New Zealandish. Yummy, I didnt complain a bit! Okay well then she sets out a apple for each of us and then the slammer happened: she casually placed Ians favorite dessert on the table... CHOCOLATE CAKE. What in the world?!! Thank you Jesus! Look at that! Abby and I just looked at each other and I almost lost it laughing at how crazy the whole thing was! Of course since Barbara had brought out Ian's favorite dessert she wanted to bring out her favorite dessert which was like a chocolate oatmeal cookie. So I stuffed that into my face too:)

The whole evening she had been on and off the phone which a lady at her church who was sympathetic to our situtaion and eneded up announcing Devin would be sleeping in their guest bed and Abby and I were going to their fellow church members home. What a glorious home it was! Laurainne was a lovely half scottish half kiwi lady who took us into her home and made us feel right at home! Two complete crazy young people strangers and she willingly shows us her guest room with a full size and twin size bed connected to a shower room. Oh! Heaven! She had turned the electric blanket on and set towels out for us and everything. Again, I just laughed - how are people so open and generous like this? WOW. Needless to day I slept like a baby that night under about 5 cozy comfy blankets warm and cuddly! Thank you Jesus - now I really was able to relax.




Sunday -

We had been showed around the kitchen the night before so we fixed ourselves breakfast that morning and waited for Devin and Ian and Barbara to pick us up for church. I wrote them thank you notes at that point because I had to do something even that meager to tell them how much we were SO blessed! Well Ian and Barbara go to very charismatic, enthusiastic, hip young church and I loved it! Non of the stoic hymn singing organ playing worship - Ian and Barbara where clapping loudly, dancing and raising their hands up so freely! Oh by the way, Ian has the sweetest sense of humor and laughed so lovingly at/with us the whole time we were with them - I really appreciated that.

During the church service we were told to turn around and greet someone new. I turned around and met Rissa and Jenna. Two cute girls who we, for some reason went right into it with and told them straight away that we were with YWAM. No biggie, we made a little more small talk and continued with the service. After the service ended we turned to go and Rissa said she lives a few minuets from Oxford and wanted to take us three out to lunch! WHAT? So Ian and Barbara stood in the parking lot with us in a circle and we all prayed for each other. That was a very precious, totally meaningful, amazing moment to hear that couple talk to Jesus for me and about us. My heart was touched. They were amazing and we are totally going back to visit them! They're so close by and they almost feel like grand parents to us now!

Well Rissa and Jenna take us to lunch and for me we had the most refreshing conversation of the whole weekend that afternoon. We just talked about our weekend, and about YWAM and encouraged them in their walk with the Lord. This was the cool thing though: Rissa told us on the way to lunch that she thinks we're a total answer to prayer bc on the way to church she asked God for a sign and asked Him if she should go for YWAM once she got done with highschool. HA! SHe sat directly behind 3 ywamers in the middle of there faith week - can't get much closer to signing up for a DTS then that! hahaha
She was so fun to talk to and she took us all the way back to base and got a short tour - hopefully she'll pursue it!


--------
And now i'm back safe and sound! I have to be honest and say it wasnt that much fun until we were with Ian and Barbara and oh, this is my favorite! haha - so right before we went to the other lady's house for the night Barbara insisted that we have a cup of "Milo" with them because it is totally New Zealandish and we can't leave NZ with out trying it! It tasted a lot like Ovaltine so I like it. The best part was that she brought out some TimTams, which are recglangular, chocolate covered wafer cookies. Abby was so cute and told Barbara about our TimTam Slams that we do here - which is bighting off the ends of the cookie and using it as a straw to sip up your Milo/ hot cocoa with and then slurp up the warn melty cookie before it falls into your cup! Barbara insisted that she and Ian try it so we showed them and then all five of us did a Tim Tam Slam! Ahahahahaha - it was SO great! So funny:)

That's the epic tale folks. It's been an overload of information about God and the Bible the past 6 weeks and with this weekend squished in between I feel overwhelmed and ready to leave "Faith Weekend" in the past. What an Incredible God adventure it was!

MOROCCO!

Our backpacking school has just decided all the destinations for outreach and finalized the teams of leaders and students going to each location. The locations include: Thailand, Morocco, India, New Zealand, and Laos.

After much time of prayer personally, talking to my family, as well as prayer and deliberations among the school leaders I have chosen, and been selected for an outreach team  that will not be staying in New Zealand!
For two months starting December 20 I will be backpacking in MOROCCO!


Woohoo!

I know this will come as a shock so let me explain.

In preparing for this YWAM adventure the information available concerning outreach phase was vague as to destinations. We are going in the backpacker ministry spirit of meeting backpackers in Morocco as well as figuring out where YWAM bases are located in Morocco and working with long term missionaries contacts already settled in the towns and cities. I decided at the beginning of the outreach location presentation from the leaders last week, that I would be open and told God that my heart would be sensitive to anything the spirit was telling me. So as they went through each country my heart was met with peace in considering the country of Morocco. Nothing came up against any of the other countries, but for Morocco I felt God saying "Hey, yea Kathryn.... Put that one down as your first choice and let me lead you on a faith adventure." So warily I prayed more and nothing but confirmation met me. Once my choice was turned in I spoke with my family and no opposition or unrest met them either. The Lord has this outreach totally in his hands and I am thrilled to be traveling to Africa in a matter of weeks!

Everyone on my team is actually from the US! There are three of us girls and three guys. . We will be meeting weekly as a team and we have already begun to pray about the Lord's vision for this team. We will have the flexibility to map out which towns and cities we want to travel to and how long we feel the Lord wants us to stay in each location. This will be quite the Holy Spirit led adventure!

I would love prayer for our team to begin to unite and connect with the Lord's vision for our outreach. We will begin learning a lot about the Moroccan culture, religion, food, climate etc. Thank you for all your prayers and support while I was planning to stay in New Zealand for the whole 5 months, and now I especially ask for your prayers as we prepare and venture to Morocco with the Gospel!

All Blacks

Tonight is the Rugby World cup final game.
New Zealand vs. France.

DUN DUN DUN

Its going to be epic and you should watch it.
Go All Blacks!

And one of the best parts? Apart from them beating everyone and being World Champions? The Haka. A Maori traditional war dance done before battle to intimidate the enemy. It's  legit. Woo

Calling and Destiny

There's a difference between God's plan and God's will. God's plan: its how He's gonna get you to His will - and you may change it. God's will: its where He's taking you and it won't ever change.

The call must have an eternal value - ministry is the vehical God uses to fulfill His calling. be driven by the call not the minstry.

This calling is an invitation from God.

Speak the Word of God, then you release Words of Life - the Life of God.

The anointing that comes from within you - you'll feel it even when you're alone - you carry it inside you always. Anointing can fall onn you but only in a public place for specific ministry to people.

Remember:

Strengthen you ability to hear God through prayer and fasting.

Gods main call is to people, not projects

Seperate personal dreams from vision God has gven you

There will be wilderness experiences (Gal 4;19)

Fight for your destiny

Cultivate a teachable spirit (Mt 18:1-4)

Life style of prayer and fating

Be faithful with small thing and you will be given more responsibility in time.

Femi Oni from England spoke this week on Calling and Destiny and those were some of the highlights of the notes from his lectures. He gave us so much good juice material that I know I'll continue to soak it in for weeks to come. So hopefully there will be more to come on this subject! He was is gifted in encouraging fellow believers and hearing from the Lord for specific prayer needs in a persons life. He was able to pray into my life and help me see clearly what had been holding me back in my past and how to step forward into freedom. Every morning I now pray " Lord show me who I am in you today!" He was so kind and fatherly and encouraged me to make a huge collage, collecting different pictures and words and scriptures that describe my personality and passions as the Lord reveals to me over the next few months. Its so exciting!! Thank you for your prayers - my spiritual life has already been turned upside down!

I was sick this past weekend so sorry for lagging behind on the blog posts! I'll try to be more diligent and next time post a fun, funny post :)
Mucho Love-o!

Good Morning New Zealand

Hello Hello!
I'm in NZ!
It was a good and fairly un eventful journey  - but I did figure out that I will always fly New Zealand Air whenever I can. So I guess I'll be planning many trips back! haha. They have the most colorful, pretty flight attendant outfits ever. They are so welcoming and helpful and of course, they're accents...a-mazing.:)

I went in and out of being nervous. Whenever that would happen I would feel car sick and fidgety - but for the most part on the long 12 hr flight from LA, I was able to sleep, despite being in a middle seat. In order to get us on NZ time they gave us dinner at 10:30/11ish which was NOT what i wanted to be doing, I was ready to sleep. But i watched a movie, ate as much food as I could manage, prayed some and feel asleep for about 7 hours.

When we got to Auckland it was still dark outside and cold.  My chaco covered feet were freezing as walked out of the terminal around 7:30 am after going through customs, and having my boots cleaned by the funny NZ customs man (who made me feel right at home!) I had to catch a bus to the domestic flight terminal and a very helpful air line worker immediately saw the look of confusion on my face, tried to carry by heavy bags for me and explained when and where my connecting flight would be! God was so good to provide so many nice people in my path! I accidentally ordered a shot of espresso at an airport restaurant, instead of a cup of coffee...and sorely over paid - c-est la vie! haha It was gross btw

I got very nervous on my flight to Christchurch, esp about if I would be able to find the YWAM staff picking me up. I walked by them at first and they didnt recognize me, so when I walked by them after getting my bag I finally got connected.

So the van we rode in, the driver drives on the right side and the sliding door is on the left side...i was trying to climb in the right side window haha. The two girls i sat between on the ride to the base both ended up being twins! it was crazy! one was identical and one had a brother. So we swapped twin stories. That was comforting and a good ice breaker. The Oxford Mountains were dead ahead of us and Beautiful! Snow capped and sky scraping. And we passed a few sheep farms. Those sheep and lambs are so CUTE and fluffy!!

I live in a house right down the rode from the main classroom and dining room...its just a short walk through the Anglican church parking lot. It has a beautiful painted mural on the side of its office building too...I might go there in the morning. It's either the Anglican church or the Baptist church, which is apparently very charismatic - so we'll see!

The people her on base, and my fellow students are so interesting and lively! I can't wait to here their stories! The few girls I've met in my house(which sleeps around 20) have all had wonderful stories of the Lord's provision and prodding for them to come to Oxford and do a DTS. There is also a Justice DTS going on so we are mingled in with those student for lecture phase. My two roommates are doing Justice DTS.

Well, I want to thank everyone for their fervent prayers for my safety! The Lord was gracious and safely got the plane across the Pacific ocean during the night. Oh! I hope you all had a good Thursday, because I never experienced September 29th. But Saturday has been great! Enjoy yourself!:)

It is chilly here, as they are transistioning into Summer. I wore my scarf and wool socks to bed because our rooms seem to hold to coolness and it is pants and coat weather for sure. I can't tell you exactly the tempature because it's all Celcius, and that makes no sense to me! haha

Alright, I am going to go get ready for bed. Last night I went to sleep at 9pm and slept until 11am this morning - oh what a glorious 14 hours that was! And, I have to say, from the bay window out our kitchen, it was a glorious thing to say "Good Morning New Zealand" and slowly let this reality sink in.
Love love love from New Zealand!

Favorite Things in Boone Town, for now...

My favorite things to do in Boone:

Eat dinner at Coyote Kitchen.
Get a giant cinnamon roll at Macados
Drive up to the top of Howards Knob
Go get scared out of my mind at Twisted Falls
Window shop and meander the streets of down town Boone
Sit and talk at a coffee shop, engaging my friends in meaningful convos.
Browse TJMaxx...okay so you can do that in any big city - but Boone's tj maxx is pretty  legit!
Go run at the greenway.
String up my hammock in the warmth of the mountain sunshine and swing and think
Get a soy chai latte from Higher Grounds
Drive to the Blue Ridge Parkway and pick an overlook to explore and enjoy the view.
Try to canoe around Price lake:) *cough, haha J and S
Go to the Wholly Worm festival with my twin.
Go to walmart late at night with Betty - just like old times.
Talk about hiking the Profile Trail up Gransfather mtn... one day that will happen!
Go to the dollar days at Grandfather Mtn in April
Find cool Friday/Saturday night live folk music to enjoy.
Chill at Earthfare from early morn to late evening.*ahem, again usually with J & S
Go to contra dances
Enjoy the interesting, "Boonie" people who live here.
Go to ASU foot ball games....expect I wont do that this year.
Go snowboarding!!!
Sledding anywhere.
Go leaf-looking.

Well, that about covers my activities in Boone. I hope to make new traditions and go on explores and adventures when I return to this lovely small mountain town.

Hello 5 days

Well folks, there are 5 full days in my life, in the states, for the remainder of this interesting year of 2011.

There are a lot of things running through my head. For instance, will I see everyone I want to see and spend time with those I really need to get together with? That one is easily remedied. Then there's the thought of leaving family and missing the Holidays with them. That one is sad. Also I think about my return and the events to unfold in 2012. I will let those things just come though because there's no to stress.

Thinking in terms of the YWAM experience though? Well, I'm not that nervous. I dont especially like flying alone... but c'est la vie! I'll just make friends and sleep. I'm not fretting about the finances either. I now have $1100 left to raise so I'm encouraged by that! The Lord provides to His children doing His will, thank you Jesus for that! I don't really know what to expect about the base in Oxford, or the leaders, or the lectures. I think it's better to go into it with a few expectations as possible.

These are my goals for this adventure!
-Defining my-self. Valuing myself my feelings, my likes and dislikes and coming into myself.
-Completely having my identity in Christ. My fulfillment, my purpose and my goals being eternally centered and my security in Jesus my savior.
-Healing. I need to complete the processing of the traumatic life situations of the past 7 years. I realize I need to sort through Mom's sickness, her death, my relationship with her then and now, as well as my current family situation and the events that occurred after December 26th, 2004.

One of my favorite quotes is
" The happiest people in the world are those who do the most for others."
Booker T. Washington

I hope to become someone who lives her life serving others in Jesus' name.

This morning I was encouraged by a word from Oswald Chamber:

"The goal of the missionary is to do God's will, not to be 


useful or to win the lost. A missionary *is* useful and *does* 


win the lost, but that is not his goal. His goal is to do the will 


of his Lord."


My goal is to go and do the Lord's will and I believe deep down He wants me to achieve the


 goals I wrote above and find myself IN HIM. wooooooo!!!!! I'm so EXCITED!!!!


Love love love!

From NC to NZ

So even though the space between C and Z in the alphabet is 24 letters, the space between North Carolina and New Zealand is much, much, MUCH greater.

On Wednesday, September 28th I will be flying from Charlotte to LA then LA to Auckland, then Auckland to Christchurch, then by car to the final destination of Oxford New Zealand!

Today the Lord brought to me a wonderful new friend who will be my Communications Coordinator while I'm in NZ. Tempest is an answer to prayer even though I didn't know I was praying for her help! Being detailed oriented, she is a life saver to my preparations because my strengths do not necessarily lie in organization and taking care of the nitty gritty details. SO I am very thankful!

I wish I could be in three places at once. Or maybe 5. I wish I could be with my Cherokee Cove family  for the next two weeks because they are just that, my family.
I wish I could be in Johnson City with Lizzy, because she is my twin and there is few bonds much deeper than that of twins.
I wish I could be in Newport News, VA with Tanner and Beth babysitting Judson. They are so fun and funny and I loved sleeping on their couch last week - it's a super comfy couch:)
I wish I could be with my Aunt Libby all the time, and I also wish the flight to NZ went to Venice. Then I could travel again with my amazing Auntie and have a grand time. She is such a good friend.
I wish I could be in Boone with Jamie, Sarah, and a huge handful other wonderful friends and family.

This trip isn't going  to last forever... but still I am a little emotional about this big adventure and the people I will leave, but happily return to in February.

I dreamt last night about taking a down pillow and rolling it into a tight cylinder of 1/2 inch diameter. Then everyday I would easily stuff it into my backpack and grab it at night and woosh! it would unroll and fluff back up beautifully. The translation: I am also wishing I could take my big special pillow with me:)

Thank you everyone who has donated to me already! I really truly appreciate your support!
Thank you for praying for me as well!
I am so thankful for my support team at my church and in Boone. You all bless me!

The count down begins! 

UPDATE

Hey there friends!
This post is sweet and simple, and well, to the point.

Here is the update:
I have about $3500 - to stay in NZ for three months I need a total of $4410 - $1000 dollars to go! YAY!
Also I need $3320 for the outreach phase which is due is October 30th.

I am learning to surrender my thoughts and worries daily to Christ.
He will provide.

If you feel lead to donate mail checks to
126 Loblolly Lane Boone NC 28607
or PO Box 47, Oxford, North Canterbury 7443, New Zealand
or donate online at ywamoxford.org

Sitcom

My Sitcom life:

The past few months I have accumulated quite a collection of memorable moments. My sister in law told me they could make a hit sit com show of my weekly/daily comical encounters.

Let's see, oh there's a very memorable day at Cherokee Cove that will just make me miss that place even more once I leave.

Libby had rescued a baby skunk. It was so tiny! So cute... it's name was flower... I actually blogged about him (refer to Mr. Flower.) So, the day we had him in the office, we had made a little box with warm wash clothes and put him under a light. Later, we figured out that the light was use-less because it was an energy efficient bulb that doesn't give off any heat ha! Sam and Libby went to Boone for some errands, and  to get some baby skunk food. We were going to  start him on Pedi-life  or something, it has a lot of electrolytes. During the course of the morning he started squeaking! It was pitiful and my heart melted. I was trying to make him even more comfortable when all of a sudden the cry goes through the conference center that The Kitchen Health Inspector arrived! Panic! Everyone knows to get out of the kitchen and let the experienced adults take over the last minuet tweaks to ensure a passing grade. Oh sheesh, Stu yells up to me to get some files from last year, some official documents and to sit in on the review meeting and I flipped out (in my mind.) I had a squeaking baby skunk, which by the way is highly unsanitary, in the office so I hid him behind some filing cabinets and prayed he would wiggle free of his box and squeak up a storm. Stu didn't even realize that Mr.Flower was upstairs, and that was better for all of us. Once the Lady left I discussed with Dwayne the chances the poor thing had to live...and Stu immediately interjected and made it a for sure negative possibility that baby skunk would live to see the next days' sunshine. Once Sam got back we tried feeding it... but ultimately I sat back and laughed really hard because of course the day the Health Lady decides to show up I have to smuggle around a precious baby skunk to insure the Lady knows Cherokee Cove really is a sanitary camp. ha!

Hmm, another good story would be the end of the summer dinner reunion with my homeschooling friends.

Ok! So first off, I'm getting dressed talking to Sarah and Jamie... get all the pieces of my ensemble worked out and then go to put on my one pair of comfortable pumps that I actually look natural walking in. I realize then, that in the darkness of my closet I grabbed my left foot pump, and then one of my sisters left foot black pumps too. Awesome, I go running out the door, zoom back home with one shoe on one shoe off. That problem solved, we go to Psseghettis for dinner. I was starving so when my plate of pasta in herbs and olive oil came I dug in. Naturally, with spaghetti... you slurp up the noodles. I slurped and slurped away. I confess I was a little frustrated with the fact that most of my friends were dating beautiful, wonderful people and I was kind of jealous. I really just wanted to be claimed by someone, and to have someone pay for my meal happily, and to just be his. Hence the aggravated slurping. I go to the bathroom and look  in the mirror, and YES there are oil stains from my slurping and the noodles splashing the oil onto to new top. For the love! Whatever. I mopped for a minuet and joined the rest of the group. Once we left we decided to meet back up at Crave. We got there early, and they were setting up for some DJ. It was really quiet and a weird atmosphere since there were hardly any people there. Since they had some special DJ they were marking everyone under 21with and X on their hand. No biggy, I dont really care that everyone knows I can't legally drink, I've made it this long, I'll make it another night. Well.... Jamie and I sat at a booth and discussed life and fashion and personal  tastes and Justin and Jackson joined us and I was relaxed so I was lounging, resting my face on my hands, sitting comfortably. Ok, well we decided to cosmic bowling because Crave was a flop at that point. We get in the brightly lighted bowling ally and Jamie says  - what is that on your face?! Ummm what? We figured out I had rested my cheek on the permanate marker X and it had imprinted on my face! Oh sheesh! Nothing ever goes quite like expected haha. Again, I'm not purposefully trying to blunder everything...its  just natural. haha

Now, let me tell you about my night the other night. As Jamie as my witness, I don't typically try to terrorize pedestrians, and I'm a fairly safe driver.

It was raining... we were meeting Lizzy and Jackson at Sweet Frog, and it is always crowded in that parking lot. I'm easing around the shopping center strip and I stop to let someone back out. Jamie commented on some bumper stickers on a car to our right, and then said something about a gun  association.. I was a little confused, while trying to process what she said, and read some bumper stickers and I thought oh! i'll just pass this car and find another spot to pull into. Right as I let my foot off the brake this innocent game renting college guy hits the hood with his free hand and spins to the right side of the car. He had this look of panic, then relieve, and a half smile because of his close to death experience didn't kill him. Jamie screamed, I screamed, and stopped breathing and then held out my free hand towards the guy in apology, fervently repeating "I  AM SO SORRY!" Gosh we were freaked out. In my defense...my minimal defense that is, he was crossing the rode really close to my car instead of clearing it by at least 3 feet. Anyway! I was shaking and finally parked and couldn't breath and felt lower than a slug, and so Jamie and I ran through the rain to go find him in the Game stop store and apologized to his face. He really appreciated that, and was just fine... but I was so scared for him still. I told him to have a safe night and humbly scurried out of the store. I had to sit for a while and catch my breath! Poor guy! To this day I still get crap about identifying pedestrians and not terrorizing them. WHEW. That was bad. I guess its only comical because everything is ok now.

I have some really good unintentional play on words like:

"Ivan Poisy" which means Poison Ivey

"Heidiferrous - Ferrous is a strange middle name." No kathryn, that's a play on adventurous. ha!"

"You look demented!" You  mean deformed?

"I  love that artist Katie Hertwig!" Ummm, Katie Herzig?

"Aren't all puppies quadruplets?" 

There will be a follow up post. There will be necessary additions, I'm sure of it. :)
Peace out cub Scout.

So Stoked

         Does any one else notice that it is quickly approaching September which = beautiful leaves, warm sweaters, and the birth of new routines? New routines at least for students, and young adults embarking on jobs searches and like me, new adventures. I fall into thinking that time stands still and the happiness of summer and long, sun-filled days will last eternally. Maybe in heaven! But not right now. Not in Boone, not at Cherokee Cove, not even at the loving homes of close friends. Love is eternal, but not the earthly evenings. My bond with these friends and families is lovely. Christ unites us ultimately, and nothing  can separate our fellowship except short periods of time. In the end my Christian friends and family will always be with me, praising God for eternity side by side. YAY! This prospect fills me with joy and allows long distances and life times apart seem bearable. This reality though, that has begun to sink in, is also driving me to reach out and share more freely my faith, because I want all those  in my sphere of influence to fellowship with the Lord forever and ever and ever. Hence my YWAM commitment for 5 months.

        My new routine starts September 28th when I fly from Charlotte to LA, LA to Auckland, and Auckland to Christ Church, New Zealand. Although, I'm thinking my life won't really have routine until March 2012. From testimonies of other people who have been in YWAM and the mere nature of my outreach of backpacking through NZ, nothing will be too usual, too routine. The question arises in my mind then, because my Outreach will be primarily lead by the Holy Spirit to the right towns and peaks, trails and paths to where his children need encouraging and the lost need to be found, routine seems to hinder the leading of the 'divine appointments' if you will. Certain times in life, certain circumstance, require routine so that financial security is insured, and good stewardship of the Lord's provision is accomplished. However, I am excited the next adventure is not scheduled out, and that perhaps the next several years of my life won't be predictable. I don't see anything negative with either life style, except the smashing of the Holy Spirits prompts and the dulling of spiritual sensitivity by getting in a comfortable groove.

Those are just my musings, and I pray that I will remain steadfast in the word and tuned into the nudges of the Holy Spirit. I'm getting nervous though! Traveling so far away! Being all alone! New people, places, cultures WAH! Jesus is with me. I will not freak out! In fact, I will  channel the nervous excitement into positive self talk and memorizing scripture so that my mind doesn't get carried away with falsehoods and lies. AHH. I am so stoked. PRAY with me.

Howdy

So for everyone who is an avid "Add to the Beauty" reader:) I am still preparing for NZ and I am extremely sorrowful the blogging has been put on the back burning for a time.

But hurrah! It's over, the season is changing. It was like a joyous summer (metaphorically and literally) and now I feel like I'm moving into a beautiful, precious Spring time.Well, I'm anticipating a spring at least... it could be blizzard or blazing flamming hot summer. I'll keep you posted.

Over the past couple of weeks I have had lots of wonderful reunions!
I reunited with Rebecca:

That was a good time! After all these years we are still giggly... and Let's Be Honest, quite truthful and very open. (this will be, in a sense, very casual) (am i retarded? yes)(that just proves that he is so much like my cousin) PS becca, I saw your contra crush in boone town today:)

I also reunited with Jamie actually too... I forgot to mention that before but she is unexpectedly home already, and I am completely and totally blessed. Jesus is really loving on me by having her in Boone right now.

Another sweet reunion time was with pretty little sarah brown.... well, IS, present tense. It is still sweet , as always. Oh and don't forget - respect the stach yo

I got some Fam fam time too! I love sitting, or riding, or playing with Judson while talking and being with Tanner and Beth -and Beth is PREGO again!!!! Pray for her morning sickness, little Jr. is being a little upsetting for her womb.

Well thats all for now folks. THE END

I Kiwi NZ

SO! Everyone should be receiving support letters from  me with in the next week or so. If you do not, let me know/send me your address and I will gladly mail you my hand written and designed letter!

Well, in the mean time I have been brain storming different shirt ideas. You see, I was told to look into fund raising through selling personalized t-shirts and for Lizzy's friend, it worked reallly well. I thought, hey why not, I love cool shirts, so does every body else, let's try!

Then I started drawing out designs...and quite frankly every hand drawn doodle in my journal was just not working for me. I showed Jamie some of my scribbles and we googled popular New Zealand art etc. The ideas started flowing better and by the end of the evening she had down loaded a trial of Adobe Photo shop programs and kept my journal to stay inspired. Today she called me and had FOUR  designs ready for presentation - secretly I just know she will have some sort of career, maybe mini maybe major! in graphic design :) she is a-mazing!

Here are the final products... you'll just have to wait and see, and be invovled in my life,  to see which design is mass produced for t-shirts and postcards etc! woo!

r.e.a.l.i.t.y.

So it's been almost a month since I've blogged. A lot has filled up my time, it's nice! Although I do love to write. But today I'm going to be introspective for a little while. I'll let the goods time roll down the page of another post.

Well, I got excepted to YWAM in Oxford, New Zealand. You would know that if 1)you read the blog avidly or 2) you know me. :) WOOOOOOO!
It's actually taken the last three weeks for it all to soak in. I've begun the process of fundraising....$9000. whoo-ie big numbah. Actually, I have a goal to send out my letters this week. I have work to do before that gets done.  But! It will be finished this week!

The thing is, as exciting as the whole thing is... I've recently been sobered by this new adventure. Life will be full of joy when following the Lord, but it's also a serious matter, and the seriousness of real life is setting in. The money isn't too much of a worry. God is never limited by money and I have many testimonies from friends to back that up. Now it's a matter of being wise and creative with my time and resources to allow the money to flow in.

The fact that I'm living out of a back pack for 4 and 1/2 months isn't too daunting either. I just have to whittle my clothes down to a weeks worth and some layers and fit it all comfortably in my pack - i'm kind of excited about the challenge though! haha how few things can I actually live on and feel cute wearing 5 days in a row! :)


But then, we just went on a 16 mile hike on the Appalachian Trail over 2 and 1/2 days and God reeeeally humbled me. I was so sure I would be strong, never out of breath and always funny, and fun to be around. HA! By the second day God had slammed in my face that I am not as strong as I think I am, and that I need to learn patience and perseverance when dealing with people. It was a fun trip all in all, but it was definitely the nessecary wake up call that I needed to get me out of the awesome-DTS-dream-world-that-its-going-to-be -heavenly- and- perfect-all-the-time! I'm very good at making my own ideas reality for myself, instead of being aware of what is actually in front of me.

Last year I was learning how to live in the moment and not yearn and worry, now I'm learning how to be realistic with myself without gettin myself down. Being a dreamer... reality seems like the world is coming to an end and  that I should be depressed. But thats totally not true - reality just means that I have to make the most of my situations I guess, and continue to find joy in the Lord. Back packing is not always fun. It rains and clothes get heavy. People get annoying. Your feet fall asleep in your hammock when you're trying to sleep through the night. Don't forget the sweat either! It's enjoyable if you have the right personality, and lets face it, if your in shape too. Basically I have to get in shape between now and October - that is def. high on the priority list bc I really hate wheezing in front of strangers(esp ones with cute accents.) haha


I know that God had GREAT things in store - days like today remind me that I have to push through the "mire" of reality. I can't really muscel through it though, I am acutely aware that God has to help me. He has to help me through my selfishness, my impatience, my grumpiness, my moodiness, my well selfishness.


I am super stoked though! How amazing will it be to travel halfway around the world to talk about Jesus to people I meet hiking through the beautiful mountains of New Zealand?! Yea-ah! Woo!  Pray with me though as I prepare. God is definitely molding me, I can feel it. I'm not really resisting it - but it is not comfortable that's for sure. Its a great journey and I pray that I can glorify my Poppa in heaven through the highs and lows.


Whew, told ya I'd be introspective today. Praise Jesus for encouraging friends, family, and a reality in Christ that is far better than anything I can imagine!

Sappy the Love Song

This week at Cherokee Cove is the 4th annual Song Writer's Camp!
I love this week, it is so inspirational, and touching.
I always try to squeeze out some musical  creativity with the constant ho and hum of instruments filling the air.
Two years ago I taught my self how to whistle, and last year I tried to compose a camp song to a T-Swift tune (that was lameo) ha. This year, Hunter said she would sing a song that I write so the pressure's on!
But also this year I have had a flash back to when I was 13.


Rebekah Ford(Garner), Eliza and I were driving around town one day and it was raining. Some how we got to talking about love songs and were inspired to pen our own!

Sappy the Love Song was born.

I only really remember the first verse and chorus - it's hilarious!

"Down came the rain, it was so wrong.

Your glance your smile, all so long gone.

Stop my tears with your smile

and I'll be yours for a long long while!

Cause the the sun is gone

My heart is dark!

My life is bleak 

and my car's in park!"

We also had something about a shark and washing 'him' out of our hair like shampoo. I wish we had recorded a video or something! Or even written it all out because Rebekah played it on the piano so we should have written out the chords. Oh, yes, good times. :)

My Adventure!

Hello Friends and Family!


 What do you think of when you hear someone say "New Zealand?" Maybe you think of the beautiful landscape panoramas from "Lord of the Rings" and "Narnia." Maybe you think that would be a nice vacation spot. Well I think of back packing, and Youth with a Mission.


  Youth with a Mission - YWAM is an international mission organization who aim to "Know God and make Him known." There are YWAM bases all over the world and the Lord led me to apply to a base in Oxford, New Zealand. I will be apart of a small group of young people spending 12 weeks learbing about the character of God, then immediately followed by 8 weeks of outreach, back packing across the country. Back packing DTS's vision is to reach out and evangelize to back packers, as well as disciple and edify missionaries on our adventures.


Lecture phase starts October 2nd, and outreach phase ends February 17th. I would love your prayers, advice and support. I ask you to begin praying with me for this exciting opportunity, and will keep you posted as the time grows closer.


By the Grace of God,


Kathryn

J.L.B.

Every time I miss someone... guess what I do? I blog. Oh yea.

So I'm missing Jamie Leigh Barbee.
She's in Liberia for about 5months.
She is a wise, godly friend.

If I write too much I might start crying. So! Here are some favorite pictures of this lovely lady, and myself! :)
Oh and I feel like writing you a song Jamie!

"Oh oh oh, JAMIE!
J-A-M-I-E!
You're the only one for MEE
J-A-M-I-E!
You're face is so preeety!
oh oh oh JAMIE!
I love you sooooooo MUCH!
J-A-M-I-E!"

Haven't picked a tune yet, but I'm sure you can imagine my fantastic voice singing to you. haha!

Thank you for celebrating my 20th birthday with me!!

This is where I kissed you, for no real reason, and then felt awkward haha!

Right after this we made that Hey Mickey video - SO FUNNY

 And our beach trip!! That was the worst burn of my LIFE. I'm glad we suffered together and had to watch "An Englishmen went up a Hill and came down a Mountain" baha

 The RubyK Designs was a pretty fun endeavor too. You make a great business partner.
And I love how you appreciate my absentmindedness and word usage... and incorrect pronunciations.
I esp, love how we could read books out loud, discuss deep topics, and have the best time being nerdy! :)

Cuties

We have a promising modeling career.

 God blessed me this spring with exactly what my soul needed. A friend to deepen my faith and be a companion through hard, dark moments. I would've never guessed this would happen - but I praise God.

See you soon then!
xoxo

I don't know.

I. d. k.

Does anyone like to hear that phrase?

Where are we going to dinner? - I don't know.
Where is the cash I gave you? - I don't know.
Where are we?? - I don't know.
Do you love me? - I don't know.
Are you going to do something about it? - I don't know.
What do you think? - I don't know.
Why don't you know? - Dunno.
Where did that baby skunk come from? - I don't know.
Why is the tail light broken? - I don't know...well actually..
What's your plan? - I don't know.

aaaahhhhhh
It'll drive you CRAZY!

Except for the last question. That question "What's your plan?" as in long term plan, I think it is an acceptable answer to reply with "I  don't know.
"
This answer has been coming up so much in my life I'm convinced God has that as a theme for this season of life. Maybe it's going to be a theme for the rest of my life! I would be okay with that.

I would be okay with not knowing because I believe the Lord shows you your direction one turn at a time. Not like a GPS with a creepy automated voice that doesn't know syllables and usually gets you confused. The GPS shows you the big picture of streets and intersections, but I think God likes showing you the intimate details of your surroundings as you go along. Because this life is so short, seriously why would we not stop to smell the roses? What would possess me to want to be in control of my whole life plan 50 years in advanced? I used to want to be secure in my own ideas, but clearly, oh  so clearly God has proven this a selfish and foolish path. He striped me, this past year, of constant fellowship with people. I learned to be still. I learned to truly find peace in just being with God... for more than 30mins.

Learning to be alone is so hard. I know now though that He just wanted to teach me to stop freaking out. I could get SO stressed and wound up about my future before my "alone season". God said "Hun Bun shush! I know where you're going, who you'll be around, how you will be loved, and I want you to chill out and let me take you!" "oh" This was so weird to me. (it is freeing!) Even Christian Culture still expects you to have a 10 year plan, get your degree immediately and work in a secure environment. I don't think this is a true calling  for very many believers. For some sure! For myself, no.

Well, not falling into that track leads me into the "I don't know" path.
So,watching all the Katherine Heigel chick flicks is fun, and she's a good actress and she's funny, but she usually plays a control freak who falls in love with someone who un-winds her. I've discovered I really don't want to be that wound up ever, and its not cute, not even for her.haha
I also believe that being a control freak is offensive to God because you are blatantly telling Him you are self sufficient and in no need for his omnipotent design for your life. Thats pretty bad... I fell into that though. Now I pray that I will always surrender everyday to the path set before me and to be able to be aware of my surroundings enough to "smell the roses" aka: talk to the little children, play cards with a group of teens, wash dishes with a mom. Its actually very fulfilling.

I really don't know how I'm going to  get my art degree. I don't know where I'll go to school and what job I'll end up with in a year. I'm uncertain of my plans this fall, but those are falling into place by the grace of God and I am very sure I will led to the next destination by clear open and shut doors.

I don't want to hinder myself from hearing God by making long term plans of my own. I have goals and things I want to do with my life. The order of those adventures are in God's hands. I talked to a family yesterday who are in a "scary" situation by the world's eyes. There answer to "What job will your husband try to get now?" and "are you going into full time missions?" is "I don't know...yet." But to me its exciting,  and to God I believe it's pleasing and glorifying because they have laid everything down at His feet and are waiting for His direction. Beautiful.

I love Psalm 51:17
My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; 
   a broken and contrite heart 
   you, God, will not despise.


He will use a broken heart.
And I pray Psalm 90:17 for those I know who are working in the will of the Lord:


May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us;
   establish the work of our hands for us—
   yes, establish the work of our hands.

Mr. Flower

Ever seen Bambi?
It's been a while since I've seen it.
Well, the other day I was sitting in the office when Libby Lou comes frantically up the stairs telling Sam and I "there's a baby! a tiny baby skunk! it was right outside laying on the driveway!" we were like what?! a baby SKUNK? i wasn't really sure about that one. I haven't really ever seen a skunk except road kill. Thus began the rescue mission of baby skunk. He was named Flower, thanks to our childhood movie Bambi! He  was the tiniest little guy, and SO cute with his little ears, black fur and adorable white spots and stripes.  Since his eyes weren't even  open yet it never occurred to me to dispose of him just because he would potentially grow up on day to spray anyone who threatened him. People kept curling their noses at the report of a baby skunk, but seriously, if you had seen him, you would have cooed. haha!

Libby looked up Skunk Care websites and when they went into town Sam got some baby electrolyte fluid for him. It was really pathetic while they were gone though, because I was babysitting him in the office...and he started squeaking at me!! Naturally I had to hold him and clean him off. Well that's when I found a huge gash on his back probably from where the dog found him and started "playing."

Oh it was sad. It was a huge tear in his lower belly area and so I got a very nice lesson on skunk anatomy. I almost dropped him in the sink when discovered it though - so gross! Eventually everyone at camp found out about him and where pretty pessimistic towards the little guy. Sam, Libby and I were pulling for him though. No one thought he'd make it through the night... but! That morning when I went downstairs I was sitting on the couch reading my Bible, enjoying the view and listening to the birds chirp. One bird in particular was pathetically whining and wailing.I was still half asleep so it took me about 5 minuets to realize it was Mr. Flower squeaking in his cozy pencil box and slowly crawling his way to edge. He was a fighter! He pretty much didn't stop wiggling the whole morning.

I was babysitting him again that morning and left him the car for 30 mins before he was going to ride with me to the mailbox. After breakfast I found him  out of his pencil box trying to snuggle into the vinyl seat!
 For a while he kept us company in the office... he kept wiggling and squeaking til we just couldn't handle it anymore. After his active morning we knew it was his last fight against death, so we softly spoke encouraging words to him like "go toward the light!" "go, Flower, go be with Jesus!" He finally did. RIP Mr.Flower 6/10/11.

So that's my skunk  story. I feel pretty proud of it :) who else can say they've nursed a baby skunk? Maybe I didn't quite nurse him back to life... but that's just  a technicality. jk!

Opal May Banner

Hey Grandma,

You're with Jesus now, WOO! And you're with Momma too.
I've been on a blogging kick lately Granma so I'm writing this one to you.

You've been a beautiful shining example of a godly woman, mother and grandmother. So kind, so sweet. The Lord inspired me to paint a picture for you. I wish I had been able to finish it while you were still here so I could've explained it to you. But I'll finish it in light of your legacy and pray that many people will be touched by your life.

 It's a little silly but I was listening to a new artist I was recently introduced to and I thought of you during his song "The ball game." You definitely didn't waste any time, in my opinion. Andrew Osenga sings  about not wasting any time, and of course it was applicable to you.
The Ball Game, Andrew Osenga

 Grandma, you gave everything you possibly could to your family, esp  your grandkids. I loved spending the night with you. Watching Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune habitually every time at 7pm. I learned to love how you would fall asleep while you  read me a bed time story. I would lay there and watch your blinking get heavier and heavier, and your reading get slower and slower. Then I'd nudge you and you'd sit right up and laugh at yourself. You always made me put vicks vapor rub on my chest when I had a cough too. I never like that. haha. And you always let me play with your lipstick! That was so fun:)

And we can't forget your beautiful flowers, and bountiful garden. Or the chickens! Oh, the famous Henrietta! She was so cute as a chick, but even cuter when she'd follow you around the yard and garden. I never quite understood why you sold her to those Mexicans... haha I always prayed they didn't eat her.

I loved how you'd always save a biscuit for Keilo. Our fat puppy dog LOVED you for that:)

Oh dear sweet Grandmother, there's much more to share and say. You are an inspiration to me. Tanner, Eliza and I are so blessed by your spoiling and generosity to us as kids. Bless you precious lady. I'm so glad you're with your beloved maker. I'll be seeing you soon then!

xoxo,
Kathryn

LIZZY

I'm just gonna need to be a little sentimental for moment.

Lizzy just left for an awesome summer job in VA to live with my brother's awesome family and she's gonna do an awesome job with the middle school girls she's going to mentor. No way around it! ha AWESOME.

But, she has up and left me again. SAD. And good. It's good, and we are still so close despite the distance. We will be meeting up in TX in a week or so. That's gonna be grrrreat!

Anyway, I am choosing to be thankful for the two or so weeks I've had with her. I mean, I AM thankful. I'm just selfish and want to be with her always!  So, I guess  I'll list off reasons why I'm thankful for that girl.

Start singing with me:

We've got so much so much so much soooo much so much so much so much  sooo much *CLAP* to be thankful for!!!

I've got Elizaaaa to be thankful for, I've got Eliza to be thankful for!

--Repeat chorus--

(that's a camp song if you are a little lost)

I'm thankful she appreciate's my love for Kung Fu Panda. It's a little weird yeah, but she's promised to take me to see Kung Fu Panda TWO! yessss

I'm thankful she has good taste in music and belted the tunes with me all the way to cherokee cove. All the way until my voice was scratchy and I was coughing. And I'm thankful she likes my "Harmony" skills.

I'm thankful I have had all those fun times with  her freshman year of college... and I got to be the third wheel so many times:) Actually, it is sometimes way more fun being the third wheel. Well, when you're a twin it's a little harder, but mostly more fun because the guy in love with her just can't interprete our language in looks. I know secretly I really annoyed you many times Eliza, being super stupid in front of your admirers, ruining (actually enhancing though:) the mood - but I got your back babe



I'm thankful for the way you lighten my mood, interprete my grumbles in the morning and laugh at my absent minded-ness.

I'm thankful for all the times we laughed reeeeally hard too. I haven't done that in a while. Thanks pal.

I'm thankful for your cuteness, like the ONE time we went snowboarding this year and you went down at 2mph and after the 3rd run you wanted to go home.GREAT FUN hehe - it was though, it  always is!

I'm thankful for the floppy brimmed hat you got me, even though it hides my boy hair. And i'm thankful  you love the Cra-zay boy hair.

I'm thankful for the time you turned right back around and came back to CC this week just to spend one more day with me. I was eating a few too many animal crackers, then I got your call and i was just SO happy!.

I'm thankful you don't mind sappy blog posts dedicated to you. :D

I really don't know how I'd deal with life the past 6 years without you. We never were really close until Momma died huh? I mean, in preschool it was hard to get over how you managed to have TWO boyfriends and send the other boys to chase me around and bury me in the gravel under the slide! haha. Then third grade when we had that love triangle going  on and you didn't  tell duncan to like me, you just took his snacks. good job! haha. And then cooking in the farm cabin and perfecting the cookie recipe, and laughing at me when I drove the tractor. And NOT teaching me how to clog! And being really cute and frustrated when I'd try to get  you to sketch with me. baha. And never going  back packing with me. And not  saving me from the wolf spider hahaha. And that one time with Rebecca at CC when we rode on TOP of four mattresses, stacked on the back of the four wheeler, in the rain down the rocky, muddy trail from  the Christmas cabin. Good times :)



Well you  know me I could ramble more. Which reminds me, I'm thankful you helped me edit out all my major run-on sentence paragraphs in my scholarship essays. Fun fun. And the road trips. super fun! Ahhh! and the "interstate flirting"! baha. Ok  i'm done. This is getting out of hand, I could write a book! yeah-ah!





Well my friend, Love ya.

MUAH!

xoxoxo