by Kimberly | Feb 4, 2013 | Uncategorized
I’ve been doing a lot of dreaming lately and living in reality. So, I was thinking of how the two of these can live in harmony with each other.
My dreams are just those: dreams. I have many ideas in my head and I want to see them come to fruition and be reality. Some of my dreams include: cards, books, clothes, stages. There are a lot of specifics behind those very vague dreams, but know some of them are just tucked away.
But how do I examine these dreams in light of my current reality – which I love?
1. Live during today. Don’t dream away your reality. I love giving kisses to my 4mo little boy. I love cooking meals for my husband. I love making our house a home. I love shooting photos with my iphone and my Rebel. I love sitting on my red couch and hearing the giggles of Little Buddy. I love getting to know our church family and practicing hospitality at Rainwood. But, I dream in the quiet times of the day.
2. Journal. I have a whole box full of journals that need to be used up. I’m doing better at it. I need to write down my dreams and what I want to do with them. For me, I’m not too specific because I think that would be discouraging. But I put down just enough info or sketch just enough to bring a little life to those dreams.
3. Pray. A lyric of a hymn says this about discouragement “take it to The Lord in prayer.” That is my husband and I have been doing. Taking some of these ideas to The Lord and seeing what He will do with them. He knows the every minutes of your day and of your life. He knows what you were designed and called to do (Eph 2.10). He will make it clear and He does care.
4. Examine. Why do you want to do those dreams that you are dreaming? Are they for your glory? Are they for His? Are they for your good or the benefit of others? Some dreams will just be for you – but others will be designed to benefit others.
5. Accomplish. While not neglecting your tasks that you need to accomplish today (housework, caring for your family, working, taking care of your body, time in the Word, etc), then make those dreams a reality. See if God will accomplish great things through for His name and glory. Design little girl’s dresses like a friend of mine did, shoot photography for a living like other friend’s of mine have done and are doing, whatever it is – work, as unto The Lord, not unto men.
What is in your head and in your heart? How do you dream big? How do you live off paper?
by Kimberly | Jan 29, 2013 | Uncategorized
Love her Valentine’s Day line of cards
Out of Central Florida
Oh cards just make me happy!
While i was in Orlando this past week, I was able to take the LB and get a quick peek into the exciting-to-me world of letterpressing. As most of you know, I love cards, make my own with my photography, and keep the post office in business by the amount of snail mail I still send out in an electronic world.
Pull up a seat in their store
9th Letter Press was introduced to me by a friend of the owner/designer, Isabel. She is creative and loves to doodle. How cool that she makes a living and blesses other people with her DOODLING! Sheli, the other runner of the show, seemed to handle the business side of affairs and handles the wholesale side of things – which they do a lot of right now.
For all the food lovers in your life? Color cards: red, yellow, green, and orange – coming your way soon!
These pens cards – I could by a whole slew of them!
I can’t show you a picture of the Valentine’s Day card I picked up for the Mister, but trust me, it is cute and he will love it (he also reads this blog sometimes, and I still want it to be a surprise. I could have dropped some serious money in there because everything I saw I could have found a purpose for and made your day by you receiving something so cute in the mail. They had feminine cards, generic cards, or cards that could be masculine in nature (cards to send to men are very difficult to find): fountain pens card and her nautical cards were among my favorite.
Wouldn’t you love to give this card to a certain Mister or Mrs? Or just get one in the mail from a friend?
I’m sponsoring a giveaway. One card that most people receive is a birthday card. So, there is a set of feminine gray and pink birthday cards (8 in total) ready to be sent out to the winner of this giveaway. Here are some ways you can enter – with each way giving you another chance for your name to be drawn:
These cards could be yours!
1. Leave a comment here and include which one of Isabel’s cards you would like to receive (visit her website).
2. Like KD316 on Facebook
3. Follow KD316 and Isabel9thLP on Twitter (and come back and leave your @handle on a comment)
4. Share this blog on your facebook page and tag me or KD316 in it.
This giveaway ends at midnight on Sunday, February 3 (for all you Super Bowl watchers) and I’ll announce the winner on Monday morning, February 4.
Thanks to Isabel and Sheli for allowing me to come and photograph their shop and get the scoop of letterpressing!
Pretty ribbons…makes all packages lovely
Monograms are all the rage – even in letterpressing.
by Kimberly | Jan 28, 2013 | mothering, parenting, Uncategorized
This past week I did a lot of driving as I was back and forth the length of I-4 in Florida. This provided me time to listen to Z88. I was listening to a Mark Schultz song and after sobbing, swo=iping tears, trying not to wreck due to my blurred vision through tears, I prayed aloud these three things for my son who was in the back seat.
1. I want him to know and love God.
As I read, pray through, and study Psalm 119 this year, I am seeing a lot of cohesiveness between knowing the truths of God and trusting them and being blessed by them. In John’s gospel, Jesus says that His sheep know His voice and elsewhere in Scripture God says that if we love God we will obey His commands (and we have to know them to obey them). I don’t really knnnowhich comes first: the knowing or the loving. Either way, we would not seek to know this love or know the Lover if the Lover had not first loved us. All of this life and a relationship with Him is because of grace. We know HIm because He has revealed Himself to us (Psalm 19, Gen 1, Rom 1, Rom 8). We love Him because He first loved us (1 John 1) We, as sinners, do not freely choose to love. But, I pray, that God in His foreknowledge, has predestined my Son to be His (Eph 1). Mister and I will raise our son (and any future children we might have if the Lord wills) in light of this (Prov 22.6, Deut 6). But, in the grand scheme of things, God has made the decision and knows if our son is one of His. We will see in time if Little Mister desires the things of God and runs hard after Jesus – knowing and loving Him.
2. I want him to love and be loved.
I want Little Buddy to know what it means to be loved and to love deeply. Is there pain in doing that? Yes! But you see and experience the world in a much brighter and better way when you know you are loved unconditionally and you are able to love to your fullest measure with one person. Do I know if it is in God’s plans for the LB to be married one day and have children of his own? No. But, again, we trust in God’s perfect plan and we will strive to raise him in such a manner that he will make a great husband and father one day. And if he is never married, then those traits will be good of a man of God!
3. I want him to see and change the world!
One of the bestEST aspects of my time being single (the other one is discipling many girls and living life with them) was the fact that I got to travel a TON! I was usually travling on my day off, weekends, or weeks or mission trips. I loved the freedom God allowed me so much time being single so I could see more of the world He created. That is one thing that the Mister and I love doing together – traveling. It started in our courtship and continued to our honeymoon (a two week, two country road trip) and continues now. I want LB to love to be in the car, plane, or train or boat or rikshaw or what have you! I want him to see God’s beauty in the Rockies or in Alaska or in Thailand or in Mexico or in NYC or in PEI or in China or in South America or in South Africa. I want him to know the beauty of sunsets and sunrices on every continent and in many different time zones. I want him to see the waves from every ocean that is on the face of the earth. I want him to go in search of wonder and explore all that God has created. I want him to go and learn to love cultures of every kind and see the beauty and diversity that God has filled this earth – and that seeing those sites would cause him to yearn for heaven. I want him to desire the nations for the glory of God.
What are your prayers for your children?
by Kimberly | Jan 23, 2013 | Uncategorized
This comes after a night of very little sleep for both me and the little mister. So, its just one of those days. But, even on one of those days, I must take every thought captive to the Risen Christ.
I have so many dreams. I won’t share them with you on here. Some of you know some, some are tucked very tightly in my brain and heart that not even my husband knows about them, I feel like sometimes if i tell them then none of it will happen and I’ll just look silly. Or unfulfilled. Or discontent.
As the Mister came home for lunch today , I had had a morning of an irritable crying 4 month old. For those who know the little mister, that is not typical, but when it happens I often don’t know what to do. I said to him in my I’m a great Mommy voice – Today is the day I don’t want to be a mommy.
Now before all of you Moms hate me or quit reading my blog or give me all this advice, know it was a moment of weakness and I was venting and crying to my husband, who completely understands that I wouldn’t trade the cute little mister for anything, but it was just a moment.
I told him that I was just trying to post a blog and he was fussy – though he was warm, fed, and clean. I finally got the blog published much later – as he finally went down for an afternoon nap.
As I was driving around Central Florida listening to Z88 (love the station) they read a verse – that we need to be “tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ Jesus forgave us.” I prayed right then that God would give me grace to be tenderhearted toward our sweet little boy. Tenderhearted because even when I throw temper tantrums at God He is tenderhearted toward me.
And then the song by Francesca Battistelli came on – Its Your Life – and these lyrics stood out to me: “Every day the choices you make, say what you are and who your heart beats for, its an open door, its your life.”
I know that I would never trade all the dreams in the world for one second of time with my little mister. So I pray that God would change my heart in a million ways to either fulfill those dreams in new ways, the same ways, or completely give me other dreams.
What do you do with your dreams?
by Kimberly | Jan 22, 2013 | Uncategorized
How do you write?
January is a hopeful month! With a new calendar, a new month, (for me, a new year of life), I always wonder what the new year will hold.
For me, I like to write, so I wanted some writing challenges this year. Besides continuing to write on the James Bible study I am working on (in between feedings and cuddling sessions with my 4 mo), I wanted to get back to writing on the blog, which definitely fell by the way side during the months of October-December.
One of the ways I propel my thoughts for writing is by reading. I pick up magazines in doctors’ offices to see if there are any articles I can respond to, even if it is just a sentence. Sometimes I will rip out the article or just jot down the quote in my phone. I may read a passage of a book, or a passage of Scripture and I’ll get a whole blog from those thoughts.
So, here are some ideas to attack reading and writing together:
1. Pick great books to read – because you’ll get more fill for your money and it will teach you how to write better.
2. Occasionally read a book that isn’t good – just to see what is bad about it (content or style) and then write a reaction, or just jot down some ideas as to why you don’t want to write that way.
3. Always have something to write down your thoughts on while you are reading. I usually read with a pen or pencil in hand. I underline and highlight and jot notes in the margins of my books. It is harder for me (and not near as much fun) with my e-reader.
4. After reading for a while, start forming sentences with the thoughts that you jotted down. If you quoted something the author said, make sure you cite your source. Ecclesiates says there is nothing new under the sun. We don’t have original thoughts this late in the game…we all got our ideas sparked by something or someone, but if you do quote someone please do not count it as yours.
by Kimberly | Jan 21, 2013 | Uncategorized
Comparison
But yours is better…
During my childhood, my family and I spent countless weeks up on the Suwannee River (whistling the tune now aren’t you?) in North Florida. When we weren’t spending time on the river, down by the lake with our cane poles, or cleaning fish, we played card games. I loved playing rummy. It was about the only activity we could do at night without getting eaten up by mosquitos.
Those card games were fun, and still are. But, the evil game of comparison is not so much fun, for my mind or my heart.
The game of comparison happens in every part of life. Here are some examples that I am experiencing right now:
1. This first one is really how this blog post started. I was introduced to a woman who has taught the Word for decades and faithfully gives up her time each week to rise early, make meetings, and teach others the Word. Instead of being grateful for her knowledge of the Word and thanking God that here was His daughter, soaking in His Truth day after day, year after year. I played the comparison game, and it led me down a road of despair. I didn’t do that. I didn’t get up at 5am on Fridays or wake up that early to spend time with Him. I felt accused by the evil one to jump into the I’ll never be that good so why do anything” pit. She offered no condemnation (Romans 8.1) and didn’t even brag about it, but simply states the exceeding joys that were hers because of the faithfulness of God rewarding her obedience.
2. How about in clothes? My husband and I often walk the mall during the cold months. Instead of being thankful for the clothes and accessories that are hanging in my closet, I think to myself how I would love that one.
3. How about in your physical body? Do you often desire to have someone else’s butt, thighs, chest, arms, abs, hair, eyes, etc? Do you wish you could wake up and look like those models on tv who wake up with their hair in perfect place and their makeup fresh and clean? My husband took a picture of me and baby sleeping one morning. I thought it was a cute picture but wondered why the actresses on television never woke up with chapped lips, I could see mine were. I didn’t’ immediately thank God for the little boy sleeping next to me, I instead complained and compared and was discontent.
4. This happens to me in blog world. I love to blog because it gives me an outlet to write about anything I want without anyone giving me a deadline or dictate what I write about. I have so many friends who have a similar blog to me but their blogs are read by thousands of more people than mine is and they have greater influence than me. Why can’t I be satisfied with the sphere of influence He has given me, and not compare myself to others. Blah.
Colossians 3:15-17, “and be thankful…with thanksgiving, giving thanks to God the Father through JESUS!”
