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The blog has a new home: blog.justinandkathryn.com.

Tonight I wrote a little on Luke 17:11-19, go check it out! 

Birthday Present for Grandma

Miles away or right next door

Good thing my love reaches near and far.

This poster wasn't really Do-it all by myself. I Justin, my husband, found pictures from Bing maps of all the places where my Grandma's family live. On the bottom of each picture Justin added a banner with the family name. Since some people live "right next door" it was easy to fit everyone in four different maps. The saying, while not stunning or exciting, is all my own. I hand wrote "Miles away or right next door" above the four pictures and "Good thing my love reaches near and far" along the bottom.

The frame and mat, I bought at Hobby Lobby. The mat was custom so it cost around $15 and the frame was 40% off bringing it to about $12. I'm really wishing I ever kept my receipts right about now. It all came together really easy and I think my Grandma loved her birthday present. The only remark people had was to add a marker pinpointing the place on the map where each family lives. I wish I would have added little hearts to the maps to mark the households. 

Finding Direction

While my blog is very much random in it's intent. Random still needs focus and themes. I myself am random, but I still grow and develop through focus. I've decided to try and pre-plan my blog for the next month. Not all of the blogs are completely planned out yet, but I have decided on some recurring themes.

Monday will be- Made by me Mondays- where I will share a craft that I've made.

Wednesday will be- Rest for the weary Wednesdays- a day to share a short devotional from something I've been reading in scripture.

Friday will be- Friday night dinners- on this day I will share a recipe. Tthe name comes from my favorite TV show Gilmore Girls.

Sunday- "Sunday school" kids say the cutest things- a short story of the cute things our Sunday School kiddos say or do.

I hope you like the direction I'm taking.

Psalm 143

Psalm 143

1O Lord, hear my prayer, listen to my cry for mercy;

in your faithfulness and righteousness come to my relief.

2Do not bring your servant into judgment,

for no one living is righteous before you.

3The enemy pursues me, he crushes me to the ground;

he makes me dwell in darkness like those long dead.

4So my spirit grows faint within me; my heart within me is dismayed.

5I remember the days of long ago;

I meditate on all your works and consider what your hands have done.

6I spread out my hands to you;

my soul thirsts for you like a parched land.

7Answer me quickly, O Lord; my spirit fails.

Do not hide your face from me

or I will be like those who go down to the pit.

8Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love,

for I have put my trust in you.

Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.

9Rescue me from my enemies, O Lord,

for I hide myself in you.

10Teach me to do your will, for you are my God;

may your good Spirit lead me on level ground.

11For your name's sake, O Lord, preserve my life;

in your righteousness, bring me out of trouble.

12In your unfailing love, silence my enemies;

destroy my foes, for I am your servant.

This chapter describes how I've been feeling lately. "The enemy pursues me, he crushes me to the ground; he makes me dwell in darkness like those long dead. So my spirit grows faint within me; my heart within me is dismayed" Psalm 143:3-4. These days I have been struggling immensely with finding joy in my life. At work I sit in my office by myself, not talking to my friends, I'm quiet at home and I don't talk with my family much.

I feel pursued and crushed by the enemy. The enemy in my life can be described as stress at work and a deep desire for God to bless us with a baby. Waiting is so hard, but verse eight reminds me, to "Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul." God's love is unfailing. As much as I know that God never fails and I should trust him, I don't always believe.

He's proven that's he trustworthy over and over; I need to remember and meditate on those times. Verse five talks about remembering all that God has done before. Whether it's the things He's done in Scripture or the things He's done for me. "I remember the days of long ago; I meditate on all your works and consider what your hands have done." Our pastor calls it preaching to to ourselves, and that's what I must do.

Yes, I feel crushed, covered in darkness, dead, dismayed, faint... Yet, "In your unfailing love, silence my enemies; destroy all my foes, for I am your servant." I am His and He will hear my prayer.

Scaaarry!

It's almost done. I bet you're wondering what it is. It's a bunny! HaHa, I know it doesn't quite look like a bunny. But, I tried so hard!

Just kidding. It's a monster doll for my sweet "niece" Allie. She turns one in March so I made her this doll for her birthday. Her dad, my friend Richard, always calls this sweet girl, "Monster." She's no monster, actually she's soo cute that she can pull off any nickname.

This might not be the gift, but someday I would love to give a little kid their security toy: a blanket, stuffed animal, lucky t-shirt. Any of those would work, hopefully someday I'll get to give a kid that toy.

Allie, since you're not on the blogosphere quite yet, I'm not too worried about you finding out about your present early.

Lazy Day Pancakes

Today has been the break I've been needing. We didn't have to work, and we have spent the day chatting, vegging and watching some TV. My kind of day. We're actually settling in for a little more Warehouse 13, one of my new favorite shows.

To start off our day we made pancakes. Pancakes are our usual Saturday morning breakfast brunch choice. Since today was lazy day we had pancakes. These weren't normal pancakes; they were pecan cinnamon roll pancakes! I saw the idea on Pinterest, my favorite addiction. I love it when I make things from Pinterest.

These were delicious. I'm not one to really use recipes so these are more just go with it kind of instructions. I used a mix for the pancake batter and stirred in a handful of chopped pecans. In a bowl on the side, mix together melted butter, brown sugar and cinnamon. Once your griddle is hot with water dancing across it. If you've ever made pancakes in your life, I think you know what I mean. Pour on your batter, whatever size pancakes you want, then pour the sugar mixture in a spiral onto the pancakes. Once they've cooked for a few minutes flip and finish cooking the other side. Amazing!

Words Are Telling My Story

Writing is something that I've enjoyed since my freshman year of high school. Even though I'm not really sure if I'm good at it. I love the days that words come easy. Like today, I got to work with a college student, helping him write a quote for a postcard. He's a wonderful student who I really enjoy working with. We laughed and spoke way to loud about all the things he likes about his classes. Jordan is an art major at HLG who is bright, funny and an awesome worker!

His quote turned out awesome, “At other colleges, the world is the sole focus of art, but at HLGU I get to study art through a Christian lens.” How awesome is that? He has a graphic design emphasis and is a photographer. It was an awesome play on words.

Most days, sad to say, words don't work that way for me. I stumble over them, doubt their meaning and simply get blocked. Words mean so much, I want to share more of them.

Other days it's even worse than not finding the right words. Some days I don't even have anything to say. I think I have something to say. It may be small and sometimes insignificant but it's something. It's a thought, idea, encouragement, cry, plea, prayer...it's something.

Well Hello Again

Today, I feel as though I’m in a funk. I’m not in a bad mood, and many things that happened over the weekend were really good! Yet, with the overcast weather and my thoughts still a wondering, I only want to sit in my funk. I tend to choose music that amplifies my current mood more than helping my mood get better.

I crave slow songs, some about pain or heartache, all that let me sit comfortably in my current mood. I don’t know if this is normal or what others do but maybe I should try something different. Instead of starting my daily dreaded 3:30 task of phone calls while listening to the same sad songs, I’ll try something happy and optimistic. I wonder if that will help me get over these winter blues.

Today I shared my new cookbook with a friend at work. This cookbook is full of weird and crazy ice cream flavors. While she wouldn’t even try some of them I followed her up with, “I’ll try anything once.” It’s true; I will try anything once (at least food). So how about good for me, make me smile music? I think I’ll give it a go!