Kneeling to Pray

Top Ten Reasons I'm Excited for This Weekend

Google reader is the best! In my google reader this morning was a fun carnival about Top Tens put on at OhAmanda. So...since I'm just sitting here while my little girly dries off (she fell in the pond this morning, what a traumatic experience for a three month old puppy!!) I thought I would give you my Top Ten Reasons I'm super excited for this weekend:

1. We finally get to get out of Dodge. We are headed to Colorado.
2. Getting to spend time with my Grandma in Colorado, and doing our traditional Memorial Day trek with dinner at Zack's.

3. Yellowstone here we come!! After a couple days in Colorado, we are driving further north to Yellowstone for a week. You see, it's our...

4. 1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY!! I'm so excited to celebrate one year with my wonderful bestfriend, my husband!

5. Over 30 hours in a car: Laughing, reading, talking, sleeping. I'm super excited for our first long road trip together.

6. Geysers, hot springs, hikes, picnics, enjoying nature. I'm super excited to see EVERYTHING we can in our 4 short days there.

7. Eating the topper to our Wedding Cake. I hear it's usually pretty nasty after being frozen for a year, but I'm a traditionalist and I'm SUPER excited to eat it!

8. Getting away just the two of us. With the new puppy keeping us up at night and having us clean up little pee-pee, it's going to be nice to be just us!

9. Eating at Chipotle and Cheesecake Factory in Denver on the way home, hopefully!!

10. Creating new memories!

You can check out OhAmanda to find other Top Tens for this Tuesday!

Kneeling to Pray

Fruit of the Spirit :: Joy

The Newsboys have a song, "Joy" in which they talk about God providing a joy which is unspeakable, but what is that?? What does that look like? Joy is defined as: 

The passion or emotion excited by the acquisition or expectation of good; pleasurable feelings or emotions caused by success, good fortune, and the like, or by a rational prospect of possessing what we love or desire.

 I don't know about you, but the promises of God and the expectation of good which will come to all believers is great JOY. But what about the times when we are struggling?? What about the times when things just aren't going our way, and we feel the whole world is against us. To me, these are the times that I find the least amount of joy in my heart. The bible tells us in Romans 5:3:

Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance

It is through the times when we struggle and fall down that we are to cling to the Joy that is Jesus, knowing that God will not give us more than we can handle, but in fact is right there with us, guiding the way.

During times of struggle aren't the only places we are to have joy. Psalms 19:8 says:

The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes.

For me, I find joy in so many day to day experiences:

Seeing my husband after a long day of work

The smell of fresh cut grass

A worship song that I needed to hear at just the right time

Huge orange-yellow harvest moons

Fresh fallen snow

Finally learning from my mistakes

Rain on a tin roof

Little Miss Zoey sleeping

Hearing "I Love You"

The smell of the charcoal grill just fired up

My hope in Jesus and promises from God

What brings you joy? What gives light to your eyes?

Join us next week as we take a look at Peace. We will be posting on Thursday instead of Tuesday. Also, be sure to see what Carrie has to say about the Fruit of the Spirit - Joy.

Until next time...

Kneeling to Pray

Fruit of the Spirit :: Love

As I mentioned last week, I am going through the Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22) with an amazing gal Carrie. With this, our first week, we are looking at love.

Love is defined in the dictionary as an intense feeling of deep affection. But how does the Bible define love? We can see many examples of love in the bible, but what do they really mean? For this study, I am going to focus on love in my life especially relating to God.

We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

When I look at this verse, I am struck by the simplicity of it. But, I am also struck by how complex it is. All things work together for the good, not the bad but for the good. But, there's a kicker. All things work together for the good for those who LOVE God. Ah ha, the kicker. This verse really makes me take a step back when things aren't going well in my life. I'm so quick to blame others when things don't go my way. I am even quick to blame God, but the one I really need to look at is myself and how I am loving God. 

I can often tell when I am not loving God with all of who I am. I can tell this because things just seem off. My health suffers, my relationships suffer and my life just seems to turn upside-down. It isn't because I caught a cold at school from that freckled face boy ( I can't blame him), nor is it because my husband does something to make me mad ( I can't blame him). It is because I'm not right with God. I am not showing Him love by trusting in Him, by leaning on Him, or by relying on Him. Our love for God is such an important part of our relationship with Him, that without that love we are lacking so much.

When my love for God has faded, I see my love for others have faded. This is often hard to deal with. The Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians 16:14 "Let all you do be done in love" Really?? All I do?? I don't know about you, but I have trouble with this. I find it so easy to love those who love me back, but what about those who don't?? I don't know about you, but I find it hard to suck up my pride and show someone respect or serve them with a kind heart when they have wronged me somehow. But God has called us to do EVERYTHING we do, not just the stuff to those who love us, but EVERYTHING we do, we should do it in love. 

My prayer for this week, is that you and I will really check our pride and make sure our intentions when we serve others. If something is being done for the wrong purpose, take a step back and ask God for help to show others His love. Because without His love, we are dead, and without showing His love to others, we are killing His light. 

Check back next week as we take a look at Joy. Until then, check out what Carrie has to say about Love. 

About Me

In an attempt to share with the ladies At the Well a little about myself, and, without sounding like a newspaper want ad, here is Katie in a nut shell (why does this third person talk come out sometimes??):

I am a twenty-something wife who aims to love God, her husband and anyone else who gets in my path. Like I said, I aim to do this, I don't always get it perfect. I just completed my studies to become a teacher and am now searching for a teaching job in a hiring freezed (or would it be frozen??) city. I think God is really teaching me about patience and relying on Him....it's working.

I married the love of my life close to one year ago. Yes, we are still newlyweds trying to learn the ins and outs of marriage. There sure are a LOT of ins and outs, but this journey has been one I would do over in a heartbeat. I love what my husband teaches me and the person I have grown into. If you want to learn more about Our Story (it's still a work in progress) check it out. It's kind of fun (at least I think so, and NO I'm not biased).

I love the outdoors, I love pets, and I love New Mexico. It really is The Land of Enchantment. I love sunsets, long walks on the beach....oh sorry I got on my want ad tirade. I love adventures but I also love to be at home. I have a passion for reading and scrapbooking. I have lofty goals which you can check out at my 101 in 1001 list.

Other than that, I am a child of Christ trying to find out what that means to me in a world of busy lives and chaos. I would love for you to look around my blog and check out the many ramblings that go on daily in my head and heart.

Happy Monday!!

To check out other Ladies from the Well visit At the Well...in Pursuit of Titus 2

Kneeling to Pray