Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Marysville

On our way up to Leo, Indiana to visit my family, we stayed with Jaclyn and Brandon at their new home in Marysville, OH (right outside of Columbus). We also went bowling with Ashley and Dave (newlyweds) and Michelle and her boyfriend David. (Yes, we had three Davids...and ironically, guess what Brandon's middle name was...yes, that right. David.)


Jaclyn is prepared for the cold.                                                                                                



Dave and me                                                                         Ashley and Dave


Brandon and Jaclyn                                                                         Michelle and David


Exchanging Christmas presents






Our pups relaxing at Jaclyn and Brandon's house.

16hours.com

I finally have a homepage on my website I'm developing!! Check out www.16hours.com. I obviously have a long way to go with it (as there is essentially no information on there yet whatsoever), but just seeing something pretty on there has me totally stoked.

Kudos go to WebPlus SE and Webplus 10.0 for making my html-knowledgless life a LOT easier!! :)

Monday, December 29, 2008

Emotional Bible studies

Well I had a wonderful Christmas break! I hope the same goes for anyone and everyone reading this. I will be posting pictures from the week sometime soon.

What I wanted to share today is my new realization that I do not do well with "emotional" Bible studies. If I open up a Bible study book and it says "How do you feel about this?" my immediate reaction is to walk straight to the trashcan and drop the book in. In fact, I've become quite talented at getting about one chapter through a book and then sending it to Goodwill (or recycling it if I don't want to encourage people to read it). I'm still thinking and contemplating why I feel this way and when it began. There was a time when the only Bible studies that captured my attention were the emotional ones.

I think that underlying it all is the knowledge that emotions are fleeting, unstable, and untrustworthy. If I have to feel emotional and excited to get closer to God, what will I do on the days when I'm feeling downhearted and sad? What about the days when I'm bored with life? Or the days when all I have to look forward to is a long to-do list? What happens then? And what about the fact that my emotions and my reactions to them have gotten me in trouble one too many times?

I have encountered a great struggle with the Beth Moore study my church is currently hosting. After talking with Dave, I've decided to stop participating in the study, which makes me sad. I have gotten to know some wonderful girls through my small group. However, every week I found myself becoming more and more frustrated with the Bible study, and it was carrying over and affecting my feelings toward the church. I decided to stop the study before my perception of my church was permanently stained. Beyond the emotionalism that her study encourages every week, I feel that Moore extrapolates and makes claims for which she provides little scriptural evidence. If her claims are true, then that's great. But she does not always provide references, and oftentimes when she does I do not see the link to what she is saying. I also have a hard time accepting scripture mixed with psychology within a Bible study. I want to learn about the Bible. I want to learn about God. I don't want to learn about all the fleeting emotions I can experience and see how those temporarily affect my perceived connection with God. I want solid, permanent, tried and true truths.

This is not to completely bash on Moore. I think she is a wonderful lady, and I know she has touched many lives. I firmly believe she is a follower of Christ and wants to bless others. However, her style and approach to Scripture do not set well within me, and so I've decided that her studies and books are not for me. I am very happy for others who are able to grow closer to God through her guidance.

If you'd like to read more from others who have opinions similar to mine, along with responses from strong supporters of Moore, check out the following links:

http://www.biblebb.com/files/tonyqa/tc05-187.htm
http://theworldfrommywindow.blogspot.com/2007/12/objective-critique-of-beth-moore.html
http://theupwardcall.blogspot.com/2007/12/early-retirement.html

Friday, December 19, 2008

I'm going to have a sister-in-law!!! :)

My brother proposed to his girlfriend last night!!! I'm so excited!!! She is such a wonderful girl and I can't WAIT to have her as a part of the family. :) Yay for Lewis family weddings!!!

Collin and Brittany



Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Holes, God's Best, God Cares



The first rule of holes:

When you're in one, stop digging.



God always gives His best

to those who leave the choice with Him.



Some good Bible verses to read and think about are listed below. They all remind you of the fact that God is in control. If you don't do well with the "ye"s and "thee"s, I suggest looking them up in NKJV (New King James Version) or NIV (New International Version). If you don't have a Bible, try biblegateway.org or live.e-sword.net. :)


"The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and
plenteous in mercy. He will not always chide: neither will
he keep his anger for ever. He hath not dealt with us after
our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For
as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy
toward them that fear him. As far as the east is from the
west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.
Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth
them that fear him."
Psalms 103:8-13, KJV

"If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall
stand?"
Psalms 130:3, KJV

"Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto
thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him,
and he shall direct thy paths."
Proverbs 3:5-6, KJV

"Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed
on thee: because he trusteth in thee."
Isaiah 26:3, KJV

"And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This
is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand,
and when ye turn to the left."
Isaiah 30:21, KJV

"It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed,
because his compassions fail not. They are new every
morning: great is thy faithfulness."
Lamentations 3:22-23, KJV

"Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one
of them is forgotten before God? But even the very hairs of
your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of
more value than many sparrows."
Luke 12:6-7, KJV

"And we know that all things work together for good to them
that love God, to them who are the called according to his
purpose."
Romans 8:28, KJV

"Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you."
1 Peter 5:7, KJV

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Bald Head Island

Two weekends ago I went to Bald Head Island with Emily and her in-laws. It was a lot of fun!! Just us two girls piled our four dogs and all our stuff in my car, drove the 3 hours to the NC coast, then climbed on a ferry with the dogs and our belongings to head to the island for the weekend. Traveling with so many animals was pretty interesting, but it made it exciting. Thanks so much to Brenda and Dudley (Emily's husband's parents) for having us!!






Our awesome weekend vehicle got a flat tire. :(







The puppies slept the whole way home...

Piano and Christmas Decorations

Alright, I've finally found some time to write again! I'm going to take a few blog posts now to just share some pictures of what's been going on in my life lately. :)

Below you can see our new baby grand piano that we got about a month ago. I've been so excited about it!! It's been wonderful to play again and find some release through music. And, as you can see in the second picture, our living room doesn't look that bad with it in there!! I think we found a way to fit it quite nicely.





Second, below are some pictures from when Kristin and I decorated my house for Christmas.










Thursday, December 4, 2008

My Apologies

I just wanted to send out a quick apology to all my readers who have been saddened by my recent hiatus in blog writing.

To my dismay, work has gone through the roof. My stress level is sky high. Sadly, this means I have no time for breathers or writing short blog posts for your reading pleasure.

Hopefully my work stress level will meander back down to its usual level sometime soon and I will be able to continue with my writing. Until then, please hold in your tears and know that the days of Kara blog posts will be returning soon.

Thank you for your understanding.
God bless,
Kara