Kara’s Collection: Don’t Ask...

Kara’s Collection: Don’t Ask...

from an article originally posted September 9, 2014…  

I can’t sleep. Tomorrow is feeling impossible on so many levels. First, I get to take my boy to the dentist. It will prove to be the highlight of my day. I love our new dentist. Dr. Brennan Johnson. He’s the bee’s knees (okay, I’ve been watching A River Runs Through It again). But then I walk into my day, a day where my phone will likely ring from one of my many doctors that have read the scan from today. I will know immediately by the tone if it’s my kind-faced oncologist.

Kara’s Collection: No Condemnation in Christ

Kara’s Collection: No Condemnation in Christ

from an article originally posted September 8, 2014…

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
Romans 8:1

No condemnation. None. Never. In Christ means nothing can condemn me today, this day or any day. That is a freeing truth. The IN CHRIST I enjoy frees me for freedom. I then, in turn, get to spend my freedom well. I get to spend my freedom telling of this freedom. I get to face the dreaded snort today with no condemnation. Maybe a little trepidation, but no condemnation.

Kara’s Collection: Ramblings of a Broken-Hearted Mama

Kara’s Collection: Ramblings of a Broken-Hearted Mama

from an article originally posted September 7, 2014…  

I had my first big chemo, we took pictures, then ran away for a week. It was a hard pill to swallow seeing me meet that bottom again. But we know how to manage it. But who really wants to be managing awful? We want to be living! On the day my big chemo started, they started my 2-week cycle of oral chemo. I had learned to live through the haze of their yuck, but on top of the giant chemo, well, I met my bottom. Jason and I know this dance. I fight for good moments on bad days. Often, I don’t remember the good moments and need reminding of them. And my people are gracious to remind me.

Come, Let Us Adore Him

Come, Let Us Adore Him

The Christmas season is upon us. My daughter and I were at our neighborhood drugstore the day before Halloween, and the employees were already pulling the orange and black decorations off the shelves and replacing them with Christmas garlands and Santa paraphernalia. As we walked past them, my sweet girl ooohhhed and aaahhhed over the candy canes and twinkling lights, but I felt a pit of dread in my stomach—another Christmas season, another couple of months of attempting to find that weird balance between creating a magical, memorable holiday for my family while teaching my children the reason for Christmas—the birth of our Savior.

Kara’s Collection: Living Well Within Limitations

Kara’s Collection: Living Well Within Limitations

from an article originally posted September 5, 2014…  

Each day presents each of us living with a choice. It is often hard to choose well. We are so regularly caught in the flow of our going, we fail to see the choices presented to each of us in our living. Most of our choices consist of attitude choices, living choices, choices to live in a hardened, bitter state or a grateful, soft state. If we are honest the battle for these attitudes is fierce.