Single's Day!

Where to begin…

This is Katie. 

Most recent pic at her cousin's

birthday party Dec '15

My friend and I, who are both privileged to call this girl our friend, would like to tell you a little bit about her. Katie is one of those girls that you feel comfortable around within five minutes of meeting her. She is 27 years old and lives in Little Rock, Arkansas.  She works full-time as a Nanny.

She is fun. Man is she fun.  She is spunky, loves to laugh, and loves her Jesus. It is her heart’s desire to be a wife and a mom and we believe full well that the Lord will fulfill this desire. 

Katie delights herself in the Lord. She accepted Christ when she was seven, but wasn’t fully committed to Him until she rededicated her life at age 20. She has co-lead a small group of girls since their 7th grade year. They are now in 9th grade.

Katie will try (almost) anything once!  She has an adventurous spirit!  There is never a dull moment when she is around.  She is a gifted singer, artist and photographer.  She would try and convince you otherwise, but trust me on this…girl is talented.

She loves the outdoors, traveling, music (and musicals), movies, card & board games and sushi.  She is quite well-rounded, as you can probably tell!

w/her goddaughter's son, Bryson

Katie is looking for a man who has a relationship with Christ and a strong desire to lead his future family. A sense of humor is important, too! She is open to a long distance relationship. Whomever the Lord has for her will be a very blessed man! Please leave a comment if you’d like to get to know her better. Or email her at katieh478@gmail.com

Saying Goodbye...

...More like see ya later.

I'll never truly say goodbye to the people in my life. It'll always be "see ya later"! And for that, I am thankful.

Yesterday was my last day to watch my sweet baby Kate! I can never not call her "Baby Kate" anymore. That's what she'll always be to me. I've watched her grow up into a funny, kind, and most of all beautiful little girl! Four and a half years, it's been! Crazy to think about. And I do have to give her the Best Baby Award. Ever. I would put her down and she wouldn't cry. She'd just sit there watching you. Put her down for a nap. No tears. She'd just suck her thumb and go to sleep. Sweet Baby Kate. I've seen her go through all the stages of life. Thus far, anyway. She'll turn 5 in about 2 weeks. WHAT?! How did that even happen. She was about 3 or 4 months old when I met this wonderful family.

These people will forever be in my heart. I can't wait to go see them in their new home!

Charlotte is super lucky. Love you McCalmont's! You're the greatest! <3 p="">Love always,
Miss Katie

P.S. See you in 5.5 weeks!!

New Things

This weekend, I have made the decision to start the road to becoming debt free. I'm finally in a position financially to where I can up my payment and still afford other things, thank The Lord. It's going to be a long road. My hope is for it to take 2 years maximum for me to become debt free. After that, I will SAVE SAVE SAVE! My other hope is that in doing this, I can be more able to fulfill The Lord's calling for my life. 

The last few weeks, I've been seeing this photo being shared around my Facebook news feed. And the first time I saw it, I thought, "Those boys are just adorable!" This feeling of longing came over me and I chalked it up to the fact that I want to be a mommy. Well I saw it again a week later and I thought, "What if they were mine?" And then my thoughts went to, "Can I actually do that? Would they let me?" I started thinking and thinking about it. Honestly, I'm still thinking on it. If this is something that The Lord wants me to do, He will make it so. I hope that it will come to be, but no one can know for sure. 

I am so confident in The Lord right now. I know that he is able to do anything. I'm really interested to see what happens...

Stay tuned...

Birthdays!

Today I turned 26. So hard to believe I'm this old. Not that I think that 26 is old...because I don't. I just can't believe I made it to this age. I figured The Lord would come back or something like that. 

Today I turned 26. I had a relaxing morning of laying in bed...yes, I did. Glorious, it was. So thankful for the opportunity to do that. And so grateful for the ability to do that when in just less than 2 months, I will not be able to do that. Summer...ah. Went to lunch with my mom. That was good. Went to work, that was good. Then it was time for a birthday dinner with the friends! 

Today I turned 26. I have taken stock of my life today. [I do that every once in a while.] And I've come to realize that I am blessed beyond my wildest dreams. So many people texted me and called me and wrote on my Facebook wall. I haven't felt this much love in a while. It feels so wonderful to know that so many people love me enough to send me a little note on my birthday telling me they were thinking about me. Even if Facebook had to remind them. [I'm not bitter.]

I'm just so happy! Best birthday yet! [I say that every year.]

Blessed.

[Also...this post has no point. I LOVE IT!]

You Stay the Same Through the Ages

I'm terrible at making decisions. If someone asks me to choose between two things, I will take a LOT of time debating in my head about which one is going to be best. And even if and when I do make a decision, I will second guess myself until I either succeed, fail, or I freak out right in the middle of it.

I'm a special being.

That's why I'm so glad that God is the same. He is constant. I'm so all over the place sometimes, that I'll go to The Lord in prayer and just sigh in relief that He's always the same. Every time I go to Him, He is the same God that I came to the last time. 

He is the same God that was with Daniel in the lions den...

"As he [the king] came near to the den where Daniel was,

he cried our in a tone of anguish.

The king declared to Daniel, 'O Daniel, servant of the living God,

has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?'"

Come on king...this is God we're talking about...

"Then Daniel said to the king, 'O king, live forever!

My God sent his angel and shut the lions' mouths, and they have not harmed me,

because I was found blameless before him;

and also before you, O king, I have done no harm.'

...

So Daniel was taken up out of the den,

and no kind of harm was found on him,

because he had trusted in his God."

Daniel 6:19-23 {ESV}

What is amazing to me is that they use the word able. "Has your God, whom you serve continually, been ABLE to deliver you from the lions?" It's such a silly question to me..."Is God able?" Well yeah! He's God, for crying out loud! He can do whatever the heck He wants!

and He is the same God that was with David when he fought Goliath...Go read 1 Samuel 17:32-51.

"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever."

Hebrews 13:8 {NLT}

"I will sing of the steadfast love of the LORD, forever;

with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations.

For I said, 'Steadfast love will be built up forever;

in the heavens you establish your faithfulness.'"

Psalm 89:1-2 {ESV}

This post was all over the place (story of my life) but hopefully, you get the idea. God doesn't change even though I'm nuts. PRAISE THE LORD!

-katie

Life's Not Fair.

Life. Is. Not. Fair.

There's nothing fair about it. Not one thing.

Friends, today, I ask prayer for a sweet sweet girl I know from college. Her name is Kiley. She loves The Lord with all her heart and serves him everyday. She loves people. All kinds. From every walk of life. She has a huge heart. She is a friend to all. She's funny, kind, silly, deep, and Godly. She's just an all around wonderful person.

We were never close in college. We were those acquaintance friends. But, I would still call her a friend. Like I said, she is a friend to all.

I couple of weeks ago, I found out that she had be diagnosed with Stage 4 Glioblastoma which is a malignant brain tumor in a hardly operable location. It's partially attached to her brain stem. She is 25 years old.

There is nothing fair about this.

I'm 25 years old.

It's a terrifying thought.

You can follow Kiley's story here if you wish. Even if you don't follow her story, pray for her. Pray for Kiley. Pray for her family and friends. Pray that God will guide the doctors and give them wisdom the entire time they are working with her. Pray for strength through recovery and chemo and radiation that will happen after surgery. Pray for peace and faith in God and His plan and His Healing Hands. And lastly, pray for God's Will and that God will receive ALL of the glory...no matter what happens.

As I started this post, I put on pandora and the first song that came up was Kari Jobe's We Exalt Your Name. The song and lyrics are just incredible, especially for what I was feeling and what I hope comes of this journey for Kiley. I hope that hearts are changed by this and that God is given all the glory.

Life's not fair. But God is. He is just. We don't ever understand why awful things happen to great people, but it's always for someone to learn something. It's a journey for sure, but, worth it, in my opinion.

And as I finish this post, Meredith Andrew's Not For A Moment (After All) came on. What a powerful song! Listen to it. Praise The Lord for those words. God never leaves us. Ever. He's always beside us.

Thanks and love,
-katie

New Year...New Dreams...New Me?

It's a new year friends. And with a new year, comes new everything. New resolutions. New outlooks. New clothes, maybe. New you? Sure. Why not? But don't be surprised if those things get ruined in the first few weeks.

I set NO resolutions this year. None. And I'm happy about it. There's no pressure to change. I'd like there to be change this year, sure. But I'm not going to have a list held over me to basically announce my failures. I've been failing at keeping resolutions for years now. And, honestly, I'm sick of it. And, yes, I realize that actually keeping my resolutions would be the obvious choice, it's hard. So, I decided to ditch the list and live my life as well as I can day to day.

This time of year is always super hard for me. Mid-December until Mid-February.

I've told my story on here before. And I re-live it every year. Some years I handle it better than others. Some years, not so much. This year, I don't know if I will handle it very well. I've been thinking about my dad a lot this year. And I'll tell you why.

This past weekend, we had a youth retreat known as WinterChill. We traveled to OK to New Life Ranch and had a blast! We had 5 girls in our small group come for the weekend. The worship was INCREDIBLE. The fun was amazing! And the messages were exactly what I need to hear. I felt prompted by The Lord to share my story with the girls that were there. So not my plan. I wanted all the girls to be there so that I basically wouldn't have to repeat it and cry all over again. I fought it the first night. But that was God's plan too. He knew exactly when I needed to tell that story. And that was the second night. Part of what we all learned this weekend was to be real with people. To be transparent. So we shared what we struggle with. One of the girls mentioned anger. When I heard that, I had to tell my story because anger was a huge part of my life for a long long time. Still is sometimes. But God is good. All the time.

It's amazing to think about where I was almost 8 years ago. It was around this time of year that my dad went into the hospital. My mind is blown on a daily basis at what God has done in my life. There is no doubt in my mind that he is an active part of my life. No doubt.

This year. I choose joy. I choose to be joyful in all that I do. And when I don't feel like being joyful (because we all know it happens), I will be content. I will find joy in every situation. I will find something good in every situation. I will be thankful.

Thanks for listening...I mean reading.

Choose Joy.

-katie

Waiting for him

Friends! God is teaching me so so so many things lately. It is EXCITING! And so just plain awesome that I know He is working in my everyday life.

So last night I met up with a friend and mentor of mine, Laurie. Laurie is that person that I can say whatever I'm feeling about a situation and she loves me anyway. She understands my feelings and then gives me a carefully thought out Godly response. One of the many reasons I love her so much.

I first met Laurie at my high school. I had her for study hall for a couple of years, I believe. I nannied for her and kept her daughter Kelley for a semester. She was, and continues to be, the most genuine person I have ever met. She honestly cares about me and my life. She takes time out of her busy schedule--teacher, mom of 4, wife, friend, and so many other things--to be there for me and I couldn't be more thankful for her. There will be an extra jewel in her crown for dealing with me when she gets to Heaven. ;)

So Lars, as she is more affectionately known, has been my go-to person when I want to (let's be honest) whine about my pitiful excuse for a love life. I have blogged many times before about how I long to be a wife and mother someday. But, during last night's meeting, we kind of glazed over that issue. We just addressed it, "where are you with this?" "how's it going?", and moved on. I thought that was kind of a big step for me. There are times when that is ALL I think and talk about. Literally. But then, there are times when I am thankful that I'm not committed to anything at the moment. {Vicious cycle}

I love when God teaches me something first thing in the morning. Not sure why, but I do.

I wake up this morning and do my usual social media check and found this video about adoption. It was the sweetest video with great wisdom in it. At one point the father said this:

"We prayed for a child but in our prayers,

there wasn't a face and there wasn't a name.

We were praying for a child--

just asking God to give us a child.

It wasn't just a child that we were waiting for,

it wasn't a child that God intended to bring to our family.

And those years of waiting weren't just because God decided

He wanted us to wait an arbitrary number of years

or go through an arbitrary experience.

All those years and all the waiting

and all those prayers were for him.

For Jacob.

For our son."

The bold is my favorite. After hearing that, I equated that excerpt to my situation and inserted the words my husband for a child and I was blown away. And here it is.

"I prayed for a husband but in my prayers,

there wasn't a face and there wasn't a name.

I was praying for a husband--

just asking God to give me a husband.

It wasn't just a husband that I was waiting for,

it wasn't a husband that God intended to bring to me and my family.

And those years of waiting weren't just because God decided

He wanted me to wait an arbitrary number of years

or go through an arbitrary experience.

All those years and all the waiting

and all those prayers were for him.

For him.

For my husband."

I almost cried when I put it in this perspective for me. It also put on my heart that I wasn't praying for him like I'm supposed to be. I need to be fervently praying for him. Never ceasing. I believe that God will give me my heart's desire and that He will go above and beyond what I ever imagined my husband, children, and life to be. 

"Take delight in the Lord

and he will give you your heart's desires."

Psalm 37:4 [NLT]

"Now all glory to God, who is able,

through his mighty power at work within us,

to accomplish infinitely more than

we might ask or think."

Ephesians 3:20 [NLT]

{I also love verses 14-19}

I will better myself while I am single. My husband is out there somewhere and I'm so excited to meet him! 

But I can wait...

-katie

Sing, Love. The Master is Listening...

One of my favorite authors and people of all time is Angie Smith. Angie Smith has written many books including I Will Carry You, What Women Fear, and her newest--a children's book called Audrey Bunny. I love the way Angie writes. It's as if you're sitting with her exchanging life stories over coffee. Six years ago, she and her husband Todd (lead singer of Christian group, Selah) found out that their daughter would not likely live outside the womb. They chose to let God have His way with the situation and gave Him the glory throughout the entire pregnancy and since.

Sing, love.

I found Angie's blog when I was 19 years old. My friend Sadie had been reading it and mentioned it to me for whatever reason. (God, obviously.) This was right around the time when I was grieving over my dad's 2nd death anniversary. I went to her blog site, sat there and read her story. I went back as far as I could and read and read and read. I laughed often. I cried a lot. But mostly I was just in awe of the way Angie relies on God. Her writing is truly fantastic as well. God gave her an amazing gift when he created her. Angie is really special to me. Her daughter, the one who passed away, Audrey and I share a birthday. I turned 20 the day she was born. My...our birthdays haven't been the same for 5 years. That day never passes without me thinking of Todd, Angie, and all 5 of their girls.

Sing, love.

Anyway, Angie wrote a devotional book recently, which I love. It's called Mended: Pieces of a Life Made Whole. Several of these chapters have stuck out for me, some of which I would love to write about. But tonight's read was the chapter entitled "He Loves You". She focuses on the sparrows and how God loves us more than them.

"What is the price of two sparrows--

one copper coin?

But not a single sparrow can fall to the ground

without your Father knowing it.

And the very hairs on your head are all numbered.

So don't be afraid;

you are more valuable to God

than a whole flock of sparrows."

Matthew 10:29-31 [NLT]

She talks about how she was searching for answers in her walk. "I decided I wanted to know what it was that made this bird so important. I had gone through a very dark time in my life, and I was looking for Him, for answers, for a reason to believe He even cared, let alone loved me." She says she "just wanted to know that she existed to Him."

Sing, love.

She continues on to say that she was reading an article on a specific bird. "I skimmed it until I came across a sentence that explained how this certain type of bird learned how to sing." She became overwhelmed at what she found. "...this particular bird cannot learn to sing in the daylight because it is always concerned with the chatter around it. Instead, its cage must be covered so that it is in complete darkness. Then it is able to hear its master and will learn how to sing." 

Sing, love.

Angie points out that even when we are in our darkest hour, He is there. And He loves you. 

-katie

You can find Angie and her story at her website here. Go. Read her and Audrey's story. You won't be sorry.

For The Good

I try to read a chapter in two different books as a part of my time with The Lord every night. Tonight, one verse kept making it's appearance. It's one of my favorites and it has definitely gotten me through a lot of times.

"And we know that God causes

everything to work together

for the good of those who love God

and are called according to

his purpose for them."

Romans 8:28 [NLT]

When my dad passed away unexpectedly almost 8 years ago, our pastor gave us this verse to cling to. And it has been a constant in my head ever since. 

One author pointed out that it says the word "everything". I never really thought about it before. He causes EVERYTHING--good, bad, even just so so--to work together for the good of those who love Him. 

That. Blows. My. Mind. 

Everything that happens to me is for my good. Wow. 

As hard as it is, sometimes, for me to wrap my mind around it, God took my Daddy for a specific reason. And I know this: I wouldn't be the person that I am today without that part of my journey. I wouldn't have the struggles that I have right now. I wouldn't be wonderful friends/mentors with certain people had I not lost my Dad. So many things about my life now would be different. 

Sometimes, when I'm remembering my dad on a good day, I will sit and just think about what my life would be like now and in the past almost 8 years. And sometimes, it's really hard to think about it. It's hard to think about what life would be like. Because. Well. I'll never know. 

But this verse. It has gotten me through. All I can tell you all out there is...God is who He says He is. He is the same God as when I was born over 25 years ago. He was the same God when my parents were having trouble and I asked my Dad to leave my mom if that's what he wanted. He was the same God when we lost our business. When my Dad fell. When his health didn't improve. When he died. And my God is the same today. And He will be the same tomorrow. And even in 25 more years. 

I love that.