Back to Southside

I mentioned in previous post going back to the middle school with Kelsey. That was an unusual day before then I had not set foot in that school or even passed by it while driving since I left.
On this day I remembered that I owe Southside a little more credit than I have given the school in the past. I am not for public schooling I haven't been for nearly three years now, but when it comes to Southside it IS a great school the best of public schools in my area.
When I left Southside and moved to our local community college I left with no celebration or big parties. I finished school and headed straight toward college and now I get to "go back in time" and graduate high school. This past week has been like going back in time two years. Flashbacks are everywhere as I walk down the hallways of the middle and high school.
My graduating class is preparing for this big and scary day where they will not be around each other 24/7. They are realizing that they are going to have to step out of that little world they all have with one another and move toward real life.
This is scary.
College is not the REAL WORLD but for me it was a huge BLESSING from God.
For many I am sure high school was even a blessing in many ways. Remember that our REAL teacher is God and he has asked us first and foremost to obey our parents.
Though I am happy to have high school underway there is a part of me that knows I will still miss many of the people I have been hanging around.

“Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right” Ephesians 6:1 KJV
[Live] as children of obedience [to God]; do not conform yourselves to the evil desires [that governed you] in your former ignorance [when you did not know the requirements of the Gospel]. 1 Peter 1: 14

“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. Exodus 20:12 ESV

~Love K

My Graduation Speech

Congratulations class of 2014!
I tip my hat to you and your well being that you may take life in as an adventure and an opportunity. That as you move forward to bigger and better opportunities that you may hold your head high and succeed at every single one of them. The future is bright for this class I have seen many of you laugh and cry and make mistakes. We have all seen more than anything the possibilities. Possibilities for your future and for America. I look to many of you and thank you for giving others hope in the way that you have.

My prayers go out to you class of 2014 that you enjoy life and that you don't see this as an end, but one grand beginning.

~Love K 

Written back in the Spring of 2014.

Normal

Normal... what is normal? Is it just another phrase we use to try and psych the next guy out? Is it just being human? Is it now considered bad?
I look back at my life and think about how completely and wonderfully normal it is. 

Not many people have that blessing. (Living a normal life IS a blessing)

People often question what they can do and who they are, it's natural. 

We always consider how people will look at us and the things we do. 

We want others to like and accept us for who we are. 
I may not be the best writer or actor, but those are the things that bring me joy so I pursue them. 

Without another's approval.

Some people will only try once or twice and if they aren't good enough they give up. Often, this happens because they are worried about others may think of them or they just lack the will to learn more.

In high school, I had already spent years reading and watching TV. 

I knew what the stereotypical person should look like and a bit of me wanted to fit some of that stereotype of the "goth kid" or the "tree hugger". Throughout my preteen years I wore some the same clothes and in some ways saw life like some stereotype I had to fit.

Still I held my values and knew that I desperately wanted to live life with God on an even deeper spiritual level keeping my eyes open to the truth. I also knew the world did not hold the truth for me.

To this day I enjoy reading and escaping into my books and movies, but I am more careful about what I let into my mind.

How I act day to day is reflected by the things I let in my brain.

This means I have to be very careful about every decision I make about the type of culture I allow into my home.

I am not the person I was then.

I have learned so much since high school and I maintain an even deeper personal relationship with God everyday.

Normal to me is what God created us to be... it is this extraordinary yet average person. 

The person who believes they can do what God's great big wonderful will is and they will not stop pursuing it.

They are special. 

As we ALL can be.

We can ALL pursue this beauty.

Jesus's beauty.

We can ALL shine.

God gave us this opportunity.

This type of person isn't telling someone else that they are less than themselves.

They are not putting them down pridefully, but lifting them up humbly. 

They are saying "Hey, you got what God wanted you to even though your life may be different from mine you are your own and made by a wonderful creator. 

God gives us each the ability to be unique and still relateable to others.

The world wants you to be extraordinarily different in the wrong ways and yet exactly like their template. 

They want you to own up to some label or to some person that in all reality isn't possible for anyone.

It doesn't matter who you are God created YOU and YOU are special.

LIVE. LOVE. LET GO. Follow God.

Philippians 4:13 (ESV) - "I can do all things through him [Christ] who strengthens me."

Genesis 1:27 (ESV) - "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them."

~Love K

(Written in 2014. Revised in 2015.)

Kelsey: Walking Forward

Kelsey and I have this interesting relationship unlike any I have ever had with anyone else. We both wish to give to each other. When one child is in trouble we want to take up for the other or if one kid gets blamed we will come up to the plate to see if it was us who did it. That sort of honesty is something that Kelsey has, it is this very sweet and pure love to just want to jump in and help or be apart of.
I am learning this from her everyday... I am learning a lot of things from Kelsey everyday.
Yesterday, the family got out of bed early and headed to Kelsey's graduation ceremony to celebrate leaving one stage of her life and heading to the next.
The next stage: Middle school.
For me, Middle school was hard... fun, but hard. It encased people growing and learning in an unknown environment. There are bullies and 699 other kids... you are going through puberty and people form into cliques. Kids begin to judge and ridicule others.
It is here where one gets their label.
My experience was for me though, God gave me my experience in high school so that I could learn to forgive and move forward. He gave it to me so that I could spread my wings and DO SOMETHING about it.
For Kelsey I pray that God gives her what she needs, but with ALL my heart I pray louder I scream it to the heavens that God will keep her KELSEY my sweet little sister who brushes my hair when I am sad and knows exactly what to do next. What to say.
With Kelsey I trust and know God has her like God has had me so many years. I trust that God will make her into the best young woman she can be. I hope her experience is better than mine, but I hope even more God will work what is needed in her life.
My parents gave us as children to God and we know it, we know that God is there. With us. Near us.
As a sister I wish Kelsey the best and I will be there WHENEVER she needs me.
We are not just sisters we are BEST FRIENDS!

-God Bless you Kelsey in all you do. In this AMAZING walk with God you are beginning to encounter. A lifetime of adventures I am not even in the position to say anything about. Most of all Katie (me) is excited to share in this life WITH YOU!
I love you!

1 Corinthians 13:13 ESV: So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love. 

Matthew 5:44 ESV: But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

 ~Love K

Changes (just a thought)

I haven't really gotten to that point yet where everything makes since.
I guess no one ever really does in this life.
Our souls and our imaginations get away with us and we either have nothing to say or everything to tell.
We start off our lives reading and learning about other people's stories and listening to their experiences which eventually gets us craving for our own journey.
I never thought it would get to this place where everything would change and I would actually start living. My first story is closing as my childhood comes to a close. Not many people will have the honor of being able to have their first REAL "on their own" adventure before their childhood truly ends.
Point is everyone's life is different and we all grow, we all change, and we all learn that no matter who we are or what we do there is no stopping change. We all have the gift of life it is what we do with the uncertainty and each of our unknown futures that will make us.
God is my refuge he is who I cling too when I don't understand and he always be. So even when the road is uncertain I know I am safe... he never fails... he never will. There is no "what-if"


A man's mind plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps and makes them sure. Proverbs 16: 9

Blessings
-Love K