"Fear not....

for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you...When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior..." Isaiah 43:1-3

I know it has been many months since I posted on our blog.....so many things have happened and the Lord has been at work through this very difficult season....this verse in Isaiah has become my theme in the last few months, and especially since the recent floods here in Middle Tennessee.

On January 5, 2010, I checked in to Cumberland Heights Treatment Center for my alcoholism, which had nearly devastated me and our family more than once. If anyone knows anyone who needs help, Cumberland Heights is one of the best in the world and I would recommend it highly. I spent three months and one week in treatment......God moved in my life in a mighty way and taught me to rely on Him through the things I learned there. His faithfulness is so powerful and reassuring. I walked into treatment dying in every way and left confident in His love and trusting that His grace is sufficient in my weakness. As I type this I have four months and five days sober. And I am living not just a new life, but just really living life for the first time. I am so grateful to God for the counselors and friends from Cumberland and for the tremendous support from family and friends outside the gates of Cumberland Heights. I am also thankful for the program of Alcoholics Anonymous. God has used that to save many lives, including mine.

Kevin was magnificent in his care for the girls and support for my recovery. He played Mr. Mom by himself for two of those three months and my mom came to help him for the first month. I am so grateful for the life God has given me and our family. The girls did fine while I was away. They got to know their daddy pretty well!

About three and a half weeks after my discharge the storms and flooding hit our area. I have never seen such devastation. The storms started on Saturday, May 1st, and the flooding came almost immediately with them. Sunday we began to realize that our house was going to take on water, so we got as many precious items out as we could, like pictures, jewelry, some clothing, and some books. We were unable to get back into our home until Wednesday afternoon, as the roads approaching our house were unpassable due to flooding. Our street runs into a road called River Road, which runs parallel to the Cumberland River. The basement of our house was completely flooded and the inside of the house got about two feet of water in it. We are renting, so that is a wonderful blessing! We lost a great deal of our possessions, but I am so grateful that nobody in our family was hurt and that we have had places to stay. We have been at his parents' house and I have gone between there and the home of my best friend who lives close by. There are so many things to see as blessings here, not the least of which is that I was needing to get rid of some stuff and not wanting to sort through it all. God took care of that for me! We are planning to rent an apartment in our town, Ashland City, and move in whenever they open. We have all been thrown off by this flood, and it has been very trying, but I am thankful to be sober and trusting God to meet all our needs. As He always graciously does.

We have received gifts and offers of help from people all over the country. God is doing for us what we can not do for ourselves.....giving us courage and hope and grace to make each day at a time. We are going to apply with FEMA in the next day or two. That assistance will be a huge help.

I am going to work on posting more regularly and will let everyone know when we get in our own place.

Grace and Peace~Kara

The Math of Gratitude

I have never been a math genius, but here is what I take away from being tired:

Job Tiredness=I have a job and it is a wonderful blessing
Loads of Laundry=We have clothes to wear, lots of them
Messy House=We have a place to live and keep us comfortable
Children up at Night=Children I never thought I'd get to have (and aren't they pretty?)
Irritation with Kevin (only sometimes)=A husband I couldn't do without (He's pretty,too!)
Missing Family Far Away=A family I couldn't do without
Christian Music=Only a teeny part of what Heaven will be like! Wow!
Ephesians 1=I have every spiritual blessing in Christ....What an unmerited gift!
Life is so good! God is better!

Family Legacy

When I think about the people who make up my world and those who have had the most influence I think about my grandparents....we celebrated Dadada's 90th birthday this weekend and there were more than 100 people there to share in our joy. I write this from Houston and can hear my mom upstairs with my girls. I haven't had time to upload pictures yet but just couldn't not post how very honored I am to have come from the family God gave me. My grandparents taught me about God's love and Jesus' sacrifice and have given their lives to bless others in order that they may know Jesus. And I want to honor that legacy by living the same way. I'll upload pictures when I am able.....hope you have a blessed week!

I got this cute pool yesterday at Target thinking that the girls would LOVE it! Well, Laura loved it but Lindy wasn't so sure about the cold water, as you can see. She's a water girl but not cold water. Girl after my own heart. I'm grateful for the warmer weather and the changing of the calendar. May has seemed like a long month to me this year. Hope you are having a beautiful late spring/early summer! Oh, and Lindy is trying more and more to walk. I think by the end of this week she'll be walking more than she is crawling. Very cute. If I can catch it on video I'll post it! Happy Sunday!

Recovering....Slowly!

Here are some of Lindy's one year portraits as promised.....I love the one with the pouty face. Is that not so cute???? She's busy and getting into everything, but not quite walking yet. That will come soon enough, I know!

Just a quick update.....I'm a week post surgery and feeling MUCH better, as expected. But still laying around a lot! Everything went fine and is healing nicely, as far as I know. :) Thanks for the prayers and love. My mom is here until tomorrow afternoon so I'm going to continue to take advantage of being able to lay around and read books. We went to our Small Group Bible study yesterday, which was wonderful, but that was about all I could do for the day! Now we need prayers because Lindy is not wanting to sleep, like at all. Makes life really difficult at times! Laura wasn't a good sleeper either but I don't remember it being quite this hard with her......

Otherwise all is well in Nashville.

Today is the first day.......

Of the rest of my life! I suppose we could all say that anyway, since God makes all things new every morning, couldn't we? But since I am a bit of a drama queen, yes try not to be too shocked (that I'm admitting it!), I really am looking at today as a happy new start! I'm having surgery today.....a hysterectomy, to be specific. I'm very excited about it. It is something I've needed to have done for many years now, but really preferred to keep those particular parts in so I could have babies. As that part of life is done, there isn't any reason to keep them in anymore. So....OUT THEY COME!



As I type this it is 6:53am Central Time. Lord willing the surgery will start at 12:30pm. We're to be at the hospital at 10:30. My mom flew in to be a help and to celebrate Lindy's first birthday with us. (I'll post pictures of that when I get home and am moving around a little better.) This counts as major surgery and requires a one to two night stay in the hospital. I'm having it done with the brilliant doctor who cared for us during my difficult pregnancy with Lindy and then delivered her safely and soundly. And it will be at Centennial Hospital in Nashville. Actually, it is the Women's Hospital at Centennial. Man, I hope the food is good. I am SOOOO hungry, as I've not been able to eat since midnight. And with nerves haven't slept all night. Why is it that when I'm not allowed to eat I could just eat an elephant but when I need to eat I can't find anything I want? Yet I digress.



Anyway, I wanted to let you know what is going on with us today. Kevin is taking the day off and will bus the girls around town today as needed. Laura will spend two nights with Grandma and Grandpa and Lindy will spend two nights with our sweet friends from church, the Daltons. Mother will stay with me in the hospital so Kevin can get to work early in the morning. Then a few weeks of discomfort and recovery and Voila'! A whole new me! :) (I told you I'm a drama queen. You get what you get when you check my blog. At least I'm posting again~)



Please pray for me and our family as we go through this surgery and recovery time. The hardest thing for me is going to be the lifting restriction. Like nothing over ten pounds for six weeks. Yeah, Lindy's going to love that one. Kevin will have to shoulder some of my responsibilities, so pray for his endurance as he is always so busy with his work.



Hope you have a beautiful Monday and week. If you want to call my cell phone and know the number (obviously I'm not posting it on random cyberspace) please feel free to call. My mom or Kevin will have it if I'm not able to talk. Like that ever happens. Anyway, thanks for your prayers and stay tuned for birthday celebration pics later in the week!

Happy Valentine's Day

Yes, I realize I've been a bit out of touch lately, and I do realize that it is the end of April....

Kevin and I celebrated Valentine's Day last night by attending "The United Tour" concert with Michael W. Smith and Steven Curtis Chapman. My sweet husband, back in February, offered for me to have a spa day for Valentine's Day. It was Februrary 13 and as I looked at the offerings at different spas in the area I remembered that tickets went on sale that day for what I considered the concert of a lifetime. So I asked him if he would mind spending the same amount of money on tickets to a concert we could attend together. And, of course, he agreed. So we've had those tickets hanging on our fridge for two and a half months now. And let me just say that it was WELL worth the wait. PHENOMENAL doesn't begin to describe how wonderful the concert/worship experience was. Those of you who know me know that just about all I listen to is Christian music, and have since I was about 12, when I first saw Michael W. Smith performing with Amy Grant when they were fledgling Christian artists. I started listening to Steven Curtis Chapman in 1989 and he and Twila Paris are my two favorite singers ever. Anyway, all that to say that it was a dream come true to get to be there and hear these men, whose music helped shape my faith and keep my eyes heavenward when they would have looked elsewhere. The first Steven Curtis Chapman record I ever heard had the song, "I will be here" on it. I was a junior at Texas A&M then and I remember longing for a love so faithful. He sang that last night and I got to sit there and hold Kevin's hand through the song. How blessed I am among women! I chose to follow the request of the artists and not take digital pictures of the performance (unlike the man in front of me who just about recorded the entire concert!) to post on the blog, so all you get is a "prom" picture of Kevin and me before we left. Steven talked a lot about how his life and the life of his family has changed since their little girl, Maria Sue, went to be with Jesus last May due to a horrible accident. He talked about how he has questioned God and wondered how in the world he could ever sing his songs with sincerity and integrity again. But that he realized that God is faithful and mighty to save and that they will see Maria again on the other side. And that our Father absolutely is carrying them on this difficult journey. Hearing the songs I have loved for so long filtered through the lens of someone who has lost a child challenges me to really trust in God's grace and providence. If God can carry them through that He can take care of me and my family through anything because He is mighty and eternal.

God is God and I am not. To Him, and through Him, and from Him are all things, and I am grateful. Happy Valentine's Day!