OKLAHOMA is the place to be!!! high living is the life for me! :)

this past weekend alli and i went to oklahoma!!! we took amanda mav-eech-ian :) with us and caleb, also known as libby or auntie kay. it was SOOO much fun!! alli and i stayed with mallory and caleb and amanda stayed at snu. they're both from oregon, so caleb stayed with 3 guy friends from oregon and amanda stayed with her friend megan, who is caleb's cousin from oregon. there was a bible quiz saturday, so we went to that and hung out a lot then went to northview sunday morning. it was a BLAST!!

ready to hit the road jack!! :)

so we stopped at a rest area somewhere along the way and amanda was getting her peanut butter out of the trunk. that's a knife in her mouth. isn't that awesome!?! i totally captured the REAL amanda!! :)

we stopped in oklahoma at the biggest mcdonald's in the world. definitley overrated. it's big and dirty... and there isn't even a play place!! oh, AND we waited in line for like 3 years.

libby... you are psycho!! :)

here we are... in OKLAHOMA!! with mal!! :)

saturday was awesome, not only cuz we were in oklahoma with mallory... but i got to hang out with abe hubbert. it was sooo much fun!!! he met me at the church at like 11, then we ate lunch with the quiz teams at city bites, that was yummy... then we went to the mall, walked around for like 2 hours... got dip in dots and talked alot. then we went back to his and tommy's house, met troy and looked at pictures of alaska (gorgeous!! God is beautiful!!) and then we walked to the church and hung out at quizzing for a while. alli quiz mastered, so we got her and her content sodas and played war for like 3 quizzes. :) then abe went home and we all went to chinese!!

the above is abe and the below is the greatest quiz master in the world!! yeah alli!!

reagan, an amazing senior in high school who came and stayed with us and is coming to olivet next year was there. it was so good to see her... even though i forgot who she was completley at first. that was pretty funny! :)

here we all are at tai pei... mallory's favorite restaurant... with our waitress. it was SOO good!

abe stopped by mallory's house later that night to say goodbye.

ha ha... we took this picture 6 times... never did quite center ourselves in it. these are the best two! :)

this is caleb and amanda with megan.

here we all are... me, libby, alli and amanda... on our way to church!! :)

I GOT TO MEET TOMMY'S GIRLFRIEND EMILY!!! i was so excited!! she is AWESOME!!! :) i was worried for a long time that i'd miss her and not get to meet her, but i did, and she's amazing and i'm just so glad i met her! :)

me and tina!! so good to see the baileys!! i just love them!!!

it is so neat to be able to go to northview. i love to hear pastor tony speak. this sunday he showed a video of jim cymballa, the pastor of the brooklyn tabernacle in new york city. it was such a good video. he spoke about how God's house should be a house of prayer, and how when we serve in God's house without our heart being in the right place, we are in a way turning it into a den of robbers. he also spoke about the power of prayer, and it was just amazing. i want to be a woman who learns how to pray... a person who calls on God all the time. i just really thought that was neat.

i love brittany bailey!! she leads the music for their children's service... and here she is singing "Jesus, You are my Best Friend!" i love that song!! :)

so libby totally cracks me up. he took over driving for me... i slept and then did my math homework... and so he's driving along, hasn't talked at all and all of a sudden he won't shut up. it was hilarious. alli and i kept asking him if he's tired and he's like "no" and he keeps talking. finally i say, "caleb, will you just pull over and i'll drive?" and he goes, "ok" and then next thing i know we're on the side of the road. so i get out... and wait for cars to pass, we're literally like ON the highway... and i come around to trade him, and he just sits there. frozen. we're all yelling at him to get out of the car because a semi's coming and finally he jumps out and around and i shut my door right as it flies by. i was FREAKING out!!! it was really funny. he's goofy. i'm so glad he went with us though, we had a lot of fun. it wouldn't have been the same without him.

during our trip... to pass time, we read the book "Monster" by Frank Peretti. it was awesome! we skipped about 200 pages in the middle, but caleb had read it so he filled us in. reading was such a good idea. especially a thriller like that. :) suh-wheat!!!

naked fruit!

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Galations 5:22-23

Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.
Colossians 3:12

I've been reading the book "Naked Fruit" by Elisa, the leader of MOPS International and she talks about what different fruit looks like. Think of fruit... a peach, a pear, a pineapple, an orange, grapes, starfruit, kiwi, strawberries, an apple, a plum... each of these are so different and yet the same. Each has a peel of somesort or outside covering with a sweet inside. Just like these fruits are the qualities that we develop in our lives. Think about your friends... the ones your really see Jesus in. Do they all show the same fruit? No, maybe one friend is a grape while another friend is more like a pineapple. So in our lives... why do we try to mimick people that we look up to for our Christianity? Why don't we just go to the source Himself and allow Him to develop us into the sort of fruit He decides that we should be? I may not be a Mother-Theresa plum or a Rebecca St. James starfruit, but I sure can be a Kara Burkey kiwi if I just allow Him to develop character traits such as love, joy, peace, patience, and self-control in my life.


by the way... I'M GOING TO OKLAHOMA IN TWO DAYS!!!!!!!!!! whoopie!!! abe, mallory, tommy, ok city... HERE I COME!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

food for thought

These words spoke to my heart today... may they speak to yours as well. :)

Isaiah 55:1-2, 6-7

Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come buy wine and milk without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare. ... Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on Him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.

Psalm 25:1-5

To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul; in you I trust, O my God. Do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me. No one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame, but they will be put to shame who are treacherous without excuse. Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.

Dueteronomy 8

Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land that the Lord promised on oath to your forefathers. Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. ... Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you. Observe the commands of the Lord your God, walking in his ways and revering Him. ... When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees. Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God, who brought you out. ... If you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed. Like the nations the Lord destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the Lord your God.

How incredible it is that God is so much greater than our desires for "things" in the world. When we look to him, he truly satisfies us, not only our hearts but our bellies as well! I wonder how often I forget the Lord my God. Maybe not fully, but subtly, represented in my actions from day to day. How often do I eat and am satisfied and am blessed with so many "things" that I become confident in my own provision of these things that are fleeting and could be taken at any moment? If in fact I truly loved God with all of my heart, how much would the "things" of the world mean to me? How easy would it be for me to give them up? How would my attitude change and my heart be different? Some food for thought this beautiful Monday. Be blessed.
-Kara Joy

i miss my amandolin!!!

dude! check out this totally awesome picture of my roommate amanda playing with ducks in the UK!!! she's there studying at oxford for the semester, and i just miss her a whole lot. so today, this blog goes out to amanda. pray for her if you get a chance! and if you ever getta meet her... do it! cuz she is AMAZING!!!!!!!!! i love you amandolin!!!


For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your heart through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immesurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
-Ephesians 3:14-21

my King is enthralled with me!!!

i love this psalm and have been reflecting on it for a while. i think it was written about a King, in the bible it says it is a wedding song, so maybe one of Soloman's wives wrote it or something. but i like to read it as if i am the one writing it to my Jesus. it especially goes out to the ladies... because our King IS enthralled by our beauty and we need to honor him for He is the Lord.

Psalm 45

My heart is stirred by a noble theme as I recite my verses for the King; my tongue is the pen of a skillful writer.

You are the most excellent of men and your lips have been anointed with grace, since God has blessed you forever.

Gird your sword upon your side, O mighty one; clothe yourself with splendor and majesty.

In your majesty ride forth victoriously in behalf of truth, humility and righteousness; let your right hand display awesome deeds.

Let your sharp arrows pierce the hearts of the King's enemies; let the nations fall beneath your feet.

Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever; a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom.

You love righteousness and hate wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy.

All your robes are fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia; from palaces adorned with ivory the music of the strings makes you glad.

Daughters of kings are among your honored women; at your right hand is the royal bride in gold of Ophir.

Listen, O daughter, consider and give ear: Forget your people and your father's house.

The King is enthralled by your beauty; honor him, for he is your lord.

The Daughter of Tyre will come with a gift, men of wealth will seek your favor.

All glorious is the princess within her chamber; her gown is interwoven with gold.

In embroidered garments she is led to the king; her virgin companions follow her and are brought to you.

They are led in with joy and gladness; they enter the palace of the King.

Your sons will take the place of your fathers; you will make them princes throughout the land.

I will perpetuate your memory through all generations; therefore the nations will praise you for ever and ever.

often, our relationship with Christ is compared with that of a wedding... we are his bride. i love the imagery throughout this psalm... says who there's no fairy tales in the bible?? :) but that section speaking to daughters touches my heart... "Forget your people and your father's house. The King is enthralled by your beauty; honor Him!" it's as if they are pleading with me to just let my Jesus be enough. he is absolutley enthralled by me and it just makes me want to serve him all the harder. may you be strengthened this week in your relationship with your savior, your lover, your friend, and may you know that the King... whether you are a boy or a girl... is thrilled with you just as you are and loves you and wants you to be a part of him!! that, my friends, is AWESOME!

christmas break!

AHH! like in a week it will have been a whole month since i've blogged!!! that's insane!!! sos... i gots a tons of pictures to shows you!! :) lol. like my s's? here's what's been going down in the life of kara joy burkey....

MAKOM!!!

classes started tuesday here at lovely olivet and this past weekend was makom, which is kind of like a student led revival weekend. it was so incredibly awesome!! God really moved in my life. oh... and i got a job this weekend at barnes and noble. my first REAL day is tomorrow, so we'll see how that goes. i'm super excited though! :) here's some shots of makom. sorry they're not the greatest, i need to work on my photography skillage levels! ;)

this is matt cook and his band. they were great.

this was our speaker... mike something or other, sorry i don't remember. he was awesome... and HILARIOUS!!!!!! :)

this is me and carolyn and amy before saturday night makom started!

the gospel choir got to sing saturday night, the last night. this night was so amazing. the first night mike spoke about surrender, second night intimacy, and this third night like, where do we go from there. and the whole theme was expecting greatly. this night was amazing because after the service they had this humungo cross and we were invited to nail our stuff to it on sticky notes (so not really nails, but you get the picture) and then for forty-five minutes or so, we sang our God is an awesome God acapella over and over again. it was so incredible. i am so awed by my Jesus right now! he is so amazing!! and AWESOME!!!

OHIO!!!

i got to hang out with nicole a lot... that was awesome! i miss her when i'm at school... i really miss not being a part of the lives of my friends in lima like nicole when i'm in illinois. it's so hard to come home and try to rush them all into a few days. it makes me stress out!! but i'm glad for the time i got to spend with nicole!

BASKETBALL....
jobo's on varsity so we went to his game one friday night, verses bluffton. it was sad, they lost but i had a whole lot of fun!

matt fuhrman, wes sprague, james hall, micah, matt, and ashley ray all showed up for the game. i love those boys!! then we all went to mcdonalds afterwards and played euchre for a while. good times, good times!

above is me and fuhrman, and below i am sandwiched between james hall dean junior and wesley logan sprague-oo0! :)


HOT PINK PHOTO SHOOT!!

so i got anna this really kewl frame for her birthday in november, and we had a special hot pink photo shoot with anna's friend alayna. it was a lot of fun. here's my favorite picture!!


VACATE, VACATE, VACATE!!!!!!!!!

over new years we went to pennsylvania for a couple days: dad, mom, me cabes and aj for nathan and ruth's wedding. (my cousin). it was a whole lot of fun. we hung out in gettysburg all day friday, went to the wedding saturday and then went outlet shopping and played scrabble backwards and partied for the new year long and hard, and then went to mom's cousin's church and then ate lunch with them. it was so much fun!! here's some pictures...

ON THE WAY

so um, on the way there... and the way back, our van died several times. it has issues. i think it's possessed. i was singing my death song tho, just in case we blew up... "i'll love thee in death, i will love thee in life. and praise thee as long as thou lendest me breath. and say when the death dew lies cold on my brow... 'if ever i loved thee, my Jesus tis now!'" but we didn't blow up and caleb didn't really push the van anywhere although that is a great picture!

when we broke down one time like 10 miles from the next exit, we putted there and we all had to pee sooo bad and when we finally got to a gas station it was turkey hill which i thought was awesome cuz we're so the burkeys!! on turkey hill!! ha ha!!!

cabey had to go to the bathroom so bad he was dancing like a psycho person. and i stood in front of the door and wouldn't let him go and took his picture. it was funny. i'm such a mean sister!

GETTYSBURG

i toured gettysburg with uncle steve, aunt pat and annie while mom and dad and caleb and anna went with uncle jery and aunt joyce. i had a blast with annie and uncle steve absolutley cracks me up. aunt pat does too. like we're driving along and we're trying to get to robert e. lee and nobody has any idea where it is except that "it's that way, i know it!" so finally uncle steve tells aunt pat to look at the map and she's like "it won't do any good" and she opens it and says "oh, turn right here". i laughed SO hard!! it was awesome!!

this is in the graveyard where tons of civil war soldiers are buried and honored and this is the cemetary where Abraham Lincoln gave the famous gettysburg address "fourscore and seven years ago our forefathers brought forth on this great nation..." it was awesome!

here are annie and i getting ready to shoot you!

this guy could have been related to annie... that is until she realized that mcbride is not her mom's maiden name. ha ha. she's funny!

and this guy could be related to me if only nelson were the lastname and caldwell the middle. :)

doesn't annie look JUST like that monument? i think it's perfect!!

here we all are hanging out in the hotel playing scrabble backwards.

THE WEDDING!

nathan and ruth got married at a pretty chapel off in the country outside of gettysburg. she looked so pretty and nathan was like going psycho he was so excited it was hilarious!

we all laughed really hard... uncle john fell asleep... and the wedding hadn't even started yet!!

awe!! about to become mr. and mrs. nathan ehresman!

the reception was kewl. it was really different... it felt more like a family reunion! there were some breakfasty foods (the wedding was at 8:30 in the morning) and then we all hung out and three lucky couples played the newlywed game. mom and dad were in it and they were hilarious!!

here we are, beautiful cousins... annie and kara joy!

do you SEE how goofy nathan was this day!?! i love this picture though of him and jeremy and caleb. it's great!! :)

me and grandma nelson!

the whole ehresman family... aunt judi, ruth, nathan, uncle dick, and luke!

GOING HOME!!

we stopped at the rawley's... david, cindy and their son amos who's jonathan and annie's age, for lunch and church that morning. it was a lot of fun! they are awesome!

amos and cindy and david are above!

here's everyone... (uncle john and annie went home early and uncle jery and aunt joyce went to visit friends by d.c.) but here is... uncle steve, cindy, me, grandma, jeremy, david, anna, aunt nancy, aunt pat, dad, mom, and caleb.

we took aunt nancy with us and on the way home we stopped at cabella's and i got to see a real live, well, dead and stuffed moose... for the first time in my life!!! not so sure i wanna meet one anymore. they are HUGE!!! cabella's was awesome though!

this picture is for my lovely roommate amanda who is at oxford right now and i miss her so much. but she always calls me karibou and so this picture goes out in her honor!! :)

CHRISTMAS

i love our house at christmas!! it's like transformed and beautiful!!

penny came over for christmas and here she is with anna and jonathan and caleb being goofy on the couch!

our christmas tradition is that on christmas eve we all make yummies (fudge, toffee, peanut butter kiss cookies and chocolate covered pretzels) and then go caroling to the neighbors on our way to the christmas eve service. then afterwards, we have a chinese meal at home which is totally amazing and then sit around the christmas tree and give and read about Jesus. it's totally awesome! so here we all are at the table getting ready to sing and pray and eat!!! i love christmas eve!!! :)


other than all of that above, i worked a lot at lazeza, visited lots of friends and just had fun being home with the family for christmas. break rocked!! thanks for looking at my pictures! you are awesome!! :)