My phone is seriously so cool! Had I known 14 months ago that I could set up my blog so that I could post to it from my phone, I doubt that I would have gone 14 months without a blog post! :-) I am very awed by this trick! But hey... just means the posts will keep coming! :-)

So... here I am... another day overdue... waiting for baby Goode to come. There's this song on the radio that Ryan and I have heard several times in the last few weeks and its so funny... its about waiting for Jesus... yet its definitley how I feel waiting for our baby to come! Check out the lyrics:


Your Arrival
-Phil Wickham

Here now in the final hours
Hope lifts its tired eyes
Here now, we are waiting
For you to arrive

Great things are set in motion
The sky breaks with a trumpet sound
You call all your children
To meet you in the clouds

We are waiting, anticipating
Your arrival, your arrival
Voices raising, celebrating
Your arrival, your arrival

We'll keep the candle burning
We'll watch for every sign
Here now we are waiting
For you to arrive!

Great things are about to happen
Lord, let your kingdom come
And call us home to heaven
The city of our God

Haste the day!

We wanna be with you!

Oh this is our song
Wherever you are
Is where we belong, O Lord

We are waiting, anticipating
Your arrival, your arrival
Voices raising, celebrating
Your arrival, your arrival


So... the song is about Jesus returning, not waiting for a baby's birth, yet so much of that is how I feel today! "Haste the day! I am waiting, anticipating your arrival little boy! Great things are about to happen! We're watching for every sign! Here now we are waiting for your arrival... baby we want to be with you!" Please little Goode... come soon!

And a blog isn't as fun without a picture... so here's one of all the paintings I've made so far for the babys room... Noah's ark theme... 2 of each animal. I can't wait for him to see his animals! :-) Have a great day!

Hello!!! Long time no post!! :)

Hey all!!

So... I haven't posted in FOREVER on this blog... I'm sure I haven't been too busy to get online and post for the past 14 months... but for some reason I haven't. I just updated Ryan and my blog... you can check it out by clicking here... and I thought I'd pop in and put an update on this blog too!

I am very pregnant. I was due yesterday... here's a recent goofy picture (more belly shots are on Ryan & my blog!)... and I am very ready for a baby outside of my belly, 6 weeks off work, and summer!! :)
The past year has been a really good year. God is so good and faithful! Our church is doing really well, is a lot of fun, a lot of work, but God is moving and blessing us and we are growing. It's exciting to look ahead to the future - and to look back and see all that God has done since we've moved to Canton. Some of the highlights: we've just started an Upward Sports Soccer League - first game April 16! We have a small group that meets at our house on Sunday nights that is really good and we're talking about forming another group. Each week there are 3 different groups that meet with Jesus regularly - Tuesdays and Fridays at 7am and Wednesdays at 7pm. It's so exciting to meet with each other and pray and see how God is molding and shaping us as we seek Him! And we've had several new families visit our church in the past month. God is working!

I am working at a hospital as a social worker - and I LOVE it!! :) I was a Child Welfare Specialist and worked with abused and neglected kids and had a really rough time in that position... this new position I have held since the end of December - it's part time, so I work 3 days one week and 2 days the next - but have insurance and it's not stressful at all!! I am loving the extra time off to get ready for the baby and pour into the people at our church... and I look forward to this summer and fall to with a new baby be able to have time to bless those around me due to the blessing of my part time job. :)

Ryan's doing good... he's been busy building and creating for our new little man. He has completed a crib that he made from scratch out of oak - here's a picture I just took this weekend:

He also is working on a changing table and a sweet little shelf for the baby's room. Yes, yes, we know the baby was due yesterday... but there is no rush to finish the furniture and it is all almost done anyway... it is all beautiful!! I'm so proud of his new learned wood-working skills. Thank you church for buying him a table saw this past October... it was the nicest gift ever and has definitely been put to use and will continue to be used! :)

And then of course you need a Claxton update! I love our puppy more than ever... he's so funny... and peanut butter makes him go crazy! :) I will have to show you the next time you come to visit... don't let me forget! I laugh sooo hard at him when he eats peanut butter. He's excited about his new brother too... I really think he knows there's a baby on the way! Two weeks ago I had contractions 2 minutes apart and so Ryan and I ran around the house packing our bags for the hospital in a panic... and wherever I went Claxton followed me and several times put his nose on my belly... like he knew something was up or wrong! :) He's such a good dog... now we just have to see how he does with a new baby! Here's a funny picture of him reading my "What to Expect when you're Expecting" book! :) So cute.


I promise I won't wait 14 months to post again. Have a lovely day!!
:) Kara Joy

A New Haircut!!

I got a new haircut today! I'm SO excited...
Check it out... and tell me what you think! :)

a post during my lunch break! ;)

He holds victory in store for the upright,
He is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,
for He guards the course of the just
and protects the way of His faithful ones.
-Proverbs 2:7-8

With what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God?
Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?
Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil?
Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
-Micah 6:6-8

There's so much hurt and pain going on in the world. It bothers me, like seriously gets under my skin. I find myself asking "Why!?!" all the time. I love this passage in Micah. God's not impressed by my offerings, by my sacrifices, by my "good works"... God's impressed when I act justly to others, when I love mercy by my heart continuing to break for those hurting around me, and when I walk humbly in obedience to God. God is a shield to the blameless... He protects those He loves. May I in this job, in my church, in every aspect of my life act with justice, love and delight in mercy, and walk humbly with God. May I spur others on towards a relationship with this God who loves, protects, and lifts up even in the darkest and most hopeless moments in life.


Praise the Lord! I will extol the Lord with all my heart in the council of the upright and in the assembly. Great are the works of the Lord; they are pondered by all who delight in them. Glorious and majestic are His deeds, and His righteousness endures forever. He has caused His wonders to be remembered; the Lord is gracious and compassionate. He provides food for those who fear Him; He remembers His covenant forever. He has shown His people the power of His works, giving them the lands of other nations. The works of His hands are faithful and just; all His precepts are trustworthy. They are steadfast forever and ever, done in faithfulness and uprightness. He provided redemption for His people; He ordained His covenant forever - Holy and Awesome is His name. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow His precepts have good understanding. To Him belongs eternal praise!
-Psalm 111

Massive Upload of Pictures

Ryan and I just put a TON of pictures up on our blog... and I copied and pasted our wedding and honeymoon pictures here, so if you scroll down you'll be able to check them all out! :) Hope you like them!!

Little update on me... I've been working at Lutheran Social Services in Canton, Illinois and it's going rather well! I've been a bit frustrated as I won't actually get my own cases until I complete training, and as training was full already when I was hired on, I won't be going until March. So come April 1, I will have my own official case load! Until then I've been following people around, watching, and trying to learn how to be a caseworker before actually becoming one.

What will I do? My official title is "Child Welfare Specialist"... basically: my goal is to reunify children with their parents. Sometimes this isn't possible, so kids are in foster homes while workers like me work on adoption and guardianship in the most stable homes we can find. It seems like it will be really interesting, difficult, yet rewarding. I'm very anxious to become licensened and actually start working!

Ryan and I are going on an "Encounter" retreat this weekend through the Nazarene Church. I'm interested in seeing what it's all about, and we're both really excited about the follow-up and small group potential we'll have after this weekend with other couples and people in our church that have already experienced an Encounter Weekend. :)

Other than laundry, cooking, working, sleeping, and Encounter...
not much else is going on!
Oh yeah... we're trying really hard to get all our wedding thank you notes finished and in the mail. It's crazy how many we will be sending! I'm excited for you to get one... watch the mail!

Much love and prayers,
Your friend,
Kara Joy :)

So Goode :)

Commit your way to the LORD;
trust in him and he will do this:
He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn,
the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.
-Psalm 37:4-5-

Just a short note to say: Check out our new blog!
sogoode.blogspot.com

:)

I'm taking a break from painting the living room to let you all know that...


I HAVE A JOB!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)


I am SO excited!!
I am a case manager for Lutheran Family Services in Illinois, working with foster families... aka: a real social worker!!!!!!!!!!!! :) :) I start on Monday!!! Praise God!!!!!!!!!!!

SO MUCH MORE to come soon!
Love,
Kara Joy :)