Beauty

Funny Story: I bought new make-up recently and it all came in last night.  I seriously have never bought a ton of make-up for myself, I usually just buy a little here and there to get by.  I've never worn lipstick and I rarely wear full foundation with powder and blush.  Lately I've wanted to do better at my make-up as odd as that sounds.  I've thought a lot about how it could definitely use improvement.  So I've looked and searched and I finally came up with a wish list including lipstick, 2 new powders, blush, and lots of other things.  I showed the list to Ryan thinking I was crazy - it was very expensive and just not necessary.  And he totally caught me off-guard.  My dear sweet husband told me I needed to get every item on my make-up wish list as I'd never really spent money like that on make-up for myself before!  I was thinking he would agree that it was a waste and that I should just get the two things I really needed - I've always just felt like I should put my money towards other things - like, I haven't had a haircut in ages and it's been almost 3 years since I highlighted my hair!  Anway - he gave me the green light, and so I splurged.  And it was really, really fun - and I loved getting ready for work this morning!  Then!  I am reading my devotions I'm ready for 1 Peter 3 and this is what I read this morning:

Braiding your hair doesn't make you beautiful.
Wearing gold jewelry or fine clothes doesn't make you beautiful.
Instead, your beauty comes from inside you.
It is the beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit.
Beauty like that doesn't fade away.  God places great value on it.


And so I just can't stop laughing - of course, the one day that I get up early excited to look beautiful and I actually put on lipstick - I would read this passage!  Ha, ha.  Beauty isn't about makeup or hair or jewelry or nice clothes - it's about what's in my heart.  True beauty comes from within - and God places great value on those that cultivate inner beauty and seek to have a gentle and quiet spirit.  I want to be beautiful on the inside - and as I've felt before, what's on the outside really doesn't matter.

Suffering

Some words I am chewing on...


Christ suffered for you.  He left you an example.
He expects you to follow in his steps.
You too were chosen to suffer.
Scripture says, "He didn't commit any sin,
No lies ever came out of his mouth."  (Isaiah 53:9)
People shouted at him and made fun of him.
But he didn't do the same back to them.
He suffered.  But he didn't say that bad things would happen to them.
Instead, he trusted in the One who judges fairly.
He himself carried our sins in his body on the cross.
He did it so that we would die as far as sins are concerned.
Then we would lead godly lives.
His wounds have made you whole.


Wow.  He expects me to follow in his steps.  I was chosen to suffer.  I should do as he did.  I shouldn't shout back or make fun back or wish bad back upon those who hurt me.  I should trust in the One who judges fairly.  I should sacrifice and give of myself to those that hurt me as this is what Christ did.  I should lead a godly life and stop sinning.  His wounds made me whole.  I am expected to follow in his steps and expected to suffer.  Wow.  This is hard stuff.

White Roses

I created this blog a long time ago to reflect on God at work in the world around me. Since I graduated college, got married and had a baby, posts have been few and far between. But today I have decided to post again. God is at work in the world - and I have sensed his presence closely in the past several years and I think it is time to share again. I do not promise more consistent postings - I am still, after all, married working and a full-time Mom... but as I find time I will be sharing here reflections on our great and awesome God.

White Roses.

I don't know about you, but I LOVE roses. Especially white roses. When Ryan and I moved to Canton - our first church together as a married couple - we decided that anytime someone would give their heart to Christ as a result of the ministry of our church that we would place a white rose on the altar Sunday morning in celebration of their new life in Christ. Since we have moved to Canton there have been many roses on the altar. The first was December 2009. A family of three gave their hearts to Jesus. This past April a young man gave his heart to Jesus and several weeks later his little sister did the same. A fifth grader asked to meet with Ryan to discuss baptism - and Ryan discovered in conversation that he really just wanted "God to live in his heart". This summer at Bible School 37 kids ages preschool - fifth grade asked God to be their friend and invited Jesus to live in their hearts. I was the one that led these 37 children in that prayer - and as there were only 41 children at Bible School that night I was questioned as to whether 37 children actually knew what they were doing. I debated this and struggled with this and concluded that maybe they didn't - but in my experience coming to know Jesus has been a process and I look back on several significant dates in my life where I gave a little more of my heart over to Jesus and I believe that what happened that night of Bible School in the hearts of 37 little children was real and authentic. And then - three weeks ago we found out that a first grader (one of the 37 children) led his Mom (who had practiced Wiccan) to Jesus. A friend and I met with her, prayed with her, and she told us that she had destroyed her Wiccan books and told Jesus that she promised to give Him her heart and follow Him. Wow! And her first grader led her to Jesus! He said "Mom - you should pray to my God. He can help you!" And she did - and He did. Wow.

Sometimes going through the motions - striving to live for Jesus - serving on Wednesdays and Sundays and in between at church - living a fairly predictable life - sometimes I forget that God is at work. I forget about the roses. I forget that people are closer to Jesus because of the ministry of our church. I forget that God is in the business of bringing people close to him. The Bible says in James "Draw near to God and he will draw near to you."

This week I don't want to forget. White roses are needed - and God is moving and at work. May I be a person that doesn't just go through the motions but may I remember - may I reflect on what God is doing. May I praise God for the lives that are changed and may I take time to draw near to God that he might draw near to me and that I might cause more white roses to be needed.

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