to give

i have always loved thanksgiving. i love the idea of a holiday based entirely around decorating, cooking, a shared meal, drinking, conversing, thinking, napping, and thanking. what in the world could be a more biblical than eating, drinking, and being merrily thankful together? nothing.

things i am thankful for in this season of life:

my dear family

my family of friends

for my Young Life girls

for my education (although i complain about it a lot, i am thankful for it)

for a spirit of adventure

for warmth in heart and life

for seasons

for laughter and smiling

for freedom in truth

for my LORD, Jesus Christ dying for me

for music

for shared meals and yummy food

for a home

for old friends and new friends, distant and near

for rich colors and the ability to see

for hearts that share mission

for love and the countless ways it is shown

the truth is that everything in this word is something to be thankful for. for life in and of itself, for the riches of God's mercy, for people and hearts that are built to love and live uniquely... the earth itself is more a reminder to thankful than anything else.

to give thanks... to give. thankfulness is a gift to be given, a joy to be shared, and a moment to be humbly honest. i am learning to approach life with a spirit of thanksgiving, rather than an expectation of receiving.

live to give.

live to be free,

k

live to be free

things i have learned about myself recently:

i don't wear jeans often. really, i would prefer to only wear stretchy pants (or no pants as i like to call them) every day.

i like looking at design blogs.

i really like croissants.

i like the snow.

i like loose fitting clothing, paired with tights.

i like antlers as decoration.

i am not much of a dreamer.

conclusions i have made:

i want to be a dreamer.

as i begin to think about next year and all of the places i could go and oh, the things i could see i have realized that (although i don't like to admit it) i am a little bit of a dreamcatcher (although i do love a feathered dreamcatchers). nearly every time i come up with a crazy idea about the future, or some sort of long term dream i shoot it down before it can even possibly come to fruition. i have a problem... i am the dreamkiller. i have always assumed that the reason why i do this is because i have trouble committing to long term plans but really, i guess you could just say that i am a realist. ugh, reality. why do i choose to live in it? it is so much more fun to live in a dream...

i want to explore, i want to create, i want to be free. free to come and go. free to move on and free to stay. free to speak and free to have courage. free to love and like as i choose. and free to dream without consideration.

i want to live in this moment with freedom to put my heart out there.

and so i propose to my heart, go little one. be free to go. you may be young but dream as big as the king.

"if the LORD delights in a man's way,

he makes his steps firm;

though he may stumble, he will not fall,

for the LORD upholds him with his

hand"

the LORD has me in his hand and so i step out.

live to be free,

kare

lost and now found, here is a post i meant to publish oh, i don't know, about a month and a half ago... oh well, it's never too late to appreciate glorious moments

i have been captivated by fall. it's rich colors and warm memories have kept my heart in a colorful utopia since the day it began to rain leaves. just as quickly as the leaves change colors and begin to blow off the trees, so have new friends come into my life and so quickly they will soon blow away. but yet my heart is joyed by the simple things in my life and in taking ordinary moments deep. here are some of the best moments from this fall captured in all their brilliance...

the "rain or shine (but mostly rain)" YL fall retreat

Tony's new ink! thanks Armen!

oh the night of left handed bowling, a post surgery outing with Collin and friends

a day to play

eugene's fist friday art walk

the Watering Tote