Thanksgiving In Colorado

This Thanksgiving I was able to go to my sister's house in Colorado. I did a road trip with my Dad, Wanita, Shawna and Kevin. We left on Tuesday....driving through the night....arriving in Colorado at around one on Wednesday. We stayed for a few days, enjoy the holiday with family, and then headed home yesterday....finally arriving at my parents this afternoon. It has been a long time since we have been with Erica and the kids for the holiday's, so it was totally worth the long drive!

Terrell, 14 ~ Tevin, 12 ~ Eric, 9

My nephews are huge football fans. They have grown up eating and breathing football. This, of course, is something I can totally relate to. The one difference is, they are Dallas Cowboy's fans and I am a Denver Bronco fan. The talk all weekend was about how much they love their team and how much I love mine. I enjoyed playing around with they boys....throwing the football around before dinner and then watching the games on Thanksgiving day. I was so blessed to go to Colorado to be with family.

Tierra, 7

We had finished eating our Thanksgiving dinner...dishes were done and all the food was put away. While we were sitting in the family room at my sister's house, watching football.....my 7 year old niece, Tierra, said, "Auntie Kim, I want to paint your fingernails!" She chose the color blue, her new favorite color. I sat at the kitchen table and she paid close attention to what she was doing.

A little while later she wanted to check on her work, so she came over to me….looking closely at each nail to see how each nail at dried. Then she pulled off my slippers and started trying to clean off the paint on my toenails with a kleenex. She was scrubbing hard trying to get the paing to come off....but without the remover, it wouldn't. When Grandma asked her what she was doing….she looked up with a smile and said, “Just shinning them!” She is so cute!

I hope that you all had a truly blessed Thanksgiving with family and friends!

~ Kim ~

The Drive Begins.....

The journey began today....Medford to Terrebonne. I stay with my parents for the night and tomorrow we drive to La Grande to pick up Shawna and Kevin....then on to my sister Erica's house in Colorado for Thanksgiving.

"Slow down and enjoy the view", the Lord spoke softly to me today.

In the past I have driven from destination to destination.

Today I slowed down and enjoyed the beauty of God's creation!

Things on my mind as during the three hours of driving....
Quiet ~ Prayer ~ Beautiful ~ Thankful ~ Worship

How Long? ~ Waiting on God's Timing
Fasting ~ Laugh
His Presence ~ Family

the drive ahead ~ A Smile Refreshing




Many times we need to just slow down and enjoy the view. Too often we are so busy that we miss what the Lord wants to show us or speak to us. Nothing like a beautiful drive in Oregon to slow me down. I am truly blessed.

~ Kim ~

Mexico

After being in Mexico for almost a week, God did something that completely blessed me. I was in Mexico on a mission trip with the Anthem team. We went down to a place called Tepic where we worked with a church called LaFuente (The Fountain). LaFuente is planting their 7th church in the course of 10 years in a town called Compestella….and this is where our team mostly served. We were able to go to Compestella almost once a day, while in Mexico, to pray over the community and some property they would like to purchase for their church along with playing in a nearby park with children and adults from the community. It was an amazing experience!

On Sunday morning we went to LaFuente for breakfast and then spent some time praying with the leaders of the church for their Sunday morning service. While worship music was still playing and people were walking around the Sanctuary praying, I sat down and grabbed my water bottle. A woman from LaFuente came to me and said, “Bless You!” and then said something else to me in Spanish. I said “Bless You!” back to her and she smiled and walked away. She took a few steps and turned back around. She was speaking more Spanish to me, so I was not sure what she was saying….but all of the sudden I realized that she was praying for me. She knelt down and grabbed my hand, resting her head on my head, she began crying out to the Lord for me. I could only understand one word she said during her prayer and that was “persevere”. As she was praying for me the Lord told me, “I understand her prayer for you even if you don’t know what she is saying.” I was so blessed by this woman’s obedience to the Lord to pray for me. The prayer brought me to tears. Language was not a barrier….I knew that the Lord heard her!
As the day went on, our team went to one of the church plants in Puga to help with the morning church service. Pastor Verl, from our team, gave the morning message and then had people in the congregation come forward to respond to what the Lord has spoken to them. Our team was then asked to pray over the people who responded. It was amazing because again….language was not a barrier. Even though the woman I prayed over didn’t understand English, the Lord spoke to her. The Holy Spirit showed up in a mighty way that day…..and I was truly honored to be used by the Lord to pray for this woman.
The Lord is so good! Since that day the Lord has spoken to me either through someone or through something I have read about persevering. The woman who prayed over me heard the Lord and I am so grateful that she prayed for me. I am listening to all that the Lord is speaking to me….I am learning to persevere through all that comes each day.
One more pretty great thing that happened while we were in Mexico is that our team was able to meet some pretty amazing new friends. Chris and Stefanie were two of those friends that were with us most of the week. I just love how our team loved and included them as part of our team, our family! That is what we are to do everyday….love others! Chris and Stefanie and the rest of the crew from LaFuente will always have a special place in our hearts….and I look forward to seeing them again someday, hopefully soon!

~Kim~

FAITH

Psalms 121

I lift up my eyes to the hills — where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord,the Maker of heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot slip — he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
The Lord watches over you — the Lord is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day,nor the moon by night.
The Lord will keep you from all harm — he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.

Yesterday Kevin and I went on a hike up Tablerock, here in Medford. As many of you know, Kevin was diagnosed with a brain tumor over a year ago. Kevin teaches me so much and I am so grateful for him being in my life. As we were walking up the trail he told me there was no way he could have hiked up this mountain last summer....but look at him now! It was such an accomplishment for both Kevin and I to make it up to the top....to see the beautiful view of the valley we now live in. One thing I have learned from Kevin is to hold on to the Lord and trust in him with all that I have. Kevin has done just that.....he hasn't given up on life but has surrendered his life completely over to the Lord. Everyday he is being used by the Lord to reach the lost and love them. Today as I was doing my daily devotions I read this in the notes of my Life Application Bible........

Growing in faith is a constant process of daily renewing our trust in Jesus

My faith in the Lord has grown so much over the past year. It started growing when I finally completely surrendered my life, my will, my dreams, my everything over to the Lord. That is when He could finally do what he wanted to do in my life. I started trusting in the Lord...trusting that he knows what's best and he will take care of my every need. I began trusting him with every step I take. I wasn't holding on to control anymore....I started seeking the Lord's face and his will for my life.

~Kim~