Tag: religious

Bible, children, dental work, faith, faithful, Family, God, God's will, Jesus, parenting, religious, scripture, spiritual, teeth, Uncategorized

Seriously Straight

katietkennedy

My kids joke that I missed my calling as a dentist or dental hygienist. I find all teeth-related things fascinating. Especially when an adult tooth is trying to emerge into their young mouth. How does it know where to go and how fast to travel down the path? God is amazing in how he designed us.

In the last year, my daughters have had a fair amount of dental work done. Lots of lost teeth, spacers being put in, molds being made, braces, etc. This is probably why teeth are on my mind.

How could teeth possibly remind me of our faith journey? Well, they arrive slowly. They move in such small increments we can’t visibly see them. We see progress in days, weeks, and months.

Isn’t that like our faith journey? Progress is hard to notice as God slowly sanctifies us. One act of repentance at a time. We grow slowly as He molds and changes our hearts, interests, and goals. He doesn’t work quickly, but rather over the long run.

You can’t always judge the changes in your heart daily, you need to look in the rearview mirror. Only then will you see how God has been working in your life, and you can recognize His transforming work.

Keep pursuing Him, and He will set your course straight. “In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” (Proverbs 3:6)

animals, blessings, challenges, faith, faithful, Family, fortitude, God, God's will, Jesus, Uncategorized

Hovering Cows

katietkennedy

One Friday afternoon a business associate invited my husband and I to the country for a social gathering. It was over an hour away and as we neared the location we wondered where we were going. The event was being held on someone’s private property, up on a hilltop.

As we drove up the road, it got steep and bumpy. We winded our way up the gravel drive and met some cows on our path. Momma and baby cows were all around us. We had to coax a few calves off the road so we could pass by. 

This reminds me of our faith journey. We are heading up in our sanctification process (hopefully). As we follow Jesus He will keep us on the right path, “In all your ways acknowledge Him, and he will make straight your paths.” (Proverbs 3:6). There will be challenges and unexpected visitors on the way (cows in this case) but we must keep going, slowly yet still progressing. 

We take one step forward at a time and trust in our Heavenly Father to lead us. This is the challenging part. We don’t know all His plans for us, nor all the why’s, yet we need to keep trusting even when we can’t
see around the bend. We recall in the past at other turns, He has always been there. Yet, you still wonder what if this time He forgets me. Of course, He doesn’t, He meets us yet again for another trial, another challenge.

When we finally made our way up to the top, there were majestic views of the valley below. I was glad we had arrived safely. While it wasn’t an easy trip, it was worth it. The fresh air and the stars were magnificent.

We don’t always understand the paths the Lord takes us on. We keep praying for our will to be His will. We remind ourselves He keeps His promises and will always be with us. “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5) 

animals, beauty, Bible, blessings, dog, faith, faithful, Family, freedom, God, Jesus, nature, puppies, religious, scripture, spiritual, Uncategorized, wonder

Inquisitive wonder

katietkennedy

At five-month-old, our puppy Blue looks at the world with such wonder. When he sees a bug moving on the ground he stares intently, watching its every move until he decides to touch or maybe taste the fascinating object.

When we take Blue for a walk, he is amazed at the falling leaves. He tries to pounce on them until there are too many for him to get, or until something else begs for his attention. He has such wonder for the world. Such curiosity. It’s similar to a little kid seeing fireworks for the first time or noticing an airplane in the sky.

This reminds me of our faith journey. When we are young, we are easily impressed with the world around us. As we age, the marvels of the world can become mundane. I appreciate watching my puppy explore the world. It reminds me how amazing this place is that God created. Do we still look at this world with wonder and interest? Do we marvel at the little things? Most importantly, do we gaze at the Bible with focus and intentionality?

While Blue’s attention span might be limited, his ability to notice the interesting in the everyday does not escape me. You don’t have to go out and buy a puppy in order to pay attention to the details of life. It just takes some intentionality and the ability to slow down long enough to observe the beauty around you.

I pray we all take time to marvel at the world around us, at God’s creation, and appreciate His works.

“How great are your works, O Lord!” (Psalm 92:5)

animals, Bible, blessings, children, dog, faith, Family, forgiveness, freedom, God, God's grace, God's will, Jesus, mistakes, parenting, religious, spiritual, Uncategorized

Puppy Passion

katietkennedy

We recently got a new puppy and named him Blue. Our three daughters adore him. My husband and I have also grown quite fond of him. Blue doesn’t deserve this love. In fact, he’s destructive and bites everyone non-stop. His actions don’t merit our unconditional love for him. Yet, we give it to him anyway.

Blue rips holes in our shirts, unties our shoes, and steals our sneakers. A few minutes after he is naughty we come to tell him how adorable he is. He can hardly do wrong in our eyes.

This reminds me of our faith journey. We can be like this puppy at times. We know what we are supposed to do but still choose to make poor decisions. We mess up all the time. We forget to praise the Lord. We don’t show gratitude and we lack trust and obedience. For all of our mess-ups, God is still waiting for us to come back to Him.

It’s amazing if you think about it. We sin over and over again. We only need to come humbly to our Father and ask for forgiveness. My family’s love for Blue doesn’t change based on his behavior. Neither does God’s love for us.

We hide from God embarrassed of our mistakes. God wants us to come to Him. Sin separates us from God when we let it. Don’t let pride or anything come in between you and our amazing Father. Repent and turn toward Him.

faith, faithful, Family, forgiveness, freedom, God, God's grace, God's will, Jesus, moms, parenting, religious, scripture, sin, spiritual, Uncategorized

Clean Slate

katietkennedy

One afternoon I was tinkering with my phone. For a long time, I haven’t been able to add my husband to any calendar events. With a new school year starting, I was determined to resolve the problem. After getting some help from someone way more technologically savvy than myself, the problem was fixed. The only downside was all of my calendar entries had been removed.

I had a clean slate. Literally, nothing was on there. I kept waiting for myself to freak out, but I never did. It was oddly freeing. I actually sat there and relished the brief moment. I wasn’t ready to load up the calendar again. I knew, that as soon as I entered the fall activities and the school schedule, my clean slate would be gone.

This reminds me of our faith journey. We get a clean slate every day, all we have to do is ask for it from our Heavenly Father. He washes us clean as we repent. Just like my calendar had a fresh start, we get that same new beginning, just by asking.

God wants us to bring our sin to Him. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)

We are all in the same boat. We all mess up. God already knows what we’ve done. Thankfully we have an amazing Father who wants to free us of our burdens. Let Him.

animals, Bible, challenges, courage, faith, faithful, freedom, goats, God, God's will, Jesus, nature, perseverance, religious, scripture, spiritual

Galled Goats

katietkennedy

My girls and I were visiting Lancaster County in Pennsylvania. We were walking through a small animal farm admiring some goats. Of the three goats, the largest didn’t have horns. The fascinating part is I don’t think he realized he didn’t have horns. He would jump up and butt heads with another acting as if he had them on. All his actions and movements mimicked the other goats, other than he was hornless.

This reminds me of our faith journey. We are going to experience trouble in this world. In fact, the Psalms predict this. “Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures; yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away.” (Psalms 90:10)

Our struggles are not against flesh and blood, but rather the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (Ephesians 6:12) This goat reminded me of our struggles with Satan. He will continue to attack God’s people, but the good news is God has already won the war. Satan may knock you down, but he can’t take you out unless you let him.

The goat we observed fought as if he had horns. Satan attacks us as if he were god, but he’s not. God tells us to “put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground.” (Ephesians 6:13)

Equip yourself with God’s infallible word, and protect yourself with prayer. Don’t be surprised when the struggles come, but remember the hope that comes in Jesus Christ.  

Bible, faith, faithful, Family, family trips, God, hiking, moms, nature, religious, scripture, sin, trips, Uncategorized

Suddenly Spraying

katietkennedy

We were on a family vacation one summer and traveled west to a dude ranch. My sister-in-law and I decided to go on a hike. We were heading back to the ranch following the dirt road when I grabbed something out of my backpack. As I swung my backpack around, I heard a thump on the ground. We both looked at each other wondering what had made the loud noise. Before I turned fully around it dawned on me what the item was. It sounded like a soda can falling to the ground. Only we didn’t have any soda with us. The bear spray I had in the side pocket had slipped out, crashed to the ground, and popped open.

As this realization dawned on me, I took off running and yelled for my sister-in-law to get out of there. When we were a safe distance away, we turned around and watched the can spinning in circles. Thankfully, somehow when it popped open it was facing down and sprayed the dirt road instead of into the air around us. We were extremely lucky to have escaped its harmful ingredients. Of course, after we were out of harm’s way, we looked at each other and started laughing. How in the world did that happen?

We went back later to pick up the can and dispose of it. We were grateful to have escaped the situation. I was a little disappointed I had used our one and only bear spray container.

This reminds me of our faith journey. The way my sister-in-law and I took off sprinting away from the bear spray is also how we Christians should run away from sin and temptation as if our life depended on it. The Bible says, “So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.” (2 Timothy 2:22)

1 Corinthians 6:18 states, “Flee from sexual immorality.” 1 Corinthians 10:14 says, “Flee from idolatry.”

The Bible is clear about running away from sin. May we turn and sprint from these things. We are called to, “Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness.” (1 Timothy 5-6).

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Mortifying the Mint

katietkennedy

One beautiful spring day, I was planting flowers in pots. My eleven-year-old daughter came outside and joined me. We finished planting all the pots and decided to tackle the beds which needed to be weeded. Someone who lived in our house prior must have planted mint and it has taken over. Every year we try to exterminate the mint, but it proceeds to come back.

My daughter and I headed over to the beds and started pulling the mint up. You can pull it out, but underneath there are more roots you must find. Mint sends out runners that spread above and just below the ground. It quickly takes over an area. We discovered groups of it growing up into other flowers. We spent about an hour pulling up piles of mint. My daughter commented on how fun it was. Thankfully the roots come up easy and it’s very rewarding to make a lot of progress quickly.

This reminds me of our faith journey. Mint is like our sin. It will continue to spread and reappear until we mortify it. We must keep digging and digging until we find the roots, pull them up and dispose of them.

Pulling up the mint from our beds was tedious, tiring, and overwhelming at times. However, it was worth the effort. I can now gaze at the flower beds and appreciate how pronounced the flowers are without the mint resting aside them.

Unless we truly mortify our sin, it will continue to reappear and cause havoc inside us, spreading to areas of our lives we didn’t intend it to impact.

Thankfully we have a loving Father who can help us and is there to forgive us. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)

blessings, children, courage, dream, faith, Family, God, God's will, hunting, nature, parenting, religious, Uncategorized

Cheerfully Chosen

katietkennedy

My husband and my daughters submitted a video to be considered in a photoshoot for a hunting organization. My husband Jonathan loves to hunt so this was a natural fit.

I helped them take a few videos and pictures while dressed in head-to-toe camo, and Jonathan sent them off. A week later, he was told he had been selected and they also wanted one of our daughters.

My husband was out of town when he got the news. We called him and I put my daughter on the phone. She hung up the phone after speaking with him and had the most precious look on her face. Her smile got huge, she looked into my eyes and tenderly said, “They picked me.” She spoke with surprise, humility, and delight. She seemed shocked they had chosen her.

This reminds me of our faith journey. We all desperately want to be known, seen, and heard. My daughter’s humility spoke of her character. I was excited for her. It feels good to be chosen, and it was important for this pre-teen girl to be seen and selected.

The great news is God sees you and me every day! He loves you and never takes His eyes off you. Wow! That is hard to comprehend. If only we walked around with that confidence every day, letting the negative comments bounce off us.

God knows you and loves you. Getting that information into our hearts takes some work, and an enemy is trying to block that truth from penetrating. Psalm 139:1 states, “O Lord, you have searched me and known me!”

If I could share her joy that afternoon, I would. That same joy felt by my daughter can be felt by you. You are known, loved, and cared for by the One that matters most.

Bible, birds, blessings, bravery, courage, dream, faith, faithful, freedom, God, God's grace, God's will, Jesus, perseverance, religious, scripture, sin, spiritual

Flying with Freedom

katietkennedy

How Christ’s sacrifice was meant to set us free from sin.

In the back of our house, we have a screened-in porch. The screen is starting to show signs of aging but there are no huge obvious holes. There are a few small slits, but it should keep out larger animals, or so we thought.

One day my eye caught motion inside the porch. When I went out to examine, I found a bird flying around fluttering from one corner to the next, obviously very distressed. I opened the door to the outside and walked at an angle towards the bird to entice it to fly away from me, towards freedom.

The first time this happened it took us by complete surprise. After the third one, my husband and I now take turns freeing the birds. I still don’t know how they make their way in, but I’m thankful we have been able to help them find freedom.

This reminds me of our faith journey. A lot of people find themselves like those birds, stuck inside four walls, not being able to find the exit. They fly around stuck in their sin not seeing a way out. Satan is good at helping us find this spot. He likes us here, convincing us we don’t deserve otherwise. God says something very different.

Jesus has ALREADY made a way out for you and me through His sacrifice! You don’t have to wait for someone to come open the door and let you out, He took care of that when He died on the cross. He made a way out for all of us! It’s pretty incredible if you think about it.

Are you ready to accept the freedom waiting for you outside those four walls? Are you ready to experience the path God has for you? Are you ready to turn over your sin to Jesus and follow him?

“For freedom Christ has set us free.” (Galatians 5:1)