Needing Advice

The official move to the new website happened months ago. What should I do with this site? It seems so silly to keep linking over to the other one, but this one receives more traffic. I can barely keep up with one blog site, so I need advice on what to do. Have any of you ever gone through this process successfully? I am not technologically savvy and so I don't know if there is a way to merge the two into one. Suggestions or ideas would be appreciated.

The new "Pages in Our Heritage of Faith" link-up goes live tomorrow morning at the new Antbed, if you care to hop over.

Thank you! :)

"Willing to Be Made Willing?"

We are bombarded daily with messages delivered in numerous ways, from numerous sources, telling us what should be important to us, all in an effort to tether us to what we see, touch, smell, taste, feel.

What filters are in place to protect our hearts? What have we chosen to believe that will help us discern what really matters? Who do we listen to most? Even passively?

If we allow ourselves to be lied to for days on end about Truth, Beauty, Virtue, Value, doesn't it begin to pollute our thoughts, cloud our vision? Can we actually be convinced that the words and images we invite into our brains are innocuous? If the source or content of the messages we ingest doesn't matter, why does God tell us just the opposite?

If you'd like to finish reading, the rest is at the new Antbed, here. 

"Leaning On The Everlasting Arms" x 7

Okay, this is just fun. This worship leader interprets the old hymn, "Leaning On The Everlasting Arms," as it might sound if written in different decades of the 20th century. I think you will enjoy it. :)

Weariness of Spirit

When our spirits grow weary, when it seems pointless to continue, when we are grieved to the point of losing hope, when He brings us to the very end of our last ounce of strength, when we feel we have nothing left to minister to anyone, He is calling us into a time of intimate communion. He desires us to learn an ever-deepening dependence on Him, completely letting go of any ability, talent, gift He has previously used through you to serve others.

I’m there.

I have no idea what is next. But, if it means more of Him, I’m in.

I’m very thankful Hannah sent me this link to Mike Bickle’s lesson on prayer. I needed it now, today.

Ten Prayers To Strengthen Our Inner Man

Notice that the notes for this lesson, if you’d like them, are included in a PDF link below the video window.

Deeper Still: A Link-Up in "Pages in Our Heritage of Faith"

I’m wired to want to know “Why?” Why do things happen a certain way? Why do people choose certain paths? Why these “plagues” on humanity? They aren’t random, interesting questions. They reflect the way the Lord programmed my spirit. To exercise my spiritual gift, I need to discern Truth. So He causes me to seek Truth, not surface issues, not indirect consequences, but the core issue underlying given situations and conditions. I’m such fun at dinner parties.  :)


Read the rest and link up here.

Joy Remained

It was eight years ago, today, that Mom went Home.

It’s hard to believe. It’s hard to even comprehend everything the Lord carried us through that year. I still praise Him for His Provision and Grace during that season in the life of our family.

Mom had Alzheimer’s.

Her body was still strong and healthy, though she no longer knew my name.

What remained is here . . .

The Wicked Freely Strut About

The lines become clearer everyday in the battle between good and evil.

There are so many stories of seemingly inexplicable malevolence bursting forth upon innocents.

The horror shakes us. We hold our children closely and wonder, even for a brief time, if we should ever again leave home.

How could anyone ever conceive of and execute a plan of such overt hatred and evil, to massacre strangers watching a movie?

We thought we were safe here. We thought this country afforded us protection from the mindless, faceless violence that ravages other parts of the world.

As a society, we scratch our heads in confused bewilderment. We look for someone, something to blame. It must be that people were mean to him, or his parents messed him up, or it’s the 2nd Amendment.

I. JUST. WANT. TO. SCREAM.

The rest is here. 

Please, if you would like to continue reading the Antbed, change the address to the new blog. Thank you so much. :)

"Do You Believe I Am Able To Do This?" A Link-Up in "Pages in Our Heritage of Faith"

Matthew 9:27 ff

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!” When He entered the house, the blind men came up to Him, and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.” Then He touched their eyes, saying, “It shall be done to you according to your faith.” And their eyes were opened.

During our recent road trip, we listened to Ben Hur. (Blue Behemoth has lots of wonderful things to download, in case you need a long audiobook for an Epic Road Trip.) I had read it years ago and have seen the old movie version with Charlton Heston several times. You know how it is, though. A great story well told has so many facets, you see fresh perspectives and treasures with each new visit. That was the way it was for me, driving through Missouri and Kentucky and West Virginia, or wherever we were, mile after mile, listening afresh to things I had completely forgotten, or maybe not even noticed the first time through.

The rest of the telling is here . . .

Epic Road Trip 2012: Day 14-THE END

Even though yesterday was LONG, when I woke up several hundred miles closer to home this morning than we had originally planned, I was SO thankful Kregg encouraged me to make it to Alvarado last night. The kids were thrilled to spend a few hours with their cousins.


The rest is at the new blog, here.

Epic Road Trip 2012: Day 5

We spent the night in Philadelphia last night so we would be ready to start, bright and early, exploring the history of the city. Rebekah and Josh got to help raise the flag at Betsy Ross's House. Rebekah was so excited!


Here's the rest of the day.

Epic Road Trip 2012: Day 4

We drove into Amish Country today, but our first stop was  Ephrata Cloister. It was fascinating. Begun the year George Washington was born, some of the buildings still contain the original "bones" and many original details. It was so interesting to hear about the founder and how he came to this spot, which was then the very edge of the frontier, to live alone and pursue his relationship with the Lord.


Read the rest at the Antbed, here. 

Epic Road Trip 2012: Day 3

Today, we slept in a little later. It was needed. We left Louisville after finally deciding which route we would take into Pennsylvania. After talking to two young ladies at the hotel about our choices, we decided the southern route through Kentucky was the one for us. It was a gorgeous drive.


Find up where we ended up on Day 3 here.

Epic Road Trip 2012: Day 2

The day began in Norman, Oklahoma. We left the hotel at 7 and headed northeast. This was to be our longest day of driving.


The rest of our journey is over at the new Antbed.

Epic Road Trip 2012: Day 1

Day 1 is just a warm up, we only drove 430 miles. We left home around 2 and drove to Abilene to pick Caleb up.


Continued at the new Antbed.

Worship: A Link-Up in "Pages in Our Heritage of Faith"

This kids are just stirring, and I realize it is Friday! We’ve been on the road so much lately, I’m having difficulty keeping up with what day of the week it is, and what was my name?

As we were driving along somewhere yesterday, we had listened to many chapters of Ben Hur on the ipod and we decided to listen to something else. Caleb wanted to choose one of his favorite artists: Phil Whickam. Good choice. It amazes me, though I guess it shouldn’t, how our Lord can draw us into worship whenever and wherever He chooses.

The rest is here, at the new blog.

Confession, Evidence of the Holy Spirit's Work: A Link-Up in "Pages in Our Heritage of Faith"

The four youngest and I are reading through the Bible this year. It’s their first time and the faithfulness seen in their commitment each day is a blessing to my heart. They ask me what they are to read each day.  Guess Who reminds them?

Today’s reading was one of my very, very favorite sections of Scripture: Elijah atop Mt. Carmel, standing alone for Truth.

Joshua turns 15 this week. His response to the reading was interesting. It came in two parts.

Read the rest here. 

Epic Road Trip 2012

It's in our blood. We feel the need to explore. 


It's been 4 years since the last Epic Road Trip! 


If we don't go, we may explode! 


To prevent such a catastrophe, the process of planning another Epic Road Trip has begun. This one differs significantly from previous versions in these major categories:

"Worry Does Not Empty Tomorrow of its Sorrow"

This picture was taken in the Caribbean this year when we took our family trip. It was such a precious week for all of us to be together. Kregg's dad, Audie, didn't know at that time that he would be facing another stem cell transplant the second of July to treat his cancer. We are praying for healing. We are greedy for more time with him. The Lord knows the desire of our hearts and we know He loves Audie even more than we do. Peace is our birthright as His children, and so we stand in Him.

If you would like to download this file, here is the Dropbox link.

Praying for Fathers

Broken hearts spill out pain.

The gaping father-shaped-hole in the hearts of so many suck the life out of life.

There's this deep-seated ache that simply refuses to go away or be ignored.

The number is seemingly endless: those who bear the scars inflicted by their father.

Those scars that resulted from overt actions and passive negligence.

Wave after wave of pain wells up as another shares their burden.

And the fallout continues.

The brokenness that produced these scars rolls forward, leaving more brokenness in its wake.

It multiplies and rolls forward, unhealed, resulting in cancerous wounds that metastasize and spread again.

The sins of the fathers . . .

The rest is here.

A Precious Father's Day Tradition: A Link-Up in "Pages in Our Heritage of Faith"

We have a tradition in our family that was started by Hannah, our oldest. I’ve spoken about it before, but it’s time to revisit it for Father’s Day this year.

This is how it began:

The year Hannah turned 14 years old, she gave her daddy a very precious gift. She had thought it all out and had it completely planned. She asked me to drive her to a special little jewelry store where she could purchase a special little charm.

Read the rest here . . .

The Father-Officiant: A Link-Up in "Pages in Our Heritage of Faith"

Anytime he is asked to preach at church, he writes his sermon and spends hours pouring over it. But, he never tells me anything about it. He likes for me to hear it the first time when everyone else does. That’s what he did with the wedding ceremony. I listened to his words for the first time, just like everyone else did.

I do not know how he got through it. He asked me to pray for him and I know many others were praying as well. It was the most beautiful wedding ceremony I have ever heard.

Read the rest Here . . .

The Latest Link-Up in "Pages in Our Heritage of Faith"

The Happy Couple going in to get their marriage license

Scores of people are heading our way. The programs are almost finished. The list of “to-do’s” that couldn’t be done until now is formidable. The weather is still the unknown variable. The marriage license had to wait until now because they both have to go, and Kris lives in Oklahoma. There have been a few glitches in our carefully orchestrated plan: an over zealous son wielding a pickax smashing the sewer line, two more snakes have become ill, four families requesting the kids’ help taking care of their houses and pets while they leave town this week of all weeks, thinking the music for the ceremony was all ready only to find out that it is yet to do, Elizabeth’s asthma flaring.


You can read the rest here, and jump in on the link-up.

Snapshots from Mackenzy's Wedding

The wedding was absolutely glorious! The rest of the snapshots are at the new blog, here.

Quite A Week

Ever line up dominoes and watch them knock each other down? Well, our week has been sort of like tumbling dominoes. One thing has led to another which has then led to another, down a chain of events. But first, some background . . .

A few months ago, Kregg put in a sprinkler system in the back yard. The drought persists and we are trying to keep our trees alive. Anyway, a while after the installation he noticed a problem.

We have a shop in the back yard. That's where we store all kinds of stuff from the kid's baby beds to the Christmas decorations. It's also where Kregg does his woodworking. But for some unknown reason, there was no power to the shop. Weird, right? He checked all the obvious things. No luck.

The rest of this post is at the new Antbed . . .

Teaching Discernment Using Proverbs, A Link-Up In "Pages in Our Heritage of Faith"

Like all of you, we have read Bible stories to the kids from the beginning. As they grew old enough, we began talking with them about the Truths found within those stories and how we could apply those Truths to our lives. Today, our homeschoolers completed an assignment from "The Mystery of History" that required them to apply Truth to the story of Samson, judge of Israel.

After digging into the text, they were to list each of Samson's poor choices and what those choices implied about his character. That part of the assignment was great. But then we got to the really good stuff!

The rest of this post is here.

Before You Leave Home . . .

 

The day of your wedding is almost here, sweetheart. 


Between your job and your classes, we don't see much of you right now. 


And when we do see you, there are wedding plans to be discussed, logistics for your move to be arranged, family business to talk over. 


"Did you mail those Thank You notes? Have you chosen the music? Which pictures does Kris still need for his slide show? How did your presentation go in class today? How was work?" 


In the flurry of activity around here, we don't want to miss out on the "big stuff." 


We need you to remember the really important things. Yes, you've heard them all before. In the context of your last few weeks of living at home, however, we feel a sense of urgency to make sure you really hear them and that they have taken root deep within your soul. 


Off the top of my head, here are a few of them:


You can read the rest at the new Antbed . . .

The Faithfulness of My Husband: A Link-Up in "Pages in Our Heritage of Faith"

"Boom Pa and Baby Samuel"

We've come many miles over the last almost 27 years. This marriage business is serious. And glorious. And hilarious, in our case.

We've had things pretty easy, compared to many people we know.

And yet, looking back, I realize that things haven't been easy at all. Especially for Kregg. :)

Read the rest here . . .

Glimpses of Glory: A Link-Up in "Pages in Our Heritage of Faith"

Mama's hearts are so very tender.

We have such hopes for our children.

And we love them more than life, itself.

That love makes us vulnerable. It costs us everything. Over and over again.
             

Some children are even-keeled and compliant from birth. Others come forth from the womb just itchin' for a fight. I have some of each model. And mothering them well requires complete, constant, conscious dependence on our Loving Father.

The rest of this post is HERE.

This Blogspot version of the Antbed is soon to be no more. The NEW AND IMPROVED ANTBED is HERE. If you'd like to continue reading about the Ants, please change the Antbed's address. 

Zoology and Entomology, Afield

It is amazing, when we look closely, how many "critters" may be found. While in the Hill Country Friday and part of Saturday, the kids captured lots of new pets, and observed many others. Everyone of them is a miracle of Design and reveals to us the creativity of the Father. What a fascinating world He gave us!



This is a clutch of turkey eggs. Next time we visit, it will be fun to see if they have hatched.

Just wait until you see what else we found! The rest of this post is at the new blog, here. 

The Glory of His Artistry

The rest of this post is located here . . .

Another Whirlwind Trip

It was off to Bandera again for another whirlwind trip filled with cedar removal and barn planning and lots of driving. (One of these days, we might be there long enough to meet one of my sweet blogging buddies who lives near there--the wonderful Lisa of the nine children)

We had a slight problem en-route. The hydraulic jack was at home in the garage. And the crank for the jack in the truck was mysteriously missing. Kregg figured out another solution for that problem, using a flat head screwdriver, a crescent wrench, and LOTS of elbow grease. I stood beside the road praying because the section of road where this happened barely had a shoulder. To be able to get the jack under the axle, we had to be on the edge of pavement, which left us about two feet inside the lane of traffic. It was unnerving to have semi trucks pass each other while squeezing past us. Thankfully, the Lord protected everyone.

You can read the rest here . . .

Sanctification: A Link-Up in "Pages in Our Heritage of Faith"

“Sanctification is the work of God’s free grace, whereby we are renewed in the whole man, after the image of God, and are enabled more and more to die unto sin, and live unto righteousness. “

It is the process by which those indwelled by the Holy Spirit are transformed into the likeness of Christ. That transformation continues as long as we are encased in these earthly bodies. The pace of change depends greatly on our submission to the work of the Spirit in our lives. If we are stubborn and prideful, progress can be painstakingly slow. If we are yielded and pliable, the Spirit can move us more quickly down the path.

Read the rest HERE! :)

Trophies of Grace

photo credit

On the drive last week, I was listening to lots of worship music and a phrase jumped out at me that I don't recall having heard before. Dennis Jernigan called those in his audience "Trophies of Grace." I love that!

Everyone of us represents for our Father a victory won by the Gift of His Grace.

That is the exact opposite of all that we hear from the evil one and from the toxic message with which he has infused the world.

Is it hard to think of yourself as a Trophy of Grace?  Do you feel like a trophy?

The Victory Christ won for us on the cross makes it irrevocably true for all eternity!

No matter how you feel about it, it is true. Unchangeable, immovable, absolute.

Read the rest at the new Antbed,  here.

Pride: The Enemy of Our Souls

I grew up being reminded regularly of the evil of pride. In an effort to prevent pride from taking root in our souls, we were never told by our parents that they were proud of us or of anything else. They were encouraging and supportive, but they believed it was wrong to describe that as pride.

I understand what they were trying to do, but it didn’t prevent pride at all. Just avoiding the word without focusing on the replacements for it served to confuse, I think, rather than clarify and equip. That’s not intended as a criticism, just a reality check.

Pride is such an insidious, deceptive enemy of our souls.

You can read the rest here . . .

Antbed Migration

Although there are still many "bugs" to be worked out (besides all the Ants), the Antbed is moving.


Hannah and her siblings gave me a new website for Christmas. So, three months later it is time to go ahead and take the plunge, and worry about the unresolved questions/problems later. It is a very pretty website, but I don't know how to make it do everything I need it to do yet. Apparently, I'm still in that remedial patience class. 


Knowing me, knowing our schedule, knowing neither of those things will be changing in the foreseeable future, I'm thinking that if I go ahead and jump in the "deep end," I will have to learn to swim. In theory, anyway. 


So, you are forewarned! If you follow the Ants marching to the new site, you do so at your own risk. :) 


If things don't work out, we can always move back in to this Antbed. 


New Home of the Antbed

Taking A Break . . .

I think it's time for a little time away from the blog. I'm not sure how long this break will last. There's nothing wrong, so please don't worry. :) 

Birthday Girl

Today was a big day for our youngest--she turned twelve. She decided she wants to celebrate her birthday when we go to Bandera, but we had to do something. So, this morning before breakfast, we blew up a big package of balloons . . .

And attached them to various surfaces. Jeremiah, Hannah, and Samuel drove in last night for a little visit, so Jeremiah helped decorate the doorway.

A fun entrance for the guest of honor.

And there she is, in all her 12 year old glory. :)

Kregg made his delicious pancakes--always a big hit.

Hannah decided that, since Mackenzy worked very late last night and slept in, missing breakfast, we should recycle the balloons and surprise her as she exited her room.


It was rather anticlimactic, though, because, silly me, I posted this picture on Facebook and she saw it on her phone before she came out. :)

It's hard to believe Rebekah is twelve years old! What a blessing she is to us. 

Smack Between the Eyes: A Link-Up in "Pages in Our Heritage of Faith"

I am so thankful for this man. We have been married for over 26 years, parenting for over 24 of those years, and he still loves me. :) 


He generally avoids confrontations, whenever possible. But there are those times when, as the head of our family, a situation requires his gentle, but firm touch.


Today, it was me.


I required him to speak Truth into my life because I have been careless at times with the tone of voice with which I speak to my family. He lovingly explained the situation and then prayed over me.


How can you argue with that?  He's right. I can allow frustration or weariness to build inside my soul and then speak harshly to the kids or to him. That's not okay. And every time I do it, a spirit is wounded by my tone. 


I didn't want to hear it. But I needed to hear it. He did exactly what he was supposed to do as the one in authority over me. And I am thankful for it. Even though it was unpleasant, he loves me enough to give me what I need, not just what I want. 


And that's exactly what my Father does for me. He Faithfully convicts, corrects, and offers Grace for me so that I may learn to choose better going forward. He will not leave me here, at this point in my sanctification process. He doesn't want me to speak harshly to anyone, and so He, through my husband's authority, rebuked and corrected me and my heart is at peace, knowing that I am guilty as charged, knowing that they both love me too much to allow me to continue.


I'm thankful.


Today has been filled with a gentle tone of voice. And we are all better off. Any frustration or weariness needs to be taken to Him, not dumped on my sweet family. 

The Lord's Faithfulness is evident in so many ways. And I love to take notes when He, again, displays His never-ever-ending Faithfulness to me, or my family. It helps me to chronicle this Journey of sanctification so that, when the hard times come around again, I can look back and remember that, no matter how hard things seem, He will never leave me nor forsake me. Never, ever, ever. And that fills my heart with Hope.


I would love for you to link up a post here that testifies of His Faithfulness to you or to those you love. It can be something you wrote a long time ago, or something you type out right now. We give Him Glory when we declare the Truth about His nature. So jump right in with both feet. :)

Book Review: "Kisses From Katie"

What an incredibly precious testimony is contained within the pages of this book! Katie Davis has given her heart and her life to the Lord to be used however He chooses. She spends everyday serving "the least of these" in Uganda. She goes where most of us would fear to go, serving the most desperately poor and sick, without thought for her personal safety. She has 13 daughters, adopted because the Lord told her they were hers.


Her entire day is filled with simply serving the one God places in front of her, no matter who it is, or what they need. This means there are days when she brings home a child on the verge of death and does everything she can to save that life. Other days, it may mean that she goes into a neighborhood where even the locals will not go, because she has extra food and they are in need.


The book is filled with page after page of God providing for her needs in miraculous ways, ways that don't make sense to those who are not completely and totally dependent on God alone. 


"And even though I realize I cannot always mend or meet, I can enter in. I can enter into someone's pain and sit with them and know. This is Jesus. Not that He apologizes for the hard and the hurt, but that He enters in, He comes with us to the hard places. And so I continue to enter."


Her heart is evident here:
"I didn't believe it was possible to tell a child about the love of Christ without simultaneously showing her that love by feeding her, clothing her, inviting her in. If a child has never known what love is, how can we expect him to accept the love of his Savior  until we first make that love tangible?" 


And then, "I wanted to share with them the truth that many of us seemed to have overlooked--that God wanted us to care for the poor, not just care about them, but to truly take care of them, and many of us were not doing so."  


Ouch!


It is hard for us to imagine walking away from our lives, moving to a foreign country, and allowing the Lord to send us into areas of profound poverty and rampant disease, trusting completely in His Protection and Provision.


"But it is in the brilliantly, gloriously, wonderfully difficult seasons that God seems to show Himself all-powerful and in control . . . the more I give of myself, the more He fills me up. The more I love, the more love I have to give."


She came back to the U.S. for a period of several months to start college, as she had promised her parents. Her heart was in anguish, longing for Uganda and her girls. Living in the midst of such abundance, ease, and comfort now created for her an impossible tension.


"I have often wondered since reentering the United States why I feel such great culture shock. The amount of stuff that just clutters our lives. All these things make it difficult to readjust, yes. But what has been the biggest shock to my system, the huge disconnect, is that I have stepped out of my reliance on God to meet my needs. I "miss" Jesus. He hasn't disappeared, of course, but I feel so far from Him because my life is actually functioning without Him. By 'functioning,' I mean that if I am sick, I go to the drugstore or to the doctor. If I am hungry, I go to the grocery store. If I need to go somewhere, I get in my car. When I need some advice or guidance, I call my mom or go plop on my roommate's bed. If I want to feel happy, I get Brad, my little brother, or someone else to make me laugh.


I keep forgetting to ask God first to heal me, fill me, to guide me, to rejoice with me. I have to set aside 'time to pray' in the morning and at night instead of being in constant communication with Him. In Uganda, because I was so physically 'poor,' I was completely dependent on God and spiritually as wealthy as ever. As I sit here writing, I am frustrated with my own stupidity, my human willingness to step back into dependence on stuff and these places I swore I detested."


It is so very hard to be totally dependent on the Lord in the midst of our incredibly blessed lives. We need to constantly ask Him to show us our need for Him, to help us see how completely incapable of walking this life without Him in every moment.


I love this passage from the book:

"Remember, God will never give you more than you can handle."

People repeat this frequently; I heard it when I was growing up and I hear it now. It is meant to be a source of encouragement, and it would be if I believed it were true.

But I don't.

I believe that God totally, absolutely, intentionally gives us more than we can handle. Because this is when we surrender to Him and He takes over, proving Himself by doing the impossible in our lives.

Now, how's that for Perspective? Wow!

I could go on and on, at this point in the review, with stories of how God has done just that for Katie Davis. But, the thing I took away from this book is the need to allow the Lord to move us to the place where we are completely submitted to His Plan for our lives--even to the point of doing something "radical" when He asks. He will ask it of us if we are allowing Him to steer. There will be something He asks of us that, in our wisdom and strength, is completely impossible and insane. But our obedience to His request of us teaches us dependence and brings Him Glory.


Now, I do have one concern about this book. I really do not want to bring this up, but it would be completely inconsistent with so much I have said here at the Antbed and believe to be absolutely imperative to a transformed life in the very center of His Will.


When Katie was a senior in high school, she talked her parents into a mission trip to Uganda. They didn't think she should go. She kept after them until they relented. Once there, she never wanted to go home. She talked her parents into allowing her to stay for a year before returning to go to college. By that point, she was "all in." Her heart was completely captivated. And the struggle began. Eventually, she told her parents that she was not going to be able to obey them and stay for college. 


Is Katie supposed to be where she is? Absolutely.


The problem lies in trusting God to lead us through the authority He has placed over us. If she had fully submitted to that authority, as unto the Lord, I believe to the marrow of my bones that the Lord would either have given her the Grace to wait on His Perfect Timing (which would have received her parents freely given permission and blessing), OR He would have changed the hearts of her parents to be able to release her from the commitment she had given them to attend college. 


Has the Lord done incredible things through her time in Uganda? Absolutely!! 


But she expresses in the book how poorly she treated her family and friends, while here for that one college semester, because she was so conflicted. It is only when we are completely submitted to His Will through the authority He has placed over us that we can walk in perfect Peace, regardless of circumstances. It would have made her testimony even more powerful if she would have allowed Him to move in this area on her behalf, without wounding her parents or her friends. Without feeling that she had to take matters in her own hands. She uses the verses about loving Jesus even to the point of hating fathers and mothers. But when we are under authority, God uses that authority to cover and protect us and He guides us under it, not out from under it. The Lord may have had a specific lesson He wanted her to learn that would have made her ministry even more profound. I don't know. But, I do know He is perfectly capable of changing the heart of those in authority over us whenever He sees fit.


Now, please hear me here. I am NOT condemning anyone. All I'm trying to say is that, if you read this book, the fullest of blessings come in complete submission to God's Authority. 


Do I perfectly practice this? NO! That is why I recognize it so clearly--because He's trying to teach me this same lesson. 


Kisses From Katie is an incredible testimony of just how powerfully a single person can be used when they say "yes" to the Father. You will be blessed and touched by the stories of so many individuals the Lord uses Katie to minister to. I highly recommend it! :)