Adsense?

I was playing around with the settings on my blog recently and I ran into this thing called Adsense. Apparently you can earn money by having ads on your blog. But people have to click on those ads. I am curious about it but I don't want to be scammed so I was wondering if anyone has tried it and can tell me about it :)
Thanks,
Karis

Beautiful modesty

Recently I stumbled upon a blog post that had pictures of four girls. As I looked at the pictures I couldn't help thinking "my they are all so beautiful." I realized that first off what made them beautiful was their faith in Christ. You could tell that God's love shown from the glow on their faces :) But something else that made them beautiful was their modesty. You see modesty is truly beautiful. It also a way to express the beauty that God has given you. 
Girls, not only does being modest show your beauty but it also helps Christian young men who are trying to be men of God not to stumble. 
Ladies, please join me in being beautiful and being modest :)

In His Name,
Karis

Love and love again

There has been a few issues going on in my family lately and one of them has to do with discipline. I was thinking about this subject late a few nights ago and a thought came to me parents discipline because they love their children. But what about the times when the child just doesn't seem to learn. You can discipline them numerous times and it doesn't seem to do any good. Or how about when the child turns away in rebellion? In that case when the parent is at their wits end, they should do as God does with His children. 
Love and love again. 
How many times in the history of mankind have we turned from God? Or we haven't learned? To many to count! But what does God do, He loves and loves again. Love is extremely powerful :)
This is my random thought for the week :)
In His Name,
Karis

                (Not my picture)

Open hands

Wow....it's been awhile since I posted. Anyways I had a thought I wanted to share with you all :)
I've come to realize that when you give your life to God, you have to continually do so. It's not just a one time thing. I realize that this might be kind of confusing so I am going to attempt to explain it better by using an analogy(an area of Jason's expertise :) ).
When you hold out your hands to give God your life, you must keep them open. As humans we want control and so we will hold out our open hands to give our lives but through wanting control we begin to close our hands and pull back.
I've noticed this a lot with my own life. I thought that when you gave God your life, that was it. You gave it to Him and were allowing Him to have control. But than I look at my life and realize that I have started to pull back. It is a constant decision. One you make everyday that you are alive. 
What decision have you made today?
"But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Corinthians 15:57
In His Name,
Karis

Convicted and guilty

So today after I finished my Thursday morning kid's time at a local woman's bible study(mom's go to study, I watch and teach their kids :) ) I headed over to the CEF office to work for the afternoon. On the way I was thinking maybe I should go up to the college to figure out some problems with my college schedule and just get to the office a bit later. I decided to just call the college instead and just head to the office. Ha ha that was part of God's plan for sure. So I get to the office and the first thing I noticed was that a familiar looking car was parked outside. It wasn't until I walked into the office that I figured out why it looked familiar. The pastor of one of the churches I did a VBS at this summer was in talking to the ladies. I seen his car at the VBS a few times. The first thing he says to me is "so October 6th from 2:30-4:00pm at my church. You already know the kids so teaching good news club shouldn't be to much of a problem". I protested and told him that that wouldn't work because in a week I will be going to a ceramics class on Tuesday's and Thursday's from 1-3:50pm. He than goes on to convict me by asking if I was going to give up a chance to tell kids about Jesus to flip some mud. I told him I was already signed up to "flip mud". He looks toward the ceiling and starts talking to God for me saying "sorry God. I'd rather flip mud than tell children about you". By than I was feeling bad. He continues to tell me how I should get a refund on the class and teach the kids instead. Than I felt worse. He stayed for awhile longer and talked about other things but I couldn't stay focused on the conversation. My mind kept going back to what he said. That I would rather flip mud than tell kids about God. 
Most people don't know this about me but I feel really guilty really easy. So this guy was pushing button's that he didn't know I had.
I was thinking about how it would be really hard to do this. I would have to change my major, give my boss a new schedule of when I would be available to work, register for a different class so I would have two credit classes and than make time to study to teach a lesson every Thursday afternoon on top of the one I am already teaching the kids at bible study on Thursday morning. That is a lot to change! 
Is this stressing me out? Yes! Does God have a plan in this? Yes!!! 
I think that through this man, God was showing me that even though I thought I had given Him control of my whole life, I hadn't. By not wanting to give up ceramics I was guilty of being selfish and holding on to what I thought I had already given Him. 
Jason is always saying how we should make plan's with open hands, that way God does not have to pry our hands off of them to change the plan. I made a plan and than was holding very tight to it. 
I think I know what I am going to do. Because I know I will forever regret it if I don't. 
I was also listening to a song right after the guy left and it also convicted me of holding on to much. Here is just the chorus: 
When life doesn't go the way I thought it should

Sometimes it's because, God is good

And when plans fall apart though I never dreamed they would

Sometimes it's because, God is good


-John Waller- Because God is good


Wow! Longer post than I thought it would be. Oh well :)


In His Good Name,


Karis :)

(Not my picture)

)

Scraps to masterpiece

I was sitting at my desk today at the CEF office doing some of my work when I hear the door open. We don't get many visitors but when we do they are usually very good! So I leave my small desk in the paper room and go check it out. This lady brought in this box with at least 50 small wooden crosses. This one man makes them and it gives him something to do. What might have been the most surprising about these cool little crosses was that they were made of scrap wood! After the lady left Julie, Jackie and I stand around this box of crosses marveling about how beautiful they are. Than the thought hits me. These crosses are another picture of Jesus in our lives. You may be thinking "why of course Karis! It is rather obvious it's a cross. Jesus died on a cross!" Yes, that is true but that is not exactly what I was thinking about. Here it goes:
We are scraps. Life bruises and scars, people take what they want from us not caring how it hurts until there is nothing left but a beat up piece of wood with not much to offer anyone at all. Than Jesus, this wonderful carpenter picks up those scraps and carves and sands away what He needs to to make us beautiful and new :) 
Jesus is the only one that can turn something that seems completely useless into something beautiful and an amazing tool :)
So anyways that was my thought about scraps and beautiful things today :)
Thanks for reading!
In His Name,
Karis

I'm gonna sing

Chris August- I'm gonna sing


I'll lay it out for all to see
What You my God have done for me
I'm not holding back now
Oh, ohh

I got my heart on my sleeve
No lies in between
I'm not holding back

I'm gonna sing
I'm gonna dance
I'm gonna praise You
Like I never had the chance

And I'm gonna run
Like I've been set free
I'm gonna live
All for You my King

Oh, I'm gonna sing
Yeah
Oh, I'm gonna sing
Yeah

Here it is, inside out
All will know what I'm about
I'm not holding back now
Oh, ohh

I won't deny what You have done
You are my saving one
I'm not holding back

I'm gonna sing
I'm gonna dance
I'm gonna praise You
Like I never had the chance

And I'm gonna run
Like I've been set free
I'm gonna live
All for You my King

Ohh, I'm gonna sing
I will not be silent
I'll become even more dignified than this
Ohh, oh, ohh
I will not be silent
I'll become even more dignified than this

I'm gonna sing
I'm gonna dance
I'm gonna praise You
Like I never had the chance

And I'm gonna run
Like I've been set free
I'm gonna live
All for You my King

Oh, I'm gonna sing
Oh, I'm gonna sing
Oh, I'm gonna sing
Oh, I'm gonna sing
I'm gonna sing


One of my new favorite songs :)
In His name,
~Karis

Psalm 93 :)

Psalm 93

 The LORD reigns, he is robed in majesty;
   the LORD is robed in majesty and armed with strength;
   indeed, the world is established, firm and secure.
Your throne was established long ago;
   you are from all eternity. The seas have lifted up, LORD,
   the seas have lifted up their voice;
   the seas have lifted up their pounding waves.
Mightier than the thunder of the great waters,
   mightier than the breakers of the sea—
   the LORD on high is mighty.
 Your statutes, LORD, stand firm;
   holiness adorns your house
   for endless days.

Just thought I'd share this psalm with you today :) Is anything to big for my God? No! :)
In His Name,
Karis

Blessings :)

Something really big happened in my life (and is happening) as of late. Some of you know from my recent Facebook status updates that God has been doing some major changes in my life. One of them being my becoming an intern at the local CEF office. And another big one is that God has brought someone really special into my life. One Jason Talbert that I am extremely blessed to be courting :) I don't really know how to say how blessed I feel about my life right now.
God is so awesome!
I almost feel overwhelmed. He has given me exactly what I don't deserve! A forgiving savior more than anything! But I am thankful :) very very thankful!
Here is a picture of Jason and I :) I'll do another post later about everything leading up to the relationship :)

In His name,

Karis :)

I've been....I've become

This is something I wrote two years ago. I recently seen it again as I was giving some old notebooks to my little sisters and I actually liked what I wrote. Usually I will write something and than decide later that I really don't like what I wrote but that was not the case this time. Bear with me as it's not very good.

I've been....I've become
I've been called....amazing, lovely, nice, sweet, a rock star, honest, cool, awesome, loving and giving.
I was....greedy, selfish, a liar, dead, mean, sick, jealous, cruel, broken, ugly and wicked.
I've been shown....love, grace, mercy, forgiveness, joy, patience, kindness gentleness, peace and comfort.
But though the grace and mercy and mercy of my savior, Jesus Christ....
I've become...accepted, a child of God, redeemed, loved, justified, a friend of the King, complete, adopted, living and healed.



There it is. A little bit of my life. I wrote this at a time in my life when I wasn't happy. If you read other things I wrote at that time, they were pretty depressing. But I think this has to be the best thing I wrote at that time :)
In His Name,
Karis

Big plans, Bigger God

Recently I've been seeing some amazing things recently...
And all I can say is God has some plans for my life...plans that I wasn't expecting but am sure to be happy with.
For the last five years I have worked for the summer with an organization called CEF (Child Evangelism Fellowship) where with the help of God and some other teenagers we shared the gospel with children in our area through Vacation Bible School, five day clubs, and the wordless book. Almost every year I did this I told myself I wasn't going to do it again the next year. I didn't think it was the thing for me. Well ha on me! God had other plans. This year at the training camp CYIA (Christian Youth In Action) someone had mentioned to me that I should help out at my local CEF office more because they needed someone. I didn't think very much of it than but since I got back from camp there were things God was to be showing me that seemed to be pointing to becoming an intern at the CEF office. People kept suggesting it to me, I was feeling very strongly about it, and I talked to my boss and I would be able to get the hours needed off. So I went into the office on Monday and talked to my director. My friend Nadine had already been talking to her about it but it was my turn. My director said yes! And so now I am officially an intern at the CEF office! I am super excited to work there and what I have done so far, I love!
There is something else that God has been doing in my life too. But I will talk more about that at a later date :)
These new directions that God has shown me for my life were not what I expected at all. I had this little plan for my life and now when God is showing me little glimpses of his plan, it is so much bigger, so much better than mine ever was :)
That's all for now. I will try to update you all more often :)
In His Name,
Karis

Doing hard things for His sake

I was just reading in my bible about Saul being converted in Acts 9 and a few verse's really stuck out to me. Maybe because my 13 year old sister was complaining about having to help do a CEF VBS next week. She was fine at CYIA when it came to teaching lessons, songs and such. And even came to me once at camp telling me how good she did at the lesson and how happy she was about it. But when we got home from camp she has been complaining a lot about how hard she thinks everything is. But anyways so tonight as I was reading my bible I could hear her complaining about how hard it is to teach the lessons and I asked her "did you think it would be easy?" she replied that nothing is ever easy. So than I asked her if she thought serving God would be easy and she said she no, that's it's not. I than read to her the verse's in Acts 9 that stuck out to me.  Here it is Acts 9:15-16 “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel.  I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.” She didn't complain about it for the rest of the evening.
Part of why these verses stick out to me is 

• God said "this man is my chosen instrument..." we have been chosen by God to tell others about him. Chosen. That is something to think about. Chosen by God, the creator of the universe :) That is huge!
• Than in verse 16 "I will show him how much he must suffer for my name." God did not say that serving him would be easy. It will be hard. But will it be rewarding? Yes!!! 

I will share a bit more later about something else these verses reminded me of :) but for now it is time to say farewell and goodnight.
In His Name,
Karis

Graduation!

This last Saturday was my highschool graduation! Even though I did not go to public school, our homeschool group likes to put on really nice graduation for the seniors :) It's really nice! But there is a bunch of stress involved too. At least there was for me. There are several people sho helped out a ton! And they all know who they are! Thanks all of you! It was a great, busy day! But I am glad it was a success and I am also glad it is over. Though now I feel pretty free, it wont be that way for long because I start college in the fall. But I am oober excited about college! Mainly because most of the classes I'm taking shouldn't be to hard. And I never would have made it without the divine strength that got me through (My God) :)
This season in my life is over
A new one to begin
Excited for the future
Happy about the past
I find myself in a pleasent daze
Thankful for it all   <-- My attempt at poetry of sorts ;)


Me and a friend who was also graduating :)


Hopefully I will be blogging more now that school is done! :D
In Christ,
Karis

Beautiful Girl

A few nights ago I was privileged to go to a Maidenhood Party (so glad I was able to get it off work) and there were a lot of girls my age there. They all seemed so perfect....So beautiful... And me in all my humanness think "I want to be beautiful like them" not thinking that I am beautiful the way God made me. I feel like because I struggle a lot with thoughts and things that I'm not beautiful, that I couldn't hold myself together in times of trouble. But the truth is I cant. I cant survive on my own. I can't live this life. And there is no way I could be perfect and beautiful. Guess thats part of why I love the song "make something beautiful" by Laura Story so much, is because it reminds me the everyday Jesus is making something more beautiful. Me.
The most beautiful thing about me is my Jesus :) He makes me beautiful <3 He shows me how to live <3 
Thank you Jesus
For making me beautiful
For giving me strength to live a life for you
And for forgiving me the ugly mistakes I make 
<3 Love <3
Your child,
Karis

             (Not my picture)

Make something beautiful- Laura Story :)

Battle for my soul

For the last few weeks there has been a battle going on in my life. A battle for my soul. 

It's a conflict I'm sure has been brewing for sometime but was kept "under the rug" until now.

The desire to do good and be a witness for my savior has been battling with the side of me that says it's better to live like the world. 

Sometimes I feel so tired of it and want to give up the fight but I know that eternity is far more important than here and now. So I fight. 

I need to put on my armor.

I have a feeling that this battle will continue for sometime...

I'm back! :)

My! I have not posted in ages! I've been so busy with work and school. Mom, dad and Kleo came home on the 4th and it has been awesome having them home. Dad still has to take a bunch of pills but he is doing great! 
Since getting home, dad has been talking about doing some major tree planting as part of a reforestation project. We live on about ten acres of land and the plan is to clear the scrub oak trees that we have and plant a bunch of Ponderosa pines (around 500). Some guys from church have been helping out with the clearing of the trees and they are doing awesome! 

            (Not my picture)
As for me, I finished my TCE class that I was taking. I still have a few more projects to do but those shouldn't take me to long. I've been driving a bit but everytime I ask mom or dad if they think I'm ready to take the drivers test they say that I need to drive in town more. So I wont be taking that test for awhile. I called the college today about going in to start taking the GED tests but I have heard back from them. I've been working about four days a week and I really enjoy it :) I still need to get a pair of "stand up" shoes to work in though. As my feet still sometimes bother me. But Grocery Outlet is such a great place to work! :) 
Until later,
Karis :)

           (Not my picture)

~Biblical Femininity Part 1- Created~

A friend of mine was going to do a study on masculinity and the biblical view of it. He asked if I would do one on femininity. And finally finding some time to do I shall do it today! :)

So dictionary.com define feminine as:

• pertaining to a woman or girl: feminine beauty; femininedress. 
• having qualities traditionally ascribed to women, as sensitivityor gentleness 
• effeminate; womanish: a man with a feminine walk. 
• belonging to the female sex; female: feminine staffmembers.
But it seems that in our culture that the woman are suppose to be tough, leaders and "man eater's". They are encouraged to not let men "walk all over them" so they don't.

Another characteristic of femininity is beauty. Beauty according to the world is barbie. Super skinny, covered in make up, tight clothes, oh and showing off skin that should be covered is a bonus! 

But that is way far fetched from the way the bible says a woman should be. Right from the start woman were different from men. Down to the very way they were created!

Genesis 2:18, 21-24 The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” 

So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh.  Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib He had taken out of the man, and He brought her to the man.

 The man said,
   “This is now bone of my bones
   and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called ‘woman,’
   for she was taken out of man.”
 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.

Woman was created from man. Where as man God created from dust. Woman were created to be man's help meet not his hindrance. 


I will continue on this subject in a later post. Comments? Questions? I kinda jumped around there. Hope it made sense~

Another Praise!

My dad has been on the waiting list for a kidney/pancreas transplant since September, I think. He has had type 1 diabetes for 38 years of his life and it has worn down his kidneys so much that only 16% of them was working properly. Well on Tuesday this week he got a call saying that they might have a kidney/pancreas for him. Mom and him left at ten Tuesday evening. And than on Wednesday at nine in the morning they started surgery. It was thirteen hours long. But since than mom said that he was doing great! The kidney and pancreas started working right away! If everything goes well he will only be in the hospital for ten days. And after having diabetes for thirty eight years of his life, he is healed! Praise God! :D 

We are all really excited to see him again! My older brother Kyle asked him if he wanted a donut and dad said "well I've lived for thirty eight years without them and they still don't look that appetizing." Lol :)

I would like you guy's to continue to pray for my family and I. For a speedy recovery for dad and for I and my siblings who are at home. And for my older sister Keisha who is finding it kinda stressful driving everywhere to get the kids where they need to go and shopping for seven kids. 

Thank you for all your prayers! They are greatly appreciated! :)

Psalm 100

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the lands!
Serve the Lord with gladness!
Come into his presence with singing!
Know that the Lord is God!
It is he that made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him, bless his name!
For the Lord is good;
his steadfast love endures for ever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.

In His Name,

Karis :)

Praise Him! :)

When I wrote my last post for this blog I was kinda worried. If God wants me to be a summer missionary, than I will probably need some money to get me there. But I didn't need to worry at all! God had and has plans for me! :) 

I got a job working as a cashier at Grocery Outlet. As soon as I stopped worrying and just gave it to God, I got a call saying I got the job. Yesterday was my first day on the job and I really enjoyed it! I feel so blessed and in absolute truth, I am!! 

I want to share this Psalm of praise with you guys :)

Psalm 100

 Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands!
 Serve the LORD with gladness;
         Come before His presence with singing.
 Know that the LORD, He is God;
         It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;
         We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
       
 Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
         And into His courts with praise.
         Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.
 For the LORD is good;
         His mercy is everlasting,
         And His truth endures to all generations.

Thank you for praying for me! :)

God is good!

Karis :)

My life or His life...

A lot has gone on in my life recently. I feeling torn in two different directions. Should I live life for God or for myself? 

On Saturday I went to a thing called Mission Connexion and I walked around and seen all the different booths; each one promoting some kind of missionary work. I felt drawn most to the ministries involving orphans. Those who know me well, know that I love to work with kids. I got a bunch of information about the different ministries and the whole day I just had this very strong feeling. Does God want me in orphan missions? A verse one of the speakers reminded us of was Isaiah 6:8 "Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!". The whole day I just prayed for that verse to be true in my life.

The day before I went to this missions conference, my CEF (Child Evangelism Fellowship) director, Julie had asked me if I wanted to take TCE (Teaching Children Effectively). She told me to pray about it and than tell her my decision when I was ready. She also wanted to know if I would go to Good News Across America in Utah with her this summer. It is a summer missionary camp type thing. The only thing is, it costs 600$. In the summer I will also be going to CYIA (Christian Youth In Action) which is also a children's mission camp. It costs 300$. 

I just got off the phone with Julie and I was feeling a little stressed. How am I suppose to raise 900$ in six months? 

In my heart I know that God wants me to serve Him with my life but my flesh says that I should do whatever I want and not what God wants. It's a tough battle. But I have to choose. 

Please pray for me, that I make the right decision in my life. 

In His Name,

Karis

Set free!

Yesterday I got home late or around 6 pm. So it was already dark. As I walked toward the house in the dark, I called the family dog, Scout because I didn't want to walk to the house alone in the dark (silly, I know) but she did not come. I called for her several more times but she did not come. My younger brother, Klement must have heard the car drive up and so he opened the door and looked out. The minute he opened the door, I saw Scout come out of her dog house as if she wanted to be petted by him. He goes back in and shuts the door leaving just me and Scout outside. I'm about fifty feet from the house, and seeing Scout I call for her again. She comes forward a few feet and stops.
It puzzles everyone as to why she does that. We have only had her about 8 months and whenever we get home from something she acts like she does not know us. Until you touch her, than it is like she has been "set free." She can now run about greeting everyone happily.
Anyways I call her and talk softly to her, each time she comes just a few more feet forward. Soon she is only about ten feet away and I say "come, Scout" she knows this command but she only walks about a foot. I repeat the command several times until she is close enough to touch. I than pet her and tell her she is a good dog,she has been set free from her fear and she wags her tail cheerfully with contentment. We walk to the house together, now both happy to have a companion. 
This morning when I was doing dishes, I thought more about what had happened and it reminded me off God and how he treats us when we have sinned. 

• He stands there and waits for us to come to Him. Matthew 11:28 "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."
• We have sinned and are afraid of what the consequences will be, afraid that He wont take us back.
• As soon as we go forward and accept His love and forgiveness, we are set free! 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Have you been set free? Or are you still afraid to accept Him? 

Please think about this :)

In His Name,

Karis

Music for the heart, songs for the soul?

Yesterday morning my sister and I had quite an argument about music. It got me wondering though what does the bible say about music? 
If the song is morally right but the artist isn't, is it still okay to listen too? 
If the song is morally wrong but the artist lives a decent life is it okay to listen too? 
Where should we Christian draw the line when it comes to music? 


I would very much like your input on this. But here is what I have concluded.

• Music was created by God and is very special. With music we can praise God and bring him glory! Habakkuk 3:19 "The Sovereign Lord is my strength; He makes my feet like the feet of a deer, He enables me to go on the heights. For the director of music. On my stringed instruments."     I Chronicles 15:16 "David told the leaders of the Levites to appoint their brothers as singers to sing joyful songs accompanied by musical instruments, lyres, harps and cymbals."
• Does the music you listen to cause you to stumble? Or others to stumble? We should always be on the look out for things that could harm our relationship with God. And also with our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. Philippians 4:8 "Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things."
• Does it glorify God? As His creation every breath we breathe and every song we sing should be for Him. Psalm 150:6 "Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!"

I would love to hear what you think on this subject! Please leave a comment below with what you think on the subject :)

In His Name,

Karis