five minute friday :: tell
Welcome to Five Minute Friday! I'm so thrilled you're here. As you may have heard, last week was my first week hosting this amazing community, after the fabulous Lisa-Jo Baker founded Five Minute Friday and hosted it on her blog for the past four years. And speaking of Lisa-Jo, have you heard what the Lord is doing through her and through this amazing blog community? It's BIG, you guys. Really big. Click here to be part of it. But first, let me just tell you, I loved reading your words last week as you FILLED the internet with stories of how you fill your time, how the Lord...
fall in love with the world next door
For five years, I didn't have a tumble dryer. My washing machine was in my kitchen, as most washing machines are, in the more developed parts of South Africa, right under the counter next to the sink. If I'd ever decided that I wanted a dishwasher, the washing machine would've gotten kicked outta the house, since there wasn't space for both. And since I'd rather wash dishes by hand than clothes any day, I kept the washing machine, but I didn't have a tumble dryer. And sure, hanging clothes on the line in the fresh breeze under African sun can be cathartic, until you have a newborn...
I’m a White Girl from Michigan, and I’m #goingthere
I married a black man. As his aunts would say, I have caramel kids. I don’t have to go further than my kitchen table to experience diversity, and yet I still have racial biases. Sometimes I don’t notice skin color. During my ten years in South Africa, I could sit for over forty minutes in a room full of people before suddenly realizing I was the only pale face there. I often don’t realize the color of my own kids’ skin until we’re at the beach and I’m nearly blinded by the paleness of other children running around in their diapers, and I think, “Wow, those kids are...
five minute friday :: fill
Welcome to Five Minute Friday! Two weeks ago, Lisa-Jo Baker announced that she would be handing over this community, after she founded Five Minute Friday and hosted every week for the past four years! Last week, I shared a bit of an introduction leading up to this week, and now here we are! My first time hosting the amazing writers of Five Minute Friday. I'm so glad you're here! If you're new here or haven't participated before, here's how it works: Every Thursday a one-word prompt will be announced here on my blog at 10pm EST (and continuing through Friday). Oh, and before the...
the wallpaper diaries
I blame The Nester. It's her fault I haven't been able to feel my arms for the past two weeks. And while I'm at it, I might as well blame Lisa-Jo Baker for the raving review she wrote about The Nester's new book, The Nesting Place, since it's the book's fault that my arms are so sore. Remember how I told you I was going to read it? Well, I did, and it changed the course of my July. (And the look of our current rental home.) If I hadn't read it, I definitely wouldn't have spent the past two weeks scraping off wallpaper, spackling, sanding, priming, and eventually painting our entry way,...
begin – an introduction
After last week’s Five Minute Friday announcement, my inbox just about had a coronary from the sudden exertion it endured, and I nearly drowned in a flood of emotion and gratitude. I never could’ve anticipated such a warm and gracious welcome, and am ever so honored to be part of this priceless FMF community. Thank you. As I prepare to carry this torch, I thought maybe I should introduce myself a bit before you find yourself sitting in my virtual living room next week. Let’s see, where to begin … Firstly, I’d say it’s safe to assume that Lisa-Jo asked me to take over Five Minute Friday...
hindsight
Today I'm thrilled to be over at Velvet Ashes, a lovely online community designed to encourage women serving overseas. The founder and editor graciously invited me to share about the topic of hindsight, and more specifically, to answer the question "What do you wish you knew then (before going overseas) that you know now?" Ignorant and naive are two words that would fairly describe me as I packed my two suitcases in preparation for a semester abroad in Africa. I was giddy, excited, and completely ignorant. Oh, and I wasn’t even 21. The biggest issues looming at the forefront of my...
On Giving Kids an Eternal Perspective
The other day my seven-year-old was eating one of those Freezer Pops — you know, the plastic sleeves with frozen flavored juice inside that you squeeze up from the bottom. He came over to me as I was typing an e-mail and said, “Hey Mom. This is what my life is like now,” and he bit off a tiny segment of the popsicle. Then he held up the remaining stick of colored ice and said, “And this is my life in heaven.” A child’s object lesson in the temporary blip that is our earthly life, compared to the lasting enjoyment of heaven. Of course, heaven won’t melt — but his mind was...
what church looks like
Some people drive by on Sunday mornings and see the church parking lot filled with cars, and they think church looks like kids with their shirts halfway tucked in, hair mostly combed, still rubbing sleep from their eyes. Like women carrying Bibles and men wearing ties and uncomfortable shoes, and who would want to spend a Sunday like that? They glimpse through the windows as they pass by, and think church looks like standing for the hymns and praying with your eyes closed. Sitting through the sermon while glancing at your watch counting minutes until the benediction. And while it might...
finish (and five minute friday news)
It happens, sometimes. Okay, it happens often. I bite off a project that is far more than I can chew, and slowly, gradually, the train of motivation sputters and chokes until it runs out of steam and comes screeching to a halt in the middle of the tracks. Project unfinished. It happens, sometimes, like a month ago when my two boys went to a birthday party, and my eight-year-old daughter pleaded for "special girl time." I caved, and watched her coffee eyes widen in wonder as we entered the fabric store and took in all of its glory. We cradled bolts of material in our arms like newborn...
Hi! I'm Kate, and I'm so glad you've stopped by! Click here
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