Beautiful

Just wanted to share this picture of a beautiful little girl with her loving Daddy. She truly is an angel. More to come..........

BE STILL!!

If you know me at all, you know that the words "be still" are not familiar to me. I am moving from the time I wake up to the time I lay down at night-unless of course I had a long day at work, then I just confine myself to the bat tub so that I have no choice but to sit there in one place. I am also an avid planner. Not a day goes by that my every move is not planned to a tee. This drives some (J.R) crazy because not all (J.R) beat to the same drum ;). While this busyness aids me in getting a LOT of things done a one time, it also hinders me from listening to God and from experiencing his peace. I realized this morning, as I sat in bed with my computer in my lap, that I was feeding my anxieties in order to avoid the quiet. In the quiet I realize what is going on around me, and it is always much easier to just stay busy than to sit and put things into perspective.

This morning I reached this conclusion after reading a daily devotional from one of my all time favorites, Elisabeth Elliot (www.elisabethelliot.org). She spoke of the peace that comes from God, the peace that passes all understanding, the peace that is not of this world. She defined the peace of God as being "The absence of conflict with the will of God. It means harmony within, concord with his purpose for our lives". It finally dawned on me that I had made it impossible for myself to be still. I misunderstood my responsibilities to be anxieties, which in turn gave me obligation to sit and worry-CONSTANTLY! Yes, I have responsibilities, but all should be done in the harmony of God's will. I am getting married because it is God's will for me to be a wife, not because I am supposed to have a wedding and put on a show for my family and friends. My niece is sick and it is very sad, but it is God's will that we give him glory for all he has done for her thus far and what he will do through her life in the future. It is God's will that I go to work and share his love with those around me, but If I don't have this perspective before I walk in the door my entire day is full of worries and wonders of how I can get ahead in my career. Right now all I can think about is that there are towels in my dryer (go figure), but if I go on with my chores without even a glimpse of peace in my heart, they become anxieties instead of responsibilities-my will instead of God's will.

I realize a lot of this may be ramblings, but it sure did help me put things into perspective. I am going to go about my day now, but with this scripture in my heart and on my mind:

" Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts nad your minds in Christ Jesus. " Philippians 4:7.

Christmas at St.Jude

This year I spent Christmas at St.Jude. Bummer, you might say, but really it was one of the most blessed Christmas's I have ever had. Usually my Christmas mornings revolve around waking up, opening presents, then lounging around the house all day eating leftovers and watching movies. Yesterday, presents were the last thing on my mind. We woke up very early to take my nephew Phillip to the hospital so Santa could come visit him along with his sister. St.Jude let my Sister and her husband pick out Christmas gifts for their sick little girl and even for little phillip. When I say gifts I mean more than you could ever imagine giving a child on christmas morning. They gave away things such as DVD players, Nintendo DS, bikes, movies, games, etc...and all for FREE!!! Kaelyn got a handheld dvd player, some movies, games and lots more! St.Jude continues to amaze me with their service and thoughtfulness. All that I wanted to do on Christmas morning was be with my family, comfort my sister, and see joy in Kaelyns eyes, and I experienced all three of these wonderful things. For the first time in two days, I saw Kaelyn raise up out of bed with excitement in her eyes and to me, that was Christmas. God gave our family many blessings and this Christmas I learned not to take them for granted.


I also have to take the time to mention how thankful I am to be spending the rest of my life with JR, who is selfless and wonderful!! He came to St.Jude on his birthday to be with me and he will never truly know how much that meant to me and my family. Not only did he comfort me, he helped tremendously with little Phillip! He carted him around because he is possibly the most stout two year old I have ever known, and he even stayed with him on christmas morning while Kaelyn opened her presents so my mom and I could be with her. I guess I should mention too that Phillip threw up all over the place while JR was watching him-just a minor glitch in the plans, but I think he would consider it a growing experience. JR is a trooper and I love him more everday!!! Thank you JR for all that you have done for us, and I think you are officially initiated into the family ;)

For those of you who read my blog and would like an update: Kaelyn is responding really well to the treatment. She is experiencing a massive amount of side effects and is very sick most of the time, but the mass in her chest is shrinking and the chemo is doing its job. She is having a hard time understanding her sickness and really doesn't want to hear about it so pray for her that she will have a better understanding as Cal and Krystal try to explain things to her the best they can. She will be having a rough day today with chemo treatment, spinal tap, and a blood transfusion, so especially lift prayers up for her today that her body would continue to fight. Thanks EVeryone!

God is good, ALL the time

As most of you know my neice, Kaelyn Adams, was diagnosed today with T-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL). She is a beautiful, precious child of God who has more faith than my entire family combined. She has been sick on and off for the past two months and has been in and out of the doctor with diagnosis after diagnosis. It wasn't until they identified a large mass in her chest that they suspected cancer, but as soon as they found this they sent her immediately to St.Jude's Children's Hospital in Memphis, TN. That is where I am now, sitting in a hotel room waiting for my 2 year old nephew to wake up from a nap. I have become his keeper in the last two days, but I'm loving every minute of it!

This is a nightmare for our family, but through it all I am reminded of one thing. Although this fallen world brings us suffering that is sometimes unbearable, we rest in savior who brings healing and hope of eternity to our hearts. The more I hear about unfaithful marriages, murders, and sweet children with cancer, the more I thirst for eternity with my savior.

Long story short, please pray for my family, for kaelyn's doctors, and for Kaelyn. But also remember to have heaven always on your mind.

Grace Revealed

Grace seems so simple. Grace-receiving something we don't deserve. We sin, we repent, we are loved. Not a hard concept to grasp. Unless your name is Kasey and you are a little slow at recognizing a good thing when you see it. Reflecting on how God has richly provided for me in the past year only brings me to confusion because I constantly ask myself why? Why does he continue to place wonderful people in my life? Why does he continue to provide for me? Why does he choose to use me for his kingdom work? The fact that I even ask these questions should give me a clue that I've missed the mark, but somehow asking them helped me see the sweet truth behind it all. Today as I walked through mammoth cave thinking out loud with my sweet and patient boyfriend by my side, I realized very quickly that all of my questions led me straight back to the cross. I am almost confident that he could see the light bulb pop over my head when I realized that all I need is JESUS! The more I am provided with, the more I recognize my need for a savior. I have an awesome job, but I can only face the work day when I know the power of the Holy Spirit is working in me to share the love of Christ with my co-workers. My Church family is unbelievable, but they can never love me the way Jesus does. I have a boyfriend who brings a lot of joy to my life and whom I am so thankful for, but even he can not satisfy the thirst I have for fellowship with Jesus Christ. Ultimately, Gods grace is shown to me in helping me recognize how insignificant all other things are compared to him. I am so thankful for this truth and pray there are more light bulbs to come!

I probably haven't shared anything profound that you've never heard before, but thats not the point of my blog. I just want you to take part in the simple truths revealed to me by God as I experience life in the "real world". So thats it for today...thank you Mammoth cave for giving me time away from the world to think and thank you J.R. for inspiring me to blog again :)

Here are some pictures from our adventure today.



I made him pose...he felt really awkward :)



pretty deer hangin' out in the road.



we found a pretty waterfall and you guessed it...self timer!! Of COURSE this was our first try, HAH!

Coming Soon...

Sorry for the temporary Hiatus from the blogging world! This summer sort of put me into a blogger identity crisis, but I will be re-vamped and ready to blog before you know it!! I can't wait to fill you in on all that God is doing in my life!

Until next time....

Precious

This is my nephew waiting to have surgery. They found blockage in his kidneys before he was born and are attempting (for the 2nd time) to clear it all up today. Pray for him and for my family. He is just so little and sweet and innocent. You can tell in this picture that he doesn't have a clue..lol!