time to move on

I am no longer active on blogger.
Jump over to my new site: http://kristiepearl.tumblr.com/

Thanks for the love and support over the years dear blogger friends!

<3

pray.

Give me strength to be everything I’m called to be.
Shine through me so they know this isn't about me.
Fill me up so I can pour back out.
Be everything that my life is about.
Show me the way to stand for Truth and desire You.
Forgive me when I fail to praise You like I should.
Humble my heart before Your throne.
Lead me, cause I know I can’t do this alone.

Amen.

i am thankful for...

You and y'all.

First and foremost, thanks God for being awesome despite my emo, over-analytical, self-consumed heart. To say that last week sucked would be the biggest understatement of the year. It started with assumptions becoming misunderstandings which led me to feel pretty helpless. ps If gossip had a face - I would punch it.
Lesson: Just because man gives you an opportunity to speak, doesn't mean you should. Seek Truth from the source. Confess and Repent. Always be honest, always.

I lost my job. I felt defeated, humiliated and blindsided not to mention... insecure, discouraged and anxious. I've been praying about my job - where God wants me. He answered my prayer, just not in the way I wanted. Lesson: Desire Humility. Recognize that everything is God's. He can give and He can take away. Appreciate what you do have, esp when times are dark. (I have a new job in a different dept at the same place for right now)

Spiritual warfare. The most intense sleepless night of spiritual warfare that I've ever experienced. I began fighting and reading scripture until the hours passed and I was exhausted. I gave up. I put my Bible down and felt a lack of peace. I walked away doubting what I read and then I was literally pushed down by evil, gasping for Jesus to hear my cry for His mercy on my rebellious soul. When I was finally able to speak and breath, I felt Him. Lesson: God allows us to experience things to teach us important lessons that we need to know. Don't give up. Fight. God is there. He saves. He rescues. He restores your soul.

Next was family group vacay. Honestly, I confess to a part of me not wanting to be in/with community. I wanted to carry on being useless and alone since that's how I felt. Thankfully, God is good and He told me to confess my resistance to Him and friends and repent before Him.

This was one of the best weekends I've had in a really long time. God did work through the 4 guys that spoke, thanks team. Everything about the weekend was epic. Maybe I'll elaborate later on the teaching but for now just know that I am thankful that God is faithful despite my faithlessness. I am thankful that God keeps His promises even though I struggle to trust His Truth. I am thankful that my worth isn't based on what I do but in who I am in Christ. I am thankful that He loves me despite my selfishness of trying to place other things on the throne of my heart when that throne is meant for God alone. All glory is His and not to be shared. I am thankful for His grace that washes me daily in my fight to again see light rather than the darkness that awaits to devour me.


-kristie-

my soul finds rest

I posted this in my status a while back, it has become a Sabbath time favorite of mine. In case you haven't heard it... it's worth a listen. The song is called My Soul Finds Rest/Psalm 62.

the hardest place to stand...

is at the place where words are lost in silence.

The poetic aspect of my soul strives to decorate my thoughts with delicate word choices. I am attracted to intentional over articulation and prepared sentence structures. In my weakest form, I have a loss for the concept of letters and word meanings all together. In such moments of overwhelming weakness, Christ gives me strength to stand. In His strength, I am moved beyond mere verbal expressions of existence. When I fall into a speechless void, He catches me in the scriptures of His spoken promises. I stand, only because of His love.




"But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me." - 2 Corinthians 12:9


<3

giggle

when you are worn out.. it's not the best time to work on tricks. clearly. i wasnt supposed to fall like that. ha

oh. my. hilarity.

a) I find this both disturbing and hilarious.
b) Prepare to be confused.
c) Prepare to laugh.



you're welcome.

ABDC

that's what's up.

Just joined a dance crew and I couldn't be more jazzed. (no pun intended)I love to dance and I love to make new friends and what better way to do that than to join up in a city dance crew. I've been praying for an opportunity like this for various reasons and paaazah! - there it is. Thanks God!

a beautiful mess

just a chill, surface song that is stuck in my head this morning.

notes to self

It's midnight, my prime time of thoughts and reflections.
Here are some random thoughts I'm thinking to myself:

*don't settle for standing still (be alert with readiness)
"Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace." - Ephesians 6:14-15

*Be constant in growing & maturing in faith:
"Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything" - James 1:4

*understand who you are pouring into and recognize opportunities for both discipleship and outreach.
"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work" - 2 Timothy 3:16-17

*don't be "that" person (the one that states the obvious/complainer.. etc)
"Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life — in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing" - Philippians 2:14-17

*follow through on your intentions in obedience to Christ.
"Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means." 2 Corinthians 8:11
and
"Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one" - Matthew 5:37

*do what you do out of passion, Christ deserves our passion.
"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving." - Col 3:23-24

<3

blurry sneak peak

blurry sneak peak:

just wait...

kineticness

fun fact: I used to volunteer for Mad Science to "teach" kiddos via crazy fun science experiments with the intentions of making learning fun. In reality, I called it time to "play" and make stuff blow up. I worked at a child developmental center around this time too so my scientific name of "kinetic kristie" carried over to the crew at my job to imply that I was characterized by energy in motion.

Truth be told, I used to think it was a tragic flaw of mine to be so naturally hyperactive and energetic. What I've come to realize though is that being active is ok - it just depends on how you use your energy. Am I using that energy to be effective for the Kingdom or am I using that energy to pour into broken cisterns of sorts? It's a good question to challenge yourself with, at least it is for me. Am I living out the Gospel and is my kineticness glorifying God?

I'm about to start packing up my room to get ready to move in a few days. Yesterday I found out when I needed to move out of my current house and thankfully, I found a new place to stay... all within an hour. God provides, never doubt that He is the ultimate Provider.

Before you ask, yes - for one reason or another I've moved around Columbia every year since I've lived here. It's not something I plan for.. as fun as packing and unpacking sounds. I love traveling but not quite in this fashion. In all seriousness though, The Holy Spirit makes certain things really clear to me and one is in regards to where I am located. Plus, He likes to keep me on my toes. If I get too comfortable, I'll get lazy. It's His grace that keeps me motivated in motion. I'm not sure what this is all to prepare me for but in the meantime, I'm just trying to be obedient.

About two years ago, I read a book and the idea of being a part of a church plant and helping to cultivate Biblical community/fellowship fell on my heart. I have no idea where or when or if that is even something that will present itself as an opportunity for me at some point. It's obvious to me right now that I'm in Columbia for a reason and honestly, prob for a while - I do have a feeling it wont be forever. Either way, I'm more than ok with being here. I love this city and more than that, I love the people in it.

As I pray to grow in the area of relational ministry - I've been given the opportunity to move into the community I'm trying to really connect with and love on. I dig God's creativity in how He is getting me over there... ask me what I mean later if you are curious what I mean.

My Mom gave me this encouragement on my birthday.
"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go." - Joshua 1:9

So while I never know where I'll live or for how long, I take comfort in knowing, I'll never be without God... and that's all I need to know.

Question?

I feel secure in saying that when the answer that you want is within the tone of the question that you state.. you've 98% already made up your mind. I find that in situations like that, we only ask questions to either further validate our decisions or to simply hear ourselves talk.

Lets be honest:
"Is this a bad idea?" - yeah, it usually is.
"Should I do this?" - no, probably not.

We put ourselves on the front lines of war when we let our convictions spark justifications instead of repentance. I think all too often we ask poor, empty questions. It's a dangerous day when we let a rebellious childhood mindset trick us into thinking we have metaphorical chains to break. We flirt with the temptation of "how far can I *insert sin here*" and in so, we subject ourselves to an unguarded battle against the enemy. Yikes.

When I've found myself guilty of justifications, it's because I was being lazy. Confession: the cliche hyperactive kid's default broken response is apathy. Praise God that He allows the Holy Spirit to change the lackadaisical sinner into a passionate believer. Praise God for forgiveness and grace.

Ok so back to my point: Rather than asking questions like "what can I get away with" we should maybe be asking ourselves.. "does this glorify God/Am I glorifying God in this moment/again, is this for God's glory?"

ps If you want clarity... start by being clear.

<3
-kp-

if grace is an ocean..

..we're all sinking.

I 2nd what I said in my last post.

It's really unfortunate how quickly foolish pride blinds us from the grace of the cross. I need to continually repent of what I think I deserve because truth of the matter is.. I don't deserve anything.

Ephesians 2:1-9

thought of the week:

The realization that it simply shouldn't matter what obstacles are put in my path. What actually matters is how I respond to the obstacles that God gives me the opportunity to face.

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." - James 1: 2-4

a perfect shade of dark blue...

...have you ever been alone in a crowded room?

Last night I went to a wedding in Charleston to help celebrate the marriage of two of my good friends. Typically, I would've brought a girl/guy as a fake date to have someone to talk to/eat with/dance with.. etc.. but alas, I went alone. Anyway, I'm a cheesy romantic of sorts and one of my favorite things to do is to watch the groom's face when the bride makes her grand entrance. Tears filled my eyes upon seeing his love for her through his beaming smile aaand my heart melted. What a beautiful picture of Christ's love for the church and to think... that's just a glimpse of it. The ceremony was beautiful.

If you know me at all, you know that sitting still isn't exactly my specialty... so I walked around during the reception and caught up with friends from college. The most popular question of the night was.. "are you here alone?" By the end of the night I couldn't seem to shake the tone of those questions. Before I headed back home, I sat outside in the warm breeze of the night and had a lil quiet time.

I was blindsided by loneliness... but why? The relationship that I need, I have. God alone is what I need and what my soul craves. Christ longs to be what fulfills us and He does with His grace and all consuming love.

I trust Him as comforter and provider for what I need to better tell His story. As always, thanks Jesus for bringing me back to the big picture... You.

I support the AHA

Just to be clear... I watched that video I posted yesterday about 10 times and laughed each time. Something might be wrong with me.

On a completely different note:
I tend to either buy organic or AHA approved foods for my daily life. I won't push on the organic as much as I want to push on the AHA. I have to check for these things when I purchase foods to help take care of my heart. I was thinking to myself recently... I should inform my friends about the lil heart stamp of approval too because.. I want y'all to be healthy too! My hope would be that everyone would check for the American Heart Association's heart-check mark on food packaging in the grocery store going forward... to promote a healthy beating heart.
(go to this link for more details: http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4973)

On a fake related note:
I think I'm shopping at the wrong store:

laughter

Today was a very heavy day.
There is a time to soak in the weight of things and there is also a respected time to laugh. You might not think this is funny but I think it is hilarious. This episode really aired.. this dramatic.. thank goodness for...

dance

so last night I saw Twitch dance live. eeeeeeeeeeeee!
Who is twitch?
This guy: (I'll upload my video from last night soon)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdcLDVZVP-s&feature=related

Today I watched a video of ppl trying to jerk & reject.. and it was painful. if you dont know how to do them - ask ppl that actually know.. otherwise your friends are just playing a joke on you! (and yes, after watching.. I'm dancing in my living room by myself doing these steps... go figure)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46BsgpnioTc&feature=related

smile like you mean it

Three great dental care items that I like:

1) Aquafresh: iso-active deep impact, whitening foaming gel.
(you know the hand soap that foams when you put it in your hands.. this is like the same thing for your mouth! it foams. brushing your teeth will never be the same again!)

2) Crest: glide comfort plus mint floss.
(it has a freshness about it and it's very soft as to not destroy your gums.

3) Listerine: total care, 6 in one antiseptic mouthwash.
(it's a purplish color.. just trust me.. go big or go home with your listerine products and I'd pick this one!)
*not shown in photo bc i only have two hands