Contentment

                                                        Source: Uploaded by user via Katie on Pinterest  

    I know I've blogged about this topic a couple times before, but it's so deep and broad. I keep learning more about it and feel like sharing it with you all.
    I've really struggled with being content in the season of life God has me for quite a while now. I would have good days and bad days. Don't we all? But it truly was a daily battle. I constantly found myself on my knees begging God to provide me with satisfaction in the only place joy could be found: in Himself.
    However, knowing that I should be content in my God and actually being content are kinda different. Watching my friends move on and start new stages of life was devastating and brought a new wave of restlessness and utter discontent. Why do I have to be the one who is always left behind?! When will my turn come?
    But praise God that He does not let us wallow in our self-pity. I was reminded of all that I have and to be thankful for. God chose me. He saved me. And most certainly not based on anything that I had done! This alone should wipe any atom of discontent with my life. It gets better. He also showed me a gentle reminder that this world is not my home. I'm not going to be satisfied by anything on earth because I was created to live somewhere else entirely. However, God has blessed me with many earthly things. I have a wonderful family and a close relationship with my parents. I have a good job that I love. School is going well and am saving lots of money by being able to do CollegePlus! All these things go to show I have no reason to ever complain.
    When the next stage of life comes, I'll sure be ready. But I'm going to enjoy whatever this season has for me because that's where God has me. And that truly is best.

Love,
Katie :)

My "niece"

My family had a precious little visitor at our house last Friday. Brielle Nix is perhaps the cutest baby EVER. I'm maybe a little biased since her mommy is one of my bestest big sisters. But you'd have to be blind not to admit she's adorable in every sense of the word :)

Here's a post showing off sweet Brielle's facial expressions as she celebrated being five weeks old!

Love,

Katie :)

Tears of Sorrow and Gladness

Tears can be sad......and happy.
They can come from being overjoyed or overwhelmed.
A welling up and over of emotion these little drops are.
Sometimes it can be good to cry, and other times embarrassing.
I experienced a little bit of all of this last night during Bible study.
A song I had never heard before really struck home.
I felt like it had been written just for me.
It washed over me with feelings of remorse and joyfulness; guilt and gratitude.
Salvation is a wonderful, mysterious, joyous thing.
Why me? Why a rebellious sinful little girl like me?
I may never know why God placed me in the family I'm in, the country where I live, the people and circumstances I grew up with.
But what I do know is that HE DID SAVE ME.
And I'm forever grateful.



Love,
Katie :)

Thanksgiving In Pictures

Thanksgiving this year was BEYOND wonderful :)
I have so much to be thankful for, and I got to spend with some of the best people on earth: my family.
God is so good and has blessed me beyond words.
So here's the story...(in pictures of course. I apologize for the blurriness of them. They were taken with my iPod :P)

We headed out to my granparents Wednesday night, and this picture does NOT do the beautiful sunset justice!

To celebrate my grandparents' Swedish heritage...

...we stopped at a Swedish grocery store in Oakland, NE (the Swedish capital of NE)...

...to get Knackebrod. (it's like a HUGE cracker).

When we arrived, my grandma had pie waiting for us!

My daddy - happy with his pie and coffee!

And since some of us think that pie is the worst dessert ever invented, there were also cookies. My grandma makes the best cookies over. Hands down. No questions asked.

My baby cakes kept a close eye on ALLLL the food!

We hung out with my grandparents and talked and ate and watched basketball. (Ryan and Tyler and I stayed up with my grandpa and watched Duke win the Maui Invitational :D)

Enjoying yummy food and awesome people.

Meddie and I got bored and started taking pictures <3

Thanksgiving morning dawned bright and warm. So most of us decided to go on a walk :)

I came home to find the football game on....

....and the table set!!!!!

LET THEM EAT CAKE, er, THANKSGIVING DINNER!

As we got ready to leave that night....

....poor Cody got so nervous that he'd get left behind. (it was rather cute to watch)

So that was my Thanksgiving :)
I'm so thankful for many things that I don't even know where to start!
But what I'm most grateful for this year is the wonderful gift of salvation purchased by our Savior.
And that He chose ME to be His child...not by anything that I had done. He loved me and has a plan for me :)
God is good and I just can't praise Him enough!!!

(I worked Black Friday, 1-10 PM....it sounded horrible, but God's grace did MORE than enough. I couldn't have asked for more :) )
Have a blessed Sunday!

Love,
Katie :)