Good Things Come in Threes..

Hello loves,

So I woke up this morning, and started on my usual agenda of getting out of bed and getting my day started by showering and getting myself ready for a days work. After I get myself ready in the mornings, I have been reading my daily Bible reading on my Youversion app. I have also been reading two other plans. The Rick Warren Yearly Devotional Plan and the From this Day Forward 30 day plan, since that is the current series we are in. I like to read my Bible in the morning times, before my day starts and gets hectic or busy with the ways of this world. I used to try to listen to the Bible on my way to my first office, or read it at the end of my day, but I was not consistent with it, and after much prayer and failed attempts, I had an epiphany that made me realize... Why shouldn't my God come BEFORE everything else of this world? What makes everyone and anything better than my God, that I cannot chose to spend time with Him, before them? Which led me to the conclusion of morning reading times. I am a big social network addict, like much of everyone else, and I made a rule with myself that I have to read my Bible before logging onto any social network. It helps check myself, before pushing that Facebook icon.
Anyways, one of the verses I read was 1 Corinthians 13:

1 If I speak in the tonguest of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,t but do not have love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part,10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears.11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Such a good verse. Many people use this in their wedding to define love and what it means. So, I had been praying for God to show me the path he wants me to be on and I told Him that I want to be on the narrow path and I kept praying for Him to guide me allong that path and help to understand what that means.

This evening I attended the Sister's Event at the Lifechurch OKC campus. This is an event they have every year, where Amy GroeschelLysa TerKeurst speak. It was a fun evening filled with good words of wisdom. To my surprise, Amy brought up the exact same verse I had read this morning and focused her message on ..... LOVE.... So I started seeing a pattern here... Ok God, so Love is like Really important, when it comes to this narrow path thing eh? Yes, indeed!

Story is not over yet! So THEN.. I came home. I have this book called Crazy Love by Francis Chan, that I had not finished yet. The past week, I have been trying to decide what my next book would be to start diving into it, but I felt this urge to pick this book up tonight, after it setting on my shelf for about 4 months or so and opened it up to start reading where I had left off. And what to my surprise...... THE SAME VERSE!!!! Oh my goodness... Seriously God... THREE times, in ONE day! Talk about slap in the face. Believe me, I have told God that when it comes to giving me signs or hints that, because of my lack of some common knowledge I really need like a huge just give it to me straight sign spelled out, and I'm glad He understands that..haha. But seriously, what are the chances of that. I just sat in awe thinking about how much God really loves me. It is amazing and I am underserving. I get emotional when I think about everything He has given and blessed me with, and how little I feel like I have given Him.

Moral of the story: Love, LOve, LOVe, LOVE. Period. This life is too short not to Love. If someone has hurt you or there have been things said that shouldn't have been said or things done that shouldn't have been done and cannot be undone. Just Love. God's love is incredible. We cannot even fathom it. I think that I love my family, boyfriend, and friends, but that does not even come close to the love God has for us. I think that is what He was trying to get through my little head. He loves me and I need to love others and do eveything With Love. And if we love Him, then we need to put Him first in our lives. Put down the social networks, the television, the movies, the radio, the game stations. Turn it off and give Him your time. He can show you so much, if you just listen and read His word. Ernestly seek Him and He will open your eyes.

It was funny how I had read and heard this same verse 3 times today, and then at the end of the chapter of Crazy Love, Chan wrote:

     True faith means holding nothing back; it bets everything on the hope of eternity. I know that this whole swimming-upstream, pursuing-Christ, taking-up-your-cross, counting-the-cost thing isn't easy. It's so hard, in fact, that Jesus said the road is narrow and few will actually find it... and fewer still among those who are rich. Like the parable of the sower, don't assume you are the good soil; don't assume you are one of the few on the narrow way.

How perfect. What a blessed way to end my day. God spoke right to me. He answered my prayer and I know He lives in me.

Have a beautiful weekend!

-KJ

100 degrees and counting!!

Oh goodness! The weather outside is CrAzY HOTT!! This has been one of the hottest weeks yet in Oklahoma, all days clearly way above 100. YIKES! Not too much has been going on. I have just been working and still loving my new job. I have actually started getting back into reading books for pleasure, which is crazy for me. I hadn't read a book for pleasure since high school, I think. Once college started, with all of the homework and textbook reading requirements I got away with it. I am currently on the last book of the Hunger Games: Mockingjay. Yes, I actually read this series, and I'm not even sure why, but the books have been surprisingly good! Well, I enjoyed the first two books better than the last, but overall, not a bad read. Now I want to see the movie! I also have read Craig Groeschel's Soul Detox, which I highly recommend! He has a lot of good things to say in it, and his Weird book is also amazing. I have also still been reading my One Year Bible on my Youversion app on my iphone. I have figured out that the best time for me to read it is in the mornings with no distractions going on around me. I really believe that it is important to spend time with God and read his Word. A lot of times, people barely pick up their Bible, unless something is going bad in their life, I know this from experience, it is how I used to be, or sometimes I wouldn't even turn to the Bible at all. But I have learned that it is important to continually feed your relationship with Him by reading constantly. It's amazing how certain verses or chapters will jump out at you and the most perfect time you need them. I am almost done with reading the entire Bible, which is amazing because I have NEVER done that before, so I am really excited =). I do plan on starting it over, or starting a different full-Bible plan after I finish.
Quick crazy story:
So, a week ago Cooper and I were headed up to Skiatook. On the way, my car started acting up, it was having problems shifting gears. It was the transmission. Amazingly it was covered under warranty and I was only going to have to pay my deductable, so I was so happy and thanking God! They also provided a rental car for me to use and not have to pay for it, while they were fixing my car, which was another praise! So anways, I get my car back and it is working great. I start work the next day, go on about my business. I usually have my station on KLove radio to listen to Christian music, while I'm in my car driving between offices. Sometimes I change the station, if I feel like mixing things up. I have an "A,B and C" setting on my car and can set 6 different stations on each of those. I have KLove and my Christian stations saved under my "B" stations and KJ103, and Country stations on my "A" stations, and some rock and random stations on "C". Well, after I got my car back from the service dept., when I got in my car it was on KLove, which I didn't think anything about it, because that was where it normally was, but the next day I had gone to change it to my "A" station to listen to other music, but as I was switching through my stations, I realized that somehow my Christian stations and KLove were on my "A" stations and there was nothing but fuzz on my
B and C stations.... It was so weird! Some people may not see it as weird, but I was freaking out. It kind of made me happy, because in a way I took it as a sign from God and a lesson learned. His stations should be A stations as in #1. And thats how it should be in life in general. He needs to be #1 and everything else will come after. If you are living your life to please God and letting Him use you for His plan. He will take care of you. Most people would flip, if their transmission went out, it is expensive, and so is the car rental, but God was in control the whole time and His timing is perfect. Oh... AND just to add on to the blessing even more... I didn't even have to pay for my deductable!?!? Somehow, I showed up, they handed me the keys, and I left without paying a dime. God is good, all the time. It is important to remember to give Him the praise during the good times and give Him your time and attention during the good times. God will take care of you, He is just waiting for you to give it all to Him.
That's my Schmeal for the day, yes I said Schmeal and I can't define it! Ha ha.
Love Always
KJ

P.S. Cooper and I had a birthday this month. Yes, I am 26.... Yes, I still look 20, so yes, I am okay with it! =) This is one of our first pictures ever taken together! We were crazy kids back then =)
P.P. S. I love my brother a lot. He is a good kid, despite whatever everyone else may say. I love him and he is great. Has always been ornery, but what kid isn't!?! Love you Jajer!

I'm BACK!

It has been forever since I have been on here, so I thought I might get back on! Sooooo much has been going on. I got a new job in February that was such a blessing. It has turned out to be so wonderful and God has really given me more than I ever deserve! It makes me excited about what else is to come to the future. God has so many plans for us and uses for our lives here on Earth and we just need to throw our hands up and let Him take control to use us.

Cooper and I have been doing so incredibly well! He makes me extremely happy, and I love being able to spend time with that man, whenever possible. One thing that we have decided to try to do this year is pay off our debt. We may not have a whole lot, well I do- with my giant student loans, which will NOT be paid off this year, but hopefully everything else, and then hopefully I can get those down soon enough! We are also faithfully attending Church, together. We have been doing that for a while now. When Cooper had a different job last year, it was sometimes hard for us to go to church together, because he had to work on Sundays a lot, but God blessed him also with a new career path this year, which has allowed us to be able to attend regulary at Lifechurch's OKC campus, and we both love it! We really believe that going to church, reading the Bible, and incorporating God into our relationships (not just spouses, but family, friends, co-workers, EVERYONE) is the best way to do life!

Speaking of reading the Bible, I have been on the One-Year Reading Plan on my Youversion Bible App. It takes you through an Old Testament reading, a New Testament reading, and a Proverbs and a Psalm everyday. Some days I get behind, but then I catch up, or read ahead, so it all evens out! Currently, I am on Day 243 of 366! Woop Woop! I have never read the Bible all the way through, so I figured why not!?! Cooper is also on the plan, but we are on different days. It is amazing how God can speak to you through his Word. I know everyone always says that's how it works, but it is so incredible when you are having trouble with something or worrying about something and it's like God is reassuring you as you read and it applies directly to your situation. Awesome.

There is probably much more to update on, but I am about to start a training conference call for my work, so this will have to do for now! Hope all is well with everyone! Oh yeah, and I ran 3 5k runs so far this year and before that, I had never done any! Haha! Crazy!!!! Here is a pic of Coop and I at a Thunder game! Sooooo happy they won last night against the Spurs in the Western Conference Finals! Hopefully they can keep it up! THUNDER UP!