My husband and I have been blessed with two children.  After traveling the world for four years as an Army Nurse (including South Korea and Hawaii), we unexpectedly settled in the heart of rural Georgia.  It’s been quite a shock, but I’m starting to enjoy the small-town environment.

I was blessed to be raised in a Christian family.  At the age of 6, I’ve been told that I prayed the “sinner’s prayer” asking Jesus to forgive me and come into my life.  However, I don’t remember this.  When I was 12, I found myself praying this “sinner’s prayer” nearly every hour, feeling that I simply wasn’t good enough for God to truly forgive me.  Each time I prayed, I doubted.  “What if God didn’t hear me?  What if I didn’t say it exactly right?”  While on a youth retreat with a new church, my doubts spilled over into embarrassed tears in front of my new friends.  Then someone took my hands and cupped them upward, saying, “Karen, God’s forgiveness is a gift – all you have to do is reach out and accept it.”  In that moment, I knew that God’s love and forgiveness were not earned, merely received.  The pressure of having to be perfect started to melt away.  Since then, I have been certain of my standing with God – not at all because of my own efforts but because of the effort of God’s perfect Son Jesus on my behalf.

I try to let God lead my life – like everyone else, it’s an up and down thing.  There are seasons of closeness to God, and seasons of dryness.  I give Him full control in some areas while holding tightly to the steering wheel in others. I hope you enjoy traveling with me through the many bumps, turns, and hidden joys that life inevitably brings – with the goal of daily letting God have His way more and more.