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Welcome

Welcome to my little corner of the world. I am so honored by your visit today. My name is Kristi and I am married to my college sweetheart(I refer to him here as "Mr. Incredible"), momma to my 2 beautiful girls who are growing much too quickly, a high school computer teacher, photographer, and a gardener (at times~right now I'm growing weeds). I love to laugh, drink strong Starbucks coffee, take pictures, and be anywhere my family is. Jesus is my Savior and I try so hard to be the wife and momma that He has called me to be. I often fail but He lovingly picks me up, dusts me off, and encourages me that with Him all things are possible. Feel free to join me on this journey of faith, stop in and say hello, look around, and leave a comment~I love comments. Why "Kiki's Corner?" My nephews call me Aunt Kiki and I love that too.

Fences and Children-Thankful Thursday




Warning: This Thankful Thursday post is a bit long, okay the longest one ever! I just have to share it before I burst at the seams! This post displays my heart that is represented in yesterdays Word Filled Wednesday picture. Please, grab a cup of coffee and listen to my heart:

My husband was the bi-vocational music minister at our church for the last four years. It was an incredible blessing. We had the amazing blessing of serving with my parents; my dad is the pastor. It seemed like heaven on earth!

In January, my dear husband felt God telling him that it was time to step down as music minister. To me, the news seemed to come out of the blue. No problems at church, no problems with the staff, no nothing. (Although, at my husband’s other job, his duties were increasing and both of his bosses were diagnosed with cancer.) I was crushed when he shared his heart with me. We began to pray. The more we prayed, the more I prayed that he was wrong. He stood firm in his belief and sadly gave his resignation in March.

It was HARD! We have always served whether we were on staff or not, but I just didn’t see this one coming. I ran the gamut of emotions. Honestly, it wasn’t pretty, I’m ashamed to say. God lovingly began to convince me that He is God, He has a divine purpose, and if He can call us into ministry, He could call us out of ministry. I began to trust His divine purpose but still mourned the loss of ministry all the while feeling lost in our place at church. Should we go or should we stay?

The whole family mourned. It just didn’t feel the same at church anymore.

Here is a copy of an email I sent to my sweet hubby just last week: God convicted me this morning that what I rehearse, I believe. I keep harping on and talking about how hard this change has been and how mixed up my emotions are. How it's not the same...it feels weird...etc. Yes, this is true, but I need to focus on the new opportunities God has in store for us. The ministry was and always has been His. He is free to call us or remove us as He wills. This battle has to be His and only He can win this victory.

Perhaps, the victory in this battle has already been given, but I'm choosing to stay in the muddy trenches while He patiently waits for me to pull my head out, and look up and crawl out of the cave, and see what new ministries He has for us. Oh, He knows our hearts are to do His will, so perhaps the delay in knowing it, is my lack of praise, trust, and confidence that He who began a good work still has work for us to do.”


So, I began to practice praising in spite of feeling like we were on the fence of indecisiveness. We started praying about looking for another church. Should we go or should we stay? Hannah started feeling the effects of being the only child her age in Sunday School. Perhaps, it was time to look for another church home.

We called a family meeting Saturday night. We weighed the pros and cons of staying or leaving. We all cried but Hannah’s broken heart just ripped our hearts out. We prayed together and decided that this would be our last Sunday if for no other reason then for Hannah’s sake. It is so important that our children love going to church and serving in the church. We don’t want her to have a bad taste in her mouth when it comes to church.

Sunday morning brought an invitation for Rachel and I to be nominated to serve on the Youth Search Committee, an invitation for R to serve as a deacon (he was ordained 11 years ago, but since he was the music minister did not serve in this capacity), and during the invitation one of the little boys that we minister to in children’s worship (Rachel, Hannah, mom, and I have the blessing of doing this children’s ministry together) came forward and told everybody that he had asked Jesus to come into his heart and be his savior! Glory!

We thanked our sweet people for these opportunities but felt like we would not be able to serve in these areas. After all, in our minds, this was our last Sunday.

The four of us went to lunch after church and had a sweet time of fellowship. On the way home, from the back seat Hannah said, “You know what? Maybe God is trying to tell us something. He wants you and Rachel to be on the youth search committee and daddy to be a deacon. Maybe we should stay.”

“And a little child will lead them.” (Isaiah 11:6).

She didn’t know this, but I needed God to tell us to stay through Hannah. In fact, this is how I had prayed that morning. I asked her a few questions (I needed to know that she wasn’t just saying what she thought we wanted to hear) and she was more than resolved in our need to stay and minister as a family.



I told her that God has great things in mind for her and that I am praying for a BFF just for her. This is another area that we can trust Him. He wants to give good gifts to His children (Luke 7:11). He can provide a BFF just for her. Obedience brings blessing and I can hardly wait to see how He blesses her.

Please, if you have made it through this long post, join me in praying for a new BFF for Hannah!

So, to make a long story short, I’m thankful that we are off the fence. It feels good to know that God still has work for us to do at our home church and our spirits are finally at peace. There is much to be thankful for! If by chance, anyone one of you made it to the end of this post, I just want to thank you for your generosity and graciousness reading this. May God richly bless you today!



23 comments:

Kim @ Homesteader's Heart said...

I made it through and without coffee lol. You know one thing I've learned is we have no idea what God is doing half the time lol. We think we are called to do one thing then that thing never comes to fruition but something else comes around that we never would have dreamed about doing in a million years and that's what we end up doing. You have to admit, it keeps life exciting!My 14 year old daughter is in need of a BFF to. She recently had to let a friend go because of the worldly differences and influences. So it's been hard. Wonderful post my friend. Now I need to go be thankful for some stuff ha ha!
Blessings,
Kim

Anonymous said...

Wow! I can so relate to this post. Thanks for sharing. I needed to read that. God has called me out of ministry recently & I have had the same feelings of not fitting in at my church. It can feel so lonely sometimes when God is moving us & we aren't sure why yet

Anonymous said...

Kristi,
I was so encouraged by your honesty and transparency. We are going through similar issues at church. DD just turned 12, and there is nothing for her age. Well, there is youth, but all services are geared more toward the high schoolers. Plus, with gas prices so high, I really don't want to look anywhere else because our church is only 5 blocks from us. At the same time, I can see my dd wilting because she's not really "plugged in" at our church, other than helping in kids' church, and like she said, "She isn't learning anything."

I love how Hannah spoke something that resonated with your spirit! That is so cool when God uses our dks to speak to our hearts.

I also understand the need for a bff for Hannah. We've been down that road too. When we finally found one (a dd of a local pastor), they moved out of state.

If Hannah is close in age to my dd (age 12), she is welcome to be a penpal with her. DD would love that. One of her online penpals just died a couple of weeks ago from injuries sustained from a bike wreck. Anyway, if you're interested in setting them up as penpals, visit my blog, and click the "email me" link. :-)

Anonymous said...

Hey, I forgot to add something on my earlier post. In Jeremiah, it says, "I know the planS I have for you." Plans has an S on the end, so what is the plan for one period of our life may not be the plan for another period. Trust God's leading in this!

Unknown said...

Praise the Lord. Thank you for sharing...

Anonymous said...

I enjoyed reading your post and it wasn't too long to me! I prayed after reading this for your sweet daughter to find a BFF. Friends are so important to children/teenagers and I hope she finds a good, Christian friend!

Donetta said...

Good Morning,
I will join you in that prayer and also for my own kids to have a BBF. Especially my Daughter Dove. She misses her BB"F" moved. This is the 4th or 5th time this has happened to her. The Parents often living a very bad lifestyle. Often the kids have been neglected or abused children. It would be so nice if....
Hay want to do a pen pal.?
My girl is 11 on Sunday?
Thank you for your sweet comment.
I am in AZ

Beth K. Vogt said...

My first visit to your blog-and such a worthwhile visit! I did pray for a BFF for Hannah.
And I am rejoicing with you as God fulfills Proverbs 3:5-6 for you and your family.
Beth@TheAccidentalPharisee

flmom said...

A wonderful and inspirational TT!

Laurie Ann said...

Read the whole post! God is at work in your lives, isn't He? It sounds like some incredible opportunities are coming up, and I'm so glad He confirmed that through your daughter's comments. She's making a sacrifice, knowing you'd have left and found a church with kids her own age...she's wise beyond her years. I will join you in praying for a BFF for Hannah, but I need to know what a BFF is, LOL!

Melanie said...

Kristi, Thank you so for sharing your heart with us today! I am so blessed from reading it. I struggle with the same thing, but always when I do turn it over to God, He shows me the way just as He has shown your family. I love that it was your sweet Hannah that spoke the words that led you to know what God has in store!

Thank you so much for visiting me earlier this morning and for you kind words. I so appreciate your prayers.. they mean so very much to me and my family!

Blessings, my friend!

Addicted to Beadz said...

Kristi,

What an awesome journey! Thanks for sharing.

I will pray for Hannah to have a friend at church! Yes, God has great plans for Ms. Hannah!

Blessings!
Cheryl

Kathy C. said...

Kristi,

It was worth the long read. It's amazing the steps we take trying to figure out what God wants for us to do, when sometimes it is right before our yes and we dodge all around it trying to figure it out, lol.

I understand what your daughter desires. Although I have 3 sisters, my best friend (homesteader in training) is a true sister to me and her 14 year old daughter wants what we have so badly. I pray for a BFF to come into her life, and I will do the same for your daughter.
Have a blessed day,
Kathy C.

Unknown said...

Kristi,

I see the finger print of the Lord in your home and on your heart.

O Father, this child of yours, Hanna, send her a friend this very week and let this friendship be blessed by you and be a conduit to bring you glory. In Jesus name, Amen.

Anonymous said...

I had a cup of coffee anyway.LOL. Read it all the way down to the end and I'm glad I did. Talk about spot on? I felt like that was me trying to figure God out. But I once heard that a god you can explain away is no use to you. I have been struggling to come to terms with that - sometimes there's no understanding God. And that's fine.

Thanks so much for this post. I'll pray for your daughter cos I know what it's like to not have a BFF.

Denise said...

Bless you precious one. I am joining your heart in prayer. May you be blessed.

Carry Grace said...

As a young girl my mom and I prayed for God to send me a BFF at church and boy did he answer our prayer. My friend Bethany and I have been BFF's for 20 years. We met in the 2nd grade and it was awesome to grow up with a friend that believed God the same way I did. God is so good!

Aunt Angie said...

Kristi---I made it through and read EVERYSINGLEWORD! YES! Praise the LORD for HEARING from HIM through a sweet willing vessel. The LORD will send Hannah a new BFF---and it will BE HIS PICK! So she will be awesome!
How like God. There is no telling what God is up to in your lives. This was such a blessed post---don' t apologize for the length! I came here to thank you for your sweet words on my blog and you just mopped me up off the floor---because I AM PRAYING HARD ABOUT HEARING FROM HIM on a matter of ministry in my own life....do you think I could borrow Hannah?? (kidding). I am waiting for His direction. I have trust and faith that He will lead----and I will follow. Pray that I hear Him distinctly.

Unknown said...

Oh how I can relate to your post! I will pray - that the Lord will send your Hannah such a soulmate that it will bless the whole family. Thank you for sharing.... Blessings to you!

Marsha said...

What a beautiful post, Kristi! I will certainly pray for a new BFF for Hannah.

GranthamLynn said...

I was intrigued I am drinking a Dr. Pepper though. Just can't do the coffee thing. I came over because you visited me this morning. And I am glad I did. This post just Blessed me. I have had similiar frustrations with sitting on the fence so to speak. Isn't it amazing when God give us such guidance and you can just litterally see him working and giving you answers? You said some things in your email that I have tried to voice myself but just didn't know how.
I am glad you are all at peace and have found where and how God wants to use you.
Thank you for your openness and thank you for your desire to serve him. I know how important it is to find a y.m. I have done that job before and I can tell you it is no piece of cake. You and your chuch will be in my prayers.
Now I am off to read the rest of your blog. BTW what ballgame was it? I am in Texas too are we neighbors?

Tami said...

May God continue to lead you AND your daughter.

Tracy said...

Kristi,
I'm not at all put off my long posts. This one especially touched my heart. Change is hard, it does feel strange and for those of us who like consistency, its unsettling. I so appreciate your transparency. So glad spoke through your sweet girl. I just stopped and lifted a pray for your sweet Hannah.

Blessings,
Tracy