saturday

i take my mom for granted quite often.

note to self: don’t do that anymore!

monday

i will take up my cross and follow.

i need a daily reminder that living my life for GOD is more than simply being and saying. JESUS didn’t simply talk the talk. HE walked the walk. HE took up his cross and he fulfilled his purpose on earth. in the same way, i want to take up my cross and i want walk the same walk that CHRIST did. i want to fulfill GOD’s purpose for my life. i lose focus so often, it seems.

saturday

i hate being home alone. my family is currently in florida and, alas, i am stuck here in rainy washington. on the bright side, i find myself saying, “hello, GOD, let’s talk” a lot more. it’s quite nice. *insert smile here*

monday

then JESUS said to his disciples, "if anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. for whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for ME will find it. what good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?”

matthew 16:24-26

I WILL TAKE UP MY CROSS AND FOLLOW.

thursday

i’d like to move to a tropic island tomorrow, make my residence in a simple hut [or even a cardboard box on the beach], learn how to surf, buy a dog, and enjoy the simple things in life. i’d run along the beach every morning. i’d never wear makeup. i’m sure i’d hardly ever be inside. heck, i’d probably even invest in a hammock and just sleep on the porch of said hut. i wonder how long i’d be content with that. maybe forever. probably not. but i would for a while. ha! and i’m sure this is all part of GOD’s plan…right? i might want to think again. maybe it is in his plan someday though. i really hope so. i love warm, tropical climates and their general atmospheres. i wonder where i’ll be in five years. i wonder what things i will have experienced, who GOD will have brought into my life, which direction i’ll be headed.  oh the questions and curiosities i have.

monday

WARNING: THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE CONTAINS EXCESSIVE COMPLAINING AND MASS AMOUNTS OF WHINING. IT IS RATHER PATHETIC. READER DISCRETION ADVISED.

boredom. i’ve been back in longview for all of a month now and i’m already out of things to do. it’s like a replay of last summer. most of my old friends are away at college and even if they weren’t, their general lifestyles aren't something that i want to partake in. are there no christian people my age in this town? and so i go day after day. i go to work. i come home. i do nothing. i pass go and collect $200. boring. boring. you know what it is? i usually hate routines and i hate being alone. where’s the adventure? where’s the people?”consider it pure joy, brothers, when you face trials of many kinds…” how am i supposed to be joyful? how is anyone supposed to be joyful in any trial? i close my eyes and take a breath. GOD, paint a smile over my scowl.

friday

"change is the essence of life; be willing to surrender who you are for what you could become."

wednesday

“trust in the LORD with all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding. in all of your ways acknowledge HIM and HE will make your paths straight.”

proverbs 3:5-6

tuesday

it’s official. i love boys with dimples. i always have. but today on my adventure with jeff, i realized why. it was an “a-ha!” moment. so here is my analysis:

for starters, dimples are most prominent when a person is genuinely smiling. and [obviously] a smile occurs as a result of a joyous emotion. so, therefore, dimples are directly related to happiness.

secondly, when i see an attractive man with dimples [no matter how old], it tends to give him a very boyish appearance. this threw me for a loop at first. my thought process went as follows, “why the heck would i be attracted to a boyish-looking guy? i don’t like boys. i like MEN.”  and then it dawned on me that i am adventurous, sarcastic, easily entertained, etc. and i am drawn to people who have the same type of boyish characteristics. coincidence? probably.

lastly, i just think dimples are attractive. i’m pretty sure this is the only point that matters. i don’t even know why i like them. i just do. that’s the moral of this random entry. in conclusion:

Q: katie, aren’t you completely over-analyzing this?

A: oh of course! most people don’t even notice or care about dimples. after all, they are a genetic flaw. but what else am i supposed to write about?

monday

"do you remember when we were just kids and cardboard boxes took us miles from what we would miss?schoolyard conversations taken to heart and laughter took the place of everything we knew we were not….amazing how life turns out the way that it does.we end up hurting the worst the only ones we really love...” [anberlin]

sunday

there’s something about writing.  watching as a blank, white page slowly becomes littered with tiny black letters, words, sentences, paragraphs… it’s like filling the void with meaning and thought and sometimes beauty. i think that everyone has a different way of expressing themselves. we all need escapes or a release. for some people, it’s music. turning silence into sound. for others,  it’s physical movement [sports, dancing, etc.]. i think that, for me, i like writing because i can let out all of my random thoughts and emotions that no one else cares to hear about. but the paper always listens. and GOD always listens. sometimes i feel like it’s easier to talk to GOD when i’m writing. because i know he HE’s reading [figuratively, of course, because HE's ultimately the one who puts the words in my mind to begin with]. and writing is easier than talking because you can erase or stop mid-sentence to think. thank you, GOD, for the gift of words on paper.

saturday

i made pancakes today. whole-wheat pancakes. they were delicious. i wore an apron and proceeded to cover it [as well as the counter] in flour and other baking ingredients. the ending result was superb. i believe that i’m in love. that is all.

friday

hello, new year.