Kimberly's Expressions

Our church’s ladies’ group is studying the importance of friendship, and as I ponder and work to apply what we are learning, I keep thinking of a frequent enemy of growing friendships that we should all guard against - I'm talking about our tendency to assume. FEEDING LIES Oh, how easy it is to assume, and how often we assume based off of our own insecurities, which of course, is unfair to the other person! We may assume our friend doesn’t like something we did or that she is offended, or that the reason for her behavior is this or that. When we assume, we feed possible lies within our own mind. Instead of assuming and never seeking out the facts, we should care enough about the other person to give them the opportunity to enlighten us. Then we can continue together walking with openness, and if needed, healing. Even with prompting, the other person may not choose to be open or offer an explanation, but it's on us if we choose to only assume and thereby risk damaging the...

He [the Lord your God] will never leave you nor forsake you . When we think of the Scripture in Deuteronomy 31:6 that God will never leave us or forsake us, we usually get an immediate and general concept of all that verse entails. Through these words, we are particularly reminded of God's goodness and great love for His children. But these comforting words also point us to another awesome aspect of God - His power and authority. If you, as a child of God, find yourself in a place where the climate is evil, God is with you. You are not alone - God Almighty remains with and within you. My husband's job is at a particularly spiritually dark place. If we could see the atmosphere through spiritual eyes, I'm sure we would shudder (Ephesians 6:12) . But when my Spirit-filled husband opens those doors to go to work, he is not alone, and the power of Christ within him supersedes every other presence. Darkness and evil may surround you, because you have found yourself in...

There are so many wonderful songs and Scriptures about God's grace and His faithfulness. We are right to be so thankful for these amazing and undeserved works of God which every child of God knows about first hand! We enjoy thinking, studying, and shouting about God's gifts to us, but are we skipping out on the importance of what we as God's children should be giving to Him? Faithfulness Is Critical Faithfulness is one of the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-26), and our lives should be producing it. I like to think of faithfulness as "commitment in action." It encompasses repentance, obedience, and heartfelt devotion. Faithfulness to God's ways and His word is necessary to our walk with Him. Without faithfulness, we become purposeless. If you're going to take a dog with you on an important hunt, you'd better take a faithful dog, because only a faithful dog can help his master achieve the purpose of the journey. God's Word commands and ...

If you are a parent, you've been through it before. In the distance you hear your child shouting out for you. You don't know if they are in danger, if they are hurt, if they are excited, or if they are just over-reacting to something. But when you reach them, you assess the situation in a quick second and respond. Depending on the circumstance, what you say will differ. You may respond with a fast and loud, "Watch out - get out of there!" or an affirming and pleased, "Wow, buddy! Great job!" or a disappointed, "I told you not to do that," or an understanding, "It's okay, I'm here." In the same way, God is tuned in to His child's voice, and when we call out for help, He is faithful to respond. Our cry for help often sounds the same - something to the tune of, "God, I need this now!" God's response to us, however, isn't the same each time, and it isn't always how we expect Him to respond. Why...

Fighting For Life We all recognize the fear and other factors that guide some pregnant mothers toward abortion. With understanding, pro-life (“for life”) folks try to educate, encourage, and point her toward hope, love, help, and healthy guidance as they encourage her to nurture and at least not harm her baby. Why do people who are pro-life fight so hard against abortion? Because abortion, at any point, IS killing an innocent human life. That is not arguable. And it’s a fact that should disturb and shake up everyone. If you understand and admit that life begins at conception, you can better discern what is fueling the people on both sides of the issue. If you refuse to understand and admit that life begins at conception, then you must at least know that life begins at a point early in the stages of pregnancy, because we have video showing it for goodness sake. Any woman who has carried her baby long enough can feel the baby moving inside of her and even resp...

Talking to the mamas here - When we entered motherhood, we entered a brand new world of authority and responsibility. In a flash, our little bundles were entrusted to us by God, and we became the ultimate source of health and happiness for our children. From trying to decide if our baby is ready for cereal to figuring out how to discipline them, to potty training, and far beyond, we see ourselves in that position of authority and importance day in and day out. It's what we've thrown our entire being into, and it matters so much to us that we parent and nurture our children as well as possible. Because of the responsibility we [rightly] feel, it can be difficult to be gracious with ourselves when we stumble, make mistakes, or just don’t have it all figured out. When we miss the mark or are experiencing a rough patch, it's easy to beat ourselves up and live in a discouraged state-of-mind. But please don't. Instead, let's learn from it, climb out of it, find a Godly ...

Several times on the road, while texting or checking a map or viewing an email, I have noticed how gradually irresponsible I have become about using my phone while driving. It's also frightening how invincible I feel while doing it. I have known that I needed to be more careful, but I just pushed away the idea that I could be in an accident and kill my own children or someone else or myself. That wasn't very likely to happen, right? So, I continued being, well,  stupid. About two weeks ago, out of the clear blue I suddenly felt like the Lord was speaking to me. Plain as day and as unexpected as snow in July, I had the thought, "Don't be busy on your phone while you're driving." I knew it was the Holy Spirit. Don't worry. This photo was made while the car was sitting still. Ha! :) While this prompting from the Lord to not be distracted on my phone while driving was surprising at that moment, I immediately felt the importance of it, and I thanked Go...

While being a stay-at-home mom has its own kind of freedom, which I value and enjoy, it is also a position that completely exhausts my mind and body. Why is it that I had more energy after an 8 hour day at the office than I now have at home by lunchtime? Part of it is because it takes a huge amount of mental energy to hear all those voices all over the house all day long, while still tuning in to what they are saying and processing how you can appropriately respond or solve the problem at hand. Part of it is because running on three bites of cold dinner isn’t exactly a balanced diet, and part of it is that the weekend is no more relaxing than the middle of the week. Most of it, though, is because loving the people in our lives requires more continuous pouring out of ourselves and all our resources than making money at any job. We simply have a lot of heart and a lot of hope that we are gladly and lovingly handing out by the bucket loads all day, every day.  Whether you are with y...

A few weeks ago, my sweet grandmother went to be with the Lord. I know that most everyone reading this blog has lost someone dear to them, so I don't need to go in depth describing all my sentiments; besides, some emotions and experiences are too deep and personal for me to want to share them via a blog post. But what I do want to share is still personal, and it is about how the death of someone dear has understandably and drastically increased my awareness of my own carnality. It upsets my balance to think of how a person can be on this earth for 87 years, and then, in one moment, one single, tiny moment, their life here is gone. Gone from this earth. Such finality. I think that for me, finality is the saddest aspect of death, because I am used to my relationship with Christ in which I am keenly aware that God forgives mistakes, that He restores, that He renews, that He breathes true life into my very being. So, while my grandmother is in the presence of God and missing me not...

Love from the Farmers! I love this photo - so much fun going on! I hope you have a wonderful Valentine's Day. 1 John 4:10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.