speaking

Exciting, Mundane & Scary things you may need to know

by Karmen |

Hello Dears,

There is much to share with you! Exciting things, mundane things, farm things, scary things and upcoming things like:

When I got to the airport three and a half hours early last week (yes your read that correctly..early=me) to pick up a friend from the airport and then my phone died in an area of Atlanta where no one should go without a phone or a friend.
Our first house guest. There should, and will likely be a post written about our last few days because the fact that one of our kids asked, “Momma, what will she smell like?” is surely a sign that we are raising weird kids or that we should invite more people outside the family circle to visit the farm more often.
How I am considering investing in a selfie stick because meeting and encouraging so many of you in your places is so refreshing and should be better documented!
The preciousness of new piglets on the farm is well, simply precious.
How much #boymoms ~~need~~ LOVE longer days with more minutes OUTSIDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
How much fun and how funny are your comments on the #adventuresoftuckandjake Instagram & Facebook! Maybe you’re right? Maybe we should consider a YouTube channel for all of the adventurers out there! Leave your vote in comments.
The BRAND NEW HOME for the blog is almost ready, and it’s so lovely because of the AMAZING web designers and photographer who are so good at what they do and I CAN.NOT.WAIT.TO SHARE. IT. WITH YOU —>SOON!
Speaking of exciting things and EXCLAMATION MARKS. My sweet friend, Ann shared this space with her sister, Kathy who shared this space with her people, which in turn grew this space of over 100+ people in 24 hours !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!which may not mean much to you but to me..well I cried and then I thanked the Lord and cried some more because kindness is contagious.
You know what else is contagious? Laughter. Our precious friend, Bethani has started a vlog. She is adorable inside and out. This particular vlog, however, is not adorable. It was terrible. I ran short of breath and almost died. Thank you, Bethani (except not really) for documenting such hysteria.

Speaking of hysteria! Did I mention the BLOG is well on the way to the NEW WEBSITE (yes it’s worth repeating) because I’m going to GIVEAWAY another HANDMADE QUILT!! — You must STAY TUNED!
Wrestling season is upon us and for #boymoms it is much more intense than it probably should be, but there is just so much man-handling, so much sweat and so many tears. It’s hard to deal. #forreal
The ground is warming with plants, and seeds are arriving daily at Fort Payne Feed & Garden. Get your ground ready and then come and see us!
#PrayBig is spreading and growing because of YOU and we are so grateful I may burst…
Meet my new friend, Tiffany Castleberry. You can find her, and a bunch more of her friends at stuffandthingsblog.com She and I had a delightful conversation on a recent podcast. We’d love for you to LISTEN and tell us what you think.
Where I’m going to be, how much we would like to meet you and LOVE for you to make plans to attend:
Liberty Hill in Collinsville, AL -Thursday, March 10th @6
Northeast Alabama Home & Garden Show -Sunday, March 20th (11-2)
Nazareth in Rainsville, AL -Tuesday, March 22 @ 6
First Baptist Church, “One Nation Under God”- Fort Payne, AL -April 18th @6

Have a fabulous day! May it be productive and peaceful or, at least, kinda-sorta something like that.

Much love,
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AMAZING women

by Karmen |

I wish you knew how long I sat and stared at the cursor before starting this post. It’s like a tsunami in my head when I sit down to write. No joke.

Because I don’t know where to start with the happenings over the last few weeks, from Chelsea to the county jail, to Mentone, Townsend, TN and back to Rainsville, Al. I’m just going to jump in and start sharing in no particular order about how AMAZING women are.

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Women who had loved hard, been wounded much and lost lots. Women who have been molested, abused, lost babies and husbands. Women who are lonely. Single women married women. Women with much, others broke as a joke. Women who are overjoyed and overwhelmed. What a privilege it has been to hear your stories of survival.

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As I’ve sat, listened and learned from you I’ve seen good things. Grace and forgiveness. Grief and pain. I’ve heard joy, hope, and patience.

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Precious Ladies, God, is doing GREAT things in YOU and through YOU in YOUR PLACES! What an honor it has been to come alongside you. Thank you, for sharing your hearts with me. Thank you for your transparency. For being brave and authentic. May this day be the beginning of something new. With our eyes fixed on Jesus let us finish well what He has started. May we be intentional with our time and the resources we’ve been given. Let’s LOVE MUCH, listen more and encourage at least one every.single.day. If your cup runneth over ask God to send you one woman with an empty cup. If you are the empty cup, submit yourself to God…draw near to Him and He will draw near to you.

On a lighter note except that it’s no small deal amidst my meanderings over this past weekend, I found myself being adult bullied. True story. People I love, who love Jesus and love me bullied me into riding a mountain roller coaster. I posted the picture on Instagram this morning and will probably delete it this afternoon because the pictures are terrible and embarrassing because I’m a chicken. It’s true. I get scared too.

In other happenings, some crazy talented ladies are working on the NEW WEBSITE, and I’m so EXCITED & CAN HARDLY WAIT TO SHARE IT WITH YOU BECAUSE THESE GIRLS ARE GOOD!! & THEY DO GREAT WORK!!!! BTW- ALL CAPS and lots of !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! is my excited online voice!!!

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In farm news, piglets are due any day AND WE (the boys and me) ARE EXCITED!!! & CAN HARDLY WAIT (the cowboy doesn’t speak in all caps-ever) Piglets are favorite except for baby calves and baby goats. OK, its’s a tie.

In store news, it’s almost seed time. Which is hard to believe because wasn’t Christmas yesterday? Potatoes have arrived! Did you know you can plants potatoes in a pot on your porch? We’ve rearranged again to make room for #PrayBig products! We are working on our online store! STAY TUNED.

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Lastly, the fifth #PrayBig VIDEO is ready on YouTube.

We’ve listened to you and have heeded many of your suggestions. Thank you for your encouragement and allowing God to use YOU to answer my #PrayBig prayers.

Keep on, keeping on sisters!

much love~
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Time Matters

by Karmen |

In a right-now-world, some things take time said the woman who declared she was writing a book and still hasn’t two years later.

Let’s play a quick Q & A game for sanity sake, okay? I’ll pitch you a few questions, and you leave your answers in a comment. Ready?

How long is too long to put something off?
How concerned are you with what others think of you?
What keeps you from pursuing your dream?

I know, number three is a little heavy. Oh here’s another:

How often would something have to flow through your thought stream before you decided enough is enough? Or wait, is that question the same as the first?

For the love of sanity, enough is enough.

Let’s play pretend because apparently I haven’t had enough adult interaction today after teaching decimals to the tenth, building a volcano out of newspaper, feeding the people here three square meals from a scarce pantry because the grocery store outing is just (*&^*&^%*^$, wrangling dogs and boys from the pond, refereeing an afternoon play date with my nephews with elevated levels of aggressive testosterone, and last but not least, basketball practice just before finding melted Laffy Taffy in the dryer. #goodtimes.

I digress. Let’s get back to our virtual field trip. We’re at the local coffee shop because the smell of coffee is therapeutic. There’s a little folk music in the background. You’re having something delicious, and I’m having a pitcher of white chocolate mocha because I need it.

Now, tell me…what dreams, hopes or giant wish keeps you up at night? Think back to when you were a kid, and you dreamed of becoming a _______ when you grew up. If you’re still stuck, think about whatever it is, something you could do all day and lose track of time. What is that thing that makes your heart beat fast.

Next, is your dream, hope or giant wish something you are pursuing? If yes, WOOHOO and three CHEERS for you!!! We celebrate your success and hope you are intentionally serving and encouraging others with your giftedness. If not, why? This life is not a dress rehearsal. You’ve lived a life of regret long enough. GO! PURSUE all God has for YOU!

As for me…. Well because it’s only fair that we play by the same rules:

How long is too long to put something off? I don’t know. What I am discovering is this- if God has assigned it- He’ll not be deterred. I know that I know, that I know, I am to share our story because each and every single time, (no lie) that I have tried to quit… He has used one of you to say, “Keep going. This space matters. Others need your story.”

How concerned am I with what others think of me? Well, apparently a lot more concerned than I once thought. Maybe it’s my age? Maybe it’s that I’m home more and in the public less? Maybe it’s Satan being superb at what he does, but I type and delete. I place a comma and wonder if it’s supposed to be a semicolon or nothing at all. I record a podcast but don’t publish. I speak up and wish I’d listened more. I volunteer and feel overwhelmed. It’s a constant tug-o-war.

What keeps me from pursuing my dream? I’m pretty sure I am seeking it, but at a much slower pace than I prefer or am accustomed. Others days I question if I’m doing anything right and then I remember or am reminded: my boys. They are the reason I left my job and came home. Not to write a book, or pursue speaking, publish a podcast or blog. I came home to teach them while they’re little because they’re only little for a little while. I begged God for these two rowdy rascals, and He was gracious enough to answer. So I will continue to teach and train them and write when they are asleep. Speak when asked and am able.

Someone said recently, time matters.

I heard the same truth echoed on our new favorite show, Longmire (find it on Netflix-you won’t be sorry!), “Experience takes time. Don’t rush it.”

Neither of these statements lines up with the fast-paced-want-it-now-get-it-now-world that we are living. But they are nonetheless true.

Those who know me well know mornings aren’t my jam. I’m a night owl by choice but last week the flea market beckoned me to arise early. Oh man! Am I glad I did! I had walked out on the back porch to give the dogs a treat when the skylight caught my eye. I scurried back into the house to grab my phone only to return to a shot much more majestic than before. In mere seconds, the sky transformed from AMAZING to BREATHTAKING!

The light shifted again and left me wondering how long before I see another sunrise like that one reiterating the truth~ some things take time:

Pursuing a dream

Finding a godly companion

Grief

Landing the right job

Discovering the ministry that fits your giftedness

Rearing children

Healing

Writing a book

Experience

My prayer for you dear friends is to be encouraged as we consider the weight of these words:

In a right now world, some things take time.

Let’s encourage one another to pursue wholeheartedly all that God intends for us, trust that the tug-o-war will be worth it and believe He is at work in the wait.

Keep going friends. I believe in you!

Much love,

P.S. Let me know if you see a book title in this post 🙂

what's a great way to get your mind off of your mess?

by Karmen |

A thousand years is but a day and a day a thousand years…

There are moments when life is happening that feel like they will never end and then they do pass…

And years go by and it feels like it happened yesterday.

Yesterday marked a decade since we delivered our little Karson.

As my fingers hit the keys to spell those words I feel like I’m speaking of another woman’s story and yet- I’m not.

I wanted to write a reflective heartfelt post yesterday about how life is tough and how God is faithful but the words and sentences for lack of a better word felt scrambled. But I couldn’t muster it. Life ten years later is different and busy and hard in different ways.

The story would come and go and felt somewhat forced hence –no post.

But tonight in the quiet, with the herd at wrestling practice I feel impressed to exhort you with few meanderings that won’t let me be..

My dear, dear friends~

Friends of ol’, new friends, friend who feel useless, disconnected friends, friend who feels used up or unusable, undone, unappreciated, incomplete or unloved.

#1 You matter.

You are fearfully and wonderfully made no matter how fat you (and I) feel or far you (and I) may have derailed in 2014.

NOTHING can separate us from the love of GOD.

Absolutely-not-one- stinking thing it too terrible-or-bad or too sad that He can’t use for good.

NOTHING. GOD IS GREATER than all of it!

Let’s EMBRACE that TRUTH and MOVE ON!

With my whole heart and until I die I will encourage YOU with that truth and this one->

#2 YOUR story matters.

Yada, yada, Karmen will you leave it alone?

No, and here’s why.

OTHERS NEED YOUR STORY!

The people in our workplace, the grocery store clerk, your banker, neighbors, cousins, inmates in jail.

Who better to encourage a woman endearing life with an alcoholic than one who has endured life with an alcoholic?

Who better to encourage one who has lived through divorce than one who has endured divorce?

Who better to council and advise someone in debt up to his or her eyeballs than one who has been maxed out and now is debt free? (oh, Lord I want to be debt free!)

Who better to encourage one who has lost loved ones than one who has suffered loss?

This is not rocket science theology but for whatever the reason many women (and men, if they would admit it) feel like a big ZERO.

Like they have nothing to offer another.

I heard an alarming statistic last week about how lonely and “unneeded” people in our society say they feel. I wanted to scream at the radio, “IT’S A LIE, Y’ALL! YOU MATTER! OTHERS NEED YOU! FOR REAL! ”

To the skeptics: (because I know you’re there. I am one.)

You say, “How do you know others need me?”

HAVE YOU BEEN OUTSIDE and ENGAGED with the public recently?

More than EV-UH people are desperate for community, a sense of belonging and hungry for CONVERSATION with a REAL PERSON not a FLAT SCREEN.

If you still don’t believe me, I invite you to come to the feed store, visit with us and engage with the public.

We have a warm heater and a bench, just for sitting and visiting. (And hurry, right now it’s clean. We have rearranged and it is lovely. Do-stop-by.)

True story: A precious woman and her daughter came in the store today looking for chicken feed. The daughter went on to say her mother had rescued a ROOSTER from the side of the road that had fallen from a chicken truck nearly a year ago. It had a broken foot and a damaged wing. She began to share about how the rooster had become a burden for her elderly mother on a fixed income.

When I asked, “Would you like to get rid of the rooster?”

The daughter instantly replied, “YES! We would LOVE to give it away. Do you know of anyone who would want it?”

We told her we would gladly take the rooster and find it a home. The mother, who appeared to be very shy, nodded graciously as the daughter told us they would go and get it and bring it to us later.

Annnnd she did, just a couple of hours later.

As we transferred the rooster from her pen to ours the shy, mother gave me the biggest hug, “THANK YOU Hun, THANK YOU.”

The point of that lil’ story

WE NEED EACH OTHER.

To help carry and share burdens <3 (and roosters)

How can I help others?

I’m still a mess.

EMBRACE this one too—> WE ARE ALL A MESS.

Some admit it while others still resist.

God takes messy, surrendered people and births AMAZING MESSages of His grace upon grace upon grace.

What better way to get our minds off of our messes but when we are helping others get through theirs?

I wish we could sit down and I could have coffee with each one of you (because I care about you and love coffee) and I wish I could look you in the eye with this heart message but until then please know…..

YOU MATTER.

YOUR STORY (has a PURPOSE + ALL. OF. IT—> matters)

Surrender it to the One, true and living God and ask Him to help you help someone.

But know this, as I reminded the inmates Sunday afternoon, BE READY.

When you ask God to provide an opportunity for you to help another and you make yourself available HE WILL MOVE.

Speaking of BEing READY…

and NEEDing each other…

I covet your prayers.

As I speak at the jail again this Sunday. The women are sad, downtrodden and many in desperate need.

Pray for them, will ya?

I am super excited to be speaking at the ladies retreat in Chelsea, AL January 23 & 24^th of this month. (Thanks, Hannah Shirey Burton for the invitation)

I will also be traveling to Austin, TX the first of next month to serve at the IF: GATHERING. IF you are not signed up for an IF: LOCAL gathering contact Jeanne Manning or me for more details via Facebook .

And last but not least …the other lil secret is getting really close and it’s going to be great and PS-we are not growing our family and it’s not the manuscript for the book. Holy Moly in the sweet by and by one day…it will be done…the book not a baby.

Amen.

love y’all

PS- If your women’s group is looking for a speaker of truth, who loves to laugh..connect with me..I’d love to join!