Vacation, Fun, Family & More in July

Pa (my dad), Kyle, Dillon, & Grandpa Larry

Sara, Karlee, Grandma (my mom) & I

Grandpa Larry took Kyle and Dillon shooting.

Karlee giving her Grandma a piggy back ride.

The kids playing with the little frogs they caught after a good rain.

Sara, Karlee, & Kyle with their Dad at the Balmorhea State Park.  They had a great day at the pool.  They enjoyed their visit with their dad and grandparents.

Sara & her best friend Rebekah.  They enjoyed their time together so much it was hard to pull them apart.

My friend Tammy.  She was nice to let me stay with her and her family while I visited Fort Davis.  I enjoyed her company.

I had a great time catching up with my friend Lacy over lunch. 

gGrandpa said it was the day to have a work day.  Kyle is tending to his pile of burning pine needles.

The boys got a creative and made a skate ramp for their boards.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm not perfect and that is perfect!

I have just returned from a visit with my family in Texas.  Being around my parents this time I've sort of picked out things from each of them that I see in myself.  It doesn't matter to me if the qualities I saw were good, bad, negative, positive, annoying, or happy.  All that matters is that they were not perfect when I was growing up. They are not perfect now, nor will they ever be.  Their imperfections have made me who I am....imperfect.  Imperfection is a blessing.  I accept myself for who I am.  Thank you Mom & Dad for being who you are....yourselves and nothing more.

July 25, 2010

This vacation has been a reflective one in the now

A drift back down memory lane

An expression of things that I can not control

A realization of change

A wonder into the past with a glance backwards

An en-lighted glimpse into the possibilities of the unknown but all in all a continued walk forward into each new day.

A brief re-living of familiar surrounding

A chance for old conversation with friends from afar that left behind laughter and smiles.

A refreshing walk to begin again 

when I return home to the many daily grinds of "normal routine" after vacation.

Who is She?

I sat looking down at a piece of paper that had my name on it.
K-A-T-R-I-N-A T-R-E-V-A-T-H-A-N

I looked at it long and hard for a few minutes and started to wonder whose name that was. I know it was mine but who is the woman behind the name written on that paper? My mind began to search and question. It was sort of an odd feeling. I started to think about the walk that this "Katrina" has been on to get to this point in her life as the name written on the paper.

After all this "Katrina" has had several names throughout her walk. There was the little girl named Katrina Marie Byers. Then the young woman that married back in 1996 and became Katrina Marie Crenshaw. Now there is another name that sits on the paper as Katrina Trevathan. The "Katrina" on the paper is a much different person than the one in the past or even her childhood.

My youngest daughter Sara asked me one day "Mommy why do you love butterflies to much?" I told her it is sort of hard to explain so I told her how I love their beautiful colors and how I enjoy them with they flutter all around and that they represent change. She smiled satisfied with my answer and walked away.

After that I started to think about it more. When I think of a butterfly, I think of transformation and changing. I think of grace and eloquence as it flutters in the air. It is interesting to think that a butterfly embraces the changes that are going on in its environment and with its body. It seems to have unwavering acceptance of this transformation. We could say that is faith. The butterfly is trusting, accepting and having faith during its change.

We are all on a long walk of the soul. Encountering endless turns, shifts and conditions that causes us to change into even-finer beings. We do this with Christ as our Savior. Maybe we should remember the butterfly as we watch it flutter by and keep our faith, trusting as we undergo transitions in our lives.

Do you ever wonder about the woman behind the name that is on the paper in front of you?

Y-O-U-R--N-A-M-E

He restores my soul.  He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Psalm 23:3 NIV

 I trust You to lead me in the right paths.  God is in control and I will  try to accept the change with joy. 

Trusting God when we don't understand will bring peace to our lives.

Trust God that He has a good plan for you.  Embrace the unknown as well as you embrace the know because you can be confident God is in control.  He may take you on a route you would not choose, but He has a reason.

Its's just patio furiture

This past Sunday afternoon Micah & I found a patio set for our balcony on Craigs List. We got real excited about it and thought it would a great addition to our home. So we headed out the door to go look at it. We get there and instantly liked it. Micah offered less than what they were asking for and without hesitation they said okay. We loaded it and off we went.

That night I made fajitas for dinner. We decided that we would eat out on our balcony. Micah put on Hispanic music and it was like eating in a Mexican restaurant. We laughed and talked and looked out at our view. We enjoyed our dinner so much.

Last night was our second night eating out on the balcony. I made Spicy Szechuan Chicken Lettuce Wraps. (tried out a new recipe and enjoyed) Once again we enjoyed each other's company which led into some in depth conversation.

I look forward to more moments out on our balcony. It is becoming a place for us to just "be" with each other, sit and look out, laugh, reflect and talk, enjoy time away from the kids even though everyone is home.

It's more than just a patio furniture..........

What I thought would be neat to have

Last night I went to listen to JJ Heller in concert. It was amazing. I loved all her songs and her voice is awesome. She and her husband have written some inspiring, insightful,powerful, uplifting, truthful songs. Some songs tugged at my heart.

They announce that they are going to do a drawing for a couple of prizes and to go register. So I go put my name in the box. The prizes were a stack of CDs and an autographed harmonica (which they said could be worth money later on as JJ's singing career continues to take off). I get excited and whisper to my husband that it would be great to win the stack of CDs. I love music and the thought of winning all that music would be totally awesome.

It's been a while and now they have decided to do the drawing. The first guy says lets do the drawing for the harmonica but then the other one says no lets draw for the CDs. So when they didn't call my name I was a little disappointed. So next was the drawing for the harmonica. The guy holding the box stumbled or something because he dropped the box and some of the papers fell out of the box. I guess a little more mixing up was needed :)

As soon as the guy picked the paper up and I saw it just there in his hand before he opened it to read the name on the paper I had this feeling.....I just knew. (It was strange but exciting at the same time) He starts off saying "Katrina" and then has trouble saying my last name but I stood up and pronounced my name as I began walking up to the stage to receive my prize...the autographed harmonica. I was in shock at first since I'd never won anything before. I never had much luck in drawings or door prizes, things like that.

I sit back down and my husband was beaming with a huge smile. He had been thinking how cool it would be to have the harmonica. It really didn't matter at the moment what I had won I was just excited about winning something.

After the concert on the way home in the car we all talked about the concert and how we each enjoyed it. I mentioned how I just knew that was my name on that neatly folded piece of paper and my husband said he knew I was going to win that harmonica.

Funny how we each think one thing and then something different happens. It just continues to show to me that I'm not in control of the big picture. God is. Its comforting to know that I don't have to "plan" out everything.

Lyrics to a song I heard last night:

Not Mine Anyway

I don't know what to say
No words could ever be enough
I stand up because you hold me here
Because you brought me here tonight

Without you we all fall down
Without you we all fall

You make life worth living
You make me want to start giving
More and more away to you
It's not mine anyway

I could not ever try so hard
I could buy a place in your heart
But here I am
My name written on your hands
Because you paid the debt I owe

Without you we all fall down
Without you we all fall

GOD ROOM

Do I leave room for God to work in my life?
Do I leave room for God to orchestrate his plan in my life?
Do I leave room for God to be in control of my life?

These questions fumble around in my head. I would like to think that I do but that would be a lie since I"m only human and I can get caught up in "my own way" without thinking at times.

God Room

I need to Let Go & Let God (I've heard that saying bunches of times I'm sure you have too)

Let God have room to work in my heart, body and soul. Let go of "my way". Let go of my ideas and plans and allow God Room.

Dear Heavenly Father,

Please nudge me to get my attention to help me make God Room for you . To give You room to work in my life on a moment to moment bases in my life.

Thank you in your name I pray Amen

My Coffee Chat

This morning I met with a delightful, inspiring person. I had invited her for coffee at my house. She is leading the summer ladies bible study that I've been attending. It's the study on Esther. I've really enjoyed the lessons. The first moment I had met her I noticed something about her that put the idea and feeling inside that she would be someone that I wanted to talk to and add to my circle of friends.

After we greeted each other and poured our coffee she started telling me about a situation that led her to give it up to her husband to handle instead of her handling it in a different manner. She didn't get very far into her story when I heard the light bulb click on in my head and a big smile came to my face. As she continued to share other things about herself I felt like she was describing me in so many ways. We had several things in common. The many trials we go through help us to help others.

I knew that once again this was another person that God placed in my path. This path of Love & Respect. We could have talked all day but she had to leave at 11:00 and I had some errands to run too. I know that this was only one of many more coffee chats to come.