TomKat Life

The Imperfections That Pregnancy Brings/The Fulfillment That God Gives

2012-01-03T12:46:00.000-08:00

All my life I have struggled with this need to be perfect. I have many theories where and why this need developed, but the only one that means anything is that I have a sinful nature that leads me to believe that I am the master of the universe at times. At no time in my life has this struggle been more apparent than since I've been pregnant. As many of you know, pregnancy hormones make pregnant women more emotional. God has given me a lot of grace in this area, and I haven't "snapped" at anyone since being pregnant. However, I am prone to being sensitive, and pregnancy has brought that struggle out with guns blazing. Over the past 6 months and 3 weeks, I have been seeking to "master" this struggle, only to fail miserably and be left feeling like an enormous failure.

Thankfully, God gave me Jesus. Thankfully, God gave me my husband as well. Both have helped me to see and learn many lessons from this fruitless endeavor to perfect myself. God has been using my pregnancy to show me how incredibly imperfect I am. I think that when I was not pregnant, I often fooled myself into thinking that I was at times and that I just had to "keep up the good work" so to speak. Since being pregnant, all of my efforts to be perfect are combated with an onslaught of pregnancy symptoms. It is sad, but I think it has taken becoming pregnant for me to realize that I can never achieve this impossible goal of mine. I will never be the perfect Christian, perfect wife, perfect friend, perfect evangelist, perfect disciple/discipler, perfect mother, perfect daughter, etc.

Here's the good news, that's okay. Let me say it again because it is awesome, it's okay not to be perfect. In fact, read 2Corinthians 12:9, 10: ⁹ But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. ¹⁰ For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong." My failures, imperfections, and weaknesses are just opportunities for Christ's strength to reign in me. Amazing.

God never asks us to be perfect. He asks us to accept His Son's sacrifice, and to let Jesus be our stand in for perfection. All He wants from me is to love Him, and from that love that my obedience and good works would flow and abound. Now that, I can do. I can love God. I can love Him more than anything else. I can make that choice everyday. And even if I fail at that, Jesus' sacrifice still compensates for it, and God will still be glorified through it.

Exciting News Across The Board

2011-12-01T09:01:00.000-08:00

First of all, in case you haven't heard, we found out we are having a baby girl!!! I was shocked when we found out because I thought for sure it was going to be a boy. I had a dream that it was going to be a girl, and Tom was convinced it was going to be a girl, but Tom's whole side of the family is filled to the brim with boys. So I was fully expecting our baby to be a boy as well. However, I am soooo incredibly excited that our baby is a girl!

We have a name picked out for our little baby girl. During this pregnancy, and even before it, Tom and I were both like, "We're going to tell people the sex and the name, we can't keep exciting secrets." Right after we found out the sex, Tom decides that he doesn't want to tell people the baby's name. I was shocked. I instantly fought back against it. Tom gets his Christmas or Birthday presents from me the day I buy them! How in the world am I going to be able to keep the name of my first child a secret from everyone?! So we came to a compromise; I can tell people what baby girl Hansen's name starts with. Her name starts with an A! Let the guessing games begin :).

I'm starting to feel like I've hit the more fun part of my pregnancy, even though the aches, pains, and annoyances that were there before are still there. Around 16 weeks I started to feel to her move, and now at 22 weeks she is moving around like a crazy woman. Just this morning I had my computer sitting on my stomach and she kicked it so hard it fell off my stomach lol. It was probably her way of saying, "Get this thing off me, and stop blaring Adele so loudly!!!"

There's even more exciting news to share, believe it or not. I just found out in the past week that two of my best friends are pregnant!! Witni Sztanyo and Lisa Courts, you have no idea how encouraged my faith is by your pregnancies! I have been praying for you both for so long. Praise God! I am overjoyed to see God bless you both so tremendously :). I will continue to pray for your pregnancies and your hearts.

What is also exciting is that today is the first day of December! I am a huge Christmas fan, and I've got my Christmas tree up and glowing. This year I am making a few changes to how we celebrate Christmas in an effort to make it more focused on what it is really a celebration for. I really want to celebrate Jesus this Christmas, so every day in December Tom and I are going to write down an attribute about Jesus that we are thankful for, and post it on one of our round ornaments on our Christmas tree. For example, "His Love" will be one of the reasons we add to the tree. Here are a few pictures of our tree this year :)

Have a great first day of December everyone! Give yourself an early Christmas gift and listen to some Adele today :)

Pregnancy Thoughts

2011-11-07T07:26:00.000-08:00

Pregnancy thus far has not been a good experience for me, I'm sorry to say. It has been hard, and has completely altered me in a way that I never saw coming. My body functions completely differently, as does my mind and emotions. The only part of me that has stay constant during this time is Christ in me, and I am incredibly thankful for that. It is only by His strength I've been able to get through my pregnancy thus far.

Having a hard pregnancy has really gotten me meditating on something specific about God. As difficult as my pregnancy has been, and as painful as I know giving birth will be, I don't think it compares to the difficulty and pain that God went through when we were separated from Him in Eden. It must have pained Him so much to be separated from His creation, that He worked so hard on to perfect, that He breathed life into, that He loved more than He ever thought He could love anything He created. Thankfully, He already knew how He would heal that separation (Jesus).

In the end, I am thankful that God fully understands what I am going through. I am thankful that we are no longer separated, and that I am fully restored to Him. I am thankful that I can rely on Him for literally everything. I am thankful for a difficult pregnancy because it draws me closer to Him. And being closer to Him brings me complete fulfillment and joy!

New Home, New Life

2011-10-05T06:58:00.000-07:00

Haven't blogged in a very, very long time. Our lives have been a whirlwind ever since we came home. We lived with my parents for about a month, and then we lived with Chris and Lisa Courts for a few months. Now, we are living in our very own home! That's right, Tom and I bought our first home and we are completely in love with it.

We were able to buy this home because Tom got the perfect teaching job! He works for St. Bernard-Elmwood High School, and the staff there are amazing. Tom is doing a great job with classroom management and making Math interesting for the students. You can tell he really cares about these kids. Tom also works for ACT Boot Camp, which he is also loving and doing well at. Basically, he trains students in strategies on how to do well on the ACT. I still work for Marketplace Earth, and I can't put into words how amazing it is to work for a company that cares more about me than the work itself. I love it!!!

This brings me to our next big news, which most of you probably already know. WE'RE PREGNANT!!! I will be 14 weeks tomorrow, and we are super excited! We have waited for so long for this, and we can't believe this is actually happening. I had an appointment with my midwife yesterday, and it went really well. I got to listen to the baby's heartbeat again (my favorite part of being pregnant so far), and he/she kept moving around which was so cute! I can't wait for this baby to come out already lol.

Almost Done

2011-05-13T11:48:00.000-07:00

Aaaahhhh!!!! I can't believe it! We are almost done with this job, and we get to come home so soon! We will be going straight from here to Rockbridge Leader Weekend. It is going to be wonderful. Our flight leaves at 8am Friday, May 27th. I can't wait to be reunited with all our family and friends. The last time I was home was in December (5 months ago), so needless to say I will probably cry when I see everyone lol.

I want to make it clear that I am extremely thankful for this experience. I have LOVED working with Tom everyday, and growing so much closer as a couple. I learned so much from Tom and have a lot of respect for his gifting as a teacher. I have also learned that I am not gifted in teaching lol. Tom has incredible patience and skill. I adore him for that, among many other traits he posses. We have both grown tremendously, and are very thankful for this opportunity we've had to grow.

We will definitely miss this family though. We've gotten very close with them, and have invested a lot of time and love in them. We are thankful that we've gotten to spend time with them and work with them. We couldn't ask for a more gracious and generous family to work with. These boys are going to grow up to be great men, of that fact I am certain. Thank you God for this family!

Tom and have also gotten to experience a bunch of different churches in our travels, and that has been incredibly encouraging. To see the body of Christ living and active all across the United States and Canada gives me peace in my heart. It is seriously wonderful, and I don't know how to fully express how encouraged I am by this experience. What a wonderful church that God has built!

There are quite a few things that we are looking forward to doing when we get back home. Tom getting a teaching job, starting a family, and buying a home are all on that list. Please don't misunderstand us, we know that these things wont fulfill us and that we don't have to do any of them. We are not wanting these things to fo follow the norm, or to "take the next step" as married couples do. We are pursuing these things because God is good and He has good things in store for us. He has put these desires on our hearts, and we are grateful for that. Our life is an adventure worth living.

We only have 8 days of school left, and 14 total days left until we leave! Oh happy day! What is really great about today is that my cousin/sister/best friend Melissa is coming to visit for the weekend! I can't wait to see her face and give her a huge hug. And yes, I will probably cry lol.

Our Last Moments in Vancouver

2011-04-06T10:54:00.000-07:00

Our time here in Vancouver is wrapping up. We will be going back to AZ on the 18th, and we absolutely cannot wait to be back in the good ol' US of A. We had no idea how good we had it in the USA until we left it. Anyway, we will finish our job up in AZ and then be heading back home to OH before Memorial Day weekend (hopefully).

Vancouver has been...interesting. We have enjoyed certain parts of it, but we have had to trudge through most of it. The weather is almost unbearable for me, and everything here is incredibly expensive. However, we have been running a lot and getting to experience the beauty of our surroundings. Our last moments in Vancouver are going to be filled with a trip to the aquarium and packing up for our move next week. Should be great!

We found out that the boys don't have to take entrance exams to get back into public, so that is awesome! However, we are still going to make them take a grade placement test from the home school system we are using to ensure that they are at the grade level they are supposed to be. We am confident that they will all do very well on the tests because they have worked very hard this year.

Tom and I are SUPER homesick right now. We see the finish line, and it feels like we are coming upon it so slowly. We will be living with my parents for a while when we return home (which we are very excited about), and then moving in with the Courts' afterwards(also, very excited!). Our main goal is still finding a full-time teaching job for Tom when we return. This process is much harder than we anticipated it would be. God is bigger than the economy, bigger than job cuts, and bigger than low chances though! Please keep us in your prayers that God would provide us with a teaching job for Tom when we return. We appreciate any prayers you have said for us thus far.

Judges' Lessons

2011-03-22T10:32:00.000-07:00

Tom and I have been studying Judges this past week and it has been such an encouragement to me. I am kind of a feminist so of course I love the stories of Deborah and Jael. I love that the men in those stories realized how much they needed those women. I have to confess that I am a bit of a feminist lol.

There are two major themes that I have noticed in Judges. One of those themes being God purposefully uses impossible people in impossible situations. I feel like I am definitely one of those people and that I am definitely in one of those situations. The other theme I notice is that the time of suffering in Israel compared to the time of peace is substantially different. The times of suffering only last for a short while, and the times of peace last, on average, for about 40 years! Can you imagine 40 years of peace?

I have been thinking a lot about how both of these themes apply to my life. I often wonder why God has chosen me to do His work. I am a far cry from being the woman of God that I want to be, but as my brother-in-law Brian reminded me yesterday, God doesn't see my sin. He only sees who He created me to be, and He loves me! It's so amazing, isn't it?

Also, I tend to dwell on my sufferings more than celebrate in my times of peace. I am praying hard for change in that area. My times of suffering always seem so long in the moment that they are occurring, but in hindsight they are not long at all. My times of suffering distract me from my times of peace. I hate that! I want to rejoice in peace and in suffering because God's hand is guiding me through both. He is always with me and cares for me (thanks Witni) through every moment of my life. The ups and downs are both in His control and that gives me joy.

Finding Tom a Job

2011-03-10T09:59:00.000-08:00

This week has been filled with job searching for Tom and I. I have a great job that working for Marketplace Earth, but Tom does not have a job to come home to. So we are searching high and low for a teaching job for him back in Cincinnati. It has been kind of a discouraging process since most schools are laying off numerous teachers. However, we have hope and faith that our Father will provide for us as He always has.

We are looking forward to what God is going to do in this situation. He always surprises us. It reminds me of how many times God has proven His faithfulness and provision to us over the years. One example that comes to mind occurred during Tom and I's first year of marriage where we were really struggling to make ends meet financially. We had no idea how we were going to make rent that month and were praying fervently that God would provide for us. We were on our way out the door one day and found an envelope addressed to us on our doorstep. We opened the envelope to find the exact amount of money we needed! To this day we still have no idea how it got there, but we use that memory as a trophy of God. We get that trophy off our metal shelves every time we start to doubt or lose faith. God is good.

Even while I am writing this blog entry Tom has found a great job opportunity. This school is looking for a very unique Math teacher, and Tom just so happens to meet and exceed all of their unique requirements. Please join us in prayer that Tom would receive this job. He is very excited and passionate about this opportunity. We are praying that this opportunity works out, but even if it doesn't God has something else planned that is for our ultimate good. How do I know this? Romans 8:28- And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Living Canadian

2011-02-28T14:02:00.000-08:00

We have been in Vancouver for a week now, and we are trying to adjust to life up here. Moving around so much takes its toll and we can't wait until we back home to stay. One thing I have noticed about Canada is that it has a great sense of patriotism, but its kind of hilarious. Every commercial I have seen up here so far has a Canadian twist to it. For example, Pantene Pro-V addresses Canadian hair problems :). Their stamp of approval is putting a maple leaf on everything. It gives me a good laugh every time I see it, but it also reminds me of how much I want to go home.

The weather here is kind of weird. It has been pretty much cold and snowing every day that we've been here. However, the sun pretty much shines through it all. It tricks you into think you could go outside and do whatever you want, but then you get outside and realize it's 2 degrees Celsius and the blizzard buries you alive. I actually enjoy cold weather though, so it doesn't really bother me. Tom and I have been walking to this awesome dog park close to our house. The park is right next to the ocean, so the view there is awesome. Not to mention that I get to be surrounded by cool dogs every time we go :).

Fun facts: Hugh Jackman, Zac Efron, and Ben Stiller have all stay in this house before! It is pretty surreal lol. Our house is surrounded by big, beautiful evergreen trees and mountains. The one thing that Canada is lacking is a Target. There is no store around here that I can go to around here that is even close to being like a Target. I am having withdraws, and I feel bad for Canada because they have never experienced the joy of Target.

Tom and I are excited to be coming home in a couple months. I am so looking forward to being around my friends and family again. We have gotten really close to the family out here too though, and we are really going to miss them. I don't want to focus on the future right now though. I am going to take the advice of a friend and be present in my circumstances and be thankful for where I am now. I don't want to miss out on what God is doing in my life right now because I am too focused on the future.

Goodbye January, Hello Washington!

2011-02-01T08:30:00.000-08:00

Yay, it's finally February! For us, that means that we get to move soon! However, there has been a change of plans in our travel. Instead of Vancouver, we will now be moving to Washington. I am very excited about this because Canada was going to take out 15% in taxes and I was not too happy about that. Also, the house we will be living in is right on the ocean! Yay! Below is the view from our deck in Washington!

Our time in Baton Rouge has definitely been a growing experience. It was a long haul, but I am thankful for it. I think the biggest characteristic I learned about myself in BR is that I have some insecurity. A good friend recommended a very good Beth Moore book about insecurity, and reading it has literally been life changing for me. I have also grown a lot in my prayer life, which has been AMAZING! Thank you God for giving us such a personal way to connect with you throughout the day! Tom has been growing so much too. I know he's got a lot to share about it, so I will let him do so in his own timing, and it is soooooooo good!

We are also incredibly thankful for all of our friends who came to visit us in Baton Rouge. You have no idea how much we appreciate your sacrifice and love. It made us feel so special and valued that you would take the time, money, and effort to come. Thank you, thank you, thank you Sally, Celina, and Crystal!

I can't wait to work on my book in Washington. The state is gorgeous! It will be very inspiring I'm sure. Also, I can't wait to visit Forks (all you Twilight fans know how exciting that is)! We will have an extra bedroom with two beds in it so feel free to come visit us!

I hope you have been enjoying Good Morning Cincinnati From... on Facebook from Tom and I. They are fun to make and we love being able to connect with you guys through it. We LOVE all of your comments, so keep 'em comin'! Also, there will be a very sweet give-away coming soon so keep watching so you don't miss your chance to enter it :) Peace up, A-town down! (Just in case you're wondering, that little gem is from Usher's song "Yeah").

Back In LA and 4-Hour Body Diet

2011-01-04T08:36:00.000-08:00

Tom and I are back in Louisiana after our Christmas break. It was sooooo much harder to leave Cincinnati this time. The hardest part is that we wont be back until May. I was a basket case the day before we had to leave. I just wanted to stay home with all my friends and family. One thing this adventure has taught me in a big way is to love and appreciate my friends and family more.

To help keep our minds off missing our friends and family so much, Tom and I decided to try out the 4-Hour Body Diet by Tim Ferris for the 30-days. It is pretty great so far, and I already feel better. I love the immediate results. The diet guarantees a 20 pound weight loss without any exercise. However, Tom and I love to exercise so we are going to do it anyway lol. Hopefully, because we are still going to exercise, we will be able to lose more. I am thankful for the stomach issues I had last year because it taught me to not be controlled by hunger and food. That has made it a lot easier for me to diet. Thank you God for giving me victory in that area of my life.

I am really excited because at the end of this month my mom is coming to visit! My mom is one of my best friends, and I love her so much. For Christmas this year my siblings and I had a story written for my parents. You can read it here. The author, Kindra Hall, is an awesome person. My parents loved the story she wrote for them so much, and they cried while reading it. You should really take the time to read it because it is such an unbelievable story. Plus, there are some really cool pictures on there of my parents when they were young.

That's all I have for now. Have a wonderful time until I write you again!

Missing You and Learning

2010-12-13T09:46:00.000-08:00

I have to say that it is getting harder to go back and forth from Cincinnati. Every time we have to leave Cincinnati it becomes harder to accept that God doesn't have us placed there right now. I miss our home so much! I wish we could be home for the whole month of December. I miss seeing my parents and my brother and sister-in-law. I miss all of my friends. I miss my cousin. I am just sad that I can't spend as much time with all of them that I want to be. However, God has me here, and I am thankful for the opportunity to grow close with my sister and the family we are teaching for.

I am still thankful for this opportunity, and am learning a lot. It's hard to communicate everything I've been learning because I feel like I'm on learning overload lol. It's almost everyday that God shows me something that I need to improve on or that I didn't know about before. It is quite humbling to realized that I still have so much to learn in this life. I will always be a student of God, and I love that because He is the best possible teacher. Everything I learn from Him is good, adventurous, and interesting.

The boys are starting to get worn out from school. That is natural around the holiday season though. We are trying to keep them interested and focused. If you could pray for that, we would greatly appreciate it. Tom is such a better teacher than I am and I learn a lot from him on how to be patient and not take things personally. I can see now why God called me to be a writer instead of a teacher when I was about to graduate college.

Been a Long Time Gone

2010-11-09T09:26:00.000-08:00

I'm sorry it's been a while since I've posted anything on here. It's been really busy down here in Louisiana. I feel like I've been running a long-distance sprint ever since we got home from visiting Cincinnati. Going home to visit was so great. Seeing all of our friends and family was so refreshing. We missed everyone so much. Spending time with you all was the greatest gift we could ask for! I can't believe we will be back there again in less than 2 weeks!

We are definitely missing not being home right now to be with our body of believers. We wish we could be there to support Ryan and Becky during this time. We wish we could be there to encourage and support the Amelia leader team. We are going to miss not being able to go to weekend camp. We wish we could be there to celebrate all the good things God is doing in people's lives right now as well. I hope you all know how much we love you and how much we are praying for you :).

Tom and I have been doing well this month. We have be shown so much of God's provision. We both are growing so close to our Father, and it is such a gift. We are trying to make the most of our opportunity to spend as much time growing in our faith while we have this job. At the moment, Tom just finished studying Daniel and I am doing a Women of Faith study on managing time and money. In the study I am learning a lot about God's provision, and it has been making me so thankful for what God has done for me. Especially what amazing friends He has given me in Celina and Sally. I still can't believe they drove 13 hours just to spend a weekend with me! I felt so incredibly loved by that. Praise God for amazing friends!

We are about the embark on a media fast. We just want the opportunity to not be distracted and give our full attention to the Lord. Please pray for us in this endeavor because we both struggle with using media to numb ourselves, relax, bond, etc. We really want God to heal us and refresh us in this time. Thank you :).

First Days in Louisiana/Pure Craziness

2010-10-11T16:11:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Louisiana on Thursday, and so far it has been a complete 180 experience from Arizona. Obviously the landscape is totally different, but the culture and people are too. Tom and I are living in an apartment now instead of a massive house, and we like it better this way. Also, instead of being an hour away from everything, we now live on top of everything. Picture Newport on the Levee with apartments on top of all the shops, and that's where we live. It's awesome! Tom and I love to take walks in the mornings when the stores haven't even opened yet. It is so beautiful, peaceful, and nice.

The craziest part about living here is that we have security guards 24/7. There are six of them and they are all super intimidating. I guess because the paparazzi and fans are expected to create craziness once filming starts is the reason why we have them. Never in my life did I ever think that my daily schedule would include informing security guards that I'm going to Target. So incredibly surreal lol.

Life is a lot different here so far. We are hoping to be able get adjusted quickly. We're not quite sure how the school day is going to run while we are here. It is going to be a bit of a challenge because we are going to be having school at the boys' home. We really need them to be able to get out of home mode and into school mode easily. If you could pray for that, that would be awesome.

Mostly we are just really, really excited to come home! We are getting into town on Wednesday the 13th at 11pm and we are staying until Monday at 5pm so we are going to have a nice long weekend with all of our family and friends. We can't wait to celebrate Tom's dad's 50th birthday, celebrate the Ellis wedding, visit Ajax, Josh, and Stacy (and baby), and finally meet Emil! If you are interested in hanging out, please call or text us. We would love to catch up and hang out if our schedule allows it :).

Here is our tentative schedule as of now:

Wednesday: Get in at 11pm and staying the night at Kat's parent's house
Thursday: Tom is going to see a movie with guys at midnight,

Kat is meeting up with Sally at some point during the day
Spending the night at the apartment

Friday: Kat get's her hair done by the fabulous Crystal Loreaux at 12:30pm

Kat is going to spend some time with her mom
Kat and Tom both are going to Tom's dad's 50th birthday dinner that night
Spending the night at Kat's parent's house

Saturday: Kat is helping with Ellis wedding hair and makeup from 8am-12pm

Kat and Tom both will be at the Ellis wedding and reception that night
Spending the night at the apartment

Sunday: Kat and Tom both will be at the Gathering and the cookout afterwards

Probably be spending the evening at Kat's parent's house
Spending the night at Kat's parent's house

Monday: Nothing planned but will probably have to spend some time packing for our flight at 5:30pm

What We Learned in Arizona

2010-10-08T19:11:00.000-07:00

God was so, so good to us while we were in Arizona. He supplied for our every need and answered the deepest prayers of our hearts. He definitely showed up, and was so faithful to our big step of faith. We couldn't be more thankful for the time He gave us there. It has been quite a surreal experience. Even after two months of living this life, Tom and I still wonder what we are doing here and how we got here. It is so different from anything we've ever experienced, or even believed would ever happen to us.

Anyway, here are the big lessons we learned in Arizona:

1). HUGE lesson in stewardship. The family we work for has been incredibly generous to us and pays for a lot of things that an employer wouldn't normally pay for. All of a sudden, we have an awareness that everything we are given is not our own. We have to take into consideration what we have been given and what is an appropriate way to use it. We have to respect our employers in how we spend the money they give us. The natural question for us as Christians is, why don't we live this out for God? The truth is that we are all stewards of God's possessions. Everything we have is solely from Him and is His. A lot of us know this, but for whatever reason we don't let it affect our hearts, our beliefs, or our actions. We have to start praying for transformation in this area. It will completely transform our lives. It has changed ours so much already.

2). God provides outside-the-box of provision. I'm referencing one of my older posts here, but I encourage you to go read Matthew 6:25-34 right now. Do it! (More of an order than an encouragement I guess lol). Notice how much God promises to take care of us, but how often do we give Him the opportunity to do it? Are we stepping out in faith enough to experience the enormity of this promise? Tom and I feel like we took a big ol' step of faith by taking this job, and we've seen God provision at it's best! My other encouragement in this vein of scripture is to not limit God to what He can do for you. We love to think that things are not possible. What fools we can be! God can do anything, and He often wants to show us that in our lives. Let Him! We also tend to imagine the things that God can provide for us in on a very small scale. Think big you guys! He will blow your mind!

3). Partnership in marriage. Tom and I have really been struggling in this area of our marriage for a long time. We were never really able to grasp partnering and did it rather poorly. Let me tell you, this job has changed us for the better in that area. We LOVE working together and I fully believe that God is glorified so much in this situation. Tom and I are able to serve, love, compliment, and challenge each other everyday. We work better as partners now than we ever have. Our common mission, common career, and common schedule benefits us a lot.

4). It is good for us to be transformed into Christ's image, so God works all things to transform us. In context, Romans 8:28,29 basically says the previous statement. We started realizing that God is more interested in our transformation than He is in our tastes. We stopped simply enjoying ourselves and starting looking for how God is using it to transform us into Christ's image. Not that it is bad to enjoy ourselves, however that is not where real, true life to the fullest lies.

5). Complaining needs to be distant and out-of-place in our lives. Complaining is an insult, not only to others, but most of all to God. We learned this first-hand in a situation with our employers that left us reeling as to how we let it happen. Why in the world would we complain about anything when we have graciously been giving EVERYTHING?! Not only is this true of our job situation, but it is even more true of God. How insulted and frustrated He must get with us when we complain about our circumstances.

Overall, God has been incredible. I am now officially addicted to taking BIG steps of faith for what it produces in my spiritual life. I get to see God so much more clearly and get to know Him much more intimately. Thank you God for Your goodness, faithfulness, and wisdom. Thank you for teaching us.

Ready To Move Again

2010-09-28T21:44:00.000-07:00

Tom and I found out the other day that our moving day to head to Louisiana is October 7th, which is next week! I can't believe it's almost time to move again. I feel like the time has gone by quickly here. I think I'm ready to go to Louisiana though. I can't take the heat here, literally! We are living in a really cool part of Louisiana, so I'm really pumped about that. Our apartment looks amazing and there are so many cool places we can take the boys on field trips. There's even a Hansen's museum, which is a monument for leprosy (Hansen's Disease)...wait a second...is that what those warts on Tom's thumb are all about? :) Anyway, we are mostly excited to be moving to Louisiana because it is so much closer to home than Arizona is.

Tom and I are both excited to travel. We love to travel and experience new places and new cultures. Don't get me wrong, I'm still valuing and treasuring Arizona. I love the breathtaking sunrises and sunsets, the cool/freaky animals, the absence of humidity, the amazing starry night skies, looking over and hiking up mountains, etc. There is so much here that screams God's beauty. It's almost overwhelming to be quite honest. Yet sometimes we still find ourselves longing to be sitting on our couch at the apartment next to Chris and Lisa looking out over 125 and checking out the new hilarious billboard the city just put up. We can't wait to come back home and visit for the Ellis wedding! We can't wait to have some amazing fellowship with our body. Ah! I feel refreshed just thinking about it :).

I've been in awe of God so much lately. The fact that He chose me out of literally billions of people to follow Him escapes me to this day. I have been following Him for 12 years and I am confident that there are so many other people in the world who are more talented, articulate, intelligent, disciplined, loving, open-hearted, open-handed, attractive, hard-working, trusting, faithful, and skilled than me. Why would He chose me over them? I'm just Kat. I'm not Elizabeth Elliot or Corrie ten Boom. I'm not great at ministry, I'm not great at teaching, I'm not great at worshiping, I'm not great at fellowship, I'm not great at loving Him, and I'm not great at introducing people to Him. I'm just Kat. If you asked me to define myself, I would say I'm basically worthless when it comes to practical usage for the Lord. Why would the wisest, all-knowing being in the universe choose me to follow Him, love Him, or accomplish His purposes?

Now before you rebuke me for self-pity (another form of pride), let me continue. Because He loves me. That is the simplest answer to the above question. This fact alone sustains my heart. How could I possibly be prideful in view of that? I am so humbled by this love. In view of this love, I get a glimpse of the worth my God sees in me. I may not be of great worth to anyone else in this world, but to Him I am worth dying for. I am His, and (here's the best part) He is mine! I get to love Him back. My life from the day I met Him has been an opportunity to love Him back. He is so gracious to stay faithful to me when I continue to falter.

I have been reading Spiritual Maturity with Tom and it has been revealing a lot to me about God and myself. For the most part, I have increasingly seen how incredibly dependent upon Him I am, and need to continually be. Why wouldn't I be? He is always working for my perfect good. Catch this word readers...perfect! The things He allows to happen and the decisions He allows us to make are for our PERFECT good. It is this perfect good that He allows to occur in my life that refines my faith. My goal is to have the faith of the three men who walked into the furnace to show the king their faith in their God. I want my faith to show in that way. I want my faith to shine through the fire.

We ask earnest prayer for:
*Finding a church in Louisiana. God blessed us with a great church here in AZ and we pray to find one just as good, if not better, in LA. We are looking for a church that we can invest in a bit more than we did in the one here in AZ. We could do with some fellowship in the church in LA as well.
*Continuing building relationships with the boys, their parents, and my sister. It has all been going quite well so far, and we are super thankful for that. Please pray that we would love and serve them with all our hearts.
*Figuring out school schedule stuff to get done in time. With all of the traveling we do it is difficult to get all of the schooling done that is necessary. However, it is still quite necessary and we need God to make it happen.
*The boys and retaining the things they learn in class. We have to go through so much information with them so fast that we worry about them retaining it all for their placement tests in the fall before they go back to public school. Please pray that God would enable us and the boys to teach and learn well.

Our Hearts Ache for Ajax

2010-09-24T08:30:00.000-07:00

Before I write anything, I have to write about Ajax Knoechel. Tom and I have been mourning, weeping, and praying for him a lot the past couple days. We love him so much. If you don't know Ajax, he is our best friends' son and he was just diagnosed with leukemia. We can't believe this is happening to him, but we know that God is good. Tom and I have been learning a lot lately about how God is always working for our perfect and ultimate good. How comforting. I don't have to understand why or how this is working for Ajax, Josh, or Stacy's good, but I have to believe that it is in fact working for their good.

I believe that God is going to do some incredible things through Ajax. When he was still in Stacy's womb I prayed over him and I felt God was saying that God was going to give Ajax incredible faith, the kind of faith that moves mountains. This is part of that of that process. Ajax brings so much joy to all of us. I mean, just seeing him smile makes you want to praise God. God is so much more in love with Ajax than any of us are, and He is going to draw Ajax, Josh, and Stacy closer to Him through this.

To Josh and Stacy if you are reading this: Tom and I love you guys so incredibly much. You have no idea how much. You are so dear to us. We are so upset that we can't be there right now. But whether we were there or not, the best thing we could do for you is pray. So that's what we are doing, with all our might. We are praying constantly for you both and Ajax. Believe and know that God is producing faith in you and in Ajax through all of this. You guys are amazing and we offer ourselves to you for whatever service you need from us. This truth has been on my heart and I pray that it encourages you in some way: Isaiah 46:4-Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.

^{Ephesians 3:20-21}Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

We love you and miss you tremendously.

We're Okay

2010-09-16T08:38:00.000-07:00

Just so you know, we're okay. Last week was difficult, but God brought us through it. This week has been better so far. Thank to you those of you who extended us your comfort and encouraging words. It is encouraging to know that people read our blog. Anyway, I thought I'd spend some time talking about the boys and school in this entry. They are too awesome not to talk about :).

The youngest boy is the one I work with the most. He is such a cute kid. He is in the 3rd grade, and is really smart. He's got a great sense of humor and LOVES cars. He can name every kind of car that's probably ever been made.

The middle boy is the one that Tom's works with the most. He has such a great heart. He's in the 5th grade and really seeks to understand things. He loves to live in his own little world and has a thousand made up characters he will give you a full synopsis on.

The oldest boy is the other boy I work with closely. He is very independent and unique. His favorite animal is a narwhal (a whale with a horn on its head), which is now Hansen Home School's (HHS) mascot. He works very well independently and is so respectful.

Yup They're Real!

We honestly could not ask for better kids. They are a joy and a pleasure to teach. We actually have a lot in common with them, which is awesome for our relationship. They keep saying how much they love our school, which is very encouraging for Tom and I. As you have probably seen on Facebook, Tom and I have implemented a new Hansen Buck system. Basically the boys earn them by getting good grades on their tests and behaving well. We have a little Hansen Shop that they can use their Hansen Bucks to buy cool stuff, like glow in the dark swords :).

Wouldn't you like to earn a Hansen Buck?!

Tom and I are still adjusting to our daily schedule. It's a rigorous schedule, but we are getting through it. I have to keep reminding myself that this is only the 2nd week of school and that the schedule will get more easy to handle the more time we spend doing it. We have so much to do during the days, but it is truly making us appreciate the rest that God gives us.

We love what we are doing and what God is teaching us through it all. God has provided for our every need while we've been here. How amazing is that?! We are thankful that we have each other to experience this opportunity with as well. I honestly could not ask for a better partner than Tom. He is so talented at teaching and leading. God has definitely given him amazing giftings to be able to teach and lead well. I just hope that God is using and working through me as much as He is through Tom :).

Hard Week

2010-09-11T07:59:00.000-07:00

As you can tell by the title of this blog, it has been a hard week for us this week. Our first week of school was great though. It was hard figuring out the best way to do everything, but we are getting the hang of it. We knew it would be hard going into it and it turned out the best it could have. The boys are really great. We love them so much. I'm already sad at the thought that I will have to leave them in the future. But for now, we are enjoying getting to know them and being their teachers.

My birthday was on Monday, and that was a hard day for me. I felt really lonely. My mom usually throws each member of our family a birthday dinner at her home every year, and this year was the first year in my whole life that it didn't occur. My phone doesn't work well at all either, so even though my parents tried to call me to say happy birthday I didn't get their call. Poor Tom had to put up with my emotions all day, but he was so patient and comforting.

Then yesterday I found out that my Grinny died. This was such a blow to my heart. Let me tell you the amazing story about her. My mom was married before she married my dad. However, she tragically lost her husband in a car accident. She had grown very close to his family though, especially his parents. Since she lost her father when she was young and her mother was hard to handle, her late husband's parents "adopted" her into their family as their own daughter. My mom and Grinny (her late husband's mother) have been best friends and I grew up knowing Grinny and Poppa Jack as my grandparents. They ended up "adopting" our whole family. Even more than that, they are two of my best friends.

Grinny was an amazing woman of God. You have never seen a servant's heart in a woman like my Grinny had. She would serve us from the crack of dawn until midnight, the whole time singing, literally, out her praises to God and cracking jokes with us. She loved us so tremendously. It was always such a joy to be with her. She would shower us with compliments, gifts, love, and affection. There was literally no one else like her in the world. She taught us so many things about God, and I'm incredibly thankful for that.

My heart is torn over her death. Half of my heart is rejoicing that she is finally with her Father. How seriously wonderful is that?! She always used to say how as she got older her singing voice got worse and she couldn't praise God the way she wanted to. She was also getting sick a lot the last couple years of her life. She died of double pneumonia. I am so happy for her that she is completely healthy now, and finally has the singing voice she's always wanted to praise God with. He is probably tearfully happy to have her there, and to have her singing to Him.

The other half of my heart is broken. I miss her terribly. I wish I would have gotten to see her at least one more time before she left. I miss her voice. I miss her smile. I miss her hugs. I miss her. I can't wait to see her again in Heaven. Oh, my heart will rejoice!

However, I was comforted this week by the birth of my new family member Emil Sztanyo. What a huge blessing his birth has been to Tom and I this week. We've been waiting so long for him to get here. I'm so thankful that Witni and Emil made it through the very long labor healthy. I also found out that I'm going to be an aunt again! That is so great, because I love my niece and I can't wait to have another little niece or nephew. I love being an aunt so much.

I'm thankful that God has comforted us through this very hard and trying week with the arrival of new life. He always knows exactly what we need, when we need it doesn't He?! I love that about Him. The verse that God has been comforting me with this week is Isaiah 46:4-"Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you." Thank you God! I couldn't ask for more than You!

If you pray for us this week, please pray that God would continue to be our comfort, security, and strength. Pray that my sister and I would be able to grow closer. Pray that Tom and I would be loving, serving, self-sacrificing, and honest. Thank you for reading.

What We've Been Up To!

2010-08-31T15:43:00.000-07:00

We've started yet another week in our new home, and its been a surreal experience. Almost daily Tom and I ask ourselves and each other, "What are we doing here?!" :) It really feels like our life has taken such a bizarre turn lol. However, we are so confident that God wants us here. God loves to work in unexpectedness, surprise, backwards thinking, and faith.

We gotten to do some fun things so far while we've been here. We've been trying to keep you all updated on Facebook, but in case you don't get on Facebook often or have an account I'll briefly update you. We've gone out shopping (my favorite), frisbee golfing (Tom's favorite), driving, swimming, hiking, photographing, reading, preparing the class room, planning curriculum, etc. We have really been enjoying ourselves and the chance to breathe. However, we are also very excited for school to start next week.

Tom and I always joke about what an alien world we are living in now. There is nothing here that is similar to Amelia, OH in anyway. The one thing that has Tom and I dumbfounded the most are the crazy animals that are out here. In case you didn't see the picture that we put up of the Javelinas that are haunting our house, here it is.

The Javelinas are considered pests here because they eat all the landscaping. Landscaping is hard to maintain here because its so dry, which also makes it super expensive to maintain. I think they are cute though :). I'm not a huge lover of pigs or anything, but they are sweet little creatures.

Amidst the Javelinas, there are also coyotes, roadrunners, quail, jack rabbits, lizards, snakes, scorpions, and weird looking bugs. Here are just a couple of the weird bugs we have found in our house.

We are not sure what either one of these things are, but they were very scary to find. Tom and I were freaking out lol.

Tom and I have never felt more out of place in our lives, but we are doing well. God is our comfort, security, and strength. We miss our home a lot. We miss living with Chris and Lisa. We miss our fellowship and community. We miss our church. We miss Young Life. While all this is true, we know that God will provide for all of our needs while we are here. God has blessed us with finding a great church to go to while we are here. It's a lot like the Vineyard or Crossroads. Since we will another be here for another month, it fits our needs quite well. The pastor is actually from Cleveland, OH so it kinda makes us feel like we are at home :).

What I have really enjoyed doing while I've been here is working on my book. I work on it just about everyday and it's so wonderful. I LOVE WRITING!!! I'm so thankful God gave me this story to write because I'm totally in love with it. I can't wait to share it with all of you. It's I can't wait to finish it lol. Thank you to those of you who have heard me go on and on about it and listened patiently and gave me your input. I really appreciate it.

The kids we are homeschooling came over today! It was so fun to meet them, show them the classroom, and hang out with them a little. They are seriously such nice kids. We are both really looking forward to getting to know them better and hang out with them more. They seem really excited about school, which only makes us more excited about it :).

School starts next week, so please be praying for us. Pray that we can teach well and that we build good, solid relationships with the kids. Pray that we would be loving, patient, consistent, structured, kind, responsible, hard-working, good stewards, and great partners. We are so eager to do the best job we can. Love you all!

First Day of Work

2010-08-23T09:57:00.000-07:00

Today Tom and I start our first day of work. Well, we've actually been working on stuff before today but we're just over achievers :). We are very excited to start today because we have so many ideas. We are working on setting up the classroom. The desks and chairs got delivered for it last week, so we woke up this morning and went to assemble it all. It looks awesome! I can't wait to decorate it with school supplies, posters of stuff the boys like, and their assignments!

Right now we are getting on the teacher's websites they would have if they were in school to see what they are doing in class so that we can model it as closely as possible. Our goal is to make instill confidence in them and help their transitioning from public school to home school and back to public school as smooth as possible. We are planning on meeting with some home school advisors for the school district to see how to structure our school days and what not as well. AHHH! It's all so exciting.

The boys come home next week and we are so excited to form friendships and build trust with them. At this point there's no reason for them to listen to us or look up to us. We really want to change that, so that's going to be our goal next week. We are going to take them places, hang out with them, etc. It's going to be awesome.

I have to say that Tom and I make great work partners. We compliment each other very well. We both love it a lot. We've worked together multiple times before in an actual work setting, so we've had a lot of practice. We are so excited to grow closer together through this whole experience. Our marriage could really use some growth in partnership, and this is really going to help that. God has gifted us in really unique and different ways, and God is really glorified when we work together to accomplish something. It's so encouraging. Thank you God for how you have blessed us so tremendously in this way! You are SO good and faithful!

Actually Being Here

2010-08-16T20:20:00.000-07:00

I can't believe we are actually here! It's so great. We arrived yesterday in Arizona around 4:30pm and we were awestruck by our new house. I can't really describe it well or do it justice because I've never seen a house like this before. It's absolutely insane how good God is being to us in this situation. We are just praising Him like crazy right now. I've put some pictures up on Facebook of our house, but those pictures are only about 30% of the whole house. It would take me a very long time to take pictures of every part of the house.

Today I kind of had an emotional day. Everything just overwhelmed me. Tom was so patient with me, and I am really thankful for that. My big stresser is that I just want to do a great job while we are here. I want to do it perfectly. However, I know that I'm not perfect and I can't do this on my own strength. Who am I?! It's Christ working through me who is going to succeed, not me. All of the glory needs to go to Him. I can't seek glory or success for myself because that's just selfish and silly. I'm only here to glorify my Father and serve and love him, my husband, and the people we are ministering to here.

Tonight we went out to dinner with the grandparents of the kids we are homeschooling and they were so hospitable and nice to us. We also met the builder of our house who showed us how to work everything in the house. He was so funny and nice as well. It took us a long time to learn it all, but we'll get the hang of it lol. It's so comforting to have people here who are so kind and welcoming. Especially with us being so far away from home. God is providing for us greatly in this way as well.

Thank you all for your prayers. I can definitely feel them getting me through each day so far. Please keep praying. Tomorrow Tom and I are going to go hiking in our backyard. It's going to be so fun! The builder told us there is a camp site at the top with a cave and indian pottery. I can't wait!

Stress and Love

2010-08-13T09:47:00.000-07:00

Well we have gotten all of our belongings into 4 suitcases. The suitcase get progressively smaller as you look at them, so technically we probably have about 2 1/2 large suitcases full of stuff. I have no idea what its going to be like coming back. We'll probably end up having even more suitcases than what we began with.

Today has been a hard day so far. I've been so stressed out this week that my health faltered this morning. I'm doing okay, but not great. I have to learn to let go of all of these things I'm stressing about. I think mostly I'm stressed because this is such a big life change.

The good news is that God is really loving on me through this whole process. I really need to focus on these acts of love from Him so that I don't continue to stress myself out. Thank you to my body of Christ that has been showing me so much love this week. We've loved having dinner/lunches with all of you, and thank you for the gifts you gave us. I'm so blessed!

What To Pack

2010-08-10T17:54:00.000-07:00

Tom and I are working hard at packing up all of our stuff right now. What is difficult about this whole process is that we are only packing the things we need, but we are not totally sure of what those things are lol. Basically we've decided to leave all of our winter clothes here since we will be a in a very warm climate for a few months. We will be back in town for Tom's brother's wedding before we move to our next location, so we'll exchange all of our clothes then.

Today Tom and I got totally overwhelmed. We had to stop and pray just to make it through the morning. It was so nice to realize that God is completely in control, even over something as little as moving. We received so much peace during that time. Thank you God!

Our going away parties were so much fun. It was wonderful to see everyone, especially the people that I don't get to see too often. It was also so great to see the people that I live my everyday life with interacting with my family. After visiting with everyone I was so thankful for the people in my life. I am so blessed to know everyone that I do. God is so good to me to give me people like you all! It made me sad to realize that I will not see everyone for a while, but at least it wont last forever. Thank you so much to everyone who came!

Big Deal

2010-08-02T07:35:00.000-07:00

After having an extremely vivid dream, the enormity of what we are about to embark on just hit me. I can't believe we are moving. I can't believe the job that we have. I can't believe all of the places that we will get to see. I can't believe what opportunities this will give us. I can't believe any of it!

You know what's funny? When I read Matthew 6 and meditate on God's provision I tend to think very short term or on a low scale. My thoughts we always, "Okay God, I trust you to pay rent this month" or something of the like. NEVER did I expect it to go beyond that. Well, I'm here to tell you that God provides in INCREDIBLE ways that you could never expect. So the next time you read Matthew 6, give God more credit and trust that He will give you more than you could ever hope for or possible imagine :).

God is so good you guys! Gosh, I can't believe how lucky I am to have Him! Thank you Jesus for making that possible for me!

Prayer and Provision

2010-07-30T19:55:00.000-07:00

Gosh, how much I love the ability to prayer to my Father. It is such a wonderful gift that God has given us and I try to take full advantage of it. I love prayer because it makes me feel so much closer to God. I also love watching Him answer prayers in ways that I do not expect him to.

A good friend named Carolyn gave me a word yesterday that reminded me of this fact. In reference to our new job and upcoming adventure, she said that God was giving us what we prayed for but not in the package that we expected. However, it still is the perfect package because its completely from God. His plans are so much better than ours! Why do we always tend think ours are better lol? Thank God that He is in control.

God has provided for us in some amazing ways lately. We are so blessed to have a God that provides for us so tremendously. He always gives us more than we could possibly ask for. I love that about God! So many times people try to tell me that God provides for those who provide for themselves. That is just foolish thinking. God provides for those who love Him, live according to His purpose, and trust Him!

What I'm really looking forward to this upcoming week is Tom and I's 4 year wedding anniversary! I just can't wait to celebrate with him. We are going to the Cincinnati Premium Outlets for the day to get some travel clothes from the North Face store. Also, none of my clothes fit any more due to a large recent weight loss, so I need to invest in getting some clothes that fit and look professional. I'm just so blessed to have Tom as my husband. You have no idea. God is so good to me to have made Tom for me.

Consolidating

2010-07-29T10:19:00.000-07:00

So Tom and I have decided to sell one of our cars since we wont be using it at all for a while. Here's the posting on Craigslist if you are interested: http://cincinnati.craigslist.org/cto/1869873843.html

I feel like Tom and I are on some kind of purging kick. We are consolidating all of our belongings before we leave. I have to admit, it feels pretty dang good lol. Tom and I are not pack rats at all, and we love to organize and consolidate. It can be a bit of a chore, but in the end I feel so much better about not building up treasures on earth.

Almost Done

2010-07-27T19:51:00.000-07:00

Tom is so close to being done with school forever, neither of us can hardly believe it. He'll have a master's in education in two and a half weeks! I can't wait for him to be done and to go out and celebrate with him! He's has been working so, so hard to get it all done and I'm so incredibly proud of him. He is definitely the hardest worker I know.

Tom and I are very close to leaving as well. Our official departure date is August 15th, which is hard to believe. We are pretty nervous, but also very excited. It's a big life change, but God is good and will see us through it. We've been seeking fellowship like crazy these last couple weeks, and will continue to do so before we leave. We are soaking up as much of it as we possibly can. The more time I spend with everyone makes me realize how blessed and lucky I am to have them in my life.

I have to start tackling my to-do-before-we-leave list this week, and it's a bit overwhelming. The first thing on my to-do list is to start moving things into Tom and I's bedroom. Chris and Lisa, our roommates, are going to be taken over our apartment while we are gone. We are so thankful for them and are so blessed by their friendship. I'll let you know how it goes. Wish me luck :)

P.S. Here's a cute picture of Tom and I at my cousin's wedding last weekend!

Leaving

2010-07-15T05:05:00.000-07:00

In exactly a month from today, Tom and I will be leaving our home to go on our adventure. We are so excited about this and so thankful that God has chosen to bless us so tremendously in this way. We are going crazy getting everything together for it, but it's definitely a good kind of crazy. We are consolidating all of our belongings, getting passports, filling out paperwork, meeting with people, Tom is finishing his master's degree, planning curriculum, etc. By the way, did you know that getting passports was the most difficult thing in the world to do? :)

Anyway, I think what Tom and I have been learning the most in preparing for leaving is how much we value fellowship. We made a commitment this summer to hang out with as many people as we could before we left, and that has been going great. The friends and family that we have are the best in the world. It is going to be difficult to leave all of you, but rest assured that we love you and will be praying for you and thinking of you the entire time. Please pray that we will be able to find a church body wherever we travel to.

Some praises we have of this experience so far is that our bosses are super nice, friendly, and flexible. They are so understanding of everything we have presented to them and are willing to work with us to the nth degree. Also, we are going to have a house while we are out there! So amazing! Another praise is that we start getting paid in August, which is amazingly helpful since Tom had to leave his old job. Thank you God for being our providing and faithful Father!

The Decision We Made

2010-06-18T13:00:00.000-07:00

I mentioned a while ago that Tom and I had a big decision that needed to be made. It was definitely a hard decision, and God's will took us all over the place. But now He has brought us here and we are at peace and excited for our future.

Tom and I were offered a joint teaching job. It's an incredible opportunity that will have us traveling all over and experiencing God in some new and great ways. We are going to be away from our body of Christ and our families for 8-9 months which is going to make life difficult for us. However, it will help us to rely on Christ fully which is something Tom and I both need to grow in. We are also going to be able to grow a lot in our marriage, which we are really looking forward to.

This job is such a blessing. It is so cool to look back at our life and see how God brought us here to this decision and to taking this job. Not only is God blessing Tom and I through it, but we are so excited to be able to be God's vessel for blessing others through this opportunity as well. God is so good and faithful! Keep checking back for updates on what God is teaching us through this and to keep up with all of our adventures!

My Identity in Christ

2010-06-14T08:06:00.000-07:00

This is something I've always struggled with believing. Due to low self-esteem, I tend to think of myself more often as a sinner than a daughter of the Most High. There needs to be more of a balance of this belief in my life. I want to know, act, believe, think, and speak like a daughter of Christ. I don't know if this makes sense to anyone else, but to me there is a big difference between living as a daughter of the Risen Lord and living as a tired Christian.

I want to become the woman of God that God has envisioned for me to be. I want to be perfect in a lot of ways, but I know that I'm nowhere near that. Thank you God for completing me. The one truth that I always remind myself of when I'm struggling with my identity in Christ is this: Romans 5:8 "...while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." God thought my identity in Him was worth dying for. That's why I strive to truly understand what this identity is.

Making Big Decisions

2010-04-20T04:48:00.000-07:00

Tom and I have been faced with some big decisions lately. When I say big, I mean big life changing decisions. We knew that we might be faced with this kind of stuff this year, but we both got a job opportunity that we didn't expect at all. This opportunity would be a once in a lifetime kind of deal, and definitely an adventure. We have been seeking A LOT of counsel, and praying even more. I feel like I'm so anxiety ridden about the whole thing that any time I've been spending with God lately has been laced with it. I feel like I can't hear Him correctly or clearly.

It's been so awesome to seek God during this time though. It has also be awesome to experience fellowship through the advice of our loved ones. God is faithful and good to us always. No matter what the outcome of this life decision is, I know that God will always dwell with me.

Isaiah 46:4 says, "Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you." What a wonderful promise this is for God to make to us. If God made me, why wouldn't He see me through to the end? It would go against His very nature as a good, perfect, and faithful Father for Him not to do that. I know that I can trust Him fully no matter the circumstances of my life because of this promise. I'm so incredibly thankful to love and serve Him.

Hoping...

2010-04-13T05:28:00.001-07:00

Hope is a curious thing. If we have it, we are comforted and happy. If we don't, we are worrisome and broken. I've been struggling with hope for the last couple weeks. I long to feel it, but it does not come. I long to take hold of it, but it seems so far out of my grasp.

The question I always find myself asking is, "How can I rejoice in my sufferings if I have no hope that they will ever end?" But they will end. If not in this life, definitely in my eternal life in Heaven with my Father. That's when I realized that I was searching for hope in earthly things instead of Heavenly ones. That is where my hope must lie. Not here on earth, but in Heaven. The idea that I could be pain/illness free for eternity makes my soul hope, rejoice, and be glad. God, you are so good to offer me this. Thank you Jesus that you sacrificed for me so that I could have this hope.

As for my time here on earth, I have found some scripture that will help me get from day to day. Romans 5:3-5 "Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his loveinto our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us." I know that God is working for my good in all things.

New Life

2010-04-04T05:14:00.000-07:00

Thank God that He sent His son for us. Praise Him that we get new life because His son died and rose again. Jesus conquered death! That is amazing! I wouldn't have the incredible life that I do without Jesus' triumphant sacrifice. Thank you for saving me, loving me, and being with me. God you are incredible! Happy Easter everyone!

Freedom

2010-03-25T09:50:00.000-07:00

The world has a really distorted view on what freedom is and the role it plays in their lives. C.S. Lewis once said that "Freedom is not the absence of responsibility...its a reward of responsibility done excellently." I've been learning how true this is through what I've been struggling with. I have IBS and it's been a nightmare. However, I am learning how to "guide" it, since there is no cure for it, through diet and exercise. It's forced me to be super disciplined in my life to be able to do the things I want to do. Thus in my disciplines of the responsibilities I have to take care of my body, I find the freedom to do the things I want to do. It's been an important lesson for me to learn, and has benefited me greatly. It's also been a hard lesson to learn, mostly because of having to be sick. I almost wish that God would have chosen a different avenue through which to teach it to me though. Yet He is always working for my good in all things, and I don't doubt that for a second.

The Blessing of Fellowship

2010-03-16T09:00:00.000-07:00

I feel like God created me to enjoy and be encouraged by fellowship. I love the people in my life and my relationship with them. I love that God can speak through people to me just to encourage me and make me feel loved by Him. I feel so blessed to have people in my life who actually care about me, my well being, and my relationship with God. We see all over in scripture that we are not meant to be alone, and that a cord of three strands is not quickly broken (Ecclesiastes 4:12). Fellowship makes us stronger in a way, and that is amazing. God is so God to us to give us people in everyday life that encourage us to grow closer to Him and be more like Him. Thank you God!

Know Then…

2010-03-01T06:47:00.001-08:00

I'm working on memorizing Deuteronomy 8:1-6 now, and am learning that God disciplines us as a father disciplines his son. And that the correct response from us in this is that we should walk in his ways and fear him. I think that most people reading this piece of scripture would look at it and say that God is a disciplinarian and that's all. He's only looking for what we do wrong so that he can correct us. I think that this is very far from the truth. God is a loving Father, and part of being a loving father is wanting to protect your children from doing things that are unsafe or unhealthy for them. God does not discipline us because he's on a power trip, he disciplines us because he wants to protect us from ourselves. We, as humans, have self-destructing tendencies and God knows that better than anyone. So when scripture tells us to, "Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you. So you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God by walking in his ways and by fearing him" we should live in the understanding that we do not live for a sinful God who is going to take advantage of his power over you (Deut. 8:5,6). No, indeed, we live for a perfect God who disciplines us perfectly. We do not have to fear him as we fear getting hurt or fear an unwanted outcome. We fear him as we would fear a father who is going to lead us in His ways and not our own. For whatever reason, we do not like to give up ourselves, our rights, our lives, our ways, or our hearts to God because we think that He is untrustworthy and that our way is better than His. This is so far from the truth. God is the most trustworthy being in existence because He is perfect and holy in every way. He loves us perfectly, disciplines us perfectly, and guides us perfectly. How foolish we are to not trust Him wholeheartedly. Remember that God always works for the good of those who love Him and who live according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). Be encouraged, for the Lord your God loves you so much that He died for you.

Memorizing Deuteronomy 8

2010-02-24T08:01:00.000-08:00

I'm trying to memorize Deuteronomy 8 right now, and its providing me with a lot of good stuff about God to meditate on. To summarize, the chapter is about remembering God and how faithful He is. Right now I'm memorizing verses 1-4, which talk about how important it is to remember that God is trying to humble you and teach you that "man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord". I love this scripture because it encourages me to remember that I do not live by my own strength, but by the strength that God gives me. He is my source. I pray that the Spirit would continue to move in my heart as I meditate on and memorize this chapter. Hungering for God is far better and more satisfying than hungering for all the things my sinful nature wants.

Found Something Cool

2010-02-23T06:17:00.001-08:00

So I got this new lap top in December and it is amazing. Praise God for making such a wondering piece of technology lol. I just found out that I can publish my blog posts through Word! How cool is that?! I'm a huge blogger, so this is a big deal for me :). If you have Microsoft Office 2007, you have it too! Enjoy :)

Do you ever...

2010-02-21T06:01:00.000-08:00

Do you ever wake up feeling like you wanna sing? That's how I felt this morning. I have a feeling its going to be a great day! I'm not sure why, I guess I'm just feeling good lol. I love God and how "He first loved us" (1John 4:19). He is so good to me! How could I not live my days in endless praise of Him? Hope your day is as blessed and great as mine is so far:)

Loving My Husband

2010-02-20T20:35:00.000-08:00

I feel so blessed to have the husband that I do. He is literally the perfect man for me. I can't believe how good God is to me to give me such a man as my husband. He is such a great servant leader, just the way Jesus was. He always seeks to love and encourage me, and those around him. He is so funny and positive that it is a joy to be around him. He is the hardest worker I know and never gives up. He has such a huge heart for God and for other people. He is always willing to change, grow, learn, adapt, while at the same time he is faithful, available, strong, trustworthy, and solid.

What a joy it is for me to be his partner in life. I get to spend the rest of my life with this man! How awesome is that?! I pray that he grows to know God more and more each day, and that his love for Him would continue to grow. I can't wait to have children with him just to be able to experience what a great father he will be. Sorry to brag so much, but I can't help it lol. I love him so tremendously :)

New Pictures!

2010-01-25T08:25:00.000-08:00

The picture of my husband and I is from Christmas morning '09, and the pictures of me looking fancy is from when I went to the New Moon movie premiere with my mom. I love my dress!

Learning A Lot

2010-01-25T08:15:00.000-08:00

God has been teaching me so much lately about solely having joy in Him. I've always known that I should, but knowning something and believing something are totally different. I'm actually believing it know, and it is amazing how God is rewarding that step of faith. I think the thing that I turn to most often to give me joy is other people. I tend to live for their approval when I shouldn't. God's approval is the only one that matters, and its really started to be truth in my life now.

God is so good to me. He's so faithful and such a loving Father. I feel so blessed that I am His daughter and that He delights in me. With all that said, I have no idea why He dotes on me and loves me so much. I am so inconstant and I fail all the time. I long to be a woman of God that is described in Proverbs 31, but I always come up short. Thank you God for grace. Thank you that you provide for my shortcomings. Thank you that living for you has been the best decision I have ever made or will ever make. Thank you for thinking I'm worthy even when I feel so worthless sometimes. You are so good to me. You are my joy!

Having Joy

2009-12-16T07:39:00.001-08:00

I learned this morning, during my time with God, that joy does not come from the things that we do or are involved in. It comes from a deep, personal relationship with Christ. That doesn't mean that the things we do can't give us joy, they can. It just not the true, everlasting joy that comes from knowing our Lord Jesus Christ. I wish that I could truly grasp this. With the grace of God, I will come somewhat close to grasping it, but I'm still human and still fail from time to time. Thank you for your grace Lord Jesus. I wouldn't be able to live without it.

Dave and Andrea Wernz's Wedding

2009-12-06T14:20:00.000-08:00

Last night Tom and I were a part of the wedding for Dave and Andrea Wernz. It was such a wonderful wedding and we were so happy to be a part of it. They are great friends of ours and we felt so blessed to be a part of it. I loved being in the wedding with my husband and getting to share the experience with him.

Whoa...

2009-12-01T09:55:00.000-08:00

It's been such a long time since I've posted on here lol. Sorry about that. Life is good around the Hansen household these days. I don't know if I've mentioned this on here or not, but Tom's younger brother Brian has been living with us since August of this year. It's been interesting for sure, but Brian is a good guy and always means well. It's more of an adjustment for me than for anyone else. But I'm definitely doing better now with it all than I ever have. Thank you Jesus for your grace and peace in my life.

Tom has been long-term subbing at Amelia Middle School since the beginning of the school year. They love him there, and his term got lengthened because the teacher he's subbing for decided to take more time off with her baby. He really likes it, but he's also had to learn a lot lessons with teaching the hard way. His master's classes didn't really prepare him for the attitude of a 7th grader lol. He's got the hang of it now though, and is really enjoying himself.

As for me, I'm in a job that I love. I'm a link builder for Marketplace Earth, and I couldn't be happier. It's perfect for me, and whenever God blesses us with children it will be perfect then as well because I work from home. For now, I like to venture out to Starbucks most days to get my work done. That's where I am now actually :) My job is basically a lot of writing, which is what I really feel like God has blessed me with the ability to do. I love being able to glorify him in this way. I'm also working on writing a book. Not many people know this, but its not really a secret or anything. God gave me a vision about two years ago about becoming a writer, and I've been praying all that time for Him to give me something to write about. A few months ago, I had an incredible dream, and when I woke up I felt led by the Spirit to write it down. That has been the basis for my story and its been an incredible experience writing it. I really feel like I'm learning a lot and growing closer to God through it. Thank you Jesus!

Tom and I are both still leading Young Life at Amelia High School after going through some rough times in our ministry. But God is so good, and I'm so thankful for Him and His plans. He has healed me and comforted Tom and I so much through this time. We basically have to restart the ministry at our school, but we are excited because God has blessed us with some really solid people to lead with at Amelia. Their zeal for the Lord encourages us deeply.

Well hopefully I'll be able to stay disciplined with posting on here. Much love and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Birthday Time

2009-09-04T06:17:00.000-07:00

So my birthday is coming up this weekend and I'm pretty excited about it. I'm going to be 25 years old, which is crazy because that's like a quarter of a decade. It's the first time I've ever felt like I'm getting old lol. I know, 25 is not that old.

I'm planning on spending the weekend by going on a leader weekend with the other leaders from my area, and then on Sunday (my birthday) we come back and I'm going down to my parent's house to do the little family birthday party thing we do every year. I'm looking forward to it because I don't get to see my family as a whole too often. My sister wont be there because she's in Arizona, so I'm going to miss her being there.

The picture is my birthday cake from last year. My mom always tries to make our birthdays special and they definitely always turn out to be. Peace.

New Apartment

2009-08-19T08:47:00.000-07:00

Tom and I recently moved into a new apartment and it is AMAZING! We love it so much and the story of how we got it is even more amazing. I'll be posting some pictures of it up here soon. This picture is me loving the new living room wall :)

Recommedations of Movies and TV Shows

2009-08-19T08:41:00.000-07:00

I love movies more than any person really should. I'm not a big TV watcher, but I do enjoy a select few shows. My movie recommendation for this month: In Good Company, Starring Topher Grace, Dennis Quaid, and Scarlett Johansen. It is a great mix of comedy/romance/drama. It reminds me a lot of Stranger Than Fiction in the way that its filmed. My recommendation for TV show this month is: LOST. I've held off watching it for 5 years and then found some spare time this summer to invest in watching it. It is by far one of the best shows I've ever seen. It's like watching a really long, really good movie.

So Excited

2009-08-14T09:20:00.000-07:00

I can't explain how joyful I can right now! God has blessed my husband and I so tremendously this week that I am in total awe of His goodness. What a blessing it is to be the daughter of God!

Pondering Purpose

2009-08-12T12:28:00.000-07:00

I was thinking this morning about what exactly my purpose is from God. This might seem like a silly question because it is apparent from scripture that God gives a purpose to love God and to love others and to go out and make disciples of all nations. I feel like I pursue these but what does God have ME on this earth to do? Something only I can do. Something that is alone my responsibility to do. My "destiny" or "calling" as some would call it. God has graciously given me a glimpse of what it is, but not even close to the whole picture. I pray that I have enough faith to pursue it.

Still Searching...

2009-08-10T12:47:00.001-07:00

The job market stinks right now, to say the least. I am confident that God is calling me to be a writer, of what I'm not sure, and I am spending a lot of time pursuing a career in that. This blog is a part of that pursuit. Its funny when God has different plans for you because you knew how to do your plans and you don't really know how to do God's plans. Therefore, it is always an adventure. I have started writing a book, and that has been an amazing experience. I truly feel the Spirit with me as I write. Perhaps I could include some inserts of the book on this blog...hmmm

Sorry I've Been Gone

2009-06-02T10:53:00.000-07:00

Wow, its been a while. I am excited to start blogging again. Tom and I are going through some pretty big life changes. Tom's about to graduate college and has already started on his master's degree. I've been graduated since this past December (there is rarely better feelings or experiences than being done with school forever) but I am struggling to find a job. There are lots of amazing things that God has been teaching us through this time though.

Back from Arizona

2008-09-16T14:03:00.001-07:00

Well, Tom and I are back from our trip to Arizona to take my sister's car to her. It was so amazingly fun.

What do I do?

2008-07-01T21:22:00.001-07:00

I've been really convicted lately with how I spend my time. I wish that I was a more motivated person. God has called me to go out and make disciples of all nations and giving my life away. But sometimes, I confess, I just don't feel like it. Why am I so lazy? What else could I possibly do that would have more significance and meaning than what God has called me to do? Thus, I have been praying for more motivation.

Working

2008-06-30T10:18:00.000-07:00

Yes, it is true. I Kat Hansen have found a great job that I enjoy. I can't believe it. The people I work with are really nice and helpful. I get to work at the same place as my husband which is so good for our relationship. Its great. I have good hours and enough time to live the life I want to live for Christ. Its awesome!