Hello, my name is Kim and...

... I am addicted to... BUTTONS!
Yes, I admit it, in front of God and everyone on the world wide webbyola. I am addicted to buttons. Not just any ol' button mind you, but vintage, special, beautiful buttons. Buttons that make me gasp. Buttons that make me wonder what kind of person originally used them. What type of garment were they on? Some of them are so intricate and lovely, I wonder if the woman wearing them counted them as jewelry. Maybe if she wasn't able to afford real jewelry, but could save up and splurge on these beautiful buttons to somehow take the place of the expensive stuff.
So while most may think it's a crazy obsession, I personally consider it a link to the past. A beautiful, fascinating tangible remnant of the women before me - who may have had the same addiction as me!

Martha to Mary

Almost everyday we hear someone say, "this will change your life". I hear it just about every Sunday at church and at least a few times a day on TV or the radio. They could be referring to anything from the New York Times Best Seller to the Perfect Brownie pan (you know, that thingy that divides the brownies as they bake...)

I recently got a taste of a real honest-to-God, "life changing" experience. All of my life I've gone to church and was brought up in a Christian home by a loving, Christian family on all sides. I was raised a Methodist but was exposed to many different denominations along the way. I guess that's how I ended up claiming "non-denominational" as adult. I went to Sunday School, Vacation Bible School, attended Music Camp, grew up in the Youth Group, sang in the Chancel Choir. I've been to retreats, conferences, pilgrimages. I've served in most every capacity from nursery keeper to Deacon. But guess what I'm doing now... nothing.

Well some would put it that way. In actuality, what I've done is changed from being a "Martha" to being a "Mary". Read Luke 10:38 - 42 for the story.

I was Martha for many years, and the worst part is, I totally knew it. I always did whatever needed to be done to prepare for Jesus, to prepare for others to worship and learn, to do all the administrative tasks, all the coordination and organization (I'm not saying I did it alone, I'm saying that was my main focus). It took God using what seemed like a stumbling block in my way to make me stop the madness and put HIM first.

Now I am free. I have released myself from all the serving and have been released by others. Now I can be a Mary. Mary who chose instead to sit and just take in what Jesus had to say. She knew there was food to be prepared, but she didn't worry about it. She didn't try to figure out how to publicize that Jesus was in her house. Mary knew that there were cobwebs in the corners and dust on the piano, but she didn't care! All she was concerned about was sitting at the feet of her Lord and taking in all He had to say.

That's my "life changing" experience. Not some great sermon or intellectually stimulating book or even a perfectly separated brownie. My life changing experience was God using a not-so-great experience to change me from a Martha to a Mary. I hope I never go back.

How Did I Know I Wanted to Go? I Broke My Toe...

Leading up to November 2009 I was unexcited and a little apprehensive about participating in my first foreign mission trip. Our church started planning a trip to the Dominican Republic in early spring of 2009 and to tell you the truth, at the time, I didn't know why I signed up to go. Maybe it was because I was a deacon and felt that as a leader I needed to put my best foot forward and set a good example. But I don't think that was it. It could have had something to do with my 13 year old daughter wanting to go, but honestly, she could have gone without me. Perhaps it was because a dear friend was planning to go and we thought it would be fun. Ultimately, I think I signed up because I felt God's calling - even though I couldn't put my finger on why. I thought all along that if God provided the funding and everything else that goes along with preparing for a mission trip, I would assume it was God's will and I would go. Never in all the preparations did I get excited about the trip. I kept thinking, I'll go on this trip then I can say I've been on a mission trip but I don't think foreign missions is for me. I didn't think it was something I was supposed to do over and over again in my life. I kept thinking, some people are called to missions and some aren't but I think everyone should go once. I was a "go-once-and-be-done-with-it" type. I wasn't excited, not in the least.

Well, a week or so before the trip, I got up for something in the middle of the night and as folks who are half asleep in the dark tend to do, I stubbed my little toe into a piece of furniture. It hurt. It turned purple, I couldn't put weight on it, I thought I broke it. The very first thought that crossed my not-excited-about-the-mission-trip brain was "oh I'm GOING on that mission trip!" So apparently I was more excited than I thought I was. Seems that God had been working on me all along and it took a near broken toe to show me that indeed I wanted to go on this trip, that not only was He calling me to go, that I wanted to go.

My toe was fine by trip day, and I was thoroughly excited by trip day. The trip was incredible, life changing, too much to write in this post (but I will write about someday soon). Suffice it to say that at first I was just along for the ride, and a one time ride at that. Now I want to take the ride again and again and again and again.... God is good, even if He had to practically break my toe to show me!