Disturbance

So Jen and I had some people from her church over on Friday night.  They had something going on that night, so it was kind of late by the time they got here.  A few of the guys decided to put on some of their own music and they turned it up…it took me a whole song to tell them to turn it down because it was too loud.

About an hour later we were playing the game, "Mafia", when our doorbell rang.  Jen answered it to see a couple of cops…our neighbors called the cops on us!  We must’ve been way too loud.  Of course everything was calm by that time, so there were no arrests:)

Vote!

Okay, this post is for the 3 people that might actually care about my profile picture…(Mom, you’d better vote!)  So my mom e-mailed me a few weeks ago and said that she’d read my blog that day.  She said that it was a nice thing that I wrote about, but then in an "ahem" sort of way said that I really needed to change my picture.  First of all, she likes me better without glasses (who doesn’t?) and she likes it better when I smile…the scary picture really threw her off, I guess:)  Therefore, I am changing my profile picture.  You’ll be happy to know that I keep forgetting to ask people to take a few pictures of me to try out, so I came home from church today, set my camera up and set the timer.  Here are a few to choose from.  If you want, you can vote.  I only expect a few people to do this, so go for it:)

                                                                                 

Kim3                                                                                          Kim1_edited1

                                                                                   Kim2_copy
Kim4

Reaching My Goals

I love how God helps us keep our goals in mind as we persevere. 

When I first started to jog regularly, at the gym, I thought I was making some progress by jogging 3.5 mph.  Hey, it was something:)  Then I progressed to 4.0 mph, which was about killin’ me a first.  Recently I pushed myself a little bit farther and started alternating between 4 and 4.5 mph.  I really felt good about that.  Then a few weeks ago I noticed a lady who was working with a personal trainer, nearby.  This lady looked very new to working out and seemed to be extremely out of shape.  I about had a heart attack, myself, though, when I saw the PT put the lady’s treadmill up to 5.5 mph!  To me, that was how fast "runners" go…clearly this lady was not ready for that!  She would make her run 5.5 mph, then make her do 20 jumping jacks, over and over again. 

This caused me to think about my own goals with running.  Surely if this lady could do 5.5 mph for even a minute at a time, I should be able to do that.  So I put myself to the test the next time I was there.  I started out with my warm-up and then gradually, for a minute at a time, kept upping my speed.  A fascinating thing happened…I was able to keep up with the turning belt below me!  I honestly couldn’t believe it. 

Since then, I’ve learned to push myself a little bit further each time and not to settle for what I’ve always done.  This week I actually jogged 1.5 miles in 19.5 minutes, twice!  To a typical runner, that’s not a big deal, but for me…it’s huge!  I’ve never done that before.  This is the girl who would take several P.E. periods just to pass the mile for the physical fitness test, throughout junior high and high school.  I think the requirement was to do it in under 15 minutes, just to pass.  I am mortified to tell you that it usually took me a few tries just to get my mile at 15 minutes.  (Sad!)  So here I am, quite proud of myself for getting closer to my goal of being about to run a full 5K.  If I work on my endurance, and pace myself, I’ll be fine to complete my 5K this summer, with no problem!

How much more do I need to challenge myself when it comes to maturing spiritually?  Paul says to Timothy, "For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come." (1 Tim. 4.8)  The Lord is, absolutely, concerned about my physical well-being.  As a matter of fact, I sense His presence cheering me on each time I come closer to reaching my running goal!  But, as always, He wants me to apply what I’m learning about the physical to the spiritual aspect of my life.  "Keep challenging yourself to be a woman of God and work on your endurance!  Pace yourself.  You’re only 27! :)"  That’s what He’s challenging me with today-with a smile:)

60 Things

In honor of both my dad, who just turned 60 yesterday, and my mom, who turned 60 last September, here are the top 60 things I love about my parents…

60.  together they had the best daughter ever:)
59.  they gave me two awesome big brothers
58.  they love me like crazy
57.  they’re very hard workers and taught me to be a hard worker
56.  my dad worked at a publishing company when i was little and bought me books home from work all the time
55.  my mom is the best cook
54.  take a look at me…i am my mother’s daughter, for sure
53.  see my passion…i’m also my father’s daughter, for sure
52.  they’ve been married since 1969 (it’ll be 37 years in June)
51.  they always made sure i went to church
50.  my mom was my Missionettes leader
49.  my dad was a Sunday School teacher
48.  my mom prayed with me before school
47.  at one time they allowed me to take a train to Pittsburgh all by myself (i was 14!)
46.  my dad gets teary-eyed every time I leave
45.  i have to take a deep breathe before i hug my dad because he doesn’t want to let go
44.  they trusted me in high school
43.  they’ve forgiven me for every time i was dishonest to them as a child
42.  they’ve forgiven me for the times that i hurt them
41.  they sometimes pay for me to come visit them
40.  my dad calls to sing the Eagles fight song on my voicemail
39.  my mom gets hilarious when we play games with our whole family (she laughs so hard, it’s hard to contain yourself just watching her)
38.  "Momisms" like how she says…"duffle bag" as "duffie bag" or "balsamic vinegar" as "baslamic vinegar"…one of my all-time favorites-"Chuck E Cheese" is "Chunky Cheese" to my mom:)
37.  "Hot-hands Burton"-my mom can touch any hot dish, right out of the oven without burning herself!  it’s really amazing
36.  my dad’s love for his cat, Robbie
35.  my dad’s patriotism
34.  the way my dad draws a Robbie, the cat, "stamp" on every family birthday/holiday card sent out or given…you really have to see it to appreciate it
33.  the way my dad labels every picture/character on all my birthday cards
32.  my mom always gets me a manicure and/or pedicure for Christmas
31.  when one of my best friends made a video all about me "the kim video", my parents watched it several times and then made other people watch it…
30.  my mom has gotten so many awards at Cardone Industries, where she works (I pretty sure she might take over the company someday)
29.  how much my dad loves to see my pictures-I got his eye for pictures, you know
28.  i love it that when they visited me a year ago, they connected with one of my favorite teens, Casey (my mom was trying to kill him in Uno:)
27.  i love it that my dad comments on my blog
26.  and that my mom actually reads it now!
25.  i love it that i get to share my birthday with my mom
24.  my dad is a huge Philadelphia team fan and tries to keep me in the loop of what’s going on
23.  dad usually knows Detroit weather before I do because he checks it almost everyday
22.  they encourage me
21.  they are so proud of me and that makes me smile
20.  they ache to see my nephews play ball (they really love their grandkids and want to be with them!)
19.  they’re going to move to the midwest someday soon (oh, wait, that’s what i’m hoping for:)
18.  they send me a gift on Valentine’s Day:)-hopefully someday someone else will take care of that
17.  my parents hate the game, Cranium, but will play it with us because us kids love it
16. i love it that my mom actually figured out how to forward a message on her cell phone!  this is very big

15.  my mom knows that I typically need a Philly cheesesteak asap when I go home to visit

14.  my dad passed along his sweettoothe to me

13.  when I would fight with my brothers when I was little, I was always right:)

12.  they let me go far away to college-and didn’t make any bones about it

11.  they’ve allowed God to change them (aren’t we all glad that God does that in our lives?)

10.  they haven’t just gotten older, they’ve grown

9.    they support me in everything that I do!

8.    they make me miss them….

7.    they’ve listened to my stories (my many, many stories)

6.    they always made sure that I met my responsibilities to my church ministries growing up

5.  they took me to church the night I asked Jesus into my heart (and made sure that I told my pastor about it afterward)

4.  they allowed friends to be important in my life

3.  they disciplined me

2.  they put the Word into my hands as a child

1.  God gave them to me!

I truly love my parents, for even more reasons than these.  God loves us so much that He puts in the best places in which we’ll grow to become more like Him.  I’m thankful for my parents, who love me more than I can probably imagine.  And I hope that they have stepped into their 61st year of life with the best yet to come. 

Love you, Mom and Dad!  -Kimberly

Only Because I’m His Mim:)

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When I arrived at my brother’s house last week I heard all about Robert’s hair…yikes!  My nephew refused to get it cut.  For weeks his mom and dad had been telling him that he desperately needed to get it cut!  But nope!  That is, until his Mim came into town.  I told Stephanie (my sister-in-law) that I’d get him to cut it, and guess what…and it’s only because I’m his Mim!  (A few years ago his 2nd grade teacher, Mrs. Porter, told me she was so glad to finally meet me.  She said that all the time he talked about "his Mim…his Mim, his Mim, his Mim…all the time!"  That, I will never forget.Img_6246

The reason he wouldn’t smile in this picture is because I was kickin’ his butt at Settlers of Catan:)

And just because I’m a proud aunt…this is Robert and me when I arrived home from my first year of college…my how he’s grown up (my baby:).Misc_001

Sent to Detroit

I love to tell the story of how I came to be where I am now.  Walking through a chain of events thatDetroit_1
God gracefully orchestrated has been a fantastic experience.

People will ask me where I’m from.  My response is usually something like this:  "Well, I’m from Philadelphia, but I went to college in Minneapolis, and now I live here!"  Others usually respond with a raised eyebrow and, "What brought you here?"  At this point I love to share the simple story of how God sent me here.  Until recently I didn’t fully get the concept of that, but now I feel like I have a better understanding of God’s plan.

***Allow me to interject the short story…I moved here to live with a friend, who was doing an internship, after graduation from NCU, but I was only going to stay for the summer.  My plans were to move back to Minneapolis in August but God directed my heart to stay.  It felt kind of crazy.  I didn’t have a job or a permanent place to live…what on earth was I going to do in Michigan?  I knew a few people and I had a great church, but what were they really going to do for me?  I still wasn’t going to be close to my family or any of my best friends…they all stayed in Minneapolis, where I was going to be.  God took me out of the comfort zone of the city I’d come to love, the college-life I’d become so distinctly apart of, and my large circle of close friends to be…in Detroit***

We’ve been talking about Jonah at Church of the King these past few weeks.  We’ve been looking at how Jonah was sent by God to a sin-filled place called Ninevah (yeah, yeah, yeah, a big whale…heard that story in Sunday School when I was 5).  But the perspective that Jonah was a missionary who lacked compassion for a city that needed God’s grace, just as much as he did, is not one I had the comprehension for as a five-year-old.  God sent Jonah (and he eventually went).  God sent Jesus.  God has sent me…to Detroit.

We’ve been talking about how God is sending us from our homes into our neighborhoods, our families, our jobs, our supermarkets, our malls-everywhere in our city-to be disciples in the most Jesus-like fashion we can.  I guess the funny thing is that I began to realize, a few weeks ago as I was telling my story once again, that God sent me from Philly, via Minneapolis, to Detroit. 

It almost seems silly that I didn’t get it before, after having told that story a hundred times, but it has finally hit me.  I am a missionary who left my family to go to an unfamiliar place, by myself, to see a city transformed in the name of Jesus. 

You know, I asked Jesus to be the Leader of my life when I was 7, during a missions convention at my church.  There were missionaries from Tunisia, whose son was dressed as a camel :), who prayed with me that night.  Until my recent years, when I thought of missionaries I thought of people like them.  Missionaries, to me, were people that travelled to other countries, ate scary food, learned to speak another language and dressed up in camel costumes!  Fortunately, God has expanded my thoughts of missionaries to look like people with red hair and freckles, who live in Southfield, Michigan and work in Hamtramck.

Perspective is a good thing.  I’m glad that Jesus is sharing more and more of His perspective with me about my life and my purpose these days.  I’m called to Metro-Detroit and unless He says, "Move," I’m here to stay.  I’m called to my church and I want to see it grow and mature.  I’m called to be a part of church planting here, however God chooses to use me in that.  I’m called to teach and I desire to see transformation happen through my students as they grow up to be future leaders in our city (that’s what I pray for them!).  I’m called to live in Southfield-I know that because I look different than everyone that lives around me and I love that:)

Temptation to leave comes , but I just won’t listen, because I know that I’m called here…voices tell me about things like better paying jobs, "nicer" city, better schools, lower taxes, bigger churches…but they simply don’t compare to being exactly where I’m supposed to be, doing exactly what I’m supposed to do. 🙂  It’s truly amazing!

Oh, Nothing.

Sometimes I feel that my blog is like a Seinfeld blog…a blog about nothing.

Do you ever feel like you want to blog about everything and then blog about nothing?  I guess that sounds funny coming from me, since I’ll easily go a week without do so, but I’ve said, "I’ve gotta blog about that," at least once a day since I started blogging.  I just don’t always get around to it. 

So here I sit tonight, and I know I’ve had things to blog about today, but they’re just not clicking today.  So I blog about nothing to blog about.  This is somehow amazing to me.  (Easy to please:)