One of my favorite movies is You’ve Got Mail, and I love the line Kathleen Kelly uses in one of her emails: “Dear Friend, I like to start my notes to you as if we’re already in the middle of a conversation. I pretend that we’re the oldest and dearest friends.” It completely describes how I am pretending this blog works. I type things into the void and I pretend my oldest and dearest friends are reading it on the other side. Sidebar, if you haven’t seen the movie or even seen it recently, go watch it.
Since we are the oldest and dearest of friends, I don’t need to tell you my entire life story, but I will give you the highlights. I have been married for 22 years to my best friend, Caleb, we have one son, Connor, who is 21. We also have three pets. Want to know some more random facts about me? You can read 18 fun facts here.
Recently we made a career shift from full-time ministry to the great unknown, more on that later. It seems fairly normal, right? Two dogs and one mini-pig, yep, fairly normal pets. Waddles is currently sitting at my feet as I type. Who knew mini-pigs liked to snuggle? Make sure you check out her page and pictures on this site.
DISCLAIMER: By the way, Waddles also blogs occasionally and we are not responsible for what she writes. She may be the most opinionated animal I have ever encountered. You can read her blog here.
They say pigs have about 200 different vocal sounds and Waddles uses ALL of them. I wish I could add in some of her sounds. Here is Waddles in her favorite position…laying down.
We have recently started this site and a podcast, CampTown Hall, and if you haven’t listened to it yet…give it a go. You can find it on our homepage and Spotify. It’s pretty funny, at least I think it’s funny, but I am one of the hosts. It did make me laugh doing it, so there’s that.
Podcasting is a weird thing. I don’t see the person I am speaking to, just a microphone and my imagination. I actually would have never imagined traveling in this direction, but I am so excited for the adventure. I love people and I pray that something that we say or talk about can make you smile or even inspire you along the way.
If you missed the episode, you learned I strongly dislike crowds and especially crowded elevators. Our church holds a conference every year for men and I love being a part of the event. Did I mention it was a men’s conference? That’s important because I am only 5’1″ and most men are WAY taller than I am. I bet you can imagine how someone who dislikes tight spaces can feel in crowded hallways? This past year I finally got smart and volunteered to serve outside, in the open, greeting people as they arrived! So much better!
Please forgive any mistakes. We will get better. I read this quote by Jon Acuff, and it read, “be brave enough to be bad at something new.” So here we are, being brave. You can check out Jon’s page and blog here.
Have you ever let fear rob you from starting a new thing or taking on a new challenge? My friend, fear will never go away…but you can weaken it. What you feed grows and if you feed fear, it only gets stronger and bigger, but what if you fed faith? What if you look at what God is calling you to do and decide to trust Him? Thinking about taking a step of faith? Here are some steps I followed before making a leap.
- Pray– sometimes what God is dropping in your heart is a dream for the future and sometimes it is for right now. Allow God to direct you and speak to your heart.
- Trust God– He loves you more than you can imagine and He created you for amazing things. If you are confident the dream is for right now, take a deep breath and trust God.
- Seek Wise Counsel– talk it over with your spouse, a good friend or a trusted third party and listen to what they say.
- Build a Team– find people you trust, share your dream with them, and make them your encouragement squad. You will need them!
- Feed Faith- Write verses to keep in front of you, start a journal to remember how God moves, listen to music or podcasts that build your faith
To be honest, I had to revisit #3 and #4 the other day, and you will too, but keep going. You aren’t on the planet alone and there are people ready to lift you up, pray for you and support you along the way.
Need prayer or encouragement? Leave a comment below and let me know. It is an honor to be allowed, in writing anyway, into your world! Thanks for being a part of this new adventure and I am looking forward to connecting with you soon!
Many blessings,
Kim