About Karen Thomas Olsen
Born and raised in Ohio, I attended college and graduate school in Indiana, moved to Scotts Valley, California south of San Jose to teach, back to Ohio for many years, to Arizona for 11 years with my husband, and finally to Ft. Wayne, Indiana to be near family. (Leaving Prescott Valley, Arizona in 2018 was very hard. Sigh. But for family? Worth it.)
I have taught in three Christian high schools and one community college. My first teaching position was in Scotts Valley, California. In the summer of 1980, a tall, dark, and handsome 26 year old California boy, who had recently completed his degree in Aeronautical Operations from San Jose State University, followed me to Columbus, Ohio where I had accepted a new teaching position at Worthington Christian High School.
There in Worthington we were married. Paul became an Air Traffic Controller, and we raised two beautiful girls in Piqua and Troy, Ohio. We now also have a son-in-law and two precious grandsons born in 2009 and 2012. In 2007, Lockheed Martin transferred my husband to Prescott Valley, Arizona, which was a great adventure for us. Arizona was a good place for my health and great for Paul, a California boy who loves the sunny southwest! However, being far from family is not easy. So, in July of 2018 we moved to Ft. Wayne, Indiana, where we are near relatives and just hours from each of our daughters, one near Chicago and one north of Cincinnati.
For years, I worked in Christian school curriculum design and development, which was challenging, exciting, and satisfying. After retiring in the summer of 2012, I focused on completing a doctorate, pursuing some writing projects, and being involved in Christian education at our church. Maintaining this blog continues to be important to me. With great gratitude to the Lord who carried me through the process, I graduated from Trinity Theological Seminary in August, 2016, earning a DRS (Doctor of Religious Studies) with an emphasis in theology. My dissertation is entitled "A Taxonomic Theology of Suffering and Joy Designed to Assist in Christian Growth."
Besides reading, learning, teaching, and writing, I love to swim, stroll around the neighborhood on my bike, take Water Aerobics classes, mingle with neighbors, and participate in our local church. As my health permits, I love to travel and see God’s amazing creation.
I’m wearing my eye glasses or “life lenses” which instruct me to “Look for the Lord in every page of Scripture, in every corner of nature, and in every chapter of my life." No matter the direction of my life, it's a journey north.
Have you taken one of those tests where you are shown an object and asked to state the first thing the image makes you think of or the first word that comes into your mind? You are shown a yellow circle, and you may respond with “egg yoke” or “sun”. I suppose most of life can be like this. We experience something in this physical world, and if we’re alert, we see connections to the invisible world, the spiritual world. This reminds me of my most recent favorite passage, II Corinthians 4:16-18 (NIV).
Verse 17 states, “Therefore, we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.” I often repeat this verse in my mind. “Wasting away.” Do you see it all around you and in you? Seems discouraging. But then, “renewed day by day”. “We are being renewed day by day.” The contrast of the inner reality to the outward experience is the reason to “not lose heart”, to not give up. Does this verse encourage you, infuse you with courage? Continue reading →
Categories: Moving, nature
| Tags: Moving |
I’m coming up for air today and hoping that you are still there! In my last post, I explained our decision to relocate back to the midwest. I said it would be my last post in Arizona, and so it was, but I never expected to take this long to pick up where I left off! So, I left you up in the air!
Plans, both well made and poorly made, instigated some difficult turns followed by God’s gracious intervention via His loving people. I didn’t arrive at our new home in Fort Wayne until July 12, almost a month later than we planned! What happened? Crazy stuff, but we’ve made it.
Right now, I’m reclining in a comfy chair in our new sun room. Gone are the mountains, but I have three walls of windows showcasing a spacious, lusciously green and carefully manicured yard, edged in the far back by a wooded strip.* God’s nature is still speaking to me — glory.
Our recent experiences are also speaking to me. Like water gushing from the rock Moses struck, so flow many lessons from our rocky adventures. I feel both troubled and blessed. How can that be? Continue reading →
We are moving our focus from telomeres to a new topic.
Hmm. Speaking of moving, Paul and I are moving! Relocating across country!
Over three weeks ago, I wrote a draft of a post, changing our focus from telomeres to. . . well I’ll tell you next time. Then with all our moving plans and activities, I had no interest in editing and publishing my article, the beginning of a new series.
We’re really in the thick of life right now, and I thought I should write about what I’m experiencing — the end of one chapter and the beginning of a new one. I’m overwhelmed but pushing through. (In January, didn’t I resolve to “keep on keeping on”?)
So, this may be my last post while I’m still living here in Arizona, drinking in the broad, sunny sky, enjoying the view of the Bradshaw Mountains out my front window, participating in Water Aerobics three times a week at our community pool in our development, feeling the comfortable warmth and soft breezes of the central highlands, and enjoying my beautiful, sweet home.
“What on earth are you moving for?” you ask. Hmm. Simple. For love.
Continue reading →
Telomeres. I’ve run into this term several times recently, and then my doctor wrote about them in an article entitled “Successful Aging.” Ah. What are these? (I didn’t learn about them in high school or college biology.) There is the science of telomeres, and then there is the theology of them. The latter comes from my pedestrian theology, not my doctor’s spirituality. Yes, if we’re slow enough to consider (and God gave me the gift of slowness), we may see that everything physical reveals corresponding, spiritual realities.
I have read that “the average person” is composed of over 32 trillion cells, each cell containing 23 pairs of chromosomes with each chromosome composed of a very long pair of spiraling, DNA strands.* Selah (that is, “ponder this”)! Now, where do telomeres come in?
Continue reading →
I had an article to post last week but didn’t think it was appropriate for the Easter season. Actually, I am several weeks overdue. I’ve been processing a very deep, wide, and lingering grief. Yet, no sadness intrudes alone. God consoles through continuous, “take for granted,” daily provisions. God comforts through His quiet presence. I breathe; therefore, I am thankful.
It is spring time. I love the increased conversation, both private and public during this rejuvenating season, about the life of Christ. So, I was anticipating Resurrection Day – Easter Sunday. While I knew I would not attempt the Sunrise Service (at 7:00 a.m., long after sunrise), I did expect to attend the breakfast and worship service. Not so. Continue reading →
What kind of title is this? ” Joni, Elisabeth, and My Applesauce: How Not to Go Astray.” It represents a smattering of thoughts that come together in my struggle to walk. To walk in a particular way and in a particular direction, neither of which is natural to me. Have you ever tried to change the way you walk? Self-consciously, you turn your feet forward, not letting them angle out or in or whatever way you really like, but your doctor says is incorrect. It is just not natural for you.
Beyond the literal, “walking” can mean so many things. If you look up walk in an exhaustive Bible concordance, you’ll find hundreds of references. Walk. Walked. Walking. I’m exhausted! And I haven’t even mentioned run, running, and races!
Hmm. So much to talk about! Let’s sit awhile. Would you prefer coffee or tea? Just a few reflective excursions and then we’ll resume our walk. Or, is the seated conversation a part of the walk? Yes. So glad we can rest and walk at the same time. (The world of the Kingdom is ironically different.)
Continue reading →
Resolve, resolute, resolution. Verb, adjective, noun. So, I’ve simmered over my resolutions and plans for 2018 and presented the topic to you, appropriately, on New Year’s Day. But I did not offer my “New Year’s Resolutions.” I invited you to share your thoughts, yet only one person has responded, only to ask me what my resolutions are. Well. . . . Continue reading →
My Dear Readers,
Today, January 1, 2018, I send you my best thoughts for God’s best for you this year. This will be short! Amazing! Here also is a word from the Word:
Daniel 1:8: “But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king’s food, or with the wine that he drank. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself.” (ESV)
Few role models could surpass Daniel as portrayed in the book of Daniel. When people belittle the practice of making New Year’s resolutions, remember Daniel. His resolve was not made at the beginning of a new year, but at the beginning of a new life, a life he did not choose, a life forced upon him, exiled from home. His resolve was made with grace, wisdom, and tenacity. According to Daniel 9: 23, Gabriel commended Daniel : “You are highly esteemed.” God’s esteem is the best kind.
The KJV translates “Daniel resolved” as “Daniel purposed in his heart”. Ahh.
Paul and I are working on some resolves and heart-purposing. I suppose you are too? God bless you with grace, wisdom, and tenacity in your resolves. Maybe I’ll share some of my resolves. I invite you to share some of yours right here on JNC!
Gratefully,
Karen
Charles Dickens gave us A Christmas Carol, and among many others, he also gave us A Tale of Two Cities. I plan to to savor some Christmas literature this season, but first I’d like to consider Dickens’ opening to his latter tale, a fitting interpreter of our current year.
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way — in short, Continue reading →
I just re-read the last several posts to review where we’ve been going on JNC. I enjoyed the descriptive posts more than the informational post, largely because the descriptions engender peaceful feelings. I need peace. No pursuits. I must be quiet. Right now, physically, I feel awful: my fibromyalgia. I feel like I’m being crushed from the inside out. I had to leave church this morning, unable to stay for the worship service or the Thanksgiving, fellowship dinner following the service.
I do not use JNC as a platform to detail my personal issues; this is not a place for writer’s therapy. I try to stay focused on themes that nourish growth in Christ and well-rounded maturity — for all of us! Is not JNC’s motto “Walking with Christ and becoming more like Him”? It’s an embarrassingly lofty goal, but biblically sound (after all, we, as pedestrian theologians, have the Holy Spirit). The motto reminds me of Robert Browning’s poem, “Andrea del Sarto”. Here are two, often quoted lines from this long work: Continue reading →
