Spiritual Growth

Cross Country Adventure Begins Today

Posted on September 2, 2013 by Karen Thomas Olsen

It’s 5:00 A.M. and still thoroughly dark outside. I’m up and packed, ready to begin a month long adventure. Before we leave for the airport in four hours, I wanted to write a post to you all.   I have an update on the DeFord family, which I’ll save for next time when I have more time to develop some thoughts.  Continue to pray for God’s grace on them and all the Hotshot families, and pray that Dustin’s life story will continue to speak gospel-grace.

Today is Labor Day.  Paul is driving me to Sky Harbor Airport south of Phoenix, a 1 1/2 hour drive from Prescott Valley.  I’m leaving our green valley (yes, the monsoon rains  have transformed our landscape), and I’m flying to Denver to meet a close friend. Tomorrow, we take off from her Victorian home in her Honda Pilot to travel east to Chicago and on to Ohio. Continue reading →

Categories: Spiritual Growth | Tags: , | 5 Comments

Thank You; Comforting Thoughts

Posted on August 19, 2013 by Karen Thomas Olsen

Thank you to all who responded to the last post. So very interesting to hear a bit of your stories. This reminds me of my summer after fourth grade.  We had moved from Findlay to Bowling Green, Ohio.  These towns (little cities) were just a mere half hour from each other, but to me, they were worlds apart. Life started over for me in BG, as Bowling Green so often is called.  That summer, I walked about six blocks to the local library and checked out books. I discovered the biography section of the children’s library and fell in love with stories of people who lived before me. Continue reading →

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Questions for You

Posted on August 6, 2013 by Karen Thomas Olsen

Journey North Character is about “walking with Christ and becoming more like in Him.”  This is an audacious goal, except when one considers that the Holy Spirit, no, the entire Godhead resides within believers! This concept is mind-blowing. But Scripture says so!  Take a look at Ephesians 3:16-19 and then at the fuller context. This passage has always boggled me.  Continue reading →

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Lost and Found

Posted on July 30, 2013 by Karen Thomas Olsen
Cousins: Front: Susan, Gary Back: Elaine, Karen, Donna

Cousins:
Front: Susan, Gary
Back: Elaine, Karen, Donna

Bobby & Susie Kloeffer

Bobby & Susie Kloeffer ( June 2012)

What do you think of when you read the words, “Lost and Found”?  I think of a big, plastic bin at the YMCA where swimsuits, goggles, towels, and tee shirts were tossed when people left things behind in the locker room. I think of a closet at school where books, binders, purses, and such were stored, waiting for owners to come and claim them. I think of little Bo-Peep who lost her sheep and didn’t know where to find them. Lost and found.

Continue reading →

Categories: Joy & Suffering -- Good & Evil, Spiritual Growth | Tags: , , , , | 2 Comments

Belongs To Whom ?

Posted on July 10, 2013 by Karen Thomas Olsen
June 18: View from our house in Prescott Valley of the Doce Fire in Prescott, AZ

June 18: View from behind our house in Prescott Valley of the Doce Fire near Prescott, involving 7000 acres, 460 evacuated houses, and 672 firefighers including the Granite Mountain Hotshots. The fire was successfully extinguished with no loss of life or houses. All Prescott rejoiced.

This has been a life-framing prayer for Paul and me:

“Your Majesty,

Thank you for what you have entrusted to me to manage on your behalf.

These possessions, these resources, these gifts are not mine, but yours.

Give me the wisdom I need to make them available for the work of your kingdom.

I am honored to be your subject.

Amen.”* Continue reading →

Categories: Joy & Suffering -- Good & Evil, Spiritual Growth | Tags: , , , | 5 Comments

24 Summers

Posted on July 4, 2013 by Karen Thomas Olsen
Dustin DeFord

Dustin DeFord

Twenty-four summers. If you’re old enough to have lived some years, and I suppose most of my readers are, do your remember your 24th summer? Dustin DeFord completed his. At least part of it. And, as you know from my last post and from national news, 24 was his culminating year! I told my sister what an irony it is that he with his youth, vigor, and dedication to Christ should have his life snuffed out, while I am 59,  physically weary, and am still alive. I would have gladly died instead. Of course, no Hotshot firefighter could I  have ever been! My sister’s immediate response was, “Karen, your job’s not done, but Dustin’s is.” Continue reading →

Categories: Joy & Suffering -- Good & Evil, Spiritual Growth | Tags: , , , , , | 4 Comments

Sparkling Water and Repetitious Lyrics

Posted on June 12, 2013 by Karen Thomas Olsen

I just returned from a water aerobics class down at the pool at our community center. Back to my studies and writing. In the background, I’m listening to the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir sing such songs as “Because of Who You Are” and “Hallelujah Anyhow.”   I could houseclean to this kind of music, but I’m not cleaning.  I’m contemplating the edges of Divine Majesty, eating Greek yogurt with almonds, daydreaming about my family and our future, and still seeing in my mind the crystalline, blue sparkles of  the pool’s H2O.   “Glory Hallelujah to the Risen King,” the choir now sings. My! My senses are being exercised in the otherwise stillness of my kitchen, where I sit on a padded stool by my counter with my laptop. Continue reading →

Categories: Spiritual Growth | Tags: , | 6 Comments

The Sound of the Quail

Posted on June 1, 2013 by Karen Thomas Olsen

My last four posts were written in the mid west– somewhere between Chicago, Illinois and Dayton, Ohio.  After five weeks away, I’m now back home in the high dessert of central Arizona — in Prescott Valley. Still adjusting.  Continue reading →

Categories: Spiritual Growth | Tags: , | 10 Comments

When in Doubt, It’s Chocolate Time — Dark Chocolate Time!

Posted on May 23, 2013 by Karen Thomas Olsen

Hello!! No one took me up on addressing the question I threw out last time: Why do our minds, emotions, and wills want to fight each other?  Maybe it’s too obvious to you. Maybe you are uncomfortable with responding to a blog. A number of people tell me they read the posts but don’t want to comment; they just like reading them. Pleased you read and enjoy. Well, where shall I go from here?  When in doubt, it’s time for chocolate. Continue reading →

Categories: Parenting, Spiritual Growth | Tags: , , | 3 Comments

Dissonant Hearts; Merry Hearts

Posted on May 11, 2013 by Karen Thomas Olsen

The intersection between Scriptural concepts and life experience fascinates me. A study of the words translated as heart in the Bible have led us to understand that the biblical concept of the heart includes all the functions of the immaterial self: Continue reading →

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