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From Cover to Cover

Posted January 1, 2016 | Karisa Moore

Psalm 46:10 â€œBe still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!â€

(Special thanks to my cousin, for reminding me of my grandmother’s yearly commitment to reading through the Bible and the words falling afresh on her mind in each year of reading.)

Genesis 1-3

Repeatedly God looks at what is created and observes that it was good, and his final conclusion, very good. (Genesis 1)
- If it was very good, does that mean the possibility ofÂ being bad?
- Only one thing was not good. “for man to be alone”(Genesis 2)
- Is it possible that God himself was the light of the world before dayÂ 4?
We are to be stewards of every plant and living creature that he has given to us.
- How am I cultivating a sense of wonder and respect for nature?
I hadn’t noticed before that God “planted” the garden in Eden. He didn’t speak it into existence. (Genesis 2)
No rain. God watered the earth through mist.
God established the boundaries of all things.
The first thing that we noticed when our eyes were opened was that we were naked. We went from no shame to feeling shame for our bodies that God created. (Genesis 3)
Isn’t it interesting that in their eyes being opened to good and evil, that Eve acknowledges that the serpent had deceived her.

Matthew 1

God walked on earth, intimately interacted with his creation from the beginning. He did again through his son Jesus, and he is with us now through the Holy Spirit. The very same Holy Spirit that conceived a child in Mary and rested upon the disciples!
- Do I live in this power?
God used some pretty rough characters to bring Jesus into the world.Â Can IÂ see God’s hand in theÂ heritage and lineage of my family?

My Utmost for his Highest

When Digging a Trench, Assemble Your Team

Posted December 24, 2015 | Karisa Moore

Ecclesiastes 4:7Again, I saw vanity under the sun: 8one person who has no other, either son or brother, yet there is no end to all his toil, and his eyes are never satisfied with riches, so that he never asks, â€œFor whom am I toiling and depriving myself of pleasure?â€ This also is vanity and an unhappy business.

9Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. 10For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! 11Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? 12And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand himâ€”a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

Shoveling snow would not have surprised me on December 23rd. Digging a trench to save our basement from flooding, however,Â was not on my Christmas list. We were in the path of the storm today thanks to El Nino. While we didn’t get the gloom and doom that weathercasters had been threateningÂ us withÂ all day, we did get heavy rains.

We had planned to go see the Peanuts movie tonight, but Daniel wasn’t feeling up to going so we set up shop in the basement. As the rain came down harder I began to be concerned about our window, a weak point in our backyard swamp. When we looked out the water was about three inches up the window.

We went into problem solving mode. Shovels, siphon, buckets, and building a damn. Think we have done this before? The kids begged for a job so we let them pick up the clods of dirt and carry it over to the weak point. Within a half an hour the window well was cleared, our trench pulled water away from the window, and four very wet and muddy humans trudged inside to get cleaned up.

It was amazing! I love my family and it is wonderful what we accomplish when we work together. Do you have yourÂ ditch digging team assembled?Â God did notÂ createÂ us to go it alone. Reach out to those around you. If you don’t have friends or family,Â begin the steps to develop friendships. You will make mistakes, pick yourself up and try again. My life changed drastically when I stoppedÂ being dominated by my fear of rejection. As I began to fall in love with Jesus, loving others became easier. Scripture is filled to the brim with fellowship. And if you see others who are isolated, reach into their world and be present with them. You don’t know what trenches they might be having to dig.

Blessings upon you thisÂ Christmas!

Your friend,

Karisa

Manger Alter

Posted December 19, 2015 | Karisa Moore

Ramen Noodles were a mothers desperate attempt at feeding her child who could not keep food down. It was a favorite food. I did not understand how much my heart was entangled inÂ this simple pleasure until my husband asked if he could donate it to the food bank. He had no idea I had purchased the unopened packageÂ for Jonathan until I choked out the words.

ItÂ sat in my Lazy Susan for two years. How my heart aches! To give voice to my pain, to identify my sorrow, is an opportunity to let go of anything that hinders me from pressing forward. I have been deeply hinderedÂ this Christmas. The constant abscess of grief is wearing my spiritÂ to rags.Â Â So, after havingÂ Brian check the expiration date–do Ramen Noodles ever expire? –I offered it to my king (laughter is good medicine)Â and asked that it may bless the belly of the hungry soul who receives it.

What is sitting in your Lazy Susan this year? Can you let go?

Betrayed by the body

Posted December 9, 2015 | Karisa Moore

Lamentations:320Surely my soul remembers And is bowed down within me. 21This I recall to my mind, Therefore I have hope. 22The LORD’S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail.â€¦

Matthew 26:38Then He said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me.”

Sometimes our body betrays our attempts at escaping depression. Chronic pain, chronic insomnia, chronic stress all break down our body. In other words, our body comes into agreement with depression. So when we begin to change our thinking and our actions the body doesn’t always respond, sometimes because of physical illness it will never be able to respond and at times it out and out rebels.

I often joke that I’m so used to chaos that panic ensues when I experience something normal. Anyone who has ever had an addiction can attest to the war between the body and new habits. Caffeine withdraw can cause headaches, because our body becomes used to caffeine and craves it. Our body can crave depression.

Don’t lose heart when the body doesn’t respond to hope or new habits of acting in faith. Keep forming new ways of thinking, interact with humanity because it IS the right thing to do, not because it feels right. Do what is good, even if the body betrays you.

You Drew Me In

Posted December 8, 2015 | Karisa Moore

Giggles and crayons melted

the distance between our sorrow.

Sketched out souls, framed together

in a mosaic moment of

play.

I miss him echoed

in our quiet parallel

expressions of color.

Each grieving, uniquely

united by the unquiet outline

ofÂ our circumstances.

We are . . .

Posted December 5, 2015 | Karisa Moore

Herald DisbatchPsalm 13:3Consider and answer me, O LORD my God; Enlighten my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death, 4And my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,” And my adversaries will rejoice when I am shaken. 5But I have trusted in Your lovingkindness; My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.â€¦

Sometimes it is not about winning, it is about building his team, showing up for the game and giving all to our heavenly coach, witnessing to theÂ next generation in the stands and giving them the chance for victory.

I just finished watching We Are Marshall, a movie about Marshall University in Huntington, WVÂ and the tragic plane crash that shattered many lives on November 14, 1970. Seventy-five people lost their lives on that flight. The decision to re-build the football team was not one reached easily.

The new head coachÂ Jack Lengyel, played by Matthew Mconaughey. was an outsider who was moved with compassion for the grieving family, school and city.Â However, he alsoÂ knew they needed hope.

McConaughey uses the phrase, “The funerals end today,” but Lengyel said he had to make that known not only to the players but to the schools the team played. Each time the team traveled, the school would have a memorial for Marshall, but Lengyel said the team couldn’t continue and grow under those conditions. (Herald Dispatch)

To grow we have to realize that God still has plans for us. My husband, kids, and you daily remind me that the funeral ends today. Daniel saw the movie in our DVD collection and asked if he could watch it. I hesitated, knowing the intensity of the movie. He asked questions all week about the football team, about the school. He was clearly thinking deeply about the loss. “How many people are on a football team?” . . . “What are boosters?” “How do you start over?” “They must have felt like we do about losing Jonathan.”

We are knocked to the ground, barely able to breath, and the enemy is in our face telling us to stay down.

You are . . . nothing

You are . . . a failure

You are . . . a loser

Sometimes we need an outsider to see our pain, come onto the field of battle and draw up a new play book. God did this by sending his own son. He tell us:

you are . . . beautiful

you are . . . resilient

You are . . . loving

You are. . . worth the struggle

You are . . . a part of my plan

Since Jonathan’s death thereÂ are more personal losses and world tragedies the weigh heavy on my heart. Like David I remind myself of who I know God is:

You are . . . good to me

You are . . .Savior

You are . . . Mighty

You are . . . Personal

You are . . . All Knowing

You are. . . Trustworthy

“In this world you will have troubles, butÂ take heart, IÂ have overcome the world.” John 16:33

We chant with our lives we are . . . And allow the next generation to answer. They know who they are and whose they are because we didn’t give up!

Whom Do You Fear?

Posted October 31, 2015 | Karisa Moore

Luke 12:4-5 “I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that have no more that they can do. 5“But I will warn you whom to fear: fear the One who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into hell; yes, I tell you, fear Him! 6“Are not five sparrows sold for two cents? Yet not one of them is forgotten before God.â€¦

Whom do you fear this Halloween? There is a house on my street my kids avoid every year because things in the yard move and jump out at them. Is it the monsters under the bed, or the person that sucks the life out of you because they are harsh and abusive in words or deed?

Real or imagined we all have fears. I’m afraid of heights and being trapped in small spaces. I battle the fear ofÂ losing the rest of my family because of Jonathan’s death. All of these are earthly fears, and theyÂ will one day, literally, pass away. These fears often cause us to avoid God, hurt others, or hurt ourselves. Some of you live in the most painful of realities. But there is one fear that is life changing, one fear that should be more tangible than what torture life may put us through.

It is the fear of the Lord.

Unlike earthly fears, we are transformed by this relationship founded upon fear! “He is not a tame lion, but he is good.” (Mr. Beaver, The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe)

Take a look at these verses:

Proverbs 14:26 In the fear of the LORD is strong confidence: and his children shall â€¦

Psalm 19:9 The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever. The …

Revelation 14:7 Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the â€¦

2 Chronicles 19:7… Fear the LORD and judge with integrity, for the LORD our God does not tolerate
perverted justice, partiality, or the taking of bribes.” …

Job 28:28… He has commanded mankind: ‘To fear the Lordâ€”that is wisdom; to move away from evilâ€”that is understanding.'” …

Amos 3:8 … The lion has roared; who will not fear? The Lord GOD has spoken; who can but prophesy …

Proverbs 14:27The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, turning a person from the snares of death. …

WhatÂ are the results ofÂ fearing God?

fear = strong confidence

fear = worship

fear = wisdom

fear = pure, enduring forever

fear = integrity

fear = prophesy

fear = life

Fear of God releases us from the fear of man or anything else that may intend us harm on this earth!

Near Death

Posted October 23, 2015 | Karisa Moore

I’m not sure what to call the consistent string of crazy things that keep happening to me while in the car. I’ve had all kinds of things thrown off work trucks and yesterday, while on the interstate, my car accelerated and the breaks stopped working during rush hour traffic. I’m in total awe that not once did traffic stop. If it had I would have hit the cars ahead of me at 50miles/hour. The route I take is always stop and go traffic! I felt the breaks finally give just a little so I pushed with all my might, threw on the emergency break, which up to this point wasn’t working at all and pulled onto the shoulder. When the tow truck came for the car he said that the throttle was stuck on open.

I am going to do a little praising if you don’t mind!

Thank you Jesus for helping me to not panic! Thank you Lord for giving Daniel the strength to talk to 911. Thank you Jesus that Natalie turned from crying to praying. Thank you Lord for protecting us and the people around us. Lord, it really feels like the enemy is seeking to destroy my family. May I become all the bolder in proclaiming your truth, whatever my circumstances. I’m near death, but so were you. The enemy tried to destroy you before the cross repeatedly. You submitted to your Father’s will even though it led to a cross! I submit to your will, you will be glorified! Amen

Past or Present: The Finish Line is Ahead not Behind Us

Posted September 15, 2015 | Karisa Moore

Grief is not made for fence sitters. At this level it will either make or break you, there really is no in-between..Â Grief reveals what youÂ believe in your heart and then begs the question, “What are you going to do about it?” Do we define ourselves by what is taken from us or by what God has given to us?

Last night I melted down. Not because of bad things, but because through Jonathan’s death others, also deeply struggling,Â are choosing life. As good and amazing as those miracles are, I found myself saying, but I want Jonathan! Natural right.

Actually those of us who believe in Jesus Christ, who are being led by the Spirit and not our nature, need to be maturing towards believing death where is your sting! Otherwise, every time I am reminded of what I have lost rather than what has been gained, I am undone, derailed–my faith unravels. For some this may sound a bit uncompassionate, but let me give you some clear examples of what I’m talking about.

Would you want a surgeon operating on you who couldn’t get past the patient he justÂ attempted to saveÂ that didn’t make it?Â Or would you marry someone still pining over the boy or girlfriend that they didn’t marry? That would be miserable!

I am a miserable Christian if I am still burying my dead and not following Jesus’ example.

Philippians 3: 11that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.. . .13Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 15Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. 16Only let us hold true to what we have attained.

The power of the resurrection is that what lies ahead is far greater than anything we leave behind! Like Paul I cannot claim that I have made this power central to my character yet. I have the head knowledge of this truth, but it has not penetrated my heart. The Lord has revealed (vs. 15)Â that heaven, and being with Jesus forever is still very abstract to me.Â But, Father I ask that you become my finish line! Open my eyes wide to your truth, your love and help me to mature in faith. May I become more focused on the living and celebrate with you that life is springing forth from Jonathan’s death. You are keeping your promise to me. Amen!

Leaping, Shouting, and Singing

Posted September 3, 2015 | Karisa Moore

Proverbs 15:13 13Â A joyful heart makes a cheerful face, But when the heart is sad, the spirit is broken.

The irony was not lost on my friend and I. The day we chose to do this photo op, my usually cheerful baby was having none of it. She was mad and crying the whole time. Sometimes our heart is sad, because it is broken by deep loss. Many times, even when I am laughing my eyes give me away. I got free crazy bread just the other day because the cashier thought I was carrying the weight of the world on my shoulders.

Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. I want my words, my life, and my example to flow from a heart filled with unexplainable joy. I am just plain not there yet, so how doÂ I transition from a sad to a joyful heart? Important Note: Scripture doesn’t say HAPPY, it says JOYFUL. I am not happy that my son is dead. I’m not happy that there is so much pain, sorrow, sicknessÂ and fear dominating us. I’m not happy that friends I hold dear are faced with divorce. I’m not happy about many things.

Happiness is very fleeting, but joy raises weighted shoulders,Â so that I canÂ lift my arms to the heavens to give thanks no matter what crashes around me. This isn’tÂ a blind action, you go intoÂ joy eyes wide open, joy must be intentional. Some of the most oppressed people are also the most joyful. Their hearts are wide open the possibilities in their suffering. They discipline themselves in reading scripture, fellowshipping together, prayer, and witnessing (attesting to what the have seen and heard). Â Oh Lord, may I become so saturate in the joy of your presence that leaping, shouting, and singing become second nature. Amen.

Posts Categorized: writing

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