Long Time No See...

Hi everybody :)

I haven't posted a blog in a while, and I apologize for not keeping you all more updated on what has been going on in my life lately. Well, I am still here at college and learning new things everyday. The beginning of the year started out a little rocky for me, trying to adjust to all the new things and people that God has brought into my life. But it has also been an amazing blessing. I have been blessed by God in ways that I never expected to be :) I am now blessed to be in a relationship with my friend from school last year, Caleb, who has become my best friend. I definitley never expected it to happen but he has been such a blessing from God. He walks alongside me and encourages me to live Biblically, and we have lots of fun at the same time :)...definitley lots of laughs involved! I hope to encourage him everyday as much as he always encourages me.

This past semester, school has been a lot more difficult than I thought. There are so many papers to write and articles to read, but I am thankful that I have the opportunity to learn so much! I am taking 18 credits this semster and its a lot harder to tackle than before. It requires a huge time commitment, but that's what I'm here to do. And all the classes I've been taking are really interesting--especially human anatomy! Caleb has helped me study for it a lot....I mean we've been to the lab hours and hours a week! Another way that God has blessed me recently is that I get to be a Biology Lab TA next semester! I'm so exctied. I love biology. I get to help people do what I had so much fun doing last year. And in my Writing About Disability class, I've had the chance to learn about disability in society and how lives can be affected! Some of you may know how interesting disability is to me! Speaking of, I even get to work at a camp for kids with disabilities next summer! It's a class I'm taking for spring semester. I get to spend 2 weeks at a camp this year. It will definitley be an opportunity to love and learn!

School has been rough and balance has been challenging but God always reminds (me with a little poke) to look to Him who can deliver me through any trial. At times I feel like I'm stuck. Stuck in my own mind and in the trappings of this world. And my racing and panicky thoughts keep me at a standstill at a crossroad. In the last few months I've tried relying on my own knowledge and my own "wisdom" and even the words of others, but I have found that nothing satisfies or gives me peace like the word of God. It is what I have hope in. It is the very inspired word of my God. He has been teaching me to seek Him and His word first. Took look up to Him and cry out for help. And let me tell you that He has been unbelievably faithful. Although little things haven't happened in the time I thought they would or the way I thought they would, but in the end God shows me that He has great plans for my life. Ones that I may not realize or even have thought about before. "Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God's work from beginning to end." Ecclesiastes 3:11

I can absolutley say that I am glad my life story is written by the hands of God and not my own hands. Because if it was, I would never learn so much about love, trust, faith, and God's amazing power on my own. I would not change a thing. There have definitley been some points where God has called me to do something that I have been so afraid to do. I always afraid of the unknown. I'm scared to trust God. But when I think about it, I remember all the times the Lord has been faithful. He has been faithful before, and I am confident that He'll be faithful again. Things may not work out exactly how I want, but I'm okay with that. His plan and His way is greater. This is a verse I just keep coming back to: "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans for good and not for evil; to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11.

So with this, and knowing that there will be times that I--and you too, I'm sure--am afraid to take a step or leap of faith, I will be doing my next blog on obedience. It's something that God has been teaching me about lately. I will be looking at verses that talk about these topics: Why should we obey God? What is the big deal about obedience? How do we obey? And what happens when we obey?

So, I hope you keep your eye out for my next blog! It's the first time in a while that I've really been inspired by the Lord to write again! :) Thanks for listening! And I'll try to post more pictures with my next blog...the uploader wasn't working real well this time!

All the glory to Him! ~Kasey

My Temporary Home

HERE I AM AGAIN…

Something has been on my heart ever since I’ve come back to school. You wanna know what I’ve been feeling lately? Beat down by this world. Almost crushed at times. Since leaving the comfort and safety of home once again, I am remembering how rough it gets trying to stand up under the pressures of this world. We live in a world that is so full of different ideologies, religious views, philosophies, and controversies, that it makes my head spin around. I get so caught up in all the things around me that I lose sight of God and His purpose. Maybe, like me, you’ve been hearing the devil whisper in your ear that you are a complete idiot for believing in such a God—for believing that there is hope in such a dark world.

HOPELESS?

Instead of taking the Lord’s perspective and looking outside myself—outside of my circumstances—I have been beaten down by the craziness all around me. All the things we see and hear that make us feel hopeless. We are stuck in such a hard place. As believers, I’ve realized that our hearts are torn. We long to be with Christ our Savior but we are here on earth where there are things that tempt us everywhere. There is darkness, there is pain, there is confusion…but among the dark clouds there is also a glimmer of hope. And that is Christ. We know what is to come. We long for paradise and to be in the presence of our King. I believe that is one of the hardest things about being stuck here in the middle, on earth. “But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior” Philippians 3:20.

A RAY OF SUNSHINE…

One day we will be in paradise–“He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” Revelation 21:4. And although the enemy will try to convince you that there is no reason for hope, “be patient in trouble, and keep on praying…”Romans 12:12 because “the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet” Romans 16:20a. The lies will cease and the glory of the Lord will be revealed. And we can have so much hope because we are no longer living as slaves to our sin. “Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead you live under the freedom of grace” Romans 6:14. We can walk this road of life in God’s freedom.

So when you are feeling beat down by this world remember this: “Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory” Colossians 3:1-5. When I’m down, I always remind myself to think in the grand scheme of things. I ask myself, “In the end, is this really going to matter? In the end, is any of this worry I have going to make a difference?”

One day I know I’m going to see God’s face. And we can have all our hope in Him, not this crazy world. He is our hope. His promises have always held true. He has been faithful before and He will be faithful again. Be comforted by the fact that you are in the arms and loved by a most amazing and powerful God—the One who made you a part of His story. We may have troubles. We may be confused at times. We may feel lost in a crazy and self-crazed world. But we can take heart because our Christ has already overcome. We already have the victory. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart because I have overcome the world” John 16: 33.

HERE AND NOW…

Isn’t it amazing that we already know how the story ends? We are just waiting on Him to take us to paradise with Him. And all that He asks of us while we wait is this: “He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God” Micah 6:8. Wow. God’s love and grace is something I may never understand, but I will trust in it.

To end, I leave you with this verse and a song. This verse reminds me to look outside of my circumstances and what I may be feeling to my amazing Savior. For we will not be here forever, the things we see are only temporary…for this is my temporary home.

“For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever” 2 Corinthians 4:17-19.