Karen's Little Corner of the World

I have a bloggerversary coming up on Halloween. (I thought it would be fun to do a giveaway so if you want to help me celebrate my special day click this link and enter) I thought.  I also have become part of the Alabama Bloggers so in order to introduce myself to you guys I thought I would take you back on a trip in time.  My very first post was on Wednesday, October 31st, 2007.  I was a newish preachers wife and learning about life as a pastor's wife.  Frank becoming a preacher is kind of a funny tale.  I had a dream.....and no...my name is not Martin Luther Korb....but in my dream we were in seminary somewhere in Texas and poor....very poor.  I dream a lot and some of my dreams actually have come true.  My mom used to tell me I had a third eye like her and could sometimes see the future.  I always thought that was poppycock.  I shared my dream with Frank the next morning and laughed....thinking he would too....but he didn't.  He had a most perplexed look on his face.  The next day in the Walmart parking lot he told me he had something serious he wanted to tell me....Come on I thought....serious conversation in the Walmart parking lot!  Truthfully I thought he was going to tell me my parents had to go.  I was braced for that....what I was not braced for was what he DID say.  Frank told me that my dream had hit close to home and it was time to stop running from God.  He had talked to our Associate Pastor at the First United Methodist Church and he had sent him to the District Superintendent.  Frank was going to licensing school to become a Local Pastor.  Huh?  And what was the time frame of this going to be I wondered.  Visions of seminary in Texas flooded my brain.  Licensing school would take a week and then MAYBE he would get a church the next June.  Appointments were already in the works for this year.  Ok...so I would have a year to digest this.....but...as holds true to form with my life...that was not the case.  Frank's first appointment was that very June in 2007.  The church was a small church in Waverly, AL just outside of Auburn, AL.  It was a part time appointment so he would still have to have a full-time job and at some point go back to school.  My very first post was about my life from June to October as a pastor's wife and it looked like this:
"Wednesday, October 31, 2007 -Wow! Today is Halloween and I have been a preacher's wife since June. It has been an interesting ride to say the least. Who would have ever thought that at age 53 I would be putting my walk where my mouth is! My husband Frank is the pastor at Waverly United Methodist Church and we are loving it. Sitting on the second row every Sunday as he delivers the message to his congregation is really exciting. I have learned so much just being quiet and still. Here is my thought for today. So many times we get to caught up in the busyness of the world that we miss the business of doing God's work. I truly believe that God put me in Waverly to teach me that lesson. He knows that for one hour on Sunday morning I am still and know that He is God. God is Great! See you soon, Karen" 
Three years later I am still a pastor's wife, sitting on the second row of a different church, Rock Mills United Methodist, and still loving to hear my husband deliver the message each and every Sunday.  There is a slight difference.  Rock Mills is a bigger church AND I am now a certified lay speaker and can fill pulpits myself when needed.  Last Sunday was laity Sunday at our church and I delivered the message.  The congregation had never heard me speak and when I was through one of our little ladies told Frank they were going to fire him and hire me.  That was a big boost for my self-esteem I can tell you.  I am a huge Beth Moore, Patsy Clairmont, et al. fan and being in the pulpit was exhilarating to say the least.  I am a story teller by nature, teacher by trade, preacher's wife by design, a singer, traveler and blogger by desire.  I love my life and love what I do.  Have not read my blog yet?  Well there is a lot of stuff there.  I share my life (living with a dad dying from cancer, a mom with dementia, children, teaching, stuff), I share photos (I love to be behind a camera....not in front of one), I share silly stuff, I share recipes, I share things that will make you cry or think, I share my sermons for you to comment on and help me improve, I open my home and heart to you and let you take a walk through.  There in Karen's Korner there is a little something for everything.  Hope you will stop in and have a cup of coffee with me and become my new bloggy friend.