Sick day ❤️

Our morning started at 3:30 this morning. I was jolted awake by my 4 year old's cries. I ran to her room to find my girl in a puddle of bodily fluids. I'll leave it at that, and simply say this is a most nasty virus... Sadly that meant that Mom missed her run for the second day in a row. Insert sad face here... The disappointment didn't last long though, as sick days with Leah Grace mean lots of snuggles and sweet sugar. She is the most grateful kid, and she loves to snuggle, so even sick days are a joy. She is such a blessing as are all three of my minions, and a day spent with any of them is a day well spent. 

Now if Mom can just escape the virus, I'll be back at it tomorrow, but today it was nice to slow down and hold my baby. 

Faith. Family. Run. ❤️

A New Years Resolution

It seems that everyone waxes philosophical this time of year nostalgically recalling events of the year and past years and resolving to be better and do better in the months to come.  I am no different, but as I started reviewing my year and endeavoring to set a new goal for 2014, I couldn't come up with one thing. I am so blessed and content that I can't think of one thing within my power to change.

Note, I said within my power. My life is not perfect; however, I find contentment and happiness amid the imperfection. I have found in my experience that the more I resolve to do do better and be better, the more unhappy I become because I am incapable of the change that is required on my own. It is only through God's grace and wisdom that these changes can be made, and the more I try to make those changes in my own strength, the more dissatisfied and unhappy I become.

It is with that insight that I resolve to not make a resolution this year, but to endeavor to Love God and those around me more fully. My heart's desire is to spend less time being aggravated and frustrated and more time enjoying the quiet moments with loved ones that I'm given and often take for granted. I want to live life to the fullest instead of worrying about what might be. I want to notice the beauty around me in a sunrise, a fall day, and especially the laughs of my husband and children. Above all, I hope to follow Christ more closely and find that I am reflecting Him more and more each day. These are lofty goals, I know. It will take a lifetime to reach them, but a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step, and I am stepping out today not by my strength, but His.

8 years

Eric and I are celebrating our 8th anniversary this week. I am amazed. Not that I didn't think we'd make it, but that we truly have become one.

Genesis says, "Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh." (Genesis 2:24 ESV)

I never understood that. I had heard many mavens of marriage say that their relationship "became sweeter" and that "they were closer than ever," but that has never resonated more loudly with me than it has in recent times. I always loved Eric, but I find myself even more in love. I am totally comfortable with him because he knows all of my deep dark secrets and he hasn't run screaming into the night. Conversely, I know all of his baggage and instead of walking away, I help him bear it and unpack it. We have been to the mountain top (literally and figuratively;)), and we have touched the depths of the ocean together. It hasn't always been easy, but with God to guide us, we have come to a place where we are content.

I hope this doesn't sound like Facebook psychology because it really comes from my heart when I say that we truly are becoming one. God really does have a plan, and it is good.

Long Overdue Update

I know it has been a long time since I have posted here, but life has been busy. It is amazing how that happens, huh? I just wanted to share some updates from the Kaunitz home. We are very blessed here. Our children are sweet and amazing. Christian and Hannah Beth are both in school which is challenging at times. Both get wonderful grades. Leah is still clinging to the last shreds babyhood. Her little chubby cheeks make you want to kiss all over her little face.

We have been attending a "new" church for over a year now. We love it. The music is awesome and my bother-in-law preaches there, so I guess the preachin's not half bad either... ;) Truly we are blessed to be there. Our new family has welcomed us with open arms, and the kicker is that our "old" family is just as wonderful. I remember learning a song in Girls Scouts that said, "Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver and the other Gold." That is so true. We are blessed beyond measure.

Buckeye Magic

I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to be on the field with my school's Varsity Football team Friday night. Preparations started Thursday evening with the baking of 10 dozen cookies for the boys almost all of them arrived at their destination. :) All day Friday was filled with nervous excitement as we tried to get through the day and be productive. I found myself slightly nauseous all day thinking about the evening to come. Finally, the last bell rang and it was time to take the cookies to the field house and rush home to get the children situated and get back for the pre-game activities. As I entered the field house for the second time to watch the highlight reel from prior games and hang out until game time, I could feel the electricity in the air. The Pastor lead the team in a devotional that would inspire anyone to walk on water.

Prior to this game the team had lost two games on our home field, so there was also an air of apprehension as everyone prepared for the game. I milled about and visited with Miss Amy our Athletic secretary as the guys suited up and got taped. Next the boys took the field to warm up and get loose. They looked like a well oiled machine going through their warm up exercises.

I was impressed as the boys grouped up for a pep talk from our Head Coach. The mood was growing increasingly frenzied as we listened to the coaches words. Then a short meeting with the Defensive boys and a prayer. By this time I was so proud of those boys that it didn't matter whether they won or lost the game. I had seen them help each other and be responsible in a way that I had never seen them before. I was inspired and felt honored to teach at Gilmer High School.

Finally with Game Faces on, we took the field. Running out onto the field amid screaming fans heightened the excitement, and it only gets more intense from there. I was trying to soak in everything, but I really only remember bits and pieces, as the next hours flew by in the frenzy that was a battle of Epic proportions, but they rose to the challenge and won the game, and as I deposited my jersey back in the field house and slipped off to my own children and husband, I knew that I had experienced something amazing and magical and that I would never be the same.

Blessed be the name

Blessed Be Your Name
In the land that is plentiful
Where Your streams of abundance flow
Blessed be Your name

Blessed Be Your name
When I'm found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed Be Your name

Every blessing You pour out
I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

Blessed be Your name
When the sun's shining down on me
When the world's 'all as it should be'
Blessed be Your name

Blessed be Your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there's pain in the offering
Blessed be Your name

Every blessing You pour out
I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

You give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord, blessed be Your name

~ Matt Redman

Today is my 37th birthday. I was sad leading up to this day. I am still a little disappointed that things are not exactly what I had planned. I have faced many things in those years, blessings and curses, but today as I read Job, I realized that in the good and the bad, God is good, all the time.

For everything there is a season...

"There is a time for everything and a Season for every activity under heaven. " Ecclesiastes 3:1

This scripture is a hard one to swallow. When you read the entire passage is goes on to list activities including death and life, war and peace, and tearing and mending. It also says that for all of our striving, we as humans can do nothing to change this pattern. I am struggling with the words right now to describe my week and explain why this scripture has impacted me. It began with an email from a co worker that a friend had lost her 5 month old to a heart condition. That started me to thinking about the frailty of life and how blessed I am to have healthy children. The week rocked on and culminated in yet another reminder that life is frail and that bad things happen to good people. I won't detail that matter to protect the privacy of a close friend and family member. Needless to say, this week has been daunting. I have found myslef searching for some comfort in God's word. Hoping to have the right words to say at the right time.

Thankfully the passage continues and gives hope and a sense of purpose to the daily grinding a tearing down that the world offers us. My saving grace is verse 11: "He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of Men." I take great comfort in knowing that what ever comes my way God is using it to make his plan beautiful and that I can count on eternity with Him.