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AnnaKarenina
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Name: Karen
Country: United States
State: Oklahoma
Birthday: 9/12/1984
Gender: Female
Interests: Making juice popsicles, choreographing Outkast videos, sharpening pencils, eating, all things musical, all things wonderful...
Expertise: Few may know, but I am an achieved alchemist. Give me your metal scraps and I will go Harry Winston on ya!
Occupation: Student
Message: message me
AIM:  squirrelsgirl12
Member Since:
4/30/2004
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| Ten years......
....is quite a bit of time...a decade...a milestone that carries some weight...this week marks just such a moment in my life...celebrating ten years of a life changing event...this week, ten years ago, I listened to "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill" for the first time...sorry if that was anti-climatic for you, but I think it's safe to say that this album empowered a shy, dorky 8th grader to stand up for what she believed in and to put aside the comments of those who believed she was beyond different...and reminded her of this fact every day...we celebrate other defining moments like anniversaries, birthdays...so why not commemorate life's other defining moments...in honor, Miss Hill's "Miseducation" will be rotating frequently for the next several days...because these days, I need to be empowered...regularly...
....today in church, during the children's moment, Brother Charlie asked the kiddos what they loved more than anything and that if they could have anything, what would they want? He was expecting them to yell "SNICKERS!" and "BUBBLE GUM!"....instead, the following responses were heard in smatterings...."LIGHTNING!"...."FLOWERS!"...."WATER!!!"....all God's creations and all lacking in artificial preservatives...amazing how a child can bring your focus back to what is important...and to how warped our thinking is...if I had been up there, I probably would have yelled "TOMS BOOTS!"....I can't wait to reach the point in my life when I can answer "lightning"....
Bomb grafitti on the tomb of Nefertiti......................................................................................Karen
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| Summer is quickly drawing to a close......
....and it is hard to believe...it has been quite an eventful season...between taking the youth kids to several camps, preparing for my first teaching job, recording the EP with Red River Connection, and taking my own retreat to New Mexico, I am constantly reminded of how blessed I am and that I should always remain joyful...
...so yes, I have officially been hired to teach 11th Grade English at Yukon High School this year, the place where I spent my entire high school experience and loved dearly...I said the entire time I was job hunting that the last place I wanted to teach was Yukon...however, my interview there was the best interview one could ever had and I knew the second I left it that Yukon was where I was supposed to be...strangely, while I was still deciding a couple of days later, I went to see Kung Fu Panda with my husband and received the ultimate wisdom from Master Oogway....."One often meets his destiny on the road he takes to avoid it"...God always has a bigger plan, doesn't he?
...speaking of Kung Fu Panda...hoorah for this summer's animated films, particularly Kung Fu Panda and Wall-E...it seems that the movie studios have finally gotten back to including amazing life lessons in childrens' films...and also making films that affect adults as well...I don't know about you, but I cried at least thrice in Wall-E...if you haven't seen it, please do...
Another season changes, another life rearranges...and I am excited for the newness that is being given once again...
I'm amazed at the evolution...I'm amazed at the lack of faith...I'm amazed at the love we've rejected...I'm amazed what we accept in its place........................Karen
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| Worship...and sacrifice...go hand in hand..........
.....this is a pretty big statement but it's something that has been in my heart and on my mind for a long time now...my idea of worship has evolved so much...it's easy to corner it and call it "meeting at church to sing songs"...worship is a way of life...not something you do once or twice a week...I'm beginning to realize what it is to lead a worshipful life...each and every thing we do could constitute an act of worship, which radically changes my concept of living...it adds meaning and deliberateness to each moment...and in some cases, the actions we do every day need to be sacrificed...I make a lot of big plans for my life...make a lot of plans for others...and that's not why God placed me here...he brought me into His world to sacrifice the things of this world as an act of worship to Him...and this has proven to be so hard...but it just has to be let go sometimes...
...a few weeks ago I received word that my grandfather had suffered another minor heart attack and was in the hospital...he was chronically ill for about 8 years and I longed to see him, to have more time with him...it was evident that he wouldn't have much more time with us, but for some reason he just wouldn't go...he kept fighting for and clinging to life, despite his anguish...I received this news in the midst of an incredible weekend of service with our youth group...it was on my mind the entire time and was distracting me from the task at hand...He just wanted ME to let go...I was blessed enough to have a moment of powerful prayer with one of our youth, Amy, and we prayed for God to heal Papa Boe, whether in earthly ways or eternally....later we went to worship and I had a moment when my hands left my body and were raised and I just kept repeating..."It's Yours...it is not mine...just do what you are going to do..."...nothing profound, not amazingly worded, just me finally sacrificing my own desire for time and admitting that I am not my own, nor is anyone else....30 minutes after worship I got word that Papa Boe had passed...and I wept for the loss, but smiled because of the clarity...the pure truth that sacrifice brings peace...this is not to say that heartache and pain don't precede peace and joy, because they often do....and it is hard to let go...but He calls us to do so...and I believe that with my whole heart...and am changed because of it...
...sorry to get so heavy on Xanga, but it's important for me to get my thoughts down...and to share...
...summer is almost here...show the earth some love this season and get outside...with bare feet and joy...
She said if I could just touch the hem of His garment, then I know I'll be made whole right now............Karen
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| A whole lotta life's been happening...
...and it's caused me to stop and think about many things...I lost my grandfather this past week, an amazing man with the most incredible love for his family...his ENTIRE family...I am at peace with his passing, but it has made me stop and really think about my place on this planet and the things I want to accomplish...I know without a shadow of a doubt that I was put on Earth to serve others and I'm trying to discover the best ways for me to do so and to do so with a completely giving heart...and that's that...
...a friend who also posts on Xanga inspired me to put together my summer reading list...the books I want to read during the warm holiday...so here it is...I'm also open to suggestions!!!
- "Islands in the Stream" by Ernest Hemingway
- "Slaughterhouse Five" by Kurt Vonnegut
- "Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith" by Rob Bell
- "Roaring Lambs: A Gentle Plan to Radically Change Your World" by Bob Briner
- "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
- "Under the Banner of Heaven" by Jon Krakauer
- "Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life" by Anne Lamott
- "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath
- "Things Fall Apart" by Chinua Achebe
- "How Soccer Explains the World: An {unlikely} Theory of Globalization" by Franklin Foer
- "Serve God, Save the Planet: A Christian Call to Action" by J. Matthew Sleeth
- "The Voice of Matthew" by Lauren Winner
...so there you go...maybe it will inspire you to read something too...which would make me happy...
You...and me...walk on, walk on, walk on........cuz you can't go back now.......................Karen
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| Friends, it's been awhile....
...married life is everything I could have hoped for and more...having everyday with your missing piece leaves you feeling whole...obviously...but it's beautiful and we are beyond blessed...life is a new miracle everyday...
...so, I remember having this feeling during my junior year of college that I pretty much had everything figured out for my life and that I was set and didn't have to think anymore and that I had stopped growing......how idiotic I was...as of late, I have been undergoing the most amazing, terrifying, and visceral transformation of my life...I have fallen in love with books again...I have felt callings when I least expected them...I am regaining my passion for affecting our land and others...and striving to hear everyone's story....student teaching and being married to a person in the ministry have both played a huge part in this spark and it's hard to explain how much my heart feels everyday...
...Zac and I are moving into our first house in a couple of weeks, complete with our very own garage recording space...get ready...the Forest Fires are getting ready to ignite...
...how have you changed your world today...
I am an American aquarium drinker......I assassin down the avenue.....................................Karen Workun
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