A little trip down Memory Lane...

When I was in Elementary school I begged my Daddy for a treehouse. I don't really know where that desire came from but I wanted one..something serious. Now that I'm old and forgetful the actual timing of when he built it has slipped my mind. I wanted to say 5th grade, but the childish experiences that occurred in that little tree home seem too immature for my already-prissy-in-5th-grade self. When you start wearing lip stick at age 3 (I have picture proof), you mature faster I guess. We'll call it 5th grade for the story's sake.

I was mesmerized at Daddy's skills. I never imagined he would actually BUILD one. In my young age, I thought heroic, professional people built treehouses. Then again, Dad, you are perfect and all. Annnyway, Dad builds this treehouse, nothing too swanky, or complicated. Don't think I didn't cram about 6 people up in there on the reg. That might have been dangerous. It was literally a thick piece of  retangular plywood with a high railing that sufficed as "walls" and cool yellow ropes that were tied everywhere for support. Oh and I cannot forget to tell you, it DID have a homemade dumbwaiter. I used a woven basket from inside and some extra yellow rope. Is a treehouse really even legit without a rope basket pulley thingy?

I would literally move half of my belongings up to the treehouse on any given day. The more I could bring up the better, because that meant no leaving the treehouse. I didn't forget snacks, don't worry. LauraJae and I wanted to be Harriet the Spy so bad so we practiced by camping out for the day up there and spying on our sisters. Too bad we were clearly visible most of the time. I'm almost certain, also, that we "played" every imaginary scenario in the world up there. I loved this treehouse so so so so much. I played in it until it got unsafe to do so. One day, my kids are totally having a treehouse(because I refuse to let game systems take over their lives) maybe like this...

So sweet and simple. ANDDDD it doubles as a play house. I guess if I have boys things will need to be a little different. Good thing I have a real long time to decide.

Well, that was fun. Thanks for letting me reminisce on sweet times of childhood. It was good for the soul. Hope this gets you thinking about a favorite childhood memory and then just makes you happy and refreshed wherever you might be today.

For the love of cool treehouses,

Kenz







God's Providence...

"God has a simplicity about Him in working out His plans and yet He possesses a resourcefulness equal to any difficulty...His faithfulness to His trusting children is unwavering and He is steadfast in holding to His purpose...Difficulty is actually the atmosphere surrounding a miracle, or a miracle in its initial stage...And it is the clinging hand of His child that makes a desperate situation a delight to God."

-Streams in the Desert

(This quote just makes me wanna jump and squeal with joy. If I was on my computer I would implement a picture of me jumping and making a goofy excited face...maybe next time.)

I believe in miracles. It makes me real excited to know I could very well be in the midst of one. It humbles me to think God would choose to make me a part of one.

Jesus, help me to be a good steward of this precious time in my life....

Preparin' for Rain...Kenz

moving forward

Why so often do I feel like I have to have it all figured out? And by sometimes I mean pretty much all the time. I've got big dreams, people. Those of you that know me well know I'm not very patient either.

                                                  Big dreams + no patience= bad combo.

Sometimes even "taking the next step" is hard because I don't know what it is or I don't want it to be the wrong next step. Being scared to take risks isn't going to get me very far either. Afterall, I know and am learning to love the One who promises "to make firm the steps of those who delight in him" (Psalm 37:23) and the One who promises to go before me and never leave me and never forsake me (paraphrased, Deuteronomy 31:8). So what the heck am I waiting on?? Like sweet Virg* told me the other night, "Keep moving forward, if God doesn't want that for you He will make it very obvious".  Amen.

So here's to moving forward. That doesn't necessarily mean huge life altering decisions at this point. I'm at this place in my life because God put me here. Like John Fisher said, "David wasn't thinking of being King when he was tending sheep; he was just doing what God sat before Him". Boom. I like to think I'm still "tending sheep" but who knows. He has a perfect plan that is coming in His perfect time. I believe it y'all. Believe it for me. Believe it with me. Believe it for yourself. He's going to blow us all away with tailored perfection for each of us individually.

While I may not be BFAB (that's born from a boombox for those of you who haven't seen Step Up 3D...losers :) I wanna be doin' this kinda K*Aus for the rest of my lifeeeee....                                                                 



Except maybe not in cargo pants...



And if it isn't something amazing like that little picture, then it'll be better than that. "...Be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told." (Hab. 1:5) Whew! God is good. All the time.

Blessed by the Best and anticipating the rest...

Kenz

*Virg is my amazinggg roommate. Praise the Lord for friends that love Jesus! 

My windshield is so dirty...

So typical. I don't ever get my car washed until it's way past time. The other day though, after having a little moment in the car, I felt okay about my windshield that is now polka dotted with bird poo and smushed bugs.  Before I tell you about my "moment" I've gotta clue you in on something else. Hold that thought...

I absolutely LOVE sunsets. It's that natural element that I ALWAYS notice no matter where I am or what the weather looks like. Sunsets are like God screaming (please notice the simile ;), "I'm real. You will never know how much I love you. I'm bigger than what you are dealing with. I'm right here." at me. I am embarrassed to admit how many times I have almost wrecked trying to use my phone to take pictures of the sun getting eaten up by the clouds. I especially love Longboat Key sunsets like this one...

You gotta see a LBK sunset before you die. Have.to...it's a non-negotiable

Ok since you are on the edge on of your seats wondering about my "moment"...let me get back to it. So I'm driving around good ol' Norcross, Georgia... the land of milk and honey and the sun is doing this cool little thing where it's just bursting out of a cloud, rays extended as far as I could see, and it's light was giving the billowy cloud that glowy outline. Are you getting a visual? I hope so, because this is the one time I didn't get the faithful BB out and risk my life to take pitcha with my camera fone (that's some rap song...I promise.) So as I'm getting excited about how awesome it is, I suddenly get distracted by the nasty splotches covering my windshield. Just as quickly as I was able to "dodge" them with my eyes and continue adoring the sun spectacle, I was able to compare this to real life (like I often do in my own little weird way). It reminded me of life we get distracted and how sometimes our paths are unclear, our sight distorted, and our vision blurred...maybe by bird poop like my windshield but usually by something that is of greater consequence. I could give lots of examples but I don't wanna get negative, although it's reality. BUT no matter what, at the end of a dark tunnel, on the up side of a bad situation, shining THROUGH the dirty windshield is a loving God with arms wide open (now you are going to have Creed in your head). He's always there. His glory is always shining through, if we can only see past the distractions. If we focus on Him and Him alone, all the mess somehow fades and seems not so bad in His light.

Hope your day is full of sunshine and "seeing past the poop".

BIG love,
Kenz

This all made sense in my head but if it didn't in yours be sure of these truths...

"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech...It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is deprived of its warmth" Psalm 19: 1,2,6

"Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame." Psalm 34:5

"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord" Romans 8:37-39

Mondays.

I feel like Monday is a cuss word in the average American's mind. Maybe I'm wrong, although I'm pretty confident I'm not the only hata' here. The weekends are just TOO wonderful. I always think how great it would be to just have Monday be part of the weekend. Then I quickly realize that Tuesday would just become the new Monday. Although that would mean only a 4 day week, I'm sure I'd muster up complaints about that too.

Attitude is EVERYTHING. How many times have you heard that in your lifetime? How many times have you wanted to punch the person telling you that in the midst of things not going your way on any given occasion? I've heard it a lot and I've wanted to throw a lot of punches (don't take it personally), just sayin'.  In my ripe age of 23 (HA!) though, I am starting to jump on the "Attitude is Everything" bandwagon. And honestly, I owe the 9 month transitional period as a post-grad for spurring me on towards this jump. I owe JimDaddy Miller and hundreds of other positive influences I was blessed with for teaching me this truth from the get-go. I grew up attending and working at Heaven on Earth. We were taught to "buy into Great Day Program". I realize you might not have a clue what I'm talking about...click on the link for starters and I promise I'll eventually be blogging about this place so much you'll think I have an unhealthy obsesseion (what gives, if I do?) Long story short, we woke up every morning at camp, sat up in our beds, clapped our hands, and said out loud, "It's gonna be GREAT day, and I feel TERRIFIC" (I dare you to try it for a few days!). The idea was to start off the day with a positive attitude making it much harder to allow small incidents throughout the day affect your mood. As I mentioned, I've been taught this my entire life, but it hasn't been until recently that I have started trying to put it into practice. And trust me...there are days when I still wanna throw punches. I've got a long way to go. Thank you Jesus, that when I am weak, You are strong. When my attitude is worse than a dirty diaper, You still love me and take care of me.

Now that I have gone on 20 tangents**....back to Mondays. Here's a few reasons why I have LOVED this Monday...

1. I have Terv to drink Crystal Light out of.  If you don't have a tervis tumbler, just invest. You will not regret it. To the stud that made this oh-so-kind purchase on my behalf...you know I love it now that I have blogged about it! Thanks again!
2. I get to go paint cowboy boots with Virg at Sips'N'Strokes tonight.
3. I get to go home, as in McDonough, tonight.
4. It was below 70 degrees on my way to work this morning.
5. I had a strawberry cookie at lunch from the Blue Rooster.
6. I get to run a few errands for some of my favorites after work.
7. I got up in time to spend some quality time with Jesus this morning and He continues to reveal himself to me in the most refreshing ways.

That doesn't really put a dent in all that I have to be thankful for today, even if it is a Monday. Maybe if I change my "Monday-attitude" things would be a little different. I want to be able to adjust my attitude to where I am always able to enjoy each moment to the fullest. That will be a lifetime project, but I can dang sure try.

Here's to Mondays...y'all do something fun tonight!

BIG love,
Kenz

**Bare with me. This whole blogging thing is way fun and way overwhelming. I start typing and I can't stop. I'm learning how bad I am at organizing my thoughts (I'm doing this in hopes that it will help, haha). While I want to proofread my posts, I don't want them to lose authenticity. Promise I'll get better, if you even care.

I absolutely do not know what I am doing...

Then again, that is pretty typical for me. This notion is about to send me into that "I've-secretly-been-wanting-to-start-a-blog-but-don't-know-what-I-would-say-or-feel-like-I-can-add-anything-of-value" disclaimer that I've read lately...on some of my new FAVORITE blogs, may I add. This is not to say mine will become your favorite by any means. I'm doing this because, well, I don't know why but it seems like a fun way to be creative and a good place to go when my hand can't move fast enough to write the k*aus (HA, witty I know) filling my heart, on the un-lined pages of my journal. Not to mention, having a cute template and the chance that someone MIGHT stumble upon it makes my cyberspace vent sesh's more fun. I must say I'm intimidated to mention having a blog after reading the greatness that is out there, but I decided to go for it after reading the blogs to the left over and over (don't leave here without reading theirs). Now that I have fairly warned you...read with caution.

I just have to give a little background on the ol' blog title so I don't seem totally self-absorbed. In case you haven't caught on it's the first few letters of my name... Kenzie AUSband. Let me spell it out for you...K*AUS. That's key-os, phonectically (thanks, Webster!). I somehow came up with that back in highschool when I was going to be a fashion designer and have my own label after training under Betsy Johnson, HA (a girl can dream, right?!). Anywho, I'm pretty sure my Daddy would have granted me the Nobel Peace Prize after I told him. Always believing in me Dad... and I love you so much for it! He constantly reminds me of K*Aus and asks what I'm going to do with it. Bet you never imagined a blog Daddy, but don't worry that studio is 'a comin'! So K*Aus stuck and honestly...I feel like it fits pretty well, in a weird sort of way. Not that I'm all that out of control but I tend to be all over the place, have a mishmash of hobbies, always wanting to go in at least 5 different directions, can be quickly talked into a new product or activity, love things that are reallll colorful and bedazzled with silva glitta on occasion...you get it or maybe you don't (which would further validate my point). Oh well.

Anyway...this is a boring post but things that needed to precede what is to come. Being the nut that I have made myself out to be here, I can't make promises as to what you might find if you can stomach reading a second post. I literally hope things posted here are real and raw, random and relatable. Those of you that are reading this because you feel like you have too to make me feel cool...I love you. Those brave souls I don't know that might possibly find this...I love you for reading. We should be friends. Here goes nothin'...Thanks for playin'.

Daddy...Since you were there since the beginning of K*Aus I figured it was only appropriate that this one go out to you. Even though you might not be familiar with blogs and probably think I am doing this instead of marketing SERVPRO (make sure you click on the SP logo to the left), I'm sending lotsa blog love your way tonight. Cyberspace, meet my #1 fan, Mista REA Jr.  I love you so much, Daddy! You sure are good-lookin' to be turning the BIG 5-0 in a week or so :)

BIG Love-
Kenz