Monthly Archive: March 2017

March 20, 2017

Welcome to Spring! It’s been a beautiful day here in North Alabama. Warm and breezy, my second favorite climate right behind the cool and crispness of fall. Tonight I am excited to share with you my first blog for the Connecting Ministries page. This might be my favorite thing I’ve written to date. I hope you enjoy it.

Until tomorrow,
‘Carrow💜

Beautifully Broken

Happy Sunday Friends,

It’s been a great weekend – busy, but that is the norm. All the pieces are still coming together for the Duck Jam concert announcement, I’m praying for God to continuing showing up in every detail – and I have no doubt He will. An event of this magnitude was never on my radar. Frankly, if I had known exactly what God was leading us to, I would have probably freaked out in the beginning! But, God knows me better than any person, and he crafted my plan perfectly tailored to me.

I have watched these last few months how God has maneuvered me where I need to be. Each trial, each lesson, each tear, every piece has been laid perfectly to create a path that stretches my faith. Yet at the same time I am being stretched, God gives me glimpses of His plan, so that I know the stretching is worth the struggle. A couple of years before Kayleigh’s diagnosis, I felt like the Lord was directing me to speak. I remember thinking that was the strangest thing. I mean, if you meat me, you’ll discover quickly that I have no problem talking, I just didn’t really have anything to talk about. I thought maybe I needed to encourage women. I also felt like I needed to write, but again, I had no idea what to write about. Hmm…. well Lord, I certainly don’t have that problem any more.

Slowly but surely, God has put all of the pieces into place. Obviously, writing has begun. The ideas that continue to fly through my head are many, but I have a couple of specific projects that I have begun. I am very much looking forward to finding out what the Lord has to say. I have also found myself with opportunities to speak. Kayleigh, her journey, our faith, God’s goodness, our family, how we continue to survive… God has certainly given me plenty of topics to talk about. While I certainly would not have chosen this path for myself, I trust that the Lord knows better than I, so I will continue to follow His lead where ever it goes.

2 Corinthians 4:13
But having the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, “I believed, therefore I spoke,” we also believe, therefore also we speak;

This could. It be a more perfect verse. I believe, therefore I must speak. Tonight I am attaching the link for a radio show I did recently. It was my first time to speak about Kayleigh publicly. Thank you Bethany for the opportunity to share her story.

Until tomorrow,
‘Carrow💜

My episode was March 5th

http://matthew725.net/radio

Hello friends,

Have you ever noticed how the Lord not only directs your steps, but that while you are on the path, he also sends little reminders to help reassure you that you are indeed headed in the way you should go? Tonight, as I was studying my Sunday school lesson for my 7th graders tomorrow, God gave me one of those reminders. I opened my lesson and the title was “broken.” It went on to talk about how we have no need to hide our brokenness from God. Quite the opposite actually, God wants us to trust him with our brokenness.

It seems like that would be a no brainer, take your hurts to the one that knows all, and heals all. But no, we humans don’t want to look weak. We don’t want to be broken. We want the world to look at us and think everything is great. Facebook is a prime example. We post smiling pictures, we photoshop the wrinkles out, the teeth brighter, buff out the imperfections. We do our best to present this “all together” package to the world. But let’s be honest, none of us really have it all together.

I remember as the Lord was preparing my heart to say good bye to Kayleigh here on earth, he was preparing me to also share my heart and hurts with all of you. I remember telling Tim, that all I could figure, was God wanted me to keep writing, so people could see what it looks like when God doesn’t answer your prayers the way you want Him to. What do you do then? Honestly, I still don’t know the answer, but I thank you all for walking this journey with us. For staying with us through to to-to ups and downs, happy posts and sad posts. You never really know what kind of post you’re going to get each night. But it will always be the truth. The good, the bad, the happy, the sad, and always – the broken. But broken isn’t bad, broken just means that God is the one that gets to be in control, because I simply cannot do it under my own power.

God doesn’t need a bunch of people that look glossy and perfect, he needs people to be real!

Until tomorrow,
‘Carrow💜

I love this picture of us. It’s about as real as it comes, no makeup, sweatsuit, but who cares? That’s my Baby Duck, and that was a good day 💜

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! It’s been an awesome day for us. God never ceases to amaze me with His perfect timing. I talk about it all the time, yet every time He shows up, I continue to be blown away. It’s actually really, really amazing to watch Him work.

We’ve been working for a couple of months now to finalize Kayleigh’s birthday bash. So many piece have come together, we’ve seen God grow this plan over the past weeks – so far beyond our wildest dreams, that it is scary – good scary! But holy cow, God just keeps the surprises coming. We were planning to drop tickets today, and we could and you guys would buy them, because the music is awesome. And then God steps in with a, “But wait… There’s more!”

So, as I sit here with my mouth hanging open, all I can do is say thank you Lord for your continued blessings. I am really, really, REALLY, looking forward to sharing all of this. I cannot wait… but patience… that’s another one of those lessons that goes hand in hand with trust. So… I’m going to trust God to make this amazing, and I am going to be patient, even though I don’t want to be.

I can think of no better verse than Ephesians 3:20
20 Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.

Until tomorrow,
‘Carrow💜

Happy Thursday friends! Someone commented on last nights post asking if I get enough sleep, since I often post after midnight. I jokingly replied, “Probably not,” but that made me pause. I’ve been running non-stop in so many directions for so many weeks that I am quickly running out of steam. You can only burn a candle at both ends for so long, and if you set the middle on fire too, it doesn’t take long before you’re a melted pile of useless wax!

So thank you, Julie, you message reminded me to try to get a little more rest. I started to write “reminded me to slow down,” but then I laughed, because that would have been a big, fat, lie! Nope, I’m not going to slow down just yet, but I will try to cut everything off a little earlier.

Isn’t it interesting how the Lord uses the smallest things to help guide and direct us? Everyday, the way we choose to act in certain situations makes a difference. Often time people are watching and we don’t even know it. Things like Julie’s kind comment remind me that each of us can make a difference. Maybe you pay for the person behind you in the drive through and brighten their day. Maybe you compliment someone that is working hard and not being noticed. Maybe you start intentionally saying thank you and appreciating the people around you. It doesn’t sound like much, but if everyone does a little, it will grow to a lot!

Too often we sell ourselves short. If the Lord has put us in a position to make a difference, it’s our job to obey, no matter how big or how small the task. You just never know what your kindness may start. So be faithful will the small tasks God gives you, and watch Him do amazing things!

Like 16:10a
10 “If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones.”

Until tomorrow,
‘Carrow💜

This little monkey taught me so much about faith in a few short months. About always being kind, and that a positive attitude with a little faith can truly move mountains. Thank you Baby Duck for making me a better mommy!