Author: Kathy Stephens

  • Roadblocks …

    ByKathy Stephens

    roadblocksI came up on this train the other night here in town and as I came to a standstill I saw that the cross bars were down, Lights were flashing, horn was blowing and I could actually feel the vibration from the roar of the engine. I sat there thinking….. Isn’t this how LIFE IS. Just when we least expect it, It throws down the crossbars, flashes it’s light and brings us to a stand still. Sometimes the pain from the “roadblock” causes us to vibrate within.

    At first the interruption can sometimes be aggravating, making us irritated at the STOP, the halt in our lives, making us scared of the unknown STOP, BUT if we stop long enough to think upon the event we find that if we will allow GOD to TAKE OVER, our breathing begins to return to normal, the vibration seems to lessen and the fears begin to subside.

    As I drove to my kids for THANKSGIVING yesterday I was pondering over the things in my life that have caused cross bars to fall, lights to flash, horns to blow, my soul to vibrate. It seems that for the past almost year I’ve been waiting for all those things to return to normal. May never be normal again but what I DO know is that GOD will use these ROADBLOCKS to slow us down, get us to regroup, take another route OR get us to seriously access the things in our lives. The best thing HE CAN AND WILL DO, is grow us right in the middle of the STOP.

    Are you at a STOP, a ROADBLOCK? TAKE A BREATH. BE THANKFUL for them cause SOMETIMES… just sometimes, they are so much more than that. Isaiah 43:19 “Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”

  • 26 Degrees… Really?

    ByKathy Stephens

    blanket of hugsWELL the weather channel says that it’s going to be 26 degrees tonight. That’s cold. I stepped outside alittle bit ago to let my dogs out and got a chill to the bone. Almost immediately I felt my heart sink. I use to do crazy things like stand outside waiting on the DOGS and then run inside freezing cold and stick my hands on Dennis and jump in his lap and say, “warm me up”? He would of course always say, “baby stop it, your hands are freezing.” Boy what I would give to hear those words tonight.

    I haven’ t shared this before but this is the blanket I had made out of Dennis’ t-shirts. The blanket is very heavy. When i bought the batting for it the sweet lady that made it said, “oh kathy this batting is so thick.” I said well I want it to last. She laughed and said, “well this blanket will be here long after you are.” I’m so glad .

    Tonight I got to get it out and i’ve been sitting under it thinking on my sweet husband. It’s definitely not his sweet arms but it helps in it’s own little way. As I look down on the blanket I see many T-shirts from our travels, his favorite baseball team, work logo’s and there near the center is his “MY WIFE ROCKS” shirt. etc.( yeah i made him wear it ha ha) It is a remembrance of HIM.. RIGHT now I sure could USE one of his HUGS. He had the best.

    The first time we ever hugged I felt so safe. It was truly like nothing I’d ever felt before. I use to tell him that that was what Stole my heart. Stole it then and still stealing it NOW.

  • Stand Tall…

    ByKathy Stephens

    stand tallAs I left from photographing a sweet family Sunday afternoon this is what I saw. I stopped along this drive and rolled down my window and thought how quiet it was and how alone I felt at that very moment. I couldn’t get to my camera so I reached and grabbed my phone and shot this. In that moment the whisper of the spirit spoke to me. It was as if I heard Him say, “Look at that tree”. It was standing there all alone in that field YET STANDING TALL. It was as if a voice was saying, ” do you know how many storms this tree has weathered to get this big and tall?”… ” Really GOD?”, I whispered back. Been through a bunch of those in my life.

    As the days and now months have gone by since Dennis’ death I’ve questioned my existence. What do I do from here, where do I spend my time, how do I walk this out? I’ve asked God more than once “what am I suppose to be doing?” Truth is I”m learning that our lives are NOT in the doing, but in the BEING….

    Today as I was reading God’s word I came across one of my favorite verses in Isaiah. It’s a verse that I’ve clung to for years when I was going through the hurt and pain of something. Here it was again and I immediately thought about the picture I snapped on Sunday. I thought about this tree and the whisper. I want to share it with you. It’s Isaiah 61:3 “To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that he may be Glorified. ”

    So If your going through some hurt and pain right now I pray that you will find comfort in this verse as well. I pray that you will allow yourself to be ROOTED in Christ, Stand Tall. Weather the Storm….