Wow!

The past few months have flown by, and we have so much to share! We promise to post new pictures and stories soon! :-)

We pray that today and always you are resting in God's presence and blessed by His peace in your life!

Happy Friday!
Kate

How Sweet It Is!

ROCK CHALK JAYHAWK, KU!

Life Update.

Our winter has been very full, and we're anticipating more exciting and busy times as we rapidly approach the spring (we are SO READY for sunshine and warm temperatures!). Thank you for your prayers ... not only for us, but for mom and dad Kinnan as well. It is amazing the healing and peace that come from the Lord, and we are so thankful for such faithful friends and family!

RLC is going great ... God continues to bless us with people willing to serve, and it is such an enormous blessing for us to be a part of this incredible body of believers! David is enjoying his full-time office hours, and has been taking turns with Pastor Eric preaching at a nearby church while they search for a pastor. That's been a lot of fun, too!

Hayden is talking and talking and talking, and growing and growing and growing! His favorite word now is "Why." We'll say something like, "Hayden, let's pick up your toys and get ready for bed." He'll say "Why?" This starts a whole process that's fun and exhausting at the same time. If you've ever read the "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" book, you know what we're talking about. His Matchbox collection grows all the time ... we find some under the couch or in the pantry, and now that it's been warm we discovered that many have been hibernating in the backyard over the winter. Ha!

I love school more than anyone I know, both teaching and being a student myself. I had the privilege of going to the Kansas Exemplary Educators Network Conference last week to accept my HORIZON award, and really had a great time of discussion and networking with the incredible educators and leaders of Kansas education. It was so much fun, and I even got to meet the Lt. Governor!

As alway this time of year, we're closely watching both KU and KSU, and will be glued to the TV during games for the next month or so. KU is taking it to the top this year, we can feel it!

Have a BLESSED Day!

Please pray ...

These last few months have been filled with tremendous joy ... and quite a lot of pain. It's only through God's grace that we are able to get through this beautiful and painful journey of life, and we are experiencing that full well right now.

We have prayed for and sought to have another child for quite some time now, and due to medical reasons had to go through a little more than with Hayden. About 5 weeks ago we found out that our second baby was on the way. As of Friday, we were just under 2 months into the pregnancy. On Saturday, I began to feel cramps and other symptoms characteristic of a miscarriage. Yesterday, the thought of a miscarriage became a reality. I know miscarriage is a part of life...I know God is completely in control and His sovereignty is far superior than I can imagine. We know our little baby is in a better place and will have a life more perfect than we could ever dream of with his/her Heavenly Father ... and we will meet our little one someday.

We ask for your prayers as we grieve this event. We have never felt such extreme emotions; from the thrill of a new life and planning and discussing and dreaming of this little person every moment of the day ... and then it's just gone. It will take time and God's grace to help us heal. I'm sure many of you who read this have probably experienced the same thing, and I do know we will look back at this and value how God was moving in this situation, and what an incredible ministry opportunity we are so privileged to share.

God Bless You,
Kate

If you wonder...

Does God care about our individual lives...meaning, does God really listen to our prayers? I have recently been reminded how easy it can be for my mind to become trapped in "life" as I put the essence of my faith way back in my thoughts and then move only my current circumstances to the front...allowing them to dominate all that I do.

Most of you are now well aware of the battle Josh Buck is waging right now. Actually, I need to word that differently. I wonder if Josh is simply the center of the battle while we're seeing what seems to be the nation coming together in prayer and fasting on Josh's behalf...almost as if we're declaring a spiritual war on his ailments and fighting this in some united way.

My faith in my Lord has been increased today as I learned of Josh's physical developements. I wonder if this is how the disciples felt after Christ had been crucified and they went off to hide...then they encounter him 3 days later...I feel empowered by what I have read, yet I also see how weak my faith had become.

If your faith is weak, and you really do wonder if the God of the universe would care about the desires of your heart. And, if you wonder if prayer has any power...please read the post here: www.greenhouseministries.org

Living with increased faith,
DK

Please pray

Josh Buck, the Best Man in our wedding and one of my very best friends, had an incredibly serious diving injury involving his vertebrae (his C5). I don't know many details, but I do know the seriousness of this goes without saying. He is currently in a drug-induced coma.

For additional information: www.greenhouseministries.org

If you pray, please pray to God that He would intervene.

07' Update

07’ Update

It’s been awhile, so here’s the latest:

Katy – She’s back into the swing of things in managing her classroom of what seems to be an abnormally well-behaved group of sixth-grade students. Just this past week, Katy started in on two of her first online Masters classes through Emporia State University. She was born to be a student, so her excitement is hard to miss. It’s fun to see how giddy she gets as she organizes her assignments and responds to her classmates.

Hayden – He jumped right back into school without a hitch. Actually, his teachers were amazed at his speech progress over the 2 week vacation time. He came back saying so many new words in complete sentences…he still jabbers a lot in some alien language, but he’s finally showing a desire to talk which is exciting for us.

David – I don’t go to bed with a weight of stress consuming my mind. I’ve been done working at Big Brothers Big Sister for about a month…I have yet to entertain a single thought of regret. I bring Hayden out to our church office during his naptime which gives me a good amount of time to accomplish things.

The semester is really on the move…our nights without meetings or events have seemed to dwindle down each week, but in some sick way…we enjoy it.

We’ve got some good pics that we have yet to put up here…hopefully we get’em to you soon.

It's over

For almost 3 years I've wanted to type: "I'm done working at Big Brothers Big Sisters". Well, I'm done working at Big Brothers Big Sisters.

Man of the Month: Bing Crosby

Road Trip...
It's almost been a month since we last posted...it seems like a lot of blogs are struggling to update more than once a month. With Thanksgiving, Christmas, and all the travelling in-between...life enters warp speed.

Since our last post, we travelled to Marion, Indiana to celebrate Thanksgiving with both sets of my grandparents and extended family. We look forward to this trip every year...our family is fun.



Last Month...
When December 1st came, that meant I was officially in my last month at Big Brothers Big Sisters...no words explain the good emotions we're all feeling about this.

Unexpected News...
Many of you know this, but a couple of weeks ago my mom was diagnosed with cancer. Shocked...stunned...scared...sad...shocked again....all emotions we've felt. Now, we know that cancer is unfortunately a part of life for a large majority of people. We also have a peace that our Lord is a part of these circumstances and He'll definitely take care of my mom, but that doesn't erase the natural emotions of fear and shock that anyone would feel.

We're in the "waiting period"...wondering what is next in regards to appointments, treaments an solutions. Many of you have e-mailed and called...some calls I haven't returned just yet...give me some time :)

So...please pray for my mom.

Horizon Award...
The Kansas Department of Education has an award given to a first year teacher who has shown outstanding perfermance. My wife just received unofficial news that she will be one of the recipients of the award. In February, she'll travel to Topeka so she can recognized for being the best teacher in the entire world...yeah...the entire world. (To me, anyway!). If you look at the numbers, Katy has been deemed one of the best new teachers out a pool of thousands of teachers!

Parties...
I believe we have 5 or 6 Christmas parties...is that weird?

I hope you're enjoying the season...if you're like me, you've got the "All Christmas Music" station programed in your car...you've doctored up your MySpace to reflect snowflakes...and you've already had more Christmas cookies and candies than you'd care to admit.

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas,
DK

Wow!

Time cherishing every minute of it! Hayden has continued to amaze us with his countless words and neverending chatter that makes our hearts leap with excitement, and he is (finally) out of the pull-ups (during the day, anyway), and loving his THOMAS the TRAIN undies! His favorite things right now (other than preschool and his new movie CARS) include lining his cars up on the fireplace, riding the Gazelle, being a handyman and jumping in leaves! He's also very proud of his new big boy bed! :-)