karin madden

  • Home
  • Sunrise With A Six Pack (Blog)
  • Meet Karin
    • Truth In The Details {4×4 of 4 things about me}
    • Hear My Story
    • Food Allergies
      • Recipes for the picky ones
  • 31 Days Series
    • 31 Days of God’s Promises
    • 31 Days of Good Deeds
    • 31 Days Of Walking The Path
  • Essential Oils
    • What’s The Deal With Essential Oils?
  • DIY
    • DIY Deodorant
    • DIY {easy} Facial Toner
    • DIY Liquid Laundry Detergent
  • Contact
  • Subscribe and Free e-book

December 3, 2014 by Karin 3 Comments

A Mother’s Prayer

We rounded the corner blinded by the scorching desert sun. Our necks craned until we saw the red dome in the distance. There’s nothing like an outing with Daddy. While the rest of the world seemed to be veering in and out of lanes leading them to and from the daily grind, we breathed the taste of freedom. My warrior, our six-pack, and I.

Countless days, weeks, and months of separation brought by deployments lingered in our memories as we relished this taste of freedom on a regular old weekday.

We spotted our destination in the distance and the kids bubbled with glee. The Adventure Dome – this red-roofed capsule of childhood memories. Don’t we all pray for these memories for our little ones? Don’t we look into their newborn faces and hope for endless fulfilled dreams? We fall to thankful knees and pray blessings over our young broods. Deep down we know He has unimaginable good in store for these young ones who walk this earth carrying pieces of our hearts.

That’s when we saw him… {please join me over here at my dear friend Elisa Pulliam’s place today for the rest of the story}

Orchard in the Desert

 

Philippians 4:13

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Karin Madden

Filed Under: A Day in the Life, Community, Compassion, Motherhood Tagged With: everyone is God's child, mother's prayer

March 17, 2014 by Karin 8 Comments

When A Lost Sheep Finds You

The wind was wild that day.

I scrambled and swerved trying to get the cart to the truck without losing the little ones in tow.  Only two today – piece of cake.  Two or six, it takes a squadron commander’s bellowing tone to force those littles into buckled seats.  I was too busy trying to grab the flying plastic bags to notice him as he got closer.

Excuse me, ma’am.

I startled as I turned my head to see him standing fifteen feet away.  His stance was awkward.  Unsure.  His eyes.  Pleading.  For a moment I’m sure I saw a glimpse of shame.

He held his hand up, palm facing me. This symbol of reassurance; he had no intention of coming closer,

I see you have kids there.

My eyes scanned the area.  People coming and going.  Just a middle-of-the-day parking lot.

I answered with words like a warning shot,

I have kids here.

He nodded and held his position,

I just wonder… I just need a couple of dollars.  I… we… need something to eat.  I don’t want to bother you.  It’ll take me all day to get enough together.

My mind retrieved the faces burned to memory.  The lady that one day.  And James.  And Jim.  The faces of desperate need etched in my mind.

I smiled at him,

I have something for you.

I reached into my wallet and pulled a bill large enough to feed him lunch for a week.  The “we” he was referring to?  I knew there was no “we.”  Just him.

Why do we do that?  Why do we think we are not enough?

Why do we think we aren’t valuable enough – just on our own?

His only hope for help was through someone, anyone, he could call “we.”  As if the only worthy souls were the ones in his imagination.  As if he needed to prove his desperation, need, and worth to this mom in a parking lot.

Lost Sheep

I walked toward him,

I have this for you.  You won’t have to do this all day.

His eyes widened,

Oh… wow.  Are you sure?

Yea, that whole thing about giving being better than receiving?  It’s true.  Every word.  It is better to give. 

His sheep are everywhere.  We live with them and pass them by day-in and day-out.  Sometimes we move on with laser focus and miss them as they stand back in distant fields.  We turn our eyes and our hearts the other way.  We build our fences and our walls, and wonder when someone will finally go out there and feed them.  All the while we have the food right in our hands…

Wild Donkeys

Wild Donkeys Together

I grinned and shook his hand,

Of course I’m sure.  God bless you.  What’s your name?

A smile lit his haggard face and showed the only two teeth he had left.  The shame vanished from his eyes as his posture relaxed,

I’m Ryan.  I just got out of prison.

The truth.  Funny how a step forward and a helping hand can chisel away at the facade.  The truth.  He told me his truth with a relieved sigh.

Need A Friend

I nodded and replied,

Our church has a great community re-entry program for people who just got out of prison.

His eyes lit with familiarity.  Head nodding vehemently, he went on,

What church do you go to?  Do you have a card for your church?  There were some guys… when I was in… they came to talk about God.  I lost the guy’s card.

Now that’s a thought.  I had never considered carrying church cards with me.

I gave him the address and the only names I could come up with,

I expect to see you there on Sunday, Ryan.

He grinned,

Yes.  Yes.  I want to thank you.  I know where it is.  I just want to thank you.

I closed the truck and continued to shoo kids into seats as he walked away.  This desperate soul who wanders parking lots looking for any sign of life.  This soul who thinks he isn’t enough to warrant a hand, or a heart.  This hungry soul searching to fill the empty places.

Little Sheep

He walked away, and as I watched the back of his casino jacket disappear into the sea of cars…

he looked an awful lot like a lost sheep.

 

Luke 15:4-7

“Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

Karin Madden

Filed Under: A Day in the Life, Compassion, Faith, Good Deeds, Mercy Tagged With: lost sheep, mercy for the broken, the value of one

November 11, 2013 by Karin 4 Comments

When There Is More To The Story {for the Veterans}

31 days of Good Deeds 31 Days of Good Deeds

(click here for the series)

~ Day 30 ~

I was expecting something.  Someone, really.

After weeks and weeks of eyes opening to people right in front of me – these people waiting with open hands – I’ve begun to expect.  I don’t think they expect – I suppose a better word would be hope.  They hope someone will notice.

But, I was on a mission.  The gray hairs that force their way onto this mama’s head had arrived… again.  One by one they show up and stand at attention.  Like little gray soldiers demanding the right to be seen after years of deployments, endless work hours… and six kids.  Well… and a little heredity thrown in, too.  

No matter.  It was time to subdue those determined (and multiplying) suckers.

Mission… hair dresser.

I was off and had no time for distractions during this sacred mama “me time.”

I don’t know how I ended up on that road.  It wasn’t the road I intended to take.  You know that coma driving we do when there are no distractions.  I drove on in this grid-town.  You can get anywhere if you know how to drive a square.

I looked up and saw him.  He was an older man.  He shuffled back and forth next to the cars.  The red lights are the best places to get our attention.  We have to actually try to look away. 

I saw him wander back and forth as I glanced at the clock.  No time.  And, I drove on.

He registered in my mind as I drove past,

If You want me to stop for him, please remind me later.  I don’t want to be late.

Hairs tamed, grays smothered, scalp massaged, and ends trimmed; I handed her the check.  She’s a spunky local girl with a heart of gold and a lifetime of stories, though her life has been much shorter than mine.  I hugged her neck and went on my way – delighted that suffocating gray hairs is much cheaper in this town than the last.

It was then that He reminded me,

Go back to the guy at the corner.

I’m learning to listen, so I turned the truck in the direction of the old man with the cardboard sign.

I’ll tell you, once you give once, it becomes something you want to do again and again.  As if He designed us to give… to love.

I was prepared to give the man a bill, when He interrupted my thoughts,

You know what you just paid for your hair?  Give him that much.

I can’t say that I argued, but I did ask Him for clarification,

That much?  Is that what I should give? 

Truth, I had never handed someone a wad of bills like that… it’s different went you write a check or swipe a card.

Do you only trust Me $20 worth?

And that’s really where the truth lies.  Do I only trust Him 20 dollars worth – or as much as my comfort will allow?

I smiled as my hand began to shake.  I knew.  I didn’t want to be that person.  The 20-dollar-truster… the only-this-much-but-no-more giver.

I pulled my car around to the light and rolled down my window.  I glimpsed his sign – Vietnam vet.  Please help.

What’s your name?

A smile appeared on his weathered, tired face.  He could have been my father, my father-in-law, my uncle.

Jim.

Of course it was Jim.  Just another version of James.

Jim, I’m going to pray for you.  Thanks for your service.  I hate that you are standing out here asking for money.

He looked at the bills in his hand as his eyes widened,

Thank you!  Oh, God, thank you.

He walked away as I waited for light.  I saw him turn back in a hurry.  He had just counted his bills,

Oh my God.  Thank you!  What is your name?  You have no idea what you’ve just done for me.  I’m not getting my social security.  You have no idea.

I smiled as I felt my heart surge,

I wish I could give you more, Jim.

His teary eyes bore into mine as he replied,

Oh no.  This is just… unreal.  You are going to heaven, Karin.  I won’t ever forget this.

There is something about giving, about doing good, that begins to transform a heart.  It shamed me for ever having been blind to people around me, and it reminded me of how much I have to be grateful for.  

My husband is a veteran.  My brother is a veteran.  My brother-in-law is a veteran.  My father is a veteran. This man, someone’s family, is a veteran.

So, just when you think you know the whole of a story… God gives you more to take in.

Weeks went by.  Then, yesterday, of all people, I saw Jim.

He stood there on the corner, same sign in his hand, and waited.  Vietnam Vet.  Please Help.

Did you know that the US Department of Housing and Urban Development estimates that 62,619 veterans are homeless on any given night?  On top of that, about 1.4 million other veterans are considered at risk of homelessness due to poverty, lack of support networks, and dismal living conditions in overcrowded or substandard housing.

I rolled down my window and smiled at the familiar face,

Hi, Jim.

His eyes brightened as he beamed,

Are you Karin?  I’ve been thinking about what you did.  Do you know that you paid my rent for the whole week?

I grinned and answered,

I hoped it was for something like that.  I’ve been praying for you, Jim.  Why are you out here?

He leaned in and told me the story of his wife passing away, of things going wrong, of life turning upside down.

This is so embarrassing, you know.

I nodded,

Jim, you could be my dad, or my father-in-law, or my uncle.  Do your kids know you are here?

His eyes went to the ground as he shrugged,

Actually, my daughter told me to come out here. 

What do you say to that?  I looked into the old man’s eyes and gave him a handful of rent.

Here, Jim, this will cover your rent this week.  I’ll keep praying for you.

His eyes filled as he touched my hand,

Thank you, Karin, the prayers are working.  Things are turning around.  God bless you.  

I’m going home now.

I smiled as the light turned green.  Time to go.  He waved as I turned the corner.  My friend, Jim.  The veteran dodging homelessness on a street corner.  The man who dodged bullets for his country, now begging handouts on the street – at the urging of his daughter.

I’m not sure which wrecked me more.  A veteran serving, now begging; or a father sacrificing, now breaking.

I drove home to my warrior, my very own veteran.  The house bustled and brimmed with a daddy and his two sons… and four daughters.

Daddy's home!  

I watched those little ones wrap arm after arm around their daddy’s neck, and I whispered to Him,

God, bless this veteran… and his children.  And, may his daughters never forget their daddy’s sacrifice.

Happy Veteran’s Day – and endless thanks to you and your families for your sacrificial service.

 

1 John 4:9-11

This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.  This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.  Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

Karin signature

 

Filed Under: Community, Compassion, Good Deeds, Love, Military, Together Tagged With: daddy's girls, for the veterans, gratitude, sacrifice

November 6, 2013 by Karin Leave a Comment

Someone Is Always Watching

31 days of Good Deeds 31 Days of Good Deeds

(click here for the series)

~ Day 25 ~

The couple walked through the same door.

They sat in the same seats.

It was like this.  Every Sunday.  Year after year.

The words washed over them like a soothing rainfall.  The peace transcended all understanding.  All the world faded from focus.

It was like this week after week.

Until this one day.

Somewhere between the mesmerizing melodies and the words of wisdom, they looked over and saw them.

His face buried in his hands while she gently rubbed his shaking shoulders.  He wept without shame.  He wept out of frustration and fear.  He wept with his faith in the fray.  He wept and they watched.

This place of peace and comfort suddenly became a vision of raw, heart-wrenching reality.

What happens when things aren’t so good?

Where is He when we show up week after week and there is no answer?

How long do we have to wait?  It’s just too much…

They watched as she soothed this strong man in his weakest moment.  This weakest moment… right in the middle of a room full of people.

And he wept without shame.  Sometimes we get to the breaking point, and it just doesn’t matter who’s watching anymore.

She rubbed his shoulders in circular rhythm, as though she wanted to wipe it all away.  She wondered when the worry would end.  It had been years now.  No job.  No income.  No help in sight.

These times can break us.  These times without income, without provision, without hope.

It just doesn’t matter who is watching anymore.  And, we break.  Right in the middle of a crowded room. And, no one seems to notice.

But, Someone does.  Someone is watching.  His plans have the most unsuspected twists and turns.  And He opens eyes.  He opens unsuspecting eyes and whispers His words,

Help them.

Sometimes the best kind of worship is seeing His children through His eyes.  

But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear.  (Matthew 13:16)

She left with her arm around his broad shoulders.  Depleted accounts, disintegrating energy, dashed hopes. It had just been too long.  Where would their help come from?

And, He whispered,

Help them.

The couple looked into each other’s eyes.  The whispers sometimes come so clearly that we wonder why the whole room doesn’t hear.  They both heard.  They smiled into each other’s eyes.  Yes.  Where does our help come from?  The Maker of heaven and earth… the One who whispers.

Hearts in our hands

Time passed and again the couple entered the room through the same doors.  Sat in the same seats.  The words and music cleansed their week-wearied worn souls, and they breathed the holy breath of a Spirit filled room. That’s when they saw them again.

Arms lifted in praise, tears streaming down beaming cheeks.  

Their help did come.  The Maker of heaven and earth has hands and feet all over this planet.

The couple smiled to themselves when they heard of unsuspected provision showing up in a mailbox.  They smiled to themselves when they heard of answered prayers and a new job.  They smiled to themselves as they looked down at their own hands.  Palms up.

The hands in their own laps suddenly looked very much like part of a larger Body.

They smiled as song took the collective Body to a crescendo of praise…

I lift up my eyes to the hills – 

where does my help come from?

My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.

These hands open, all around us…

Someone is always watching.

 

Matthew 6:3-4

But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Karin signature

Filed Under: Community, Compassion, Faith, Good Deeds, Love, The Good Stuff, Together Tagged With: faith, open hands, sharing burden, together

November 5, 2013 by Karin 2 Comments

Just A Pair Of Shoes

31 days of Good Deeds 31 Days of Good Deeds

(click here for the series)

~ Day 24 ~

A beautiful story from my new friend, Kari, who told me about a woman who walks the walk… and a pair of shoes ~

Her feet were getting too big. It was really the shoes. The shoes were getting just a little bit too small.  She squeezed those tiny feet into the even tinier shoes and loaded the baby into the car.

Too small shoes would have to give way to growing and hungry stomachs. They had to have food, you know. Can’t go very long without that.

There just hadn’t been enough lately. They were barely holding it together.

She had asked and asked Him for just a pair of shoes… and to help her hold it all together.

Winding through the aisles her eyes caught all the things they couldn’t have. She had to get just enough. Just enough to hold them over. Until the next time.

They would have to learn to stretch the few things in her cart to the limit.

She felt stretched to the end of her limit.  And she couldn’t stop peeking at those tiny feet in the even tinier shoes.

Why does it all have to be so hard?

She kept asking Him for just one pair of shoes.

The toes broke through the front of her baby’s shoes and she couldn’t help but wonder,

Where are You?

Just one pair of shoes…

She reached the limit and headed for the line. Peering in her cart she hoped the food in front of her would last long enough. Again, those tiny feet… growing so fast.

tiny wriggling feet

Wouldn’t you know, there were shoes hanging next to the checkout.

She mused in frustration,

There just isn’t enough.

And, those tiny wriggling feet.

Stretched farther than she could bear, she placed her hands on the hanging shoes and threw them in the cart.

There has to be a way.

The cashier slid one beeping item after another as her bill grew and stretched.

There will just have to be enough.

She reached into her bag to retrieve all she could give.

Nothing.

No wallet.

Her heart sank as she realized she had left it at home.

Nothing.

Not one thing.  A cart full.  No money.  And a pair of shoes.

 I just needed the shoes.

Then.

Just when she thought no one saw her.  Just when she thought He wasn’t listening anymore.

I’ve got this, dear.  Let me pay for your groceries.

The voice came from behind her.

A woman.  She could have been a grandmother.

She reached across and slid her card through before the young mother could respond.

Tears filled her eyes as she told the older woman,

I’ve been asking Him for a pair of shoes.

Only God.

Only God would reach us from behind through the heart of a stranger and fill our carts and our souls…

and even throw in a pair of shoes.

 

2 John 1:5-6

And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning.  I ask that we love one another.  And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands.  As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.

Karin signature

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Filed Under: A Day in the Life, Community, Compassion, Faith, Good Deeds, Love, The Good Stuff, Together Tagged With: love, sharing burden, trusting God, walk the walk

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • …
  • 6
  • Next Page »

Meet Karin

Hi! My name is Karin Madden. Writer. Warrior wife. Mom of six pack. Homeschooler. German-blooded southerner. Welcome to the place where I explore what it means to grow stronger - spirit, soul, and body. I write to inspire and encourage - to remind you we are not alone. By being bold with grace and speaking truth in love, we can become who we are meant to be. I'm glad you are here.

Connect With Me

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Search the Sunrise

What I Write

Sunrise Archives

Pinning at Sunrise

Visit Karin's profile on Pinterest.

Recent Sunrise Posts

  • When You Have A Promise To Keep November 9, 2016
  • When You Are In The Secret Place April 21, 2016
  • When You Need To Hear – Do Not Be Afraid April 6, 2016
  • The One List We Need To Write January 1, 2016
  • The Dance May 29, 2015

Sunrise on Facebook

Sunrise on Facebook

Copyright © 2025 · Executive Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in