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October 31, 2012 by Karin Leave a Comment

Sketch of a Child (#31)

PROMISE #31 ~ ETERNAL LIFE

She wanders over to me, this 9-year-old sweetheart, and shows me…

Look, Mom, I want to draw something for you.

Hm, I whisper softly, distracted by some other something else.

I’m going to draw something that I know.

She goes to work, penning carefully… the design flowing from her young mind.

Studiously she creates the image, and begins to explain.

Look, Mom, here is where we are.

On this side.  We are standing on a cliff.

See, here is a big gap.  There, there is the other side,  the other cliff.

The gap is just too big for us to jump.

There, on the other side… that’s God.

We can’t get to Him…

because He is perfect…

and we are not.

My preoccupied mind, now rapt with attention.  This young girl, heart wide open… continues.

We were separated from Him.

But, look.

There in the middle.  There is Jesus.

It’s because of Him… because of Him, that we can go to God.

See.

She sketches the child drawing… and etches her mama’s mind.

It’s that simple.  See.

So simple a child sees it… sees it so clearly, that she can take pen to paper… and draw it.

Drawn out for the world to see.

Her sparkling chocolate eyes, lit with fiery love… look into mine.

There.  That’s how we get to God.

Another voice breaks my thoughts, my gaze, my wonder at the faith of a child.

Well, it’s a good thing I know exactly where I’m going.

I’m going to heaven.

A gleeful younger sister chirps from the side.  Flinging smooth locks over her shoulder… and skipping away.

That’s it.  So simple a child can draw it, see it, know it.

Just because He says so.

This faith drawing me lower… to go higher.

Right to the face of the Father.

Just by believing.

This journey of promises.  31 days of seeking His word.  It culminates here.  

Between two cliffs.  Standing in the gap.  On His grace.  Mercy.  Promise.

 

PROMISE #31 ~ God promises us eternal life, with Him.  Eternal Life.  Just for believing Him in His promise.

 

John 6:46-48

No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father.  I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life.  I am the bread of life.

 

Filed Under: Brothers and Sisters, Faith, God's Promises, Grace, Hope, Mercy, Trust Tagged With: eternal life, faith, faith of a child, God's promises

October 19, 2012 by Karin Leave a Comment

She said so… (#19)

31 days of God's Promises

PROMISE #19 ~ HOPE

Hey girl.

Her sweet southern-ness flowed through the line.

It was dinnertime… one of those dinner times that everyone was actually sitting down.  All six squirmy kids and two weary wardens.

 I got your book.

I glanced at my husband and whispered her name.  He nodded, touching my arm…

 Go, talk to her.

I slid onto the corner chair, this attempt to hide from the sadness.  My voice instantly took on the familiar cadence of what seemed a lifetime ago.  The tune of the south rolling from my lips came easily as I talked with my dear friend.

Have you had a chance to look at it?  It’s really great… it really makes me hopeful… gets me almost excited.  You know, for when… well, someday.

I had sent her Randy Alcorn’s book Heaven.  I poured through it the year before.  I don’t remember exactly what brought me to reading it, but through the rearview… the time was closer than it appeared.

I haven’t read it yet, but my honey has already picked it up.  He loves it.  I’m going to read it as soon as I get a chance.

We talked a while.  At first, about all things normal.  Kids.  Husbands.  The used-to-be’s.  The remember-when’s.  We laughed.  We had always laughed… the kind that grips your side and makes you think life will always feel this good.

We talked about God.  The past couple of years… the years she wore pink and fought hard… these years we talked about Him more than anything else.  Funny, in 20 years, we had never really talked about Him at all.  Now, His name would not stay long from our lips.

 I just want you to know…

She choked the words, this woman who defined strength and emotional control (except for when she fought with her dear sister, every bit as southern and stubborn as she).

 I just want you to know… you’ve been a great friend to me.

My brimming tears broke their barrier and flowed.

You’ve always been there for me, supported me, even though we have lived far apart.  I just want you to know, I am grateful for you.  For your friendship.  I love you.

My own words caught in my throat.  This, the woman I had known half of her life… the one who split my sides with humor… the one who had been my cohort in the madness of twenty-something.  She just wasn’t one to spill her verbal love out, so seriously.

I knew.  I knew what it meant.

I saw her a few more times.  I saw the illness take her strength.  Her eyes never lost their sparkle.  In fact, towards the end… I saw a very new light in them.

She never did read the book Heaven.  She went to see it first hand.

I picked up my pen (rather, my keyboard) again, after she went.  The plan was not to write of sadness, but of hope.  Of friendship.  Of the travels with fellow sojourners.  Sisters of the faith.  This faith that came to meet me in my adulthood… the faith that had been barely visible in my youth.

I think about my girl every day.  The site of a bird, the wings of a dragonfly… they were her favorite… mostly I remember her words.

The thing I have learned, Karin, the thing I know now… He is always here.  No matter how bad the news is… it will always be ok.  No matter when the hope I have is dashed with more bad news… it will always be ok.  Even when I die… it will always be ok.

I am a writer of words.  I watch my life through the words I write.  I re-live the moments and sort them like my 10 baskets of laundry.  I see Him in the details.  The detail of every word, of every community, of every friendship.  All for His glory.  It will always be ok.

She said so.

He says so.

 

PROMISE #19 ~ God promises us hope.

 

Hebrews 10:22-24

let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.  Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.  And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.

 

Karin Madden

 

 

Filed Under: Community, Faith, Friendship, God's Promises, Hope, Together Tagged With: faith, friendship, God's promises, hope in the face of sadness

October 16, 2012 by Karin 2 Comments

Feeling Wrecked? (#16)

PROMISE #16 ~ GOOD (for those who love Him)

Feeling wrecked?

A little broken?  Slightly cracked?  Discouraged?  A bit more than rusty?

Feel like you could use a tow?

Like all the running and racing and trying… is getting you nowhere?

I do.

I’m pretty tired at the moment.  Staring at a screen, thinking of God’s promises… wondering why I chose to pursue them… day after day… for 31 days straight.

I did know, of course, that I would find 31 and so many more.  I did know it would be a challenge to sit and focus for a piece of time every day.  I did know that… probably, somewhere in the middle of the journey… I would get worn, frustrated, just a little bit wrecked.

I prayed that when this time came… He would push me right on through.

please give me the extra adrenaline to race to the finish  

Legs numb, knees wobbly, heart stretched.

Well, no surprise, He just answered.

His repetition, His prompting, His words through an encourager… hook right up to my beaten frame… and pull.

(by the way, Mater lives… and in our ‘hood)

He allows my back wheels to spin… to feel the journey beneath me…

while He takes the burden ~ and steers.

Propped, pulled, and placed… right here.

For a much-needed tune-up.

He provides the fuel, the oil, and becomes the engine again.  Just after I let go of this wheel I am clinging to so tightly.

It really is all about the journey… and the destination.

Worth every minute… potholes and all.

Are you in a place that could use a tow and a tune up?

 

PROMISE #16 ~ God promises good for those who love Him.

 

Romans 8:28

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Filed Under: Faith, God's Promises, Hope, Love, Perseverance Tagged With: encouragement, faith, frustation, God's promises, hope

October 14, 2012 by Karin Leave a Comment

Sitting on the fence (#14)

PROMISE #14 ~ HE IS THE ROCK 

Sitting on the fence.

It’s a great way to see one side… and the other.  It’s a nice place to be.  Safely undecided.  Above the radar.

I can see the black pavement on one side.  Smooth for the most part, a few potholes, a blur of masses mingling in and out of life’s messes.

Sitting on the fence.  It’s pretty safe here.  If I just hold still.

The other side of the fence…the green pasture.  It beckons.  But, what if the grass gnarls under the blistering sun?  What if I go to the field and there is no one to greet me there?  What if I jump from my fence into the dewy grass… only to find I am alone and the field does not hold all that it promises.

I glance back to the pavement.  I know the pavement.  It is not particularly fulfilling.  It is not filled with immeasurable joy.  It is a bit humdrum.  Safe.  Comfortable.  But, there has to be more.  Is it possible that the answer might lie on the other side?

I have spent much of my life on the fence.  It has been said that no decision is a NO decision.

Is it perhaps time to say YES?

Yes to invisible promises… yes to gentle nudging… yes to a new place, a new direction, a new life.

What if I just say yes?  What if I leap, no matter how my soul trembles?  What if I jump from this safe fence that sits above indecision, clinging to fear of rejection, safe in the arms of obscurity?  What if I just jump?

I glimpse at the outlined souls in the field… arm in arm.  Strength in numbers.  The ones who have boldly gone there, beyond the fence, beyond the doubt… no matter the cost.  I recognize a few of the faces, some are not yet known to me… though they appear familiar ~ a family resemblance.  The smiles I know… an enveloping warmth… they draw me in, beckoning me… encouraging me.  This is what those in the field do… they do this for one another… they do this for ones lost on the pavement.  They call… I see sisters (and I thank God for them ~ you know who you are…), brothers… waiting.  Building the tribe… the family… strength in service to Him.

The truth is… the fence is temporary.  Eventually it will rot away… fade into a distant memory.  Passage of time will swallow the fence… and I will find myself here.  Somewhere in the middle of nowhere.  Missing the adventure… the journey.

The truth is… when the fence disappears, when there is no longer a divide… there will be only One place.  One place of Life.  The rest will all fade away…

The truth is… He has held true to every promise from the birth of promise itself.  The field awaits.  The ground is sure… The Rock is solid.

The fence is no place to stay.

Are you sitting on the fence?

What is keeping you there?

Will you take the leap of faith?  Just say…

Yes

 

PROMISE #14 ~ God is the rock.

 

Psalm 62:1-3

My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him.  He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.  How long will you assault a man?  Would all of you throw him down – this leaning wall, this tottering fence?

Filed Under: Brothers and Sisters, Community, Faith, Family, God's Promises, Hope, Together Tagged With: faith, God's promises, sitting on the fence in faith

October 9, 2012 by Karin Leave a Comment

When you think your prayer is not working (#9)

PROMISE #9 ~ ANSWERED PRAYER (in His name)

They walk into our kitchen.

Hand in hand, eyes smiling.

I welcome him with a hug… my eyes darting to her face.

I’d like you to meet my wife

Stunned.

I search her eyes… his… and warm my arms with her embrace.  A strange joy overwhelms.  

When?

How long?

My mind races with the questions that dart to my tongue.  We gather around the table.  My warrior, his friend… a brother-in-arms, this new wife, and I.  A familiarity fills the room…

Why do I feel like I know her already?

My minds races back… a question from my oldest son…

Why aren’t our prayers working?

Why are they all dying?

His child-blue eyes questioned this mama.

We keep praying and they just die anyway…

My thoughts… back to my dear friend… back to our visitor’s wife.  Another mother of six.

Both gone.  We had prayed and prayed.

And it didn’t work.

I look across the worn wood of our kitchen table… the place so many memories are born.  I remember the sorrow, the struggles, the salt of many tears.

I look at these two smiling faces.  Faces of love.

They begin with the story.  The story of answered prayer.  The story of a mighty God moving miracles in rapid motion.  The story itself, this tale of our own Job… this, the story novels are made of… but real.  The novel would hardly hold weight… the reality, lifted high by His hands.

They are going to tell you that it’s all too fast

This pair nodding agreement.

But, don’t listen.  

They don’t know the whole story.  

They don’t know how He is working.  

They don’t know how big He is.

I, one of the guilty… have kept God locked in a box.  This box of restraints… of improbables… of impossibilities.  I look across and see the edges of the safe little box… explode.

Yes, He can.  Yes, He does.  Yes, He will.

He answers every prayer.  Every time.

In HIS time.  In HIS way.  In HIS will.

My mind again wanders… another pair of smiling eyes.  A new love.  An old hurt soothed with the balm of answered prayers.  The dear husband of my forever friend… with a new face leaned on his shoulder.  This comfort.  This content.  This chorus of answered prayers all around.

I smile.  His healing surpasses my understanding.  His love transcends all boxed prayers.  His will greater than our demands.  His timing… perfect.

What do we do when our prayers aren’t working?

Keep praying

Remembering that His is the timing that is perfect… the wide view of our small screens… the perfection in the puzzle.

Put the pen in His hand and allow Him to write the story…

His penmanship is breathtaking.

 

PROMISE #9 ~ God promises us answered prayers (in His name).

 

John 14:13-14

And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father.  You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

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Filed Under: Faith, Friendship, God's Promises, Hope Tagged With: faith, grief, healing, perseverance, prayer

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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.

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