I am a wife of a wonderful husband Bill and live in Columbia, SC. I have two grown children;Bryan, who is 32, and Kristalyn, who is 29. Kristalyn is the mother of my two grandchildren Will, eight years old, and Johanna Clare, six years old. I love being a grandmother. I have been teaching Bible Studies and Sunday School classes for about thirty years. I especially love teaching Bible studies that teach others to study for themselves so I guess it is quite obvious that I studied at the feet of Kay Arthur in Precept Bible Studies and now am a Precept Leader myself and have been for a long time.

I have been through great sorrow and sometimes I fight depression. God always holds out His arms for me to run to when I am down. I am sold out to Him and CHOOSE to be His bond servant for life, no matter what. Although there has been great pain, He has always been enough! He is everything I will ever need and as Jim Elliot said, "He is no fool who gives up that which he cannot keep to gain that which he can never lose." Amen to that!!!!!!!!! I have also had times of tremendous joy such as when my children were born and my grandchildren were born....and of course, when I got married...can't leave that one out.

I have been encouraged by many to start telling my story in other places than just my own classes and groups so, gradually, I have made brochures as God prompted me. I have not yet had the courage to send them out, not because I am afraid, but because I have had fibromyalgia for about eighteen years and if you know anything about that condition, you know that you cannot predict what days you are going to feel "like a person" and what days you are going to be in great pain and filled with chronic fatigue. The chronic fatigue is really what brings on depression.

However, when I gave everything to God; when I laid it all on the altar, I signed up for the front lines. I do not want to be a passive, mediocre Christian because I am passionate about Christ and about sharing Him with others and helping them to grow and learn. I hesitate to commit to sending out my brochures because I am afraid I will have a flair-up on the day out there in the future when someone has signed me up to speak. I am wrestling with God to determine if that is a lack of faith of it is just a time to wait and be patient. In other words, do I send them out and just know He can infuse His strength into me no matter what as He has done in the past or do I wait until perhaps my condition is better and then send them out? I am open to comments and spiritual advice in this area.

I have done some writing and am in the very slow process of writing my first book telling my story. It is hard revisiting some of the events and even harder finding the right words to convey the message so that it is clear, meaningful, helpful to others and primarily so that God gets all the glory.

I love music. It speaks to my soul in a way that I cannot explain. I think that I learned more theology from the old hymns growing up than from any Sunday School class or sermon. I believe Amy Grant said that first. Bonnie Keen's song "Isaac" brings me to tears every time because I feel that is God's call to my life also. If you are not familiar with her or that song, I urge you to check out her website and look under the topic "Media" and you can hear her sing it on the 700 club. It is a song of absolute, total surrender.

I graduated from Old Dominion University and have a teaching degree in education and special education with certification in elementary education, deaf education and mental retardation. I taught the deaf for many years and love them. I love sign language and the deaf have been so dear and accepting to me through the years. It pleases me to see "my kids" whom I taught when they were small with families of their own. Actually, it makes me feel old!!!!!!!!!!!!

Virginia Beach was my "growing up grounds" and I love it but in 1974, we moved to Columbia, SC, after I graduated and I began teaching here while my husband finished up his college work at the University of South Carolina...go Gamecocks!!!! He was later finishing than me because he first served four years in the U S Navy. My dad was a Navy Chaplain for many years. How I loved that because I did NOT like being a "preacher's kid" in small churches where I felt like I lived in a fishbowl. When my Dad went into the Navy, it was liberating for me. Now I could be like everyone else.

How funny, that God was to show me I was called to be "set apart"; to be different. But peer pressure is a mighty thing when you are small and want to just blend in. All you PK's out there know what I mean.

I mentioned Bonnie Keen earlier. I learned about Shout Life on her website so I love her for that. My dear friend Carol Kent based the title of her book on Bonnie's song "Isaac". If you have not read Carol's book, run, don't walk to your nearest bookstore and read it. Carol also has a sequel to it. It was in the top ten Christian books for a long time and Carol bares her soul to tell what she went through and how you, too, can make it no matter what you are going through. She and her husband Gene are great inspirations to me. They speak all over the country despite the continuing great sorrow in their lives. That is one of the things that makes me think I need to just trust God and send out those brochures and tell my story which is really "His story" while there is still time!

My primary spiritual gifts are teaching and encouragement in that order. I feel the wind of God's pleasure when I am teaching His Word. It is light and life and truth.

I am now 56 years old (it is August 27, 2008). However, I have an advantage over most people my age because since I was born on Feb. 29, Leap Year, I only get a birthday every four years. That makes me fourteen. Boy, I think I need plastic surgery. Since my husband is currently out of work due to medical problems, I WILL TAKE ANY OFFER FOR FREE SERVICES OF A PLASTIC SURGEON....a little chin tuck, a touch up around the eyes, and some liposuction will do. I'll be glad just to take the whole face lift. I am SO totally serious! I think looking your best gives you more confidence and since our bodies are God's temple, my temple could use a little overhaul! However, the most important thing is inner beauty and our society has forgotten that. They try to always look perfect on the outside, but our God looks on the heart. So if none of you plastic surgeons volunteer to do a little sculpturing on my body, I'll wait for my new body and just enjoy what God is doing on the inside of me where it counts!

Well, I think that we were to write a little about ourselves and I have written a book. I would like to add that my daughter is ADHD so that is a topic I like to talk about. I love to talk about the brain and how we learn. I have a friend who is doing research on that topic now and travels around the world speaking about it.

His mercies are new every morning!

In His Bonds,
Karen