Posted on by Kristina Knowles

We must look out…

For others every day.

On my birthday, November 24th, my wonderful thoughtful boyfriend took me to Enchanted. It is a beautiful and magical display of lights in Arlington, Texas. When you drive up, you instantly get excited. I couldn’t wait to park and run up to the entrance. I was so surprised, grateful and excited.

Something happened as we were pulling into the parking space we were waiting for. Another car pulled into it while we were backing in. I couldn’t believe it, I had to pick my jaw off the floor of the car. Chris is so easy going but even he was shocked. Now kids, don’t do this at home, I got out of the car and approached the driver.

I did NOT yell, scream, cuss or fight with the driver and his passengers. Instead, I asked them why did they pull into a space that we were clearly backing into? The driver confessed he didn’t see us and that he thought we were waiting for another spot. Ok, I wished them a Merry Christmas and walked across the street to the special surprise birthday date night.

I had to shake off the discomfort of the lack of care or concern from that experience in the parking lot. I had to move on, so I did. I instantly started to feel the excitement and joy I had originally felt when we started to pull up. It was a winter wonderland, so precious and beautiful at the same time. So many couples, families and children. It was like a scene out of a Norman Rockwell drawing.

Lights, snow, music, ice skating, shopping, food and lots of smiling faces. Then as I watched the crowd I noticed a lot of families not able to get group shots together. So I stepped in and asked if I could help take pictures for them, it was awesome.

Then I noticed something else, an older woman walking down the steps using the hand rail. A group of people had not noticed her and didn’t get out of her way. I walked back to her, took her outside arm to help her down the steps. I wondered how she might have felt having this strange woman take her arm and help her down the steps. I didn’t think about it because I didn’t want her to fall and hurt herself. She was grateful, asked me my name and where was I from…Kristina with a K from Maryland. We both laughed.

We must look out for each other, every day. I could have let the parking lot experience ruin my birthday surprise or wanting to help anyone that night. I could have been a jerk and held a dumb grudge but that is not who God created me or any of us to be. God created us out of LOVE and not evil. Give power to the peace, joy and love that lives inside you.

My works is not my salvation, it’s my faith in Jesus Christ who died on the cross for all of us. However, my faith enables me to enjoy and find total delight in my works to help others naturally.

God bless you.

 

Posted on by Kristina Knowles

The best revenge is…

Not living well but living well with God.

There is so much confusion to why would someone kill so many people inside a church on a Sunday in November. Now that more information has come to light we realize it would appear to be based on revenge. Sad and unfortunate to say the least.

Have you ever wanted to get revenge on someone that has hurt you, used you, stole from you or hurt someone you know? Or have you wanted to get back at someone who you were jealous of? Have you wanted to get back at someone that interfered in your life and you didn’t want them to? Maybe you thought about it but never followed through.

I want you to know that you are wasting your time thinking, plotting and planning revenge. Instead of spending time moving on and healing from your hurt. When you chose to carry out revenge of any type you are following the teachings of Satan. God doesn’t command us to seek to get revenge.

I want to help you realize on a micro level that the very thought of us wanting to hurt another person is totally and completely wrong. Wasting time plotting actions, words or violence against another person is not the teachings of God but pure evil. Satan loves to get you riled up with negative thoughts, hoping you will carry them out to harm.

Let me help you with a few options to avoid this issue for you, your friends and family. Journal everyday to those who need prayers, including yourself. Praying for others is so special. And bringing your problems and blessings to the Lord keeps you connected and grounded in right relationship with Him. Journal out your problems, writing them down helps put things in perspective. Find yourself a Christian Therapist/Counselor located close by that you like. And read and mediate on the bible daily.

If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. Ecclesiastes 4:10 NLT

God is love, He is the creator. We were ALL created in His likeness not evil.

 

Posted on by Kristina Knowles

She is totally and completely…

Loved by God!

November 1st is All Saints day, a Holy day of obligation at my church. All Saints‘ Day, also called All Hallows’ Day, Hallowmas, or Feast of All Saints, in the Christian church, a day commemorating all the saints of the church, both known and unknown, celebrated on November 1 in the Western churches and on the first Sunday after Pentecost in the Eastern churches.

I am always grateful to be able to attend Mass and Holy days of obligation alike. As I walked in for All Saints day, I genuflected and sat down. Not paying much attention to anyone sitting around me because Mass was starting, I wanted to be concentrating and focused on the word.

Out of the blue, I heard this sweet little laugh a pew away. I looked into the direction and saw this beautiful black baby girl. I would guess she was 5 months old, cute little Afro with a bright red headband with a bow, a chambray ruffled shirt and grey leggings. Omygosh, she is glowing, she is adorable and she is loved.

I started to then focus and see her parents and 3 siblings all vying to hold her, even I wanted to hold her. It was clearly her sisters turn to hold her, she started to feed her with a bottle. And her older brother was keeping close watch over the feeding and a younger brother watching as well. All the while Mom and Dad lovingly looked at each other.

This beautiful black baby girl was clearly adopted by this family. And clearly God was all over this, it was beautiful to watch and experience. I started to cry with tears of joy to watch the abundance of Gods love right here in front of me at church. I wish I could have talked to them to let them know how wonderful it is to watch Gods love in action.

It hurts me when people claim they shouldn’t go to church or they don’t want to go to church. God wants us to go to church for this very reason, so we can see or feel something we didn’t expect to experience. I am open to God, I want what he wants for me every day.

As Mass came to a close, the little baby looked at me and we started to play peek-a-boo, she waved to me and she said, “Hi!” I was beaming for that little baby because you could see God, feel the Holy Spirit and experience Jesus all at once.

Please reconsider finding a church based on the teachings of the bible. We are all broken people trying to make sense of this broken world. However, with God we are saved and we can expect the promises He has made in the bible. I have experienced them, I know you will too.

Peace be with you.

Posted on by Kristina Knowles

My favorite type of High…

will always be Jesus!

I am often asked how I stay so positive and happy. It happens almost daily and my response will and always be Jesus. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus! In fact, some of my new friends in Texas call out Jesus as soon as they see my face. I love it, I love that they name Him out loud.

Now for the bad unfortunate, heart-breaking news. We have an alarming amount of people getting high daily off of things that are dangerous. So dangerous that they are ruining families, disrupting classrooms and reeking havoc on all of our lives in one form or another. One joint, one peek, one line, one pill, one drink, one deal at a time for a senseless high.

I wish I could take away the urge for so many to want that unnecessary need to disappear from the reality of their mental or physical pain. I would love nothing more than to be able to give people the tools to deal with their pain sober and not under the influence.

We live in a highly distracted world that doesn’t allow us to stand still. However, I make time every day for God because He makes time for me. It’s the least I can do for He does so much for me. I didn’t deserve to wake up this morning to write this blog but God deemed it so. I want to honor Him and help other’s too.

My Mother and Father are great people for different reasons. They are not perfect, neither are you. And if you watch your surroundings carefully, you will see the other Mother and Father figures God brought into your life, just at the right time. We should want to reach out and take care of each other daily.

Satan is and will always be the soft whisper of hatred, self doubt and ugliness. Evil convinces you that being good is bad and being bad is good. Dark forces will encourage you to hold grudges and to not forgive the unforgivable. And you should know we are ALL the unforgivable, all of us. No one person gets more of a “pass” than the other, none of us are worthy. Here is the good news, by the grace of God, we are forgiven by Him through Jesus. Why is it so hard to forgive your Brother or Sister?

Are you trapped by Satan or redeemed by God?

Peace be with you!

Posted on by Kristina Knowles

The one that got away…

Thanks be to God!

I know society talks about this person in television shows, movies and talk shows. The infamous “person that got away”, I am here to explain to you why this person doesn’t truly exist. We can waste a lot of time pining away for this person with questions or statements. Why didn’t I do better? Where did I go wrong? Why couldn’t they change? What if I said this? Waste. Of. Time.

I read the bible for thousands of reason, this would be one of them.  We live in a world that requires us to believe in man more often than we should believe in God. Healthy and well meaning relationships are important and necessary to strive in this world, we need them. The most important relationship we create is the one we establish with God.

After we develop our relationship with God, the next relationship we create is the love for ourselves. I see so much self hate, it’s terrible. People would rather ruin their lives with medication, drugs, fantasy, alcohol and jealousy. Instead of loving themselves, accepting themselves as God created them.

When we are in right relationship with God and ourselves we tend to attract the good people of our lives. And even if we don’t, a few bad seeds might slip in from time to time. Just know in your heart that God gave you an internal hard drive that allows you to know the difference. It’s up to you to listen or ignore the truth.

So let go and let God be the ruler of your life. Let go of ” the person who got away” and don’t look back at the “what if’s” of life. Just realize at this very moment you have the opportunity to change everything that is wrong about your life, especially the relationships. Learn from these past relationships, learn what you loved and what you hated. Don’t look back, its just a waste of time…

God bless “the one who got away”!

 

Posted on by Kristina Knowles

Suicide is an expression of…

Self hatred.

Wow, what a horrible thought to think that people who want to take their life on some level hate themselves. And it’s probably safe to say, they hate their lives as well. Have you thought about how it might feel to hate yourself?

Do you know where self hatred comes from? I will share with you a few prevalent places. Home, the very place that is “suppose” to be safe, encouraging and happy. A Father, Mother, sibling or any other family member can attack another family member at any given moment. We should lift up each other, we should speak words of encouragement into each other and love each other with all we have to give.

Outside the home, children, friends, neighbors have an even greater influence on our life. You will either surround yourself with people who uplift  you, love you and encourage you. Or you will surround yourself with people who want the absolute worst for you, will encourage you to sin against God, discourage you and degrade you with mean words about your features, body image and your thoughts/ideas.

I am constantly thinking about other people, places and things. It’s just been my personality, very instinctual. I have come across a lot of people who have low self esteem but project outwardly a high sense of regard for themselves. It’s fascinating for me to watch, but it breaks my heart. However, it doesn’t serve anyone to pretend to be happy if you are really not happy or to suffer alone in silence.

I believe we must check in with our friends and family more often. We need to let them know we have good boundaries in place for good things to happen. It’s good to be a strong and supportive sounding board but don’t be a sponge. And always recommend good Christian therapy or counseling to those in your life who might be suffering alone.

 

Posted on by Kristina Knowles

Evil has been in this world…

Ever since Satan fell from grace out of Heaven.

I know it’s hard to believe or even fathom the heart ache that we all must endure as a society. Natural disasters, mass shootings, murder, addiction, abortion, disease, accidents of any kind, the list goes on and on. And the over arching question is always…why?

I choose not to ask why. My faith in God far outweighs my fear of Satan. Our world has a heart and sin issue that we so love to ignore. Our hearts are filled with hate and our sin nature prevents us from realizing the truth. A hate in which we refuse to let God into our hearts completely. A sin nature we inherited from Adam and Eve.

It can and will get better if we let God into our life for good. It can and will get better if we refuse to let Satan command our thoughts and actions. An idle mind is the Devil’s Workshop, my Grandma Miles use to tell me, and she is correct.

Guard your heart from evil, fill your mind with the goodness of God, put your family first, love your neighbors, speak kindness into everyone you meet, lift people UP instead of putting them down. Encourage people to want to be better, do better. Be the light in a world of darkness. Change what is wrong and do more of what is holy, right and just.

The more I see and read of this world, the more I turn to God. We believe it is good to be bad and bad to be good. Our children would rather be under the influence of drugs and alcohol than to be sober. Our children would rather take the easy road than the more difficult or hard road to be challenged. Our children are watching and we need to do better, be better.

Let’s all make a change today to really make this world a better place.

Posted on by Kristina Knowles

To pick up or to not pick up…

Your dogs poop.

Please just pick it up! I am beyond boggled by any individual that rescues, purchases or fosters a dog and refuses to pick up their own dogs poop-mind blowing. I believe just like the people who believe it’s okay to leave shopping carts anywhere and anywhere-completely selfish.

While walking Bentley today, I was stopped by a person who was amazed to see that Bentley poops into a bag…lol. I know, it’s a sight to be seen. Way before I moved to Texas with my Son and my dog Bentley, Bentley was trained to poop into a recycled grocery bag.

I don’t mind being confronted now and again by someone who has just watched Bentley poop into a bag. I live on a golf course, we see a lot of traffic, people are amazed. Then it dawned on me, why don’t people stop and ask the people who don’t pick up their dog’s poop?

Where I live, it’s the rule, pick up your dog’s poop. The city where I registered Bentley, it’s the rule, pick up your dogs poop. You may not believe it’s a big deal,”It’s just dog poop.” I’ll tell you why it’s a big deal. Once again, we are teaching our children how not to follow the rules, how not to take care of our dogs and how not to care-period. And with that, you will start to erode away good principles we as a society put forth to make the world a better place.

So let me make this clear, you have a responsibility to pick up your dog’s poop. If you don’t, you are a selfish, uncaring, lazy and inconsiderate law/rule breaker. Here’s the good news, you can start picking up your pets poop today. And you can apologize to your family for not making it a priority to be a better role model. Make today, the day!!!

Posted on by Kristina Knowles

Do you really love Jesus or…

Are you just going through the motions?

I spend a great deal of time in the Gospels. I listen to at least 3-4 sermons a day, I pray and attend church weekly. I love the good news of the bible, I relish in it. And I am stunned to see so many Christians so unhappy and disconnected. Are we reading the same good news of God?

I have come to realize that our family and friends play a huge part on who we are but God is bigger and better. If I stayed in a mediocre state of life, I guess I would be walking around unhappy and disconnected too. Instead I am filled with joy, I am so grateful I wake up happy and grateful every day. If you don’t believe me, ask my son Griffin.

At some point in life you must believe what you are reading in the bible and activate your faith. We all must truly live like Jesus, help like Jesus and most importantly love like Jesus. Within yourself, within your home, at your job, where you volunteer. Wherever you go and whatever you do, be more like Jesus.

Share your testimony when appropriate with those who need it. Almost every day someone asks me why I moved to Texas, I always respond excitedly, “Jesus!” Then I get to share the story when I was led by Jesus to move to Texas 11 years ago while on a business trip for Proctor & Gamble. It was a moment I will never forget.

Let’s all be amazing stewards of this great gift of life. In a blink it will be over. So let us not waste another moment focused on things that never truly fulfill us anyway and share the only thing that will last forever, faith in Jesus!

 

Posted on by Kristina Knowles

National Girlfriends Day…

Is today, August 1, 2017!

Where would I be without the amazing friendships I have made throughout my life? I often think about how God brought the right women into my life for a season and others  for longer. The girlfriends who taught me who I did and didn’t want to be based on what I learned from them.

I recently moved to Texas, leaving my girlfriends behind. I was able to say good bye to most of them, which was very important to me. Some girlfriends came to my going away party, some came to my Bon Voyage party and the others met me one on one. Leaving them behind was hard and difficult but grateful we have phones, texts and social media to stay updated.

I must admit I am blessed in the girlfriend space. God has given me the type of girlfriends that have looked out for me. The type of girls that lift me up, make me laugh and support my endeavors. Some of my girlfriends have even been here to see me in Texas already, awesome; right?!

In fact, I am amazed at the new girlfriends that I have met over the last 3 years including the new girlfriends I recently met in Texas. These women have been life changing for me. The older I get, the newer the friend, we all have God in common. I am so grateful, pleased and thankful to God for the great girlfriend flow.

May you take today to reflect on all the wonderful women who gave their friendship to you. May you say a prayer to the ones that you lost for better or worse. And may God continue to bless your life with women who uplift, love, care and make you laugh all the days of your lives.