A glimpse of the Kingdom that's coming.

On Christmas Day this year, while we were soaking up the Hawaiian sun, preparing to trek back home. The Musekgon Chronicle printed a story about our family. We appreciated the opportunity to share a bit about our life, our faith and most of all our God.

A family at Christmas: 'God's plans for our lives were way bigger than our own'

The call came the week of December 12. We had landed in Fremont after accompanying the Grace Bible Men's Basketball team to Florida. 5 days later we would be leaving for Hawaii for a once in a lifetime celebration for A.L and Marlene Karnemaat. Inserted into these 5 days were as you can imagine, laundry, packing. Also included were basketball games, dr. appointments, and all of the other things we might like to do around the Christmas holiday. Caroling, Christmas parties. I had to let go of baking, (this was before my discovery of chocolate covered espresso beans, had I known, baking could have possibly found a slot).

So this is how it happened. Kent called me and said, "Kim, there is a newspaper reporter who got a hold of me and wondered if she could come and interview our family for a holiday story."

After I stopped chuckling, I said, "Really?? When could we possibly squeeze that in." I have often found God's timing impeccable and I've learned so many huge life lessons because of His timing. I knew this was one of those times, so I mentally buckled in and awaited the ride.

We talked about the logistics and decided we could squeeze it in on Wednesday. Wednesday was dentist day. I would happily cancel dentist day, but it is hard to rent a dental office for the morning and with Isaiah's health, keeping a close look at his mouth is pretty important. The children and I departed the house around 7:30, visited our beloved Dr. Cook and returned home with only 1 potential cavity. This may be a record. The reporter Susan Harrison Wolffis was scheduled to meet us at 1:00. We rolled in around 12:30. The house was in "order", we had a brief preparation talk with the kids.

"This is sort of going to be like the social worker that came and visited us before and after Isaiah came to our house." Kent began. "We want you to be polite, answer her questions, but it may involve a lot of listening." He added. We prayed before she got here and we were ready.

Susan came to our door a little after 1, she had such a warm smile and sweet disposition, I knew this was going to be for the most part an enjoyable conversation. 2 hours flew by as she asked us various questions about our family and how we came to be "this family". It was kind of fun as we each had an opportunity to recount different events we've been blessed to walk through. We were sort of just sitting around talking about our family history together with a very attentive listener. She asked about our faith and how important it was to us. As the time ended she was so gracious and appreciative, and it was like we'd been friends for a long time. She mentioned that the photo journalist would be contacting Kent to set up a time to come take some pictures the next day.

Thursday was another packed day for us, we had Bible Study in the morning, (8:30-12:00) which included the children's program, a dr. appointment in Muskegon at 1:00,which would require a prompt departure from Bible Study directly there. Finally, we had a game at Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids and we would need to leave our home at 4:00. While sitting in Bible Study I got a text from Kent saying that Greg, the photo journalist would be at our house at 2:30 and he would like to spend the day with us, perhaps accompany us to the game that night. If I had a vote, this particular Thursday would not have made the top 100 days that I might wish for a photo journalist to capture our life on film. But this was the exact day that God allowed.

Greg met us at our house at the appointed time and began clicking. He asked us to pretend he wasn't there. That was hilarious, while I am sitting on the floor in the kitchen amidst 5 pieces of luggage and doing the "re-pack" dance, Greg is clicking away.The kids just kept talking to him anyway, and telling him what to take pictures of. We left for Grand Rapids and spent the evening with Greg, after the game we ate at Applebee's and Greg asked if he could come back tomorrow. I was glad for the dark of night as my face surely would have revealed a reluctance as we agreed this would be "just fine."

As we left the restaurant, Trent took the four olders home with him and went the back way, while we took the littles and went the front way. (This becomes an important piece). 15 minutes into our journey, we realize why Will was begging for his bed at the restaurant. On Alpine he began ridding his body of his tummy ache. Kent was able to pull off but not as quickly as Will was able to purge. Will is one of our children who cannot have anything dirty touching him, so this required dis-robing. The only articles that had no stomach contents on them were his t-shirt (it was under a coat and a sweatshirt) and his underwear. This is how we began our journey home, I found a beach towel in the back end. 15 more minutes down the road, I received a call from Trent,

"Mom, we are o.k. but we are in the ditch."

I asked Kent to pull off and as I began to try to understand where Trent was and relay this to Kent, Will quips from the back. "Mom, I'm gonna puke!" (Seriously, I couldn't script this stuff , it is amazing). I hand the phone to Kent, open the door and try to help Will outside. He looks at me and says, "You want me to come outside maked (naked)?"

"Yes, Will, so sorry but we need to have this outside." As I grabbed him and placed him squarely on the pavement in the 30 degree chill of night.

5 minutes later we are back in the van heading to the "back way" where the other car is stranded. I grab the 4 kids, leave Trent and Kent to wait for the wrecker and make it home with only 2 false alarms from Will. He did however continue to have troubles through the night. This was sad news for our team who was scheduled to depart for 12 hours of plane rides in 2 days.

Mr. Greg returned the following day and several of our "on the scene" reporters let him know all that he missed. We completed our afternoon and bid our visitor farewell. While in Hawaii one of my cousins let me know that he saw some pictures of our family on MLive. I didn't realize until then that Greg found his way into almost every area of our home. Wow, who knew.

Team Karnemaat, by Greg Lindstrom

The reason I feel compelled to tell a bit more of the story, is the story was beautifully written and for the most part we were pleased with the way God was displayed. Afterall this was the opportunity that He had brought so we figured He could take care of how He was featured. Since the story appeared we have had so many sweet comments and praises from our friends, family and community. We are truly amazed, that is why you need to know 2 things.

1. We are so very human, just like you. We have faults and failures. But mostly we have a great, BIG God who understands our weakness and uses us anyway. We didn't hope that anyone who read that article would feel the compulsion to go adopt. We didn't agree to do the article so that anyone would think, Wow aren't the Karnemaats just the craziest family you've ever met. We did the story because we felt that God had brought the opportunity to us and we wanted to be obedient and allow Him to do whatever He wanted with us and those who read it.

“God is looking for people through whom He can do the impossible. What a pity when we plan only the things we can do by ourselves.” -A.W. Tozer

God has asked some things of us that seemed impossible, and they were. But the minute we said yes, we will follow, He's always provided everything we've needed to accomplish that task. God always finishes what He starts and He wants people who are willing to follow and know that they can't get to the end unless He shows up. He ALWAYS does, because He never leaves. That leads me to #2

2. If there is anything in this life that we have done, it is only a result of His movement in our hearts and lives. It's His work. We can take no credit for it. Our prayer is and has always been to respond to His call with, "Here I am". Abraham responded that way when God asked him to sacrifice his son, his only son, Isaac. (Genesis 22) I haven't always done this successfully. There are times when I have tried to petition God for an alternate route, one that would surely bring Him more glory and frankly would be a lot easier for me. He has denied those requests. Sometimes I understand, sometimes I don't. I doubt that I will understand His plan for Isaiah's illness until heaven, I just won't get it. He doesn't need me to get it. He needs me to know that He will always be enough. If there are harder days ahead, I'm pretty sure there are, God wants me to wait patiently for Him. On that day, He will be there. He will also be there for every moment between now and then.

I love this song that I've been introduced to recently, it describes what I'm trying to say so eloquently.







I was poor I was weak
I was the definition of the spiritually
Bankrupt condition
So in need of help

I was unsatisfied
Hungry and thirsty
When You rushed to my side
So unworthy
Still You gave yourself away...

That's the motion of mercy
Changing the way and the why we are
That's the motion of mercy
Moving my heart

Now I'm filled by a love
That calls me to action
I was empty before now I'm drawn to compassion
And to give myself away


Living for the lost
Loving 'til it hurts
No matter what the cost
Like You loved me first
That's the motion of mercy

God give me strength to give something for nothing
I wanna be a glimpse of the Kingdom that's coming soon...Francesca Battistelli, Motion of Mercy

So that's it, God moving in our hearts has allowed a host of unimaginable events and people into our lives, and we are so much richer because of it. We know Him and His character and His heart in a deeper way through each of those adventures.

My prayer tonight is that

you see Jesus,


you see His heart and



you want nothing more than to follow His path for your life completely, with every turn and bend and surprise He has in store.



Everytime you do I see a glimpse of that Kingdom that is coming and I can't wait!!

Finding God in Hawaii

This year I am celebrating Christmas in Hawaii, wrapping up a 50th wedding anniversary celebration for my in-loves. It's been incredible. Words cannot describe the things I've seen, pictures are inadequate. I am not even exaggerating when I say that sitting here I am brought to tears as I try to run through the past 7 days and grasp the immensity of my Creator-God.

The crash of thunder that His ocean makes as it hits the black lava rocks He's shaped.

The way the palm leaf looks against a vibrant, blue sky.

The sound a song-bird makes as it sings His praises for us to hear, even if we didn't hear it, the song-bird sings anyway.

The wonder of a child as they account their favorite moments of each day, the way they see His world, brings delight to the ones listening.

Seeing God's creativity below the surface of His immense ocean. He spared nothing, the shapes, the colors, the movement, truly amazing.

My favorite thing about finding God in Hawaii are His sunsets, every night, He paints a sky that takes my breath away, each one is different.

Each one is unique.

Sometimes He uses clouds to reflect the sun.

Last night He actually included a rainbow against the red cliff that jutts out into His big, blue ocean. He allowed me to take that all in and I am speechless.

I find that seeing God in Hawaii makes me wonder more and more about heaven and what He has prepared for us there.

I see your fingerprints
*Your* breathe of life
Is the evidence
And I see
Your beauty
Your majesty
Surrounding me

And I can’t deny
*You're* way too evident
I can’t ignore your
Presence in this place
Your grace is overwhelming
And I cannot hide all this love inside,
I can’t deny, I can’t deny

I feel Your mercy
Your faithfulness
Over flowing
And I know
Your peace that passes
All of my
Understanding oooh

And I can’t deny
Your way too evident
I can’t ignore your
Presence in this place
Your grace is overwhelming
And I cannot hide all this love inside,
I can’t deny

Your everywhere that I could ever be
I can’t deny
Your even in the depths of my soul
33 miles--I can't deny

He is in the depths of my soul and as I remain overwhelmed at His greatness, His artistry, His creativity and His love that He has poured into all He has created. There is nothing more to add to what He has done, I just get to spend a lifetime discovering all I can about Him and who He is.

I am grateful for that journey and the ways He continues to color my world and reveal Himself to me.

Romans 1:19

For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made

Silent Night.

Silent Night, holy night, all is calm, all is bright. When I hear this song, I feel as if there was one Christmas Carol that described my life, this wouldn't make the top 10.

Silent night, hahahahahaha....cannot remember one.

Holy night, I've had lots, I am so grateful that God doesn't need silence to make it holy.

All is calm, if calm means, no one is crying, vomiting, whining, screaming or arguing, well yeah, I can't relate to that calm, because oddly we have enough people to cycle through the previous list often, we've perfected the tag team effect even. If calm means, a realization that in the chaos, there is a plan and that God will direct my path. That He is using the life I live to reveal Himself more and more to me. Then YES, I can relate to calm.

All is bright. Always, I'm surrounded by a kaleidescope of colors and they are beautiful and unique and they teach me so many lessons, that I obviously would never learn without them.

But my favorite line in the song is in the 3rd verse

Silent night, holy night
Son of God, love's pure light
Radiant beams from Thy holy face
With the dawn of redeeming grace
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth "

"With the dawn of redeeming grace"

I can't imagine looking into the face of a beautiful, infant baby boy and realizing the cost of redeeming grace. I don't think Mary had that knowledge, but God did. It was His plan. It's a beautiful plan, but one I cannot explain or fully understand. But I don't think that was ever the point. It was meant to be a mystery, it was meant to defy any comprehension I may have about love. It was meant to be a gift that I could never repay and one that I should never try to. His redeeming grace is a beautiful thread that is evident in the whole written Word of God. It is also evident in His beautiful creation, including those people, especially in those people that He loves so much and we live with. ;-) If we are able to observe and see what He is up to as we navigate life with those around us, it can be an awe-inspiring, holy moment as God reveals a bit about His heart through the uniqueness He's placed in each one of us. He is so awesome that way.

So tonight, although I can't hear a pin drop...

 I am blessed with the knowledge that redeeming grace dawned in a plan that was set in motion at the creation of the world.

I can rest in the midst of the storm, because God doesn't need silence to show me something holy.

I can sleep in heavenly peace, because what He started He will finish!

A baby, a Savior, a King! What a beautiful plan for redemption. A love story like none other!

Do you hear what I hear?

I love Christmas Carols, and frankly December is not long enough to listen to the great songs of the season. My dad and I have a contest every year and usually in August or September, if we are running especially late, we call when we have listened to our first Carol. This year, we won. Victoria called and let Grandpa know we were claiming the win, as we were listening to the first Carol.

Recently I was listening to the song, "Do you hear what I hear?" It's a classic. The jest of the song is that each character introduced shares with someone else what they hear. Then they describe in greater detail what they are actually hearing. It's not only a star, but it's a star that is shining in the night with a tail as big as a kite. It's a beautiful song. The theology is a bit weak, but that's another post.

The reason I was thinking of this song, is I was just reflecting on how each of our experiences on this earth is so individual and unique. Just the other day, Will came to me with eyes wide with excitement, lots of hand motions and a very excited voice and shared that his brother was out of the designated area. His telling was so entertaining that we were smiling. I could tell, he was disappointed and felt that we truly didn't understand the severity of the situation. So he launched into the same story only adding a few more details, "Mom, he is not HERE, he is out there, over by the big van, MOM, the BIG VAN!" In his mind he could not understand my inactivity. He had expended so much energy to share this vital piece of information and it required action PRONTO! That is one of the great things about being 4. If something is important to you, it is nearly an involuntary response to share it. Sometimes, actually most times, LOUDLY. Will and Isaiah remind me of this often. I wonder when we lose that zeal, that passion to tell someone something so important.

Christmas is a beautiful time to ask someone, "Do you hear what I hear?" How great to share the experiences we are going through or just the reason we are able to face the life that we find before us. So this is what I am "hearing" tonight. A child, a child...A CHILD, with wide eyes and expressive motions and excitement in my voice.

And that child, came for one purpose. He came for you...for YOU!! He came so that you might have life and that you might have it abundantly. ABUNDANTLY!!

So that is what I hear, and I so want you to know that too!! Do you hear what I hear??