change is a positive thing...

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"I pray that out of His glorious riches, He may strengthen you with power through His spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."
Ephesians 3:16-19

wow! it's been a while! i'll be sure to make this a long one to make up for lost time....

i knew that things were gonna change when I got here, but, WOW! i didn't realize the extent to which they would! this is crazy! no, i'm still not using correct punctuation, but here's a list of some major changes God has made in my life in the past 10 weeks:

i cook!!!! but i can clearly see why i shouldn't...... but i do, at least once a week! so that is a step forward!

i'm considering botany as a career option... (JK!)

my room has been clean (by my standards) for 10 consecutive weeks!

as opposed to sleeping or something else that requires no movement, in my spare time (which is RARE) i crochet and memorize scripture (current project: scarf for a secret person and sermon on the mount)... and let me tell you, that requires ALOT of attention span! BIG change!

my 1:00 hour no longer revolves around Days of Our Lives! It revolves around REST TIME! that one hour of rest that we have every day... wow! definitely still the best 60 minutes of the day!

i no longer get an average of 3-4 hours of sleep every night and 3-4 hours of sleep every day.... i get a solid 8-9 hours every night! i'm in bed between 10:30 and 11:30 and up between 7 and 8! wow! who knew that such a drastic change was even possible!

movement is great! i do it ALL DAY LONG!

and more than anything else, God has made me realize how intricate and presice His plan is, and i have grown to trust Him and His every move so much more, and continue to every day.... i was sitting in this Bible study all of the interns are doing and we were going around talking about why we decided to come here.... and i sat there listening and just totally taking in how each of us were brought here, all from different circumstances and parts of the country, all at the very same moment, and for different reasons, and some of the same reasons.... it amazes me how God worked differently in each of our lives to gather us all here at the same time, with each of the particular kids in the houses that they were placed in with the house parents they were given... He is doing amazing things here.... i constantly thank Him for blessing me by putting these kids in my life, for whatever reason... one of my girls led devotions tonight, and it's just so awesome to see the change in her from when she got here about 7 weeks ago, and was crying every night and didn't understand why she had to be here away from her mom, to where she is now, totally leaning on God and trusting Him! wow! You are so amazing, God! So... while i don't know, or always understand what's going on and why, i've learned to just close my eyes and remember, God has a plan, trust Him and wait.........

and in the midst of all of these good changes, there is but one sad change: the time has come to say goodbye to an old anna kathrynism... the goal is to completely delete "I know right" from my vocabulary by..... tomorrow.... SAD, i know..... but it's all i hear anymore.... the mockery is too much to handle, and really, i'm just sorta tired of hearing it... it doesn't really make sense anyways.... i know, right.... what does that mean? if vu were here i'd ask him, since he started it all those years ago in mr. emery's classroom... probably in the midst of making that terrifying 2 foot tall vase thing, or that nice jewelry set..... wow... those were the days.... "i know right"... you'll be missed...

anyways...... i love you guys! i really have some amazing people in my life! i cannot believe how truly blessed i am! thank you for your prayers, and as always, if you need anything, i'm happy to pray for you, with you, or talk to you anytime on the weekends or between 1 and 2 on weekdays... your support and prayers mean so much to me! thank you!!! i love y'all!!

here are some prayers requests..... just 2: next tuesday my house is driving to florida for 4 days..... safety! and when i return, i'll have a new roommate.... goodbye emily #4... she'll be at the ranch, just not at laurel ridge (my house) so pray that i'll be accepting and excited about this change of roommates, and not sad about the loss of one..... the good news is that i'll no longer be the only intern at laurel ridge, which will be extremely helpful! thank you, God!

is this email shorter? wow! (probably not... you know they just keep going....) keep sendin me letters, y'all! 3601 lyon springs rd. sevierville, tn 37862 (hint hint) i know i'm not too quick to respond, but give it time....

God bless you all!
--anna kathryn

"I thank my God every time I remember you.
In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy."
Philippians 1:3-4

ps- thank you, rachel doss, for extending the life of my earring changing to 6 more days instead of 3! excluding saturdays and sundays, i still have not yet worn the same pair of earrings twice since i've been here!! i love you, b, you rock my face off! (in the ghetto...... in the ghetto!!)

2 pictures this time!:
my beautiful back yard....

on a hike...... first row to last row, left to right: 1- zachary(7), peter(9), arissa(10), laura(18) -2- shakia(11), quavi(9), cory(9) -3- shabre(10), me(21), zach(12), tara(13) -4- emily (intern), lensa(19) -5- ben (intern), camile(13), ashley(13) -6- elizabeth(13)

and speaking of pictures, the intern picture is definitely on the webpage now!! how exciting!!

and you guys should also click here
and look at the newsletter for october/november!! so great!

this email is never ending.... here are some more great quotes......:
*"Do you do any jazz or interpretive dancing?" -elizabeth... HA!
*"So... i'm on the internet the other day, checkin up on what webpages the girls are lookin at... and i run across this 'marlena.com'....." -james (my house dad)
*tucking arissa in one night after we prayed: arissa: "do you think God is amazing?" me: "yeah, i do..." arissa: "i do too.... and miss anna kathryn?" me: "yeah?" arissa: "i think you're amazing too..." aaawwwwwww!! i think i'm gonna cry!!
*"I almost bought you a birthday card the other day that had an hourglass on the inside that had actual sand in it! i could just see you opening it and saying 'like sands through the hourglass!!'" -marilee (house mom at oak rise)
*"Today's church! I have to study E-fusions!" -arissa
*in an email i got from camile tonight: "YOU SO TOTALLY ROCK MY FACE OFF!!!"
*"You are not allowed to eat your Bible!" -me... in complete seriousness...
*"I havent been watching long enough to know if i should want belle and philip together or belle and shawn, so you just tell me...." -marliee... hahaha!!! emily b., i know you're upset....