a cord of 3 strands is not easily broken...

My sisters have been on my heart so much lately.  As I become more and more of a grown up, I have learned that good, real relationships are hard to come by.  In my life I have had ALL the relationships... good, bad, real, fake, seasonal, benefitial, harmful, and so on.  Throughout all the seasons of my life so many people have come and gone.. but the people who have had the most influence on my heart has been my family.  I am so blessed to have a mom and dad who led our family by the example of Christ's love, and because of that no matter how far apart my sisters and I are we only manage to grow stronger as the years go by.  It is the highlight of my day to get a phone call or text from one of my sisters.  It brings so much joy to my heart that whenever something exciting happens in one of their lives, they think to call me first so that I can celebrate with them.  It also means the world to me that whenever they are having a hard day or something is stealing their joy that they call me for encouragement, prayer, or just someone to vent to or cry with.  (because we all know that I am quick to cry at the drop of a hat... ) At the same time, it feels so good and comforting to know that I have two best friends that are attached to me for a life time (whether they like it or not :) and that they have my back no matter what.  Jesus created the 3 of us so differently and unique.  We all look different and have completely different personalities and interests, but I believe our hearts look very similar on the inside.  I appreciate both of my sisters for who they are, but most of all I appreciate them for how they show their love for me...
...Sara... sometimes I think she isn't human.  There is no one in the world stronger than Sara Elaine Krimm in my eyes.  She has always been the "tough" one of the three and I have always admired that about her.  I tease her all the time about how she lives in "Sara World" and I wish she would pay attention more when I talk to her, but I love that about her.  She is one of the most talented people I know.. one of those people that we all hate because she is literally good at everything.  I like to credit myself for her being such a good writer because when we were younger I used to speak for her, so I am sure it must have forced her to start writing since I wouldn't let her talk!  The best thing about Sara though, is her passion.  Whether she is playing a sport or instrument, writing a paper, making a peanut butter pie, or worshiping in church she is passionate about it.  She has never done anything half-hearted- including loved.  When Sara loves, she loves hard.  I am so thankful that she loves me as hard as she does.  I can remember when I was going through the worst part of an unhealthy relationship and Sara would be the first person I called when I needed someone to listen.  She didn't judge me, tell me how dumb I was, or even judge the one who was hurting me.  She just loved me.  And prayed for me.  And loved me some more.  I am so thankful for that, because even though I know she wanted to smack some sense into me she prayed for me and she let me be hurt and she just listened.  There is line in a Drake song (yes, I am about to quote Drake talking about you, Sara...) that makes me think of Sara every time I hear it.  He says, "my heart's big but it beats quiet".  She is the definition of someone with a giant heart and few words... she speaks through the way she loves, and her heart speaks LOUD :).
...Sydney... oh, my biff squid!  Sydney is one of kind.  Anyone who knows her knows that there is no one in the world like her.  I feel like she and I are alike in so many ways, but different at the same time.  Sydney is sensitive like me, but she has a little more fire in her than me.  She and I get our sensitive hearts from our mom, but she gets her inappropriate humor and goofy side from our dad.  I have literally laughed at Sydney until I cried MANY times in my life.  She is a fighter and it is so encouraging to see her walking so strong in her faith right now.  I am so thankful that Jesus is using the obstacles she has overcome in her life already to be a testimony to high school girls in College Station.  She is a true picture that Jesus takes our mistakes and turns them into moments of grace.  The best thing about Sydney is her loyalty.  If she loves you, you will never question her loyalty to you.  She has your back no matter what, and she will be the first one to go to bat with you if you need her to.  If you mess with someone that she loves, you've messed with her too and she will stick to that until the end!  I can remember any time anyone hurt my feelings, even when we were little, Sydney was the first one to stand up for me.  Sydney is a fire ball, and she is going to change lives as she takes that fire and lets it burn for Jesus! 

My sisters are the most beautiful two people I know... not only on the outside but more importantly they have beautiful hearts and I am so thankful to have younger sisters who I can look up to spiritually.  Together we are are triple-threat... so watch out people!  :)

"Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves.  A cord of three strands is not quickly broken..."  Ecclesiastes 4:12

Love you two!!!

dear future husband :)

I've decided that I'm going to start writing letters to my future husband... whoever he is!  I have had this burning desire in my heart lately to share it with someone else, and since CLEARLY Jesus has different plans for me at the moment I feel like it's necessary to write to my future man and let him know that I am patiently waiting on him!  It's so funny when I look back on most of the boys that have come and gone in my life because they are so far from having the qualities that I want in a life partner.  My heart has been filled with the wrong things, its been broken, confused, lied to, and slowly gone through a healing process.  Sometimes I just laugh at myself for learning things the hard way- my heart could have been completely redeemed a long time ago if I would have given it totally to Jesus as soon as I needed to.  Instead, I tried filling it up with other people and distractions so that I wouldn't have to feel.  Now that I have surrendered it to Jesus I am so overwhelmed with what He has done to transform it and change the things that it desires.  Why didn't I just do that from the beginning!?  So I am currently being content with just sharing my heart with Jesus, but when He decides that my heart is ready to be shared with a man, I just want that man to know that I'm waiting for him and I pray for him every day.  And I also wish he would hurry up!!

Dear Future Husband,

I love you and I hope you're chasing after Jesus as hard as I am right now, so that our paths will cross sooner than later.  Hurry up already!

Love,

Stephanie <3

i wanna be like peter!

Although I am a HUGE Disney fan (maybe one of the biggest)... I am not talking about Peter Pan here.  As nice as it would be to never grow up, change and growth is inevitable- and exciting!! Since I graduated in May I have spent the last 9 months trying to figure out how to be a grown up.  It isn't an easy task!  I have made plenty of dumb decisions and I am sure I have plenty more ahead of me.  It never ceases to amaze me how every time that I begin to wander down the wrong path, Jesus uses something or someone to grab my hand and pull me back to Him.  I am slowly starting to realize that the excitement of being a grown up in the real world isn't half as great as the excitement of becoming a spiritual grown up. 

In 1 Peter 2, Peter talks about becoming a spiritual grown up.  I love verse 2... it says "Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good."  This is so encouraging to me at this point in my life because sometimes I feel like I am walking through days blind-folded, trying to figure out this whole grown up thing.  I want to crave the "spiritual milk" that Peter talks about so that I can be a grown up in my salvation.  What is the point in trying to be a grown up in the "real world" if I'm not a grown up walking in the light of Jesus? 

My most frustrating thing that I deal with on a daily basis at work is people in the outside agencies that I work with not taking me seriously because of my age.  Just when I am feeling confident in my job and like I'm getting the hang of being a professional, someone makes a comment about my age or doesn't take me serious or respect me because I am so young.  I feel like I have to work twice as hard to earn the respect of other professionals, and earn the respect from even my clients because I am young.  One day I was really struggling with this and having what I call an "emotional breakdown" (I have those often) and Jesus led me to 1 Timothy 4.  He said to me "Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, life, love and purity."  Perfect, and exactly what I needed to hear.  When I wake up in the mornings before another day at attempting to survive in the "big girl world", I now ask Jesus to feed me with my "spiritual milk" so that I can set an example for anyone that I come in contact with- no matter the age- through my faith.  Like it says in Romans 8, "if my God is for me, WHO can be against me?" My answer is absolutely NObody :).  Love me some Peter Pan, but unfortunately the world isn't "never neverland"... so I'm gonna keep striving to  humble myself before the Lord like Peter, the desciple of Jesus.

Peace out trouts :)

Cast your burdens unto Jesus, He cares for you :)

I've officially given into the blog!  I'm not much of a writer so I never thought I would... but now that both my sisters have started and I realize how much I enjoy reading theirs, I've joined the club!  I figure this can also take the place of journaling during my daily devotions... I've been meaning to do that too :). 

Jesus has a funny funny sense of humor... It seems like every time I question his plans for me, He tests my faith to let me know to remember He is in total control!  I did a 3 week fast to focus on what God's plans are for me and make a conscious effort to obey Him and just listen- boy did He ever reveal Himself! As I grew leaps & bounds in my faith those 3 weeks, I came off of the fast feeling refreshed and energized.  Funny how as soon as we are confident in our faith, the devil tries to knock us a million steps back.  Ever since the day after my fast ended, I have struggled with feeling defeated by several little things that Satan has thrown my way.  Each day that I face a trial I think about the simplest words from the simplest song that we used to sing at Young Life camp when I was little: "Cast your burdens unto Jesus, He cares for you."  It seems like I sing those words to myself on a daily basis these days.  As I sing to myself I remember the other lines to the song... reminding me to lift Jesus higher and stomp Satan lower.  It's amazing how much better I feel just making a conscious effort to stomp Satan lower when I feel him trying to steal my joy! 

It has been apparent to me that even though I work in a faith-based agency with Christ-centered values, it isn't always bright and cheerful in the walls of The Next Door.  Working with women who have been abused physically, emotionally and sexually and who have walked down the dark roads of addiction in and out of prison can be a very dark and challenging thing!  I find myself having to pray constantly that Jesus will keep his angels around me and my co-workers so that the evil that has been stored up in these women will leave and that they will slowly be re-filled back up with the love and hope of Jesus.  How can I give myself daily to 14 broken women if I haven't put the armor of God on myself first?  I am a work in progress, but I am learning every day!