i haven't posted in forever (facebook took over the little time i have for this kind of thing) but thought that anyone reading this may be encouraged so here i am. after going to one amazing, amazing worship service tonight and knowing i'm about to really turn 20 at 6:30pm, I've come to the realization that nothing in my life is worth it, incredible, joy-filled, or unshakeable apart from my Savior Jesus Christ.  that's all i got for now...goodnight and God bless you.

Thank You

Jesus, You are and will always be
Beautiful and lovely to me
You gave Your life, shed Your blood for me
Heaven came down to reveal Your love

Thank You, thank You
I will always bring You praise
For You have won my heart
Thank You, thank You
I will always bring You praise
From the deepest places of my heart

in twelve hours i will be moving back to Jewell...this has been the fastest summer of my life! i have fallen so much more in love with the Lord and am so excited for what He holds in His loving hands for me this year. i can see more fully now who i am in Him and i can't wait to be used for His glory. i know that satan would like to get me down and think that i can't handle what's about to happen...what a trickster...but i can do all things through Christ who gives me strength...and so can you!!

i really feel the need to say 'let the games begin' b/c throughout this next week i will be going through shepherd training, csm training (for worship team), and work week for my sorority...all of which happen at the same time...oh man. i'm soo excited to have fun with my friends and meet new people even though it will be crazy busy. please pray that i will have at least a little energy left when school starts on the 29th.   

this may be my last post for awhile but i hope everyone who is moving in for the first time or for the second or third or who are staying home are all feeling the Lord's peace and love during this transition time...be excited because you are loved by a King...and He will never leave your side!  

oh...one more thing. my sister was in colorado this week and while driving an ATV, flipped twice and landed on a side of a mountain, with a cracked helmet! ahh!  she could've landed in a pile of rocks that were all around her...or  the ATV could have turned slightly and been on top of her, or she could have broken bones and been seriously hurt or killed, but God protected her and she came back safely!! please pray for  her for her pain to go away and pray that her positive attitude will remain..and that we will all give God the glory for this!

also...to all of you who wrote letters of encouragement for the book i made for my mom: so many people contributed to it and i gave it to her tonight and i wish you could have seen the look on her face...her reaction was all i had hoped for and more. my whole family was crying and she was so touched. thank you so much if you added to this book because every single one of you truly made her feel so special and loved, and thank you for your prayers...her last chemotherapy is next wednesday...hallelujah! 

okay...this little girl is awful sleepy. God bless you and if you need ANYthing at all, please let me know - even though it's a busy time for me, there's nothing i'd rather do than encourage and pray if you're in need.

Currently Listening Take Me Away By Sarah Kelly see related

- Take Me Away

holy cow, where is this summer going?! i want to write an update about my life and also some prayer requests...please let me know the same about you!

microbiology is over and because the Lord is nothing short of amazing I got an A....how someone can go from a 31% to an A only leads to one thing: God. the last worship night went well and my dad said a rainbow was over my house during it...God was here. my last day of babysitting my girls was so fun but sad...i will miss them! i gave the 2 oldest girls little princess books filled with pictures i've taken of them and their sweet faces and kisses & hugs were full of  love. went to st. louis to be w/ nikki and help her move into her house...i had a wonderful time seeing her, brian, her friends, and spending time with the Lord in beautiful places, laughing, cooking, and doing the random things she and i always do. i was by myself driving home and right after darin sent me a message to say he was praying for me, i witnessed a scary car accident like 2 cars in front of me...after i stopped crying i was parked on I-70 for an hour due to a a fiery/fatal crash that had happened...i was so thankful the Lord carried me home safely. got home in just enough time to go to my last small group at my pastor's house with michelle...that has been an answered prayer and i've learned SO much...and the way God has blessed my friendship with Michelle through these times and babysitting has given me a ton of joy. then...Dena came to visit on mon. and tues.! we did lots of things and shopped for our room this year...it is going to be amazing, i hope our sheep will like to visit us! it was wonderful to see her as always and i'm so excited to live with her...starting august 20th! i've gotten a lot of responses for the book i'm making for my mom's birthday/last chemo treatment...thank you!

now i'm in the midst of packing for georgia...i'm going there with my parents tomorrow through monday night. i haven't seen my family that lives there in SO long and i can't tell you how excited i am. please pray for safe travel and also for my sister who's going to colorado this weekend with her job.

well...pretty much life has been insane with all of these things plus all of the things i don't have time to mention. i feel like paul in the Bible when he said he didn't have time to mention all that the Lord had done. throughout all of this, He remains my source of strength and my main passion and love. i hope to post a lot of pictures soon...maybe next week if i get a chance.

love to you and God bless!

Praise the Lord! microbiology is over!!! i want to praise Him for more than that but i'm really excited about this....my dad brought me a pink rose today (my favorite!) and said 'i knew you would make it through'...if you get a rose and that comment after getting through a class, you know it was hard.

Please come to the last worship night of the summer!!

Monday, august 1^st at 7:30pm at my house!

(lemme know if you  need directions)

****PLEASE READ THIS:

as many of you know, my mom has been battling ovarian cancer since last April...i say battling because she has been my brave little toaster and is winning!   she has been going through chemotherapy since last summer and her final treatment will be late August....my family is so looking forward to this!  i'm very close to my mom and i have had the incredible sadness of watching her go through so much pain and lots of tears...i don't know anyone who likes to see their mommy crying or barely able to stand or walk up the stairs. but more than that, i've also had the extreme joy to take care of her, spending time with her, and to see how God has used this in her life for good...the way that He has been working in her life is unbelievable! her positive outlook and beautiful smile amazes me and the way my dad loves and cares for her blows me away.  if you know my family, you know that we laugh a lot and having my dad think that my mom's wig is a mouse and throwing it across the room, or listening to him call her 'butch' in her do-rag (how do you spell that?!) has been a blessing in my life. lately a blood test has shown in my mom that her antigen (the bad stuff) count is on the rise...the doctor said to be worried if a trend begins and we're seein' a trend in the last few months and we're worried although he says to not worry yet.  this type of cancer has a very high rate of coming back and so while we're filled with praise that her chemo is almost done, there is the chance that it won't be.  please be praying, for comfort for  my mom and for God's will to be done!  i've looked at past xanga entries and prayer journals and for those of you who have been praying for her, i am SO thankful to  you...i cannot say that enough!  and to those of you who have held my hand and comforted me and the rest of my family during this time, i am also truly indebted to you.  I want to make something special for my mom that i can give to her after her last treatment and i would love to have your help.  if you know her (or even if you don't) i would be thrilled if you could maybe write a little something to her...maybe encouragement or how she has inspired you if you've been a witness to her amazing-ness or a prayer for her or all three or whatever...a joke, a funny picture...she likes to laugh!  please email (by August 17th)  them to: klenklend@william.jewell.edu. i'm going to make a little book of love for her over the next couple of weeks so that no matter what has happened or what is to come, she will know she is loved and that God's in control!  or if you would just like to keep her in your prayers, i would be most grateful! thank you soooo much for reading this...if there is ANYthing i can do for any of you who are dealing with something like this or just ANYthing at all, please please let me know! God bless you, my dear friends!

^“3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, ⁴who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. ⁵For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. ⁶If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. ⁷And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.” ~2 Corinthians 1:3-7

i love this song...'the way i was made' by chris tomlin...

I want to live like there's no tomorrow
I want to dance like no one's around
I want to sing like nobody's listening
Before I lay my body down
I want to give like I have plenty
I want to love like I'm not afraid
I want to be the man I was meant to be
I want to be the way I was made

Made in Your likeness, made with Your hands
Made to discover who You are and who I am
All I've forgotten help me to find
All that You've promised let it be in my life

it reminds me of the quote: "live like there's no tomorrow, dance like no one's watching, work like you don't need the money, and love like you've never been hurt." i would love to really live this out...most importantly, i just want to live out what the Lord has for me. i have been growing so much more in Him and want nothing more than to be in His will. i feel like there's so much more i could type to tell all that i'm thinking and feeling right now and all that's been going on in my life but this is all i really want to say because it's most important. i just love the Lord so much!!

***EDIT :)

i feel like this is the perfect time to say that i've fallen in love this summer and it is the sweetest love that i've ever known...with my sweet savior Jesus Christ...i've been awestruck by His love before but not like this...the work that He's been doing in my life that began with my total abandon of my heart several months ago is quite indescribable..."and i pray that you..may have power..to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ" (Ephesians 3:17-18). i am quite sure no other love can take a tearful and aching heart and make it new. i was worshipping on my piano just now (what a blessing it is to be able to sing and play to Him every day...i will be spending time in grand river chapel next year quite a bit..) with the song "Your Love is Deep"..."your love is deep, your love is high, your love is long, your love is wide...deeper than my view of grace, higher than this worldly place, longer than this road i travel, wider than the gap you filled...."  i just kept playing it over and over and couldn't stop, and finally i was inspired to write this and wanted to share it with you. i have several people on my heart as i write this, that you would know the fullness of His love. thank you Lord for your redeeming love...