Becoming a Butterfly

It seems like in our everyday lives we live that we often times forget the miracle of everyday life itself… We forget that every night when we go to bed we could never wake up in the morning, that everything we know and love could fade in an instant. We take for granted the little blessings we have all around us, the joy of love, friendship, happiness and just life itself. Albert Einstein once said “ There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle and the other is as though everything is a miracle.” Do you live your life as though everything is a miracle? Do you leap for joy when you wake up in the morning at the realization that you have another day here on earth to make a difference or do you groan that you have to even get out of bed? I myself am more times than not; the latter of the two,  It is definitely something I need to work on in my life. When you are blessed with a special friendship or something even as small as your baby smiling at you, do you stop to thank God for that blessing? We forget that everything in our lives happens for a reason… Every person we come in contact with, every flower that blooms are all part of Gods plan for our lives. Imagine the miracle of a Butterfly for instance. Everyone loves Butterflies ... They are beautiful and have a lot of significance to them. Butterflies start out as these ugly caterpillars that build a cocoon to grow into this lovely butterfly, but the miracle of it all is that if you help that butterfly out of that cocoon before it emerges on its own it will die. It has to slowly eat its way out to build itself stronger and stronger before it can come out, spread its wings and fly…. That caterpillar could just lay in there and hope that someone opens the cocoon or it can work towards the ultimate goal of becoming a beautiful butterfly. Which are you? The caterpillar that gives up or the striving beautiful butterfly? Let’s try to live our lives realizing that everything is a miracle! God has a plan for our lives and he will place people and things in our life to help us along our journey or should I say dig us out of our cocoon.  I pray that every morning you wake up, you see the miracle of life and experience the Joy of Christ in your life! May God bless you! 

Life's Journey

" Faith is taking the first step even when you cannot see the whole staircase" Martin Luther King JR


It seems to me life is one great big staircase. You must climb up each step one at a time. You can try to do them two at a time, but in the long run you'll just tire yourself sooner. If we have an ultimate goal in life, we have to take each level accordingly. We might think it's better to go full speed- straight ahead when really God wants us to take 5 more steps before we reach that goal. Just because you have a detour in the road doesn't mean you'll never make it to that destination. Maybe God has someone he planned for you to meet, a lost soul to save, or maybe he just wants to test your faith in Him and his guidance. It can be hard to except certain detours in life, but we must remain on the path laid for us by our almighty God and trust that he has a higher reason for this delay. Noone knows you better then God, He knows us better then we know ourselves and He loves us more then anyone in the world ever could. Do you think he would cause us to wait if it wasn't for our benefit in the end? Do you believe God would cause us to struggle if he knew we couldn't bear it?
The scriptures say " Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Matthew 11:28-30" If you lean on Him there is nothing you cannot handle! Nothing is impossible with God and his unfailing love.

Living a life as a grain of sand..

" Like a small boat
on the ocean
Sending big waves
into motion
Like how a single word
can make a heart open
I might only have one match
but I can make an explosion."
  

Many times we feel like we aren't important, like nobody would notice if we were gone.. The truth is there is someone out there who couldn't live without you and looks forward to visiting you. The whole desert started with one piece of sand, a blazing forest fire with one little flame.
Imagine if we lived our daily lives waking up believing we could actually make a change! The world would be a much better place if we came at it head on knowing that we were needed to make the world spin. The Bible says " If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing is impossible unto you. Matt.17:20"
Faith is an amazing thing. Everyone has different levels of Faith, but we are all important. Some of us have enough faith we could move mountains and other know they have enough faith to make it through the horrible traffic they are in! Whatever level of Faith you have, If you just believe nothing is impossible!
One tiny little boat can make huge waves on the ocean, on rock can start an avalanche, one person can start a revival!  That is what we need! We need revival in our faith! We need the faith of early Christians. They were faced daily with trials and tribulations and yet they never stopped believing. I know hundreds of Christians in Africa, Pakistan, India, China that are faced with threats, hunger, death, and still they never give up. They don't have the amazing resources we have in America, but they still believe and have the strongest faith! I feel so blessed to live in a country where I'm free to practice my individual faith without being persecuted by death. We as Christians are going to face some persecution from time to time. Especially if you don't fit in to the "norm". I know personally being considered "odd" in society that it isn't pleasant, but if you just trust God and lean on Him. He will carry you through!
I know this is a little odd for my writings, but it's something I've been thinking on the last few weeks.
May God bless you and carry you through whatever comes your way!
Keep the Faith!
Katlyn

Autumn is my favorite season

"Autumn is like a second Spring where every leaf is a flower!"

Today my family and I went for a short hike around some of the state parks here in Nebraska. We enjoyed the cooler temperatures and beautiful fall leaves! Autumn has always been my favorite season. The weather, the leaves and just the all around good feeling! It's the best time of year for hiking and camping, You can build campfires and roast S'mores, go on hay rides, play in the leaves, wear jackets, scarves and boots... To me fall is just all around fun! I'm so thankful that God chose to give us a change of seasons. Each one just as important as the other. Each having their own specific  "theme" that brings happiness to different types of people. For me it's Autumn... What's yours? So go out and enjoy the weather and beautiful leaves!
God Bless~
Katlyn

I Love Fall! Especially this tree!



This weather called for a warm hoodie
and headband!

These red maple leaves were gorgeous

The red carpet runway:)

This beautiful tree has 3 different colors

Just Hanging around training for "American Ninja Warrior"

These are tricky! We can all dream right?:)

Pondering Life's Pathway

I have been  pondering my life lately and going over events that have happened in it. I really began to realize how very blessed I was growing up and still am to this day. I think about the blessing that I have two loving parents who support me in everything and my grandma who went out of her way and above her means to help us along our journey. I am even blessed enough to still have my great grandma alive to make memories with. I've talked to a lot of my friends lately who don't have grandparents, or take them for granted and never contact them unless it's a birthday or holiday. If you really think about it none of us would be here if it wasn't for our grandparents. I know seeing a loved one grow old is really hard, but they are still that same person who cared for you as a child or grandchild. The same grandma who prepared Christmas dinner every year and never complained or the same grandpa who would fix a broken toy when you were small. I guess I'm just trying to say never take them for granted. One day you won't have them anymore and you can't ask them about how they make their homemade rolls or how to sew a granny square. Whether they are in assisted living or on life support, never waste a moment that you could be visiting them. Take the time to hear their stories about growing up when times were harder or about being a young boy in the old wars. All of these times and stories will be lost and gone forever if we don't take the time to hear them, write them down, enjoy them. Spending that month with my great grandma in April and this past week I've enjoyed it so much. I've learned so much about her and our family. Why she won't eat green beans, how she met my great grandpa, how she worked really hard to care for her 9 children. How she and Grandpa moved closer to town so they could start a business and be closer to school for their children. Stories of loosing my great Uncle at a young age, how life goes on from there or how they had to drive my grandma to the hospital to deliver Dad. These are stories I want to be able to tell my children and grandchildren for years. I think about how I never visited her for 10 years and never really thought to call her , but she NEVER forgot my birthday. She has probably 60 people to think about and call, send cards to, but she never forgot about me, even when I didn't call or come see her. These are memories I never want to forget. If you haven't talked to someone or seen them lately, pick up the phone or go visit them. You will be glad that you did down the road. No one is guaranteed tomorrow or even another minute. Use the time while you have it. May God Bless your week! Katlyn

Visiting Eli's School

I was honored to be able to speak at one of  Denver Public school's fifth grade classes while we were there. Our friends son, Eli asked me if I would be the " show and tell" for his classroom. I enjoyed it  ( after 2 days of nervousness) and I was quite impressed with some of their questions for me about our hike. I really wish everyone could have the joy and curiosity of a child. It was such a blessing to spend this fun hour with these children full of interesting questions and complete curiosity. I enjoyed watching and helping them try on my 40 pound backpack! It really brought to life the scriptures about having the faith of a child and the Game show " Are you smarter then a 5th grader?" This weekend we leave Nebraska to head back south to Alabama. On our home way we are going out of the way through Texas and Louisiana because I've been asked to speak at a youth group of around 200 teens . I will be speaking on November 4th and I am super excited! We will also be going on a new adventurous road trip through New Orleans, so keeping watching for my photos and history posts from this adventure.

 If you know of a youth group or school/ college that would enjoy hearing our about our journey, I am available. Contact me at: backpackingkatydid@gmail.com. May God Bless your week! 

Mrs. Natalie's 5th grade Class

Eli and I!:)

Mission Accomplished

Where do I begin?

It is very difficult to put into words the feeling of Accomplishment.

Whether it be small or large, It's still great in the eyes of it's achiever .

Last Saturday my family and I completed our 5,000 Mile Trek across America in Denver Colorado.

As most of you already know we started on March 24th 2014 in Delaware at Cape Henlopen State Park.... We walked until November 17th 2014 where the snow stopped us from climbing the Rocky Mountains west of Denver. We wintered over until April in Cozad , Nebraska. We then took a Amtrak Train from Omaha Nebraska to Richmond California. When we arrived in Richmond a good friend drove us to Point Reyes National Seashore on May 2nd where we began the last 2,000  miles of our journey. 

From Point Reyes we walked East through Nevada and Utah. There we faced harsh temperatures and sandstorms, lots of spiders and rattlesnakes. When we got to Colorado we slowed everything down and enjoyed the last month of our trip. We stayed with many more families, made many more lifetime friends and found some amazing new vacation spots! We were blessed enough to have beat the snow this year and the weather was lovely for hiking in the mountains among the fall aspen leaves! On October 17th after an amazing week of staying with our friends in Denver..... We finally did it!

We walked the last 4 miles up cherry creek bike trail downtown to Union Station where we met with a few friends and family from several states and a Denver Post reporter to celebrate our big accomplishment. The American Discovery Trail had one of the board of directors with an award for Completing the American Discovery Trail and for being the only family to ever hike it. I was also presented with one for being the youngest to hike the trail! We also became Ambassador for the American Discover Trail... This all being said, If you have a Goal or a Dream... Never give up on it! Never let anything get in your way. You can do anything you put your mind to, from Climbing Mount Everest to running a 5K. It's Possible! 

May God Bless You!