They are each unique in their own way.. They can get on our nerves quicker than anything else and they are the one thing we love the most. They are our moms.

I would go down fighting proclaiming mine as the best.

I wasn't the little ballerina growing up. I wore cowboy boots every day, played softball, and took off bareback on my horse whenever I wanted. 

I didn't like being girly, I liked to be rough and as a result my mother had so much to put up with... To name a few....

When I was 6 yrs old I broke my arm play fighting with a boy....

When I was about 8 yrs old I wrecked my go cart into a barbed wire fence and had a dangerous blood clot....

When I was 10 yrs old I broke the right side of my face with an iron gate...

As I entered my teen years I took to liking the party scene of life very quickly.  I liked alcohol, I liked older friends, and I liked boys.

I didn't choose to be innocent, I chose to be a little rebellious. As you can imagine there were also negative results to the lifestyle I chose in this phase of life as well... I could name many.. But I will just name one...

It was the first weekend of summer, and I was 14. That night I made a poor decision that could have altered and even ended my life for good.  I will spare you the details.  But, after a series of events I ended up being rushed to the emergency room by my mom.  Most of my memory of that night is nonexistent.  But one of the most vivid memories I have is my mother kissing me and telling me how much she loved me.

And of course when I lived to see the next day... In true mother fashion, she grounded me for the entire summer.

Now that I am an adult and I love Jesus, you would think her stress level would have gone down.. But, I chose the missionary lifestyle and then moved states away from her... So that's not necessarily the case.

Just last Monday night I was having a dream that I was in an immense amount of pain, only to wake at 3am to find my abdomen literally in pain.  What did I do? I did what any 23 yr old female would do, I called my mom. "Mom, It hurts so bad, I can't sleep and nothing will make it stop.. What is it?" Of course after I called her she was worried about me and would not stop calling me until there was a solution to my pain and then it got on my nerves that she wouldn't just forget about it.

The truth is that she is the only person that can get on my nerves, and at the same time I love it.  I love that she cares. I love that she has always been there.  I love that she loves me unconditionally.  I love that she cares enough to drive me crazy.  I don't want her to stop getting on my nerves.

We put our Mother's through the ringer from the minute we are born...and they still love us the same in every season of our life.  I believe that my mother is one of the biggest expressions of God's love and grace to me and I am convinced that I know how to love the way that I do, because she lead by example.

 

Isn't it nice how seasons change? We complain about the summer being too hot, and then complain it's too cold. God knew we couldn't stay in one season for too long or we would get bored- So He blessed us with change.  Oh, how He loves us...                                             

Well, the weather isn't the only thing changing seasons-  The Lord once again has me transitioning : )

As you all know, I moved to Georgia in March to do a 6 month internship with AIM/The World Race.  I led a trip to the Dominican Republic this summer ,so my internship was extended for 1 month and I now find myself staring down my last month in this internship.  My official last day is October 31.

It feels so good to be able to get to the end of a season and say without a doubt, that you know you were exactly where God told you to be.   I am once again stepping out of a season with more knowledge as to who He has called me to be, and what it means for me,  Kara Frate, to "bring" and "be" the Kingdom    that this World needs.  He has proved faithful time and time again and continues to blow me away with His love for us. 

My biggest passion, lies in Destiny.  I have a heart to walk alongside people, and mentor them as they decide to truly pursue the destiny that the Lord has on their lives.  My heart is to see people live life to the complete happiness that God intended- and I believe that can't truly begin until you realize that God has a destiny designed just for you and no one else.  The next step is pursuing your destiny, and fighting for it.   By working in the World Race office, I have had the opportunity to invest in so many people and see this passion come alive before my eyes, it has truly been awesome watching God work.

I do not know what the next step in my journey is, I actually have no idea where I will be working in November.  Transitions are NEVER easy for me, I am very anxious about the unknown.   But I do know one thing, and what I know, is that my God will come through.

He has been speaking to me a lot lately about different seasons of our lives, and how they are each just an equipping phase empowering us for something bigger... I am excited that He is ready to move me into something bigger....

                               So, I say with excitement "Lord, bring on the bigger equipping phase."