Kiah Grace

We have a dog!!!!

Her name is Kiah Grace.

Her verse is:
Revelation 22:21
The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God's people.  Amen.








She is SWEET and KIND and AMAZING with the crazy Kastner children.  This is the story of how she came to be with us.

We have ALWAYS wanted a dog.  We are MUCH more dog people than cat people.  However, fate (and a country home that needed a GOOD mouser...) brought us a cat first.  In a story quite akin to If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, we got the first Mercy.  However, we soon saw she had simply been looking for a loving place to die.  After reading the tearful account of Mercy's final days, our generous landlord offered us the new Mercie, who promptly taught us that even kittens of a VERY young age can get preggos.  Along came Job, (full name:  Absalom Job), who until today I did not realize had not been given a proper verse or introduction to my blogging community so:


Absalom Job

Job 1:1
In the land of Uz there lived a man (or a cat) whose name was Job.  This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil.








As most of my Facebook friends know, Mercie ran away about two months ago.  We have pretty much given up hope of her return, but still look for her now and again.  There have been a couple of possible Mercie sightings, but they are as of yet still unconfirmed.  They do make us feel a little better though that possibly she isn't road kill as we have feared for the past eight weeks.

Job has been doing a great job of taking over his mother's responsibilities.  Taking down at least one mouse per week and policing things as he should.  Yet still something was missing.

A short while ago we found a dog available through Freecycle.  We got approval from our landlord to have a dog; however, she was a BUST!  When we went to meet her she bit John and then me.  Nopes... no biters around these children!  We kept on looking and hoping that the right dog would find us some how.

On Tuesday night we had our new neighbors over for dinner.  That night I chronicled our search for a dog to them, and I closed with, "I believe with all of my heart, it will happen when it is meant to be."

The next morning I awoke bleary eyed and started scrolling through the latest e-mail digest from Freecycle.  My eyes came wide open upon finding, Offer:  4 year old Lab/Hound Mix.  What!?!?!?  I forwarded the description to John and upon receiving the thumbs up, I e-mailed the poster.  We set up a meeting for that day.  I nearly instantly got the feeling that the current owners of Kiah were believers.  Upon meeting Kim, I quickly confirmed my suspicions when she told me the reason they were getting rid of Kiah.  Their adult son was leaving soon for Bible college and the mission field.  Without his help with lawn care and snow removal, they would not be able to stay in a house.  They were moving to a condo.

It feels just like Kiah was handpicked by God for this family!  Her former owners are Christians who homeschooled their children.  She is well-trained and gentle as can be.  She is SOOOOOOOO patient and good with children.  She is an AMAZING dog, and she is just one more proof that "His ways are ALWAYS higher than our ways."

Soooooo because we needed a little more insanity in this household, we are now in the process of "dog-training" our children.  It is HARD and not without tears.  (The first night Hannah opened the back door WIDE and Kiah dashed out it!  Noah sobbed while I scoured the neighborhood for her.  Then due to the tenacity of my oldest, very sensitive boy, she returned to figure out who that dog baying from our porch was... Noah making his dog sound.)  But we are plodding on in the training:  Hannah NO hugging Kiah only petting. Elijah STAY away from Kiah when she goes to her Kennel, that means she wants some alone time.  (Momma wishes she had a kennel too!)  No you may NOT feed Kiah cookies!

As in all things Kastner, there is a firm and solid lesson from God... This one is found clearly in every single e-mail I send.  It's our life verse, and our God proved it to us once again this week:

For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Jeremiah 29:11

He had plans to bring us a dog at the right time, and His plans turned out to be an AMAZING dog who was JUST right for this family.  I'm so glad that's how our God is.  Always KNOWING the plans He has for us.  Always prospering us and not harming us.  Always giving us hope and a future.  

So now as Noah said when we were on the way home with Kiah the first night:  "Now we have EVERYTHING a family needs to live in the county:  a cat, a dog and family to love."

God bless and have a great day!

People get ready....

[Just as an aside: Satan did NOT want me to post this blog this morning. The second it started forming in my brain: Hannah woke up early, the cat tried to attack our breakfast, got locked out of my office, the cat messed up my Internet settings by walking over my keyboard, the cat clawed me trying to get away from Hannah, Hannah stepped on the power cord switch shutting off my computer, Internet went down... PHEW! This must be a good one, and someone MUST need to hear it. So get ready!]

People get ready
Jesus is coming soon we'll be going home
People get ready
Jesus is coming to take from this world His own.

My children are so "other-worldly" minded it sometimes scares me. Whenever we see a triangle-shaped object, Noah will say, "Look mom! Father, Son, Holy Spirit!" When we see anything in the shape of a cross, they will shout, "A cross! Just like Jesus died on!" And when we see the sunlight streaming through a break in the dark, cloudy sky, they will say, "Hey mom, doesn't it look like Jesus is coming back?" That's what I want to say to all of you today. "Hey blog readers, doesn't it look like Jesus is coming back?"

Lord I'm ready now.
I'm waiting for your triumphant return. (You're coming so soon.)
This world has nothing for me,
I find my peace and joy solely in You. (Only in you.)

I awoke this morning and found the news of a second earthquake hitting the already devastated island of Haiti. Last night I read about an earthquake hitting the Cayman Islands. For the second time in just a week, I had this weird sense of, "This is the book of Revelation occurring in front of my eyes." Now please do not get me wrong, I am NOT a doomsdayer or rapture junkie. I did not lose my mind during Y2K, and I have no trepidation about 2012. However, I wonder does anyone else see an eerie resemblance to book of Revelation here? It's not just the abundance of earthquakes right now... it's the evil all around me that calls my mind to the final book of the Bible. Yet these earthquakes really get me thinking.... "He's coming soon!"

There's a day that comes
When we will be divided right and left.
(For those who know Him and those that do not know.)
And those who know Him well, will meet Him in the air.
Hallelujah! (God is within us.)
And those that do not know, they will hear, "Depart. I knew you not."
For my friends you see,
There will be a day when we'll be counted.
So know Him well, know Him well.


Are you ready? That's what I want this blog to lead you to today. Are you ready? Getting ready is SO simple. A child can do it. In fact, all of my children have done it. Really just a few things to do:

1. Realize that you are a sinner deserving of nothing but death. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23) How far back in your personal history do you have to go to admit this is true? You are a sinner. Me, I don't have to go very far at all. Just a short little jaunt back to that above-mentioned list of roadblocks Satan put in my way this morning, and WOOPS! Halt right there! Jami sinned. She lost her temper and was NOT godly in meeting those challenges. I don't know exactly how far you have to go, but I do know this: you have sinned. At some point in your life whether you are fifteen or fifty years old, you have sinned. Just like the Bible says, ALL have sinned... I also know that the punishment for sin is death. For the wages of sin is death... (Romans 6:23a).

2. Next you have to see that Christ made a way for you. See God knew the punishment for sin was death, but when sin entered the world, He saw that He could not STAND the thought of eternity without His precious, beloved children. So He made a way for us. For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16) When Christ died on the cross, He died for your sins to pay the price required for sin so that you could be forgiven and so you could spend eternity in Heaven.

3. You have to ACCEPT the gift! It's yours already. It's sitting there on your shelf, in your dresser, in that corner of your closet. It's like the treadmill in your basement that can help you drop those unwanted pounds or the Ab Rocker you have that can give you a 6-pack. You possess this gift, but you have to take the next step with the gift and ACCEPT it. That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. (Romans 10:9)

People get ready,
Jesus is coming soon we'll be going home.
People get ready,
Jesus is coming to take from the world His own.

If your one of His already, rejoice along with me! Soon & very soon we are going to see the King! If you are not, STOP right this second. Don't waste one more breath. Get ready! He's coming whether you're ready or not. So why not just BE READY!

Love to all of you! Praying for your hurts and pain. Praying for the devastation in Haiti. But most of all PRAYING that these things get your attention and help you GET READY! Because He IS coming SOON!