Spring is Finally Here!

Khara

Ok, so I know it has been a while - alirght, a looonnnng while since my last post :-) I promise to do a better job! I wanted to start (restart) this blog to update my family and friends about what's been going on in our lives since so many of you live in so many different places. It is kind of a way you can catch up with us! First, I wanted to share with you why I named this blog Kendall Khara. While doing some personal study in Galatians, I was reading about the fruit of the spirit in 5:22-23. I looked up the Greek word for each of the fruit and its meaning. The word for joy in the Greek is Khara, which is joy that comes only from the Holy Spirit. Strong's Dictionary says that it is an awareness of God's grace and comes from the same root word Kharis which means grace. It is deeper than what we would consider joy. Webster's Dictionary defines joy as, "a state of happiness or felicity, or the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires: delight, or the expression or exhibit of such emotion." I tend to think that, sadly, a lot of Americans tend to describe their joy as the second definition. Khara joy is much deeper than what Webster describes. It is a type of joy that you can still experience in the midst of harships and trials. As one person described it, " Khara is more than just a warm, fuzzy feeling - it is a character trait tempered by fire." It is a type of joy that you can only experience if you have Christ in you. I have gone through some hard trials of my own and I don't know how I could have ever made it through them without the Lord's help. I know I would not be where I am today without the Lord guiding me and giving me strength and endurance to make it through those dark times. In those dark times, I was still able to find my comfort and joy in the Lord - even though I didn't always know why He put me through those trials.It is because of those trials, that my relationship with the Lord is deeper - my joy in Him is deeper.  Khara is such a pretty sounding word, but after doing some more studying, I realized that it not only sounds beautiful but it's meaning is even more beautiful!