Omitted

Failure! In my post about TV dream-guys, I completely left out a Very Important Tall, Dark, and Handsome character. (Though, I'd prefer to believe he is Completely Real and not at all fictitious.)
May I present to you, Gilbert Blythe:




(swwooooooooooon!)

(btw, actor is Jonathan Crombie.)

I am completely in love. With Gilbert Blythe.
That is all.

What's important to you, Katie?

Relationships: God is a relational God, so it makes sense that I care about relationships so very much. This is a broad topic. Friendships have been important to me always. Men in my life have always held a special place, and over the last year I've really come to value the place of women in my life. This has been wonderful. I've been seeking the presence of women, both in peers and in elders and it has been a blessing. MC and C, J, my small group girls, my roommates. All such blessings. I've always wanted a strong male presence in my life, from E and dad and Grandpa, to my male teachers and male counselors, my pastors, my guy friends B, A, etc. But I really see the value of these wonderful women. Beyond that, my dearest friends are incredibly important to me. S, K, my roommates former and current. There is something about that best friend, of which I have several. I have expanded (or broken?) the meaning of Best.

Family. Oh, family. I often worry that I have put my family above God, and am in constant prayer about this. God has given me such a wonderful, supportive, Christ-centered, amazing family by whom I'm so blessed... and I will take that gift and put it above the giver! And I know that I will be jealous of being second to God in my husband's life... though I know I want to be second--that it wouldn't work to be first. Also, my family is crazy. Sometimes I am really mad at them. They are just a normal, yelling, dysfunctional, loving, awesome family.

Growing my relationship with God: I hope that I am always, always, always, growing. I have grown so much in the last year. I would hope that it wouldn't always have to be so painful (sorry, MC, I just can't deny it: I don't LIKE pain.) I need to be in the word more. My small group is awesome for this. I love my church for being so Bible based. I love my church for being healthy. Also, it is from this growth and my relationship with God that I hope to show love in the world, and be as Christ to it, every day. I pretty much fail, though.

Healing for the church: I have been through crazy times as far as my church background, and it has been painful for my family and those around us. This seems so wrong! The Church is a family, a body, THE Family, THE Body! So much of the hurt comes from misunderstanding and minor differences. It is my great hope for healing in this respect. We are the Body of Christ. Christians. We believe that He is the Son of God, that He came to die for our sins, the He rose on the third day and is at the right hand of the Father. We believe that God is God, the One and Only God, Three in One, that we are saved by Grace through Faith alone (yup, even the Catholics believe that. Myth one: busted.) (Also, I'm usually against capitalizing everything, I just happen to be in That Mood. ;) ) It just seems that the one place there should be more love in the world is within the church. But we are fallen, and it's tough! But no wonder the world has such a hard time with us.

Appreciating Beauty: I don't know if this is something that has developed even more since I have gotten into photography. Actually, I think it is something that I have always really valued. I can think back to long ago trips to beautiful places with my dad and remember being in awe. And I think I've always known that I grew up in a beautiful area. At the same time, I simply don't have the full motivation to get past all my physical limitations and my mental ones as well (I hate to admit those psychological ones), to do things like climb mountains and go on difficult hikes... I like to think I have a bit of an adventurous spirit, but I might be kidding myself. I was always the child who stayed indoors and read or watched TV rather than found something to do outside like my brother. Still, I am awed by the Canadian Rockies, tiny flowers, frogs, spider webs, puppies, shooting stars, aurora borealis, lichen, snow, and the likes.

Knowledge/Learning: I've said before that if I could, I might just sit in classes for the rest of my life soaking up head-knowledge. Ohhh, but then there's all the fun hands-on stuff. As long as I'm not being graded on it, I want to learn. I want to watch documentaries or travel to cool places and see for myself. Sometimes I think I have a hard time getting to the "get up and go," but I'm so much happier when I've done it!

These are just a few of the things that are important to me.