Watching:

My word for 2015 is #elevate.  This is challenging me to look at all aspects of my life and what I can do to elevate my success.  One of those areas is Spiritual growth - for myself and for my family.  I've been guilty over the past 3 years of being complacent.  Complacent in my own relationship with God and complacent in watching over the spiritual growth of my daughters.

Unless your kid has absolutely no contact with anyone, no access to media or the internet or newspaper they are susceptible to the influence of others.  Conversations and chatter that seems to be around us 24/7.  In the absence of knowledge and truth a vacuum appears and WILL be filled.  Is it Garbage or Good Stuff? Biblical Truth or Popular opinion?

1 Peter 5:8 says, "Be ALERT and of sober mind.  Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour."

Nothing about that verse is passive!  Our enemy the devil is prowling around on a definitive seek and destroy mission and doesn't care that it is your child. "But I have a good kid, Kim.  She has her head screwed on straight and makes good decisions."  Absolutely!  And they have a target on their back too.

So...I've got some work to do.  There's an old song that says, "Well, I went to the Enemy's Camp and I took back what he stole from me."

Here's how:

1.  I cried out to God and confessed that I have not been "watchful" and asked for forgiveness.
2.  I went to both of my daughters and confessed that I have not been as watchful as I needed to be and again, asked for their forgivness.
3.  I dove head first into the WORD and asked for God to help me be more watchful.  What am I looking for?  Anything that God places on my heart.
4.  I have regular times with my daughters to take their spiritual temperature.  What are they doing to grow their own relationship with God and is there anything I can do to help.
5. Trust that God can and WILL restore the season I was asleep at the wheel.

Am I still struggling with being watchful.  Everyday.  I'm taking it a day at a time and choosing not to worry about the future.  In reality, I can't change the past; only my actions today that can shape tomorrow's decisions.

My First Post

This is the inaugural post for my new blog: Roots, Wings & All Sorts of Things.  

Roots to share the past, Wings to share my dreams and whatever else is kicking around in my head.   This feels awkward.  It lacks flow and continuity.  How do you begin your life's blog?  I guess you just jump in, right? So, here it goes.  

My name is Kim Norton and I'm a work in progress. Like most women, I wear many hats...some fit better than others.  In reality, I LOVE hats...I love to see women wearing different cool and trendy hats...however...I HAVE A BIG HEAD...which means they look ridiculous on me....so metaphorically speaking, here are several of the hats I wear on a daily basis.

• College Sweetheart:  I've been married FOREVER...really only 23 years 7 months and 19 days and I can't really remember what life was like before Superman breezed into my life.  
• The Redheads:   Together, we have 2 beautiful redheads...daughters I might add.  They are 15 and 18 respectively and have brought tremendous joy to our lives.  (and several grey hairs.)  
• R  is brilliant, intellectual, beautiful, always up for a good debate and is a veracious reader. She's an awesome singer, loves God and is what I call an old soul.  Recently, I took her to buy a new Bible and she prefers to read in King James Version...PREFERS. She loves tea...I mean LOVES her some tea, could spend her entire life at the Dickson Street Bookstore and loves theater, Opera, Broadway, obscure indie bands, Dr. Who, Sherlock...Benedict Cumberpatch in general, Science Fiction, Star Trek and Chess.  She was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome and also suffered a stroke in infancy and has dealt with Cerebral Palsy.  She is an over comer and full of life and passion.  Her bucket list scares me...and I love that about her. 
• L  is full of life and energy.  She is beautiful with long, orange hair, milky skin and big blue eyes.  Yet, its the beauty inside of her that radiates and captures people's hearts.  She loves FULL on!  She has a heart as big as a bus and wears it on her sleeves. She loves God and is passionate about her walk with God.  That love spills out on the people around her.  People are drawn to her and so through the years has collected so many wonderful friendships!  She loves school, loves to sing, loves her youth group and her friends.  She's smart and wants to do her best...although she is very sensitive, she is also fiercely loyal and is not afraid to throw down when she feels a friend/sister has been wronged.  
• The Herd:  We have 4 dogs...three of which are the barkiest dudes EVER and need some SERIOUS training... yet we love them and they make our lives interesting!  Oreo Cookie is our Papillon who is constantly hatching a plan to rule the tri-state area and dominate his brothers.  He's also really good at guarding his food.  Mango the Buddy Buddy Norton is our 50 lb. Papillon (yep...seriously) who is a herder, peacemaker, lover and I blame his size on emotional eating!  Chip's Ahoy! is the baby and he's a black/white shih-tzu.  He's the life of the party and twirls like a whirling dervish.  I seriously think something's wrong with the dude...and we love him!  Baby Ruth is our 17 year old beagle.  She barely moves, can't see or hear really well and basically just sleeps...You probably noticed that all of our dogs are named after food...I'm sure we will delve into that in future blogs...:)
• Stray Cat Strut:  Kit Kat currently resides at our home.  She's NOT our cat!  She has migrated from the Cat Lady's house around the corner probably because there were TONS of felines and got tired of fighting for the food.  She's got ninja-like skills with the stealthy ability to show up in the hallway in the middle of the night, scaring the crap out of me AND has been known to base jump off the 2nd floor deck like a flying squirrel in an effort to evade the barky boys.  She's NOT our cat, yet we feed her, allow her to stay in the garage on cold nights, have named her, and I woke up with her licking my toes...in bed.  
• My Career:  18 months ago, I shifted from a life of ministry & corporate marketing into Real Estate.  It was an effort to regain my sanity and have a career where I had some flexibility in my schedule.  I.  Love.  It!  It has changed my life and I wake up each and every day excited to see who I'm going to meet and help. I have flexibility to be available for my redheads and not miss their events.  I can work from home or from the office or from my car...and it fits beautifully into the spaces of my life.  
• More:  I LOVE to write and am currently finishing a YA (Young Adult) Novel The Chosen Ones.  I'm a local blogger and love to not only blog about the homes I've listed but also highlight amazing businesses, events and people in Northwest Arkansas!  I love interior design and Garage Sale Chic!  I love taking something old and making it fresh and functional!  I love to garden!  I love candles and crackling fires!  I love to crochet! I love a good Cherry Coke from Sonic! I love to write music and sing.  
• I love working with the Junior High students at our church and spending time with them!  I love hanging out with my redheads friends and investing in their lives.   
• I love Proverbs and HUNGER for WISDOM!
• Life has been full of highs & lows...like death valley low and deal with things that you may deal with:
• I was diagnosed with Lupus after Redhead #2.
• I have a daughter on the Autism Spectrum
• Said daughter is now an "adult" which is posing brand new challenges.
• My father died 3 1/2 years ago and literally broke my mom in two.  Three generations all living under one roof...cue joy, angst and drama all rolled up into one.  
• The recession hit our family BIG time and we've had to claw our way out one broken fingernail at a time.
• I watched a dream in my life die...
• I went through a season where I didn't hear God.  I didn't Feel Him...4 years...think Sahara Desert.

My life has changed dramatically and my walk with God has changed along with it.  I used to feel like the shiny new piece of china you see at the department stores on the glass shelves with all the lights!  Now, I'm more like that vase, dropped a few times, broken and glued back together.  You would be more likely to find me at a swap meet or flea market on a shelf with some dusty books and a couple of bobble heads, yet I have never felt more comfortable and at home.  I'm learning to see the beauty in the cracks and wrinkles. 

Well, I just verbally vomited on you...yet in order for me to move forward, I needed to take a quick look back and give you the backstory! More to come....

Building Legacies,

Kim