{"id":648,"date":"2013-02-01T16:50:18","date_gmt":"2013-02-01T16:50:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kandynolesstevens.com\/?p=648"},"modified":"2013-02-01T16:50:18","modified_gmt":"2013-02-01T16:50:18","slug":"a-new-beginning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/?p=648","title":{"rendered":"A new beginning"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"christmas<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n

There is a time for everything,<\/i>
\nand a season for every activity under the heavens: <\/i><\/p>\n

. . .\u00a0 a time to plant Ecc 3: 1, 3a (NIV)<\/i><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/i>These verses in Ecclesiastes have been some of my favorites for years.\u00a0 Today they couldn\u2019t be more fitting.\u00a0 I am happy to announce that I am following a dream that God planted, watered, and tended in my life.\u00a0 But just like any great garden, I am starting out small and building from there.\u00a0 Starting today, Kandy Noles Stevens Ministries and \u201cgot grace? events\u201d begins.<\/p>\n

This dream began about this time a year ago, and more details on how it came to fruition can be found in my newsletter released today on Facebook.\u00a0 This is an exciting time in our lives, and it also one that we want to be very careful that we cling close to the hem of Jesus\u2019 garments to know that we truly are following where He leads us.<\/p>\n

What does this change for my family?\u00a0 Right now, not much other than I will be taking some weekends away to spend writing the books that have been slowly coming together.\u00a0 It will also mean some travel as several churches have called asking for me to come and share my stories.\u00a0 My blog will continue to be my thoughts and family’s experiences. The reality is none of this would be possible without friends speaking God\u2019s truth in my life and praying that I would be smart enough and bold enough to take the first step.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m still me \u2013 the girl next door who loves her kids and husband, who laughs at herself, and who loves wearing floppy hats in the garden.\u00a0 I love watching a good football game, snuggling puppies, and donning jeans and baseball hats, but I can pull off pearls while sipping iced tea on a porch with Southern charm.\u00a0 But above all of that, I am just a girl who LOVES Jesus and who appreciates all He and His dad have done for me.<\/p>\n

So even though this is not at all how I pictured my life, clearly they have a much better plan than I ever did.\u00a0 With each day, my excitement builds as I learn slowly to let go and see what blessing is around the corner.<\/p>\n

Since right now, this is a very small operation consisting of myself and a dear friend working as my assistant, ministry partner, and sister in Christ, we just ask for prayers.\u00a0 Please pray that we are earnestly seeking God\u2019s direction and that we are obedient to his plans.<\/p>\n

It took us at least 5 months to settle on a name, and I want to share how much of a family operation this is.\u00a0 When he was in the 4th<\/sup> grade, Sawyer was working on his God & Country supplemental badge for Cub Scouts.\u00a0 There are a series of faith activities that the Scout and his family complete together.\u00a0 One of those activities involved dissecting the verses from the second chapter of Luke.\u00a0 We worked on this side-by-side, talking through each one.\u00a0 When we got to Luke 2:52,<\/p>\n

And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men. (NIV)<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

I asked him how did Jesus grow?\u00a0 You could almost see the wheels turning in his head.\u00a0 (Remember he was smaller than me back then.)\u00a0 His answers went something like this:<\/p>\n

\u201cMom, he got smarter! And, he got bigger. And . . . and . . . (now with a perplexed look on his face) he got grace?\u201d<\/p>\n

That moment took place over six years ago, and I still haven\u2019t forgotten it.\u00a0\u00a0That same favor extended to\u00a0His one and only Son is available to everyone.\u00a0 Even in the deepest, darkest, moments, He is there simply waiting to be asked in.\u00a0 The comforter, healer, and friend is a big part of my\u00a0story.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Yet, that is the amazing thing about my story.<\/span><\/em> It\u00a0is only through the\u00a0 abundant, lavish,\u00a0 grace of Jesus Christ\u00a0that I have been able to take my mess and make it a message.\u00a0 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Thank you for being a part of the journey.<\/p>\n

Kandy<\/p>\n

If you have not already received the newsletter and would like to receive one, please e-mail us at mominmn75@gmail.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: . . .\u00a0 a time to plant Ecc 3: 1, 3a (NIV) \u00a0These verses in Ecclesiastes have been some of my favorites for years.\u00a0 Today they couldn\u2019t be more fitting.\u00a0 I am happy to announce that I am following a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[321,405,406,410,489],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/648"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=648"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/648\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}