Toward The Light: Karen Butler Ogle

11/13/2023

I am very sorry for my lengthy absence from this page. Life has been complicated. Since about the first of July, I was without housing. That alone was a struggle but God is good and He has been with me every step of the way. During the same time period, my health began to decline and living within my means in a tent became more challenging physically than I could manage. Currently in a winter tent beside friends who are helping care for me. I have power, heat and kindness here. A recent ER visit for dizziness, almost constant vomiting, and weight loss resulted in a CT scan that revealed 3 meningioma tumors on my brain. They are benign and mostly calcified, but still potentially problematic. God is with me. I am not afraid. Some days I feel very sick. Waiting on an appointment with a neurologist and hopefully permanent health coverage. Prayers are needed and welcome. I will do my best to update as I get more information. God bless all of you.
Karen Butler Ogle

05/21/2023

It is so easy as human beings to become people-pleasers. A kind word or a compliment, or positive attention might turn our heads away from our true state. Our true state, the state we are all born in, is sin unto death. Our lot was decided by the first man and woman who disobeyed God and brought death and destruction on all future generations. It’s not a pleasant or comfortable thought and many would argue that people are “good at heart.” No. We aren’t. We were born under the curse of sin and death. On our own, human beings have no goodness, no redeeming qualities, no inherent value. As a fallen people, God would have been justified in destroying all of us along with the earth we inhabit. God chose not to do so. Why? Because despite the filth and ugliness of our sin and disobedience, He loves us. Like any good Father will love an errant child, God loved us enough to plan for our salvation. He sacrificed the life of His only true son, so that all humanity can be included as adoptive children in His heavenly kingdom. We all are joint heirs with Christ in eternal life with God, if we believe that Jesus came to earth as a human, collected all our sins onto Himself, and died in our place. He arose on the 3rd day, victorious over sin and death, and Has taken His place at the right hand of the Father. We all have a choice to make. If we humble ourselves before God, acknowledging our sin and seeking His forgiveness, believing in the sacrifice of Jesus, we can become one of His Holy Nation… His church, and we will receive eternal life at His side once our earthly life is over. To understand our need for God and His saving grace, we first have to recognize our sinful, lost nature. God waits on each of us to learn about Him and to choose our path either to Him or away from Him. Have you made your choice?
Please let me know if I can pray for you. Many blessings to those who read this.

05/19/2023

When you feel too weary to keep going, praise God.
When fear overwhelms you, praise God.
When your body begins to fail, praise God.
When sorrow touches your life, praise God.

All these trials and difficulties are opportunities for God to work in our lives and in our hearts. His hand at work around us is reason to rejoice. It is evidence of His continuing love and faithfulness in shaping us into the image of His Son. It is through pain and suffering that we grow spiritually. Thank you, Lord for every lesson, every ache, every obstacle that you place in my path. Amen.

05/11/2023

Wondering how many besides me have an ongoing prayer request that God has yet to answer? It's been several years and feels like and urgent need to me, but so far God is telling me to wait and be patient. It is so difficult to wait when we are in want or need of basics like housing or food. During the current political and economic crises, more and more people are doing without things that other people take for granted. I know this feeling of deprivation well, but despite those hungry, cold days, I have hope. Hope in the Lord Jesus Christ. Even when I felt sure I could never survive another day, here I am, relatively healthy and well. In fact, I am very grateful that God loved me enough to strip away some of the superficial dross, to open my eyes and heart to what really matters. God matters. Sharing His love matters. Sharing what we have with others, no matter how meager, matters. The world likes to fill our hearts full of desire for things that never last. It is a waste of time, and a waste of life to pursue wealth or material possessions. The only treasures that last, are those we store within us…love, knowledge, faith. Seeking these things to the obedience of God is a worthy way to use our lifetime.
I know that no matter what long term prayer you are waiting to be answered, God is your hope. He hears you and will answer at His perfect timing. Many blessings!

05/07/2023

My friends, do you ever get tired, deep down in your very soul? That bone-weary place is where I have been in my spirit for the last few days. Our Father, God, does not want this for us, but as human beings we are prone to weakness and fatigue, and at times the cares and troubles of the world are more than we can bear alone. In my narrow-minded thought for myself and my declining health, I have forgotten who the source of my strength and endurance is, and where to go for renewal. God walks with us step by step. He never leaves us. He is there even when we are too blind or distracted to feel His presence. All we have to do to receive His grace and help, is to call out to Him and accept Him when He lifts us.
The human body is made to eventually wear down and decay. Even when we take excellent care of our physical health, death and sickness are inevitable. We can rail against it with cries of unfairness, or we can accept the normal progression of humanity, and turn to our Creator to see us through our own personal walk through that dark valley. It is in our nature to worry when things begin to go wrong in later years, but truly, nothing has changed. We are still in God’s hand. He is still in control. Our time to leave this earth will still be in His time. We can take heart in the truth. We have a race to run and no one can predict the time when we each cross that finish line. God has us. Believe it. Trust in Him. Carry on.
Many blessings to all.

05/03/2023

I was asked to guest post on the blog of a friend, Jordan Crossings by Megan Jean. It is live today on her blog and so I thought I would share. She is hosting a series of testimonies of those dealing with mental illness or addiction issues. Please visit her. Many Blessings.

https://jordancrossings.org/finding-freedom/mental-illness-doesnt-define-me

05/02/2023

Blessings, friends, from the chief of sinners. The last several days have been fraught with stress and busyness. Inevitably, my walk through the difficulties began to fray my patience and good humor. I woke feeling hateful and mean today, and so emotionally and mentally depleted. This can happen to any of us if we do not go regularly to the font of strength and peace we have in God. He wants to hear about each and every struggle. Yes. He already knows about all of it, but He wants us to pour out our hearts to Him personally. He wants us to share every detail, and repent of whatever bad behavior our upset led us into, and He wants us to ask Him for forgiveness, and help, and peace, and a calm spirit and mind. He desires our interaction with Him, one on one. He desires an intimate relationship with each of us. I forgot that this morning and allowed my unholy emotions to ruin most of my day. God is faithful to forgive these missteps, but we must be faithful in taking them to Him. He will heal the anger, and frustration, and whatever ugliness might be in our hearts. We just need to ask, and oh, my friends, the peace and contentment that follows will remind you of the love that brought us to God in the first place. Blessings to all.

04/29/2023

Today was a down and dirty day. This morning started like any other, after an almost sleepless night. I desperately wanted to stay in bed but there were things that needed to be done. I got myself up and got to work on a piece of writing I was determined to finish and submit before the day’s end. I was about halfway through a final draft when a phone call distracted me. I answered with less good humor than is usual for me. My mind was on the work. The call dragged on and I felt my frustration evolving into temper. After the call finally ended, I realized that while restlessly fiddling with the computer mouse, I had lost all the recent edits. It was not pretty. I raged and fumed and had a horribly childish tantrum. I am embarrassed just remembering and sharing it. I was disappointed in myself and ashamed before God. Sin makes us feel dirty. Sin IS dirty. It is such a dirty business that it required Jesus Christ, the Son of God, to rescue us from it, by sacrificing His own life. I took my shame and a more humble heart before God. He is always faithful to forgive us, and comfort our weary, penitent hearts. And like the verse from Isaiah says, He washes away every trace of sin and makes us whole and clean again. Our conscience, and the Holy Spirit within us will tell us when we are dirty with sin. We need to heed His warning call and take our guilt to God. No one else can take care of it. He will clean us and wash us white as snow. Blessings to all.

04/26/2023

I think all humans have days when carrying on with our daily tasks and responsibilities suddenly seems too hard and we are weary to our bones. Our times of weakness allow God to stand in and be our strength. If we never grow tired or overwhelmed, we would never recognize our need for a Father and a Savior. Acknowledging that need is the key to accepting the salvation that Christ bought for us with His death on the cross, and His resurrection.
God glories in our weakness. We are meant to seek His help and His strength instead of arrogantly going our way with the belief that we are enough on our own. We aren’t. Apart from God we can do nothing. Apart from God, we ARE nothing. On those weak days, remind yourself that leaning on God brings Him glory. Blessings to you all.

04/25/2023

God is so good. No matter how bad we feel, He is right there with us. He lifts us up, and holds us steady, and walks with us until we find our footing. What other friend or family member can be counted on every single time, to be exactly what we need, at exactly the right time? The bible says that God is a friend that sticks closer than a brother and I believe that with all my heart because I have seen it in my life. All of us, at various times, find ourselves broken by adverse circumstances. These are the times when our faith can grow and flourish. Reaching out for God’s hand, the hand that is always there waiting, is the first step in building trust and confidence that we are not alone in the fight. In our weakness, He is strong! Fly to Him!
Blessings to all who are fighting their own battles at this moment. God is a formidable ally. Call on Him. He is there waiting. Love and prayers.

04/19/2023

I wish I could say that I hadn’t learned this lesson the hard way. I did. Idolotry is rampant in today’s society and when we see that word we think of golden calves or the pursuit of material things. Truthfully, idols can be anything or anyone we love and prioritize before God. God demands and deserves first place in the lives of His children. Obedience to Him in this will heap blessings on us. On the other hand, disobedience can bring a reckoning. God loves His children. In order to maintain His closeness with us, He will remove those things we set between ourselves and Him. I can speak from experience in saying that an intervention like this can be devastating. The result is that I am closer to God than ever before. That is an amazing blessing. The pain of that reckoning will always be with me though.
Many Blessings.

04/18/2023

I love this verse on the days when I am physically not my active self. It’s impossible to count the number of days when God lifted me out of fatigue to carry me through the day. He is good and faithful and STRONG in our weakness. It’s glorious outside here today. Sunny but not too warm. True spring and days like this are a reminder of God’s renewal and His provision in growth of spirit and knowledge, when we cling to Him. My normal tasks may challenge me today, but God has me in His hand to lift me up and carry me through. May we all have a blessed day!

04/17/2023

Good morning! Sharing one of my favorite verses. I come back to this verse almost daily when worry and the desire to anticipate the future creep in. It is preferable to God that we live with Him IN THE MOMENT. Worrying about things that haven't happened and may not happen can send us spiraling down into depression and anxiety. We don't know what might happen tomorrow. One of my failings is constantly expecting trouble or hardship to strike at any time. This is not what God wants for us. He wants us in the moment, with Him, trusting Him, and with His peace in our hearts.
Wishing you all a blessed day.

04/16/2023

When you are writing, editing, and rewriting and something suddenly clicks and now you need to go review everything you ever wrote and fix it but that's impossible so you just stare at the screen with joy and horror at the same time.

Send a message to learn more

04/16/2023

Sharing this today as maybe it will be enlightening in days when illness is so rampant.

Faith, Devotional, Jesus, God, Bible, Discipleship, Christianity, Prayer, Poetry, Personal Thoughts

04/16/2023

It's 3 am but I wanted to post something before trying to sleep. It's been a long day and I'm tired but I suspect the caffeine from the diet soda I had all day is probably keeping me up. It was a good day...a blessed day. Even the good days are wearing sometimes. Tomorrow I intend to rest, as the Lord did on the seventh day. I'll also try to send out as much encouragement and love as I can. Prayers and Blessings!

04/15/2023

Shout out to everyone 💕

~Josie

🎨 Katie Abey (got this from another page and they must have cropped the artist name out. 😔
I have given her credit above).

04/15/2023

Good morning! Welcome to the new followers! So glad to be on this journey. Off to a slow start but good things often take time. I don't expect greatness from myself. I expect God to grow this endeavor according to my obedience to Him. So glad for those who are hanging out with me to see what happens. I appreciate the love, support, and encouragement. Many blessings to all!