beth moore conference

Today I had the privilege of going to the Beth Moore, So Long Insecurity conference with Emilie. I've never heard her speak before or read any of her books (besides the Praying God's Word journal but I don't think that totally counts). I was really excited but didn't really know what to expect either. It was STELLAR!! Well first off, it was a 4 hour conference and I have the same attention span as my dog these days and I didn't have ONE space out moment... not ONE!!! I know that sounds stupid but thats a big deal for me while I'm on pain meds... only Jesus can captivate my attention for that long! Can I get an AMEN! haha! But the message that she gave was amazing. I kinda thought that she'd talk about body image or how "even models get airbrushed" or something along those lines but she didn't. She talked about insecurity at it's root. I loved that! She walked through Ephesians 4:17-24 and created these six statements of what a secure woman is. She talked about how insecurity was an inward destruction on ourselves... how our lack of forgiveness is a reflection of our insecurity and how our forgiveness and grace to others reflects how much we believe in God's forgiveness and grace towards us. That forgiveness point really hit home for me! Her wisdom was so refreshing! It was one of those moments like when Peter says, "You are the Christ" and Jesus says, "For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven."... it was like THAT kinda wisdom; it didn't come from Beth Moore's creative thinking, but it came straight from God. mmm love that stuff! I love those things that make you feel all fresh again!

My Official Diagnosis

I just received the pathology report back from the Mayo Clinic a couple of days ago. I thought I would share my official diagnosis. My tumor is called Angiomyolipomas, which is a benign tumor. It took a while to diagnose it because there were so many abnormal and rare characteristics to the tumor. Angiomyolipomas is composed mostly of fat and some smooth muscle but my tumor was made of almost all muscle. Also, the average age of patients with this tumor is 43! This tumor is also known to almost always occur in the right kidney but mine was in the left.
On March 5th, 2010 the doctors told me I had a cancerous tumor in my left kidney... I started a blog and hundreds of people from all over the country began to pray for me... a month later I went into surgery to get my kidney removed... the pathology came back and said the tumor was benign. These are just the facts of my past couple months and there is no denying the amazing miracle that has happened. The Lord's hand is so visible! I have been fervently prayed over and felt the healing hand of God. I hope my testimony is an encouragement to your prayer life! Your prayers have been such a gift... thank you :)

PROM!!!

Last night was my Senior Prom that I have been anticipating since my surgery! I had the most AMAZING time! I went with one of my best friends, Matt Bickley, which was such a blast! Our whole class squeezed into the biggest limo in KC (literally the biggest) and drove downtown to this cool loft with an incredible view of downtown KC! We had the after party at my house and our whole class pitched in to get a spiderman inflatable! Haha it was legit... to look at... couldn't exactly jump on it yet :/ but whatevs! I stayed up till 3 am... let me repeat myself... 3AM people! This is an epic moment here! I only had a 20 minute nap that day and I lasted the whole night! I can barely make it through a quick errand to Hobby Lobby these days! Call it what you like but I believe there was some serious divine intervention here! Thank you for all your prayers! God is truly putting an amazing healing touch on my body! It might sound silly but it was nothing less than a miracle that I had enough energy to get my hair done, put on a dress, take a hundred pictures, get in a limo, go to prom, go to the after party, and ENJOY MYSELF! Thank you for praying for even the silly things like enjoying prom!

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the night...

The Arkansas girls! Woo Pig Sooie!


The proud parents!


It's my Senior Prom and I STILL haven't figured out how to put a boutineer on my date :/ how embarrassing


The senior girls!


It was the PAPA DADDY of all limos!!!


Sister pic! you could spot us a mile away in our obnoxiously bright colored dresses! haha

surgery and recovery pics

mmm how cute! haha


Team Kate in the waiting room! Best support system a girl could ask for!


Awake and kickin with my new Build-A-Bear, Dr. Timsten! Best gift EVER- Thanks Tim and Kristen ;)


After 5 days in the hospital I was so happy to home! Just hangin out with Matt and Em!


Haha this is Emilie and Meg helping me shave my legs! Yeah, we're that close!