Forget "Resolutions".....just make a decision and go for it!

RESOLUTION: "A firm decision to do or not to do something."

That's the first time I've looked up the actual definition of that word. I've never called them 'resolutions', I always just called them 'yearly goals. I used to sit down between Christmas & New Year's and write out these big lofty 'yearly' plans.....and then tape that sheet of paper somewhere I could see it....and by about the middle of February, I had already ignored most of them, and that sheet of paper became 'white noise' in my life that I stared at every day, but never really paid attention to.

Last New Year's, I tried something different. And it worked. **QUARTERLY GOALS** I decided not to overwhelm myself with trying to stick to something for a whole year. I set short term goals, and then set reminders on my phone to re-evaluate them at the end of March, and then again at the end of June, and then...... Well, you get the point. If something wasn't working, or if halfway through the year I wanted to change directions....I gave myself the freedom to do that. It worked brilliantly last year, so this year I decided to do it again. Here's how I broke it down:

THE 5 "F's" I need to FOCUS on:

- Faith

- Family

- Fitness

- Food

- Finances

There is a sheet of paper hanging in front of me every day that is broken into 5 sections, and I wrote down 2-3 things for each category. And they're specific. So, for example, instead of just saying, "I want to go to the gym more", I wrote: "No more than 2 days off from 21 Day Fix workouts", and then I set a realistic 'weight' goal to reach by the end of March. Not the end of 2016, just 3 months from now. That's more bite-sized and do-able in my brain and that will make me stick to it. I have found that when these areas of my life are 'in tact', then everything else falls into place.

I DID write down some yearly overall goals - for example, I wrote out a list of "starting balances" on the debts that we owe, and then I wrote a realistic expectation of where I want to be at the end of 2016. I wrote out goals for the businesses that I run. I cut out a beautiful photo of people kayaking in crystal clear water in the Caribbean and my husband and I talked about how what we are doing today is getting us closer to being able to take trips like that!!! But my shorter term goals of how we're going to get there is broken up into my 5 F's. Clear as mud? Cool. Go for it, I can't recommend it enough! :-)

I understand the catch phrase, "New Year's Resolution", but this year I'm focusing more on the definition of what it means and making a firm decision to.....JUST DO IT! (every day!)

For more information about Karyn's speaking topics and music, visit: Karynwilliams.com

A word for the year...and a few scraps of wood!

I have always been creative.  

And I have always loved to make things.  

Whether it's starting with a blank page and having written a beautiful song a few hours later, or taking a few scrap pieces of wood and other materials and seeing what I can come up with....I love the challenge of making "something" out of "nothing".

I never thought my obsession with making things was all that exciting.  But over the last few months, everyone that has come over to my house has "scolded" me for not blogging about the things I make.  

So.  Here I go.  :-) 

At the beginning of each year, I loooooooove to reflect on the previous year and dream about what is to come in the new year.  I pray about a "word" the Lord wants me to focus on for that new year and I get SO excited when I finally feel like I land on something.  The only problem is, by about January 15th of each year, I've already forgotten my word.  

I'm not kidding.  

I usually have to write it down and refer back to it like a hundred times.

As 2014 was winding down, I began praying about my 2015 word fully expecting the same cycle to continue.  But this year was different.  In no time at all, and as clear as day, the word "Faithful" came to me.  I felt like the Lord said, "Karyn, be faithful in everything -- the big things, the small things, the things you don't think matter and the things that the entire world will see.  Just be faithful in everything you do, and trust Me."  

For the 9 weeks of 2015 so far, I have not been able to get this word off my mind.  When it's cold outside and I don't feel like getting dressed to go to Yoga, I hear "Be faithful in your exercise."  When I think about calling or texting friends to see how they are, but start to get distracted, I hear "Be faithful in your friendships."  When I face career frustrations (and don't we all!), I hear "Be faithful with what I've called you to do."  When I sit down to pay bills now, I stop and say, "Lord thank You for being faithful."

FAITHFUL

It sounds like such a simple word, yet it can be applied to every area of our lives.

Anyway....back to making things out of scrap wood.  :-)

I made a wooden headboard for my guest room last year (I may blog about that next!) and I had some pieces of wood left over.  I also had these white letters from Hobby Lobby that I just use for random things here and there.  

So, I got it all out and decided to make myself a sign that says, "Faithful."

This is everything I used:  

A piece of scrap wood

Wood stain (whatever color you want)

Hammer

Letters from Hobby Lobby (or if you have really good handwriting, you could paint your word!)

A picture hanger for the back of the wood

And my trusty glue gun

(All in all, it's hard to nail down a price because most of this was stuff I already had.  But the letters from Hobby Lobby are around $5 bucks)

This was as easy as it gets -- all I did was stain the piece of wood.  Wait for that to dry, and then glue my letters on and add a picture hanger on the back!  I thought about adding something to the sides, but I liked the simplicity of just having the word on there.  

Then with a little help from my tall husband figuring out where it should go.....  :-) 

I was done!!!

I chose to hang this right above the door in my home office.  When I'm off the road, I have days when work in there ALL day getting caught up....so I love having this there right in front of me as a reminder every day to BE faithful in everything I'm doing, and that God IS faithful no matter what.

So there ya go!  My first blog about my crazy crafty side.

Go ahead, make you one!  Pick a word you want to focus on for the rest of this year and make one of these!  And then post it and tag me so I can see it!!!!

SIDE NOTE:

I've been busy in the studio working on a new record, and one of my favorite songs on this record is a song I co-wrote called "Nothing Less (Great Is Thy Faithfulness)"   

Here's the chorus:

We will say of You oh Lord when it seems there's nothing left

Great is Thy faithfulness

Great is Thy faithfulness

You've been our strong and steady Rock and nothing less

Great is Thy faithfulness

Great is Thy faithfulness

Coincidence?  I think not.  :-) 

Timing...

It's a word we hear a lot:  Timing is everything.  Time marches on.  It's about time.  The timing of that was amazing.

My husband Brian & I play at the 30A Songwriter Festival every January.  We love the 

timing of this festival because it allows us the opportunity to get out of cold  (and sometimes snowy) Nashville, and head down to the beach.  It's usually a little cold down there too, but we don't care!  This year we played three different shows throughout the weekend festival, and finished up with an incredible "Gospel Round" on Sunday morning.  

After that show, my husband was driving our car back to Nashville to be at an event he had to play at the following day, and I was headed to the airport for a trip to Nicaragua with Food for the Hungry.  We finished our shows, kissed goodbye and we were off.  

A few hours later, I was sitting on the runway about to take off for Nicaragua when a text came through on my phone.  

It was from Brian, and all it said was, 

"Do we have AAA?"  

My heart sank.  There's only one reason my husband would be asking if we had AAA when he was on a long driving trip.  But the plane was literally about to take off, so there wasn't much I could do.  

Hmmm...great timing.  

I quickly wrote him back and told him we did and to call the 800-number on the back of his card, and then for whatever reason, I quickly posted on Facebook asking if anyone happened to know a mechanic in this little tiny town Brian was stuck in in Alabama. 

The very first person to see my post was our friend Paige who immediately wrote back saying,"My dad lives 20 minutes from there, have Brian call him."  Well, that's some pretty amazing timing that she would be the very first person to see it and write back within 20 seconds.  It would get dark soon, and Brian was quite literally in the middle of nowhere with a vehicle that wouldn't crank, so he didn't have many options.  He called Paige's dad, and that was the beginning of the most amazing 36 hours ever.  Obviously, the fact that our car had died is not the fun part of this story, but to say the Lord put "ordinary angels" in Brian's path to help him out through it all would be an understatement.  Paige's parents took such good care of Brian and helped him figure out what to do every 

step of the way...and every single person Brian encountered on this little 

adventure was another opportunity to share his faith.  

But there was one young man that stood out, and he is the reason I'm writing this blog.  

To make a very long story short, the least expensive option to get our non-running car from Opp, Alabama back to Nashville was for Brian to rent a Penske truck with a car hauler on the back and drive it home himself.  Fun, fun.  A few hours into the trip, he pulled over for gas and decided to get something to eat since he was already off the highway.  He saw a Bojangles (a place I would never allow us to eat at, but he was probably doing the happy dance...haha!) so he pulled in, walked inside and ordered some food.  

As he ate, he noticed that he was hearing songs by Third Day, Mandisa & Casting Crowns.  So when he was finished eating, he walked up to the counter and saw a young man wiping some trays.  Brian said, "I like your choice of music.  Is your manager a believer?"  The young man replied, "Yes", then he paused and said, "I used to be a believer too."  "What happened?" Brian asked.  The young man looked at him, then looked back down, wiped another tray and said, "Well, I don't really go to church anymore.  I had some people hurt me and I just haven't wanted to go back."  

Brian thought for a second and then said, "What's your name?"  

"Addison"

Brian put his hand on Addison's shoulder and said, "Addison, let me tell you something...a church is made up of people, and people will let you down. Don't let a few people at a church allow you to give up on God...He hasn't given up on you."  

As Brian was walking out, Addison said, "Thank you sir.  I think I needed to hear that today."

Ok.  Now, I don't know about you, but I can't exactly deny that what happened there that day was God's perfect timing.  The fact that Brian "happened" to be driving through and stopped at that exact restaurant on that Martin Luther King Holiday when not many places were even open.  The fact Addison was working that day.  The fact that there was no one else anywhere in that Bojangles.  And the fact that what Brian said was probably exactly what Addison needed to hear at this point in his life.  

What amazing timing.

Brian got our car back to Nashville and we had a couple of different mechanics look at it to 

assess what was wrong.  Wanna know what it was?  

Our timing chain broke.  

Nope, I'm not making this up. I promise.  Unfortunately, when that happens on the particular car we had, the chain flies up into the engine and basically ruins it, so it wasn't worth fixing and we had to cut our losses and work on finding a new car.  

Love the timing on that too...we were just about to pay it off.

As we were cleaning out our old car, Brian came across 2 things I had in the console.  The first was my journal I keep with me to just scribble notes or thoughts or lyrics on as they come to me; and as he was taking it out, it opened up to a page where I had written down some thoughts & goals for 2015.  The very first thing I wrote that I wanted to focus on this year was, "Trust God's hand & timing."  

Hmmm...  

The other thing he found was a bracelet my sister-in-law had given me for Christmas a few weeks ago.  Engraved into the bracelet, 

it says, "Faith in God requires faith in His timing."

I don't know what it is about this issue of timing right now, but my goodness...for whatever reason, the Lord is sure reminding us to trust Him and trust in His timing.  Faith in God really does mean having faith in His timing.  I don't understand why that happened to our car -- a car we took very good care of, a car that we were about to own free & clear and was now worth nothing.  The timing of that stinks!  

I don't know why Brian had to be stranded, miss an event he was supposed to sing at back in Nashville, and scramble to find some creative ways to get himself and our car home.  

But I do know that the Lord knew right where he was, even when he didn't.  And I do know that the Lord had a reason for all of it, and it was simply our job to trust His timing.  

Faith requires taking a deep breathe in the middle of difficult circumstances and saying, "Lord, I don't understand this, and I don't necessarily like it, but I'm going to trust that You have a plan...and I'm going to trust that You have a reason for this timing."  My pastor used to say, "God will always do the most loving thing."  Now, I know it's easy to look at this situation and say, "How in the world is leaving Brian stranded in the middle of nowhere the most loving thing?"  

Well, it's what it took to get him to Addison.  

And if there's one thing I know, it's that God will go to great lengths to make sure His children know how much they are loved.  So if this whole crazy adventure was so that Brian would have the opportunity to remind a struggling teenager that God hasn't given up on him...then it was all worth it. 

And that's perfect timing.

I'm Baaaaack!

It has been almost three years since my last post!  THREE YEARS!!!!  What in the world?  I don't know how time flies as fast as it does, but sometimes if feels as if we blink and years have gone by.

Ok - for a quick update on what I've been doing for the last three years since I blogged last.  Let's see, I signed a record deal, I released my debut album "Only You", I visited about 80 radio stations all over the country promoting my single "Rest in the Hope", I toured with Mark Schultz, I toured with Third Day, I toured with Mandisa & Brandon Heath, I shot 4 music videos, I have traveled about a bajillion miles, I wrote a #1 Bluegrass song recorded by Brooke & Darin Aldridge, I have had 5 new nephews born, I fell in love with using essential oils, and I performed at the Grand Ole Opry.  Whew!  I know there's more, but those are the highlights.  

When I created this blog, in my very first post I promised that I wouldn't post unless I really felt that I had something of value to share with you guys.  I stand by that promise moving forward.  In general, I try not to open my mouth unless I feel like I have something that is going to add value to the people around me, and the last few years have been a time of real growth, change and development

 and I can't wait to share.  

So here we go......again......are you with me?  :-) 

www.karynwilliams.com

Karyn Williams Featured at NBA All Star Weekend

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contact:

Janet Bozeman/Bozeman Media

615-472-8417/janet@bozemanmedia.com

INPOP RECORDS NEW ARTIST, KARYN WILLIAMS, WOWS AUDIENCE WITH NATIONAL ANTHEM AT NBA RISING STARS GAME 2012

Left To Right: Karyn Williams and basketball legend, Magic Johnson

Nashville, TN (March 6, 2012) ---- One of the most highly anticipated new artists of 2012, Inpop Records’ Karyn Williams, took center stage recently during the NBA All Star Weekend in Orlando, FL.  Besides singing the national anthem at the Rising Stars game on Friday, February 24^th, Karyn also performed at the Athletes In Action breakfast on Saturday and at the NBA All Star Chapel on Sunday morning.  At the breakfast on Saturday, Karyn’s father, Pat Williams, Senior Vice President and founder of the Orlando Magic, received the Jerry Colangelo Award.  He was honored for his creativity and ingenuity that turned a Central Florida pro sports dream into the reality of Orlando Magic basketball, reaching into the homes of NBA fans throughout the country.

Before receiving his award, Pat was honored with special music from his daughter, which included a song Karyn wrote especially for him, Taking You With Me.  It was a surprise for Pat Williams and garnered a standing ovation from the audience. 

”Karyn was the only Contemporary Christian artist that was featured by the NBA during All Star Weekend,” explains Andrew Patton, General Manager/Vice President of A&R, Inpop Records.  “It was quite an honor for the Inpop family to launch our new artist priority for 2012 on such an amazing stage. Karyn has a compelling story that is told extremely well through the songs on her record.”

Karyn’s upcoming debut album, Only You, is scheduled for a late August worldwide release.  Karyn co-wrote all eleven songs on the new project including the single, “Rest In The Hope” which is getting national airplay now.  For more information on Karyn please visit online at www.karynwilliams.com.

About Karyn Williams

A dynamic woman with a powerful life story, Karyn is the eldest daughter of Orlando Magic Senior Vice President and founder Pat Williams. Having grown up in Orlando, Karyn’s international family includes nineteen children, fourteen of which are adopted from all over the world. After graduating from the University of Florida with a degree in Broadcast Journalism, Karyn felt a calling to head to Nashville to pursue a career in music.  After releasing her first independent radio single, Rejoice in 2010, Karyn signed with Inpop Records in 2011.  Karyn is a nine-time marathon runner, who is also the author of the highly-acclaimed book The Takeaway (HCI 2009) that she co-wrote with her dad. She currently makes her home in Nashville and is married to award-winning songwriter Brian White, best known for penning thirteen #1 gospel songs, as well as the multi-week #1 country hit Watching You, recorded by Rodney Atkins.

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