Welcome to this blog about living as Apprentices of Jesus. This blog, begun in 2012 by Karen Bables, was a culmination of spending a number of years reading, thinking, absorbing, practicing, and writing about what it means to be apprenticed to the Master. Karen coined the term “apprentice” as a specific reference to the Apprentice Series, three books by James Bryan Smith about The Good and Beautiful God, The Good and Beautiful Life, and The Good and Beautiful Community. These books offer a basic creed for being an apprentice of God:
First, I am one in whom Christ dwells and delights.
Second, I live in the unshakable kingdom of God. No matter what happens to me I am safe. I live under Kingdom Economics. God will provide for and protect me and mine. Therefore I am free to seek his kingdom and invest the resources he gives in his endeavors. If we all share, we all have enough.
Third, The goal of my life is to put on the character of Christ so that people will see Jesus when they interact with me.
Christ-in-me transforms the world.
When Karen began this blog in 2012, she shared some details of her own journey with the following words:
“My personal journey of spiritual formation has been a long and sometimes rocky one. I have been in and out of the organized Church, looking for a body of believers that would acknowledge and preach the radical Jesus I found in the Bible. My formation has been influenced by many people, mostly writers.
I have learned that one of my gifts is to read widely and share with others my own “take” on what I am learning. So in this blog you will find sentences, paragraphs, and thoughts from many others who have helped me in my long and winding spiritual journey.
I am a widow, a mother of two adult sons both of whom are college professors, a grandmother to four girls and one boy, ages 17 – 22. I live in Holland, Michigan, famous for Tulip Time and piles of snow. I love police procedural novels, memoirs and biographies, plants and flowers, deep conversations, and ice cream. In 2014 I was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a cancer of the blood cells which is treatable but incurable. It is now in remission, but I have blood tests every months. Having cancer as a constant companion adds a new dimension to my journey.
In a post on the Inward Outward blog, Kayla McClurg described what I feel is being an apprentice of Jesus.
We must dare to grow up, to stand steady before the powers, to pester and provoke them when necessary, to be a wedge under the foundation. Even though our efforts might be as small as the widow’s [Luke 18:1-8], the wall does shift. Justice depends on our being adult enough to act on our small part.
My “small part” is this blog. I invite you to join me in the adventure of living as apprentices to Jesus every day. “
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Karen passed from this earth on December 4, 2025. Although her physical body is no longer with us, her spirit and strong belief in the unshakeable kingdom of God live on through her words. As someone who learned about being an Apprentice from Karen’s commitment to spreading this knowledge, I believe that together, we can continue on the journey to seek the kingdom that comes from giving freely and offering openly to those around us as instruments of a greater love. The hope of this blog is that the writings shared can provide a space to explore one’s own faith and to nourish the soul through a variety of voices.
Joy
Living as Apprentices 