Bio
Karen Butland is a speaker, wife, and mother of two energetic, teenaged boys. She sings on the worship team, and attends church in San Diego. For many years, Karen was involved with leadership of mom groups, and more than a decade ago, started speaking for mom groups in churches all over Southern California.
Karen Butland is passionate about encouraging women to thrive by making courageous choices. For more than 11 years, Karen has shared penetrating messages that empower you to:
- Intentionally move through life’s muck to emerge triumphant.
- Live abundantly, even in scarcity, through the power of Christ.
- Cope with hope, overcoming life’s challenges with radical joy in Jesus.
- Live in dominion by defeating destructive habits and discouragement.
Karen has a master’s degree in chemistry from UCSD, and teaches part-time at Grossmont College in San Diego. While some believe that chemistry is chaotic, Karen believes that the chaos entangling moms with young children is far more! She jokes that it is a lot easier to balance chemical equations than it is to balance the demands on a mom raising young children. Some of Karen’s favorite speaking topics include how she finds balance in her own life, and how she handles the tangled chaos of being a mom.
The Unofficial Me
Above is my formal, polished Bio, but below are some informal details about the everyday me. Click on a shape below to find out more!
My MOPS Ministry 
I have a special place in my heart for an international organization called “MOPS”—Mothers of Preschoolers—check it out at www.MOPS.org. Generally how it works is this: MOPS provides a theme and support each year, while local churches host the program, providing childcare and inviting speakers to come and minister to their moms. Words cannot express the depth of encouragement and support that MOPS provides to countless young moms every year. I will be forever grateful for the role that MOPS has played in my life.
I have been involved with MOPS for well over a decade, first as a participant with young children, next as a Table Leader, then as Speaker Coordinator, and finally in 2007 as a Speaker. It is now my honor and privilege to speak for MOPS groups all over Southern California at no charge. As a former Speaker Coordinator, I am keenly aware that many churches must allocate most of their funding to childcare, and not speakers. I consider speaking for MOPS groups my ministry—a way to “give back” to an organization that has been very meaningful to me.
Since 2007, I have spoken at churches up and down the California coast with excellent feedback. God has brought me thorough difficult circumstances, and I want to encourage others with the hope that I have found in Him. Following the call of “Courageously Choosing to Thrive”, I hope to encourage women to emerge triumphant from whatever circumstances bind them.
(Details: Speaking Topics for MOPS.)
My Story 
When life gets crazy, hold on tight, and true courage emerges!
Sometimes life is easy. I grew up in a loving, Christian home with great parents and supportive family and friends. I accepted Jesus as my personal savior at a young age, and I learned the basics of how to be a successful person and do all of the right things. Still, it wasn’t until college when my faith really became my own.
In college, deep questions challenged the core of my beliefs, and I struggled to figure out who I was and how I wanted to make my life count. Who was this God of my childhood, did He really care about me, and if so, what was my purpose in His Kingdom? The struggle to answer these questions deepened my faith, and I took on a leadership role in a college Christian club. God became real to me, not just as the God of my parents, but also as my loving Father. I found renewed hope in my call to “Love God and Love People”, and this strong foundation prepared me for what was to come next.
Sometimes life is hard. After college I got married and had kids, and commingled with this joyful satisfaction came the greatest challenges of my life. I found that kids have a unique way of wreaking havoc on one’s sense of control, bringing chaos to an otherwise orderly world. Some years were easy; some, not so much. With Herculean efforts, I struggled to learn how to be a better wife and mom, fighting an overwhelming sense of inadequacy. When ultimately all of my efforts still resulted in divorce, the sense of failure was complete, and my hope for a future was all but gone.
We have heard that God redeems broken things, and what followed was an intense process of hurt and healing, despair and redemption. When we encounter those dark seasons of our lives, we have a choice. We can rebel, lash out, make destructive choices, and withdraw—the equivalent of hopelessly lying down in the “valley of the shadow of death” from Psalm 23:4. Alternatively, we can choose to walk through the valley of the shadow of death, pressing in to God, reaching out to others along the way, and lessening the grip that pain has on us by overcoming it with God’s power. I chose the later, even though it was hard, and I pray that you also will be able to make wise choices in tough circumstances, dear one who is reading this.
We show God’s power in a broken world by reaching out to others, even when we are broken. God redeems things, precisely in the space where we lean into our weakness with God’s mighty strength. We can’t choose our circumstances, but we can choose how we respond to them. We choose wise actions even when we don’t feel like it, and later our feelings catch up. As I look back over the last few years of my life, I am amazed at how God has brought me out of the mire and into abundant life with Him. I know that He can do the same for you, as you choose to follow Him.
I am now living with renewed hope, and a new call to revitalize others. More than simply loving God and loving people, I am “Courageously Choosing to Thrive”, and I am actively encouraging others to do the same. May we choose to live bravely, far beyond our circumstances, in the power of Jesus Christ, our Lord.
My Family 
I have an amazing family that includes my husband, Sean, and my two teenaged sons.
Sean has been ordained as a lay pastor and helps lead an organization called The Joshua Project, a national men’s ministry where he mentors other leaders. Additionally, he serves as an Elder at our church, and helps lead the church’s Shepherding Team, as well as their Men’s Ministry.
My 16-year-old son is a junior in high school, and my 14-year-old son is a freshman. Both love Jesus, math, and science—a great combination that their mom highly approves of! One hopes to pursue a future in the field of medicine, and the other is exploring computer programming and engineering possibilities.
Sometimes it’s tough to be a mom. Often I feel like I don’t have the proper tools for the job, and I find myself at the foot of the cross, asking for help from Jesus once again. Teenagers—there may be no scarier word, except perhaps Toddlers! I think my kids are simultaneously my greatest joy and my greatest challenge, but it is a privilege to raise them. I imagine that many of you can relate.
Sean and I were married in 2016, and it is a story of God’s great redemption. Here are some of my favorite wedding pictures!
My Favorite Things 
Beyond my love of speaking to women, there are many other things that I love! My favorites: Playing volleyball, line dancing, cheesecake, singing, eating out, going to plays, serving others, deep conversations, teaching chemistry, and engaging students in deep conversations about things beyond chemistry.
When we get busy, sometimes we neglect our favorite things, and this is quite literally bad for our health. I encourage you to make a list of your favorite things, and take care of yourself by making them a priority on a regular basis. When you choose this, overall health results and makes you more efficient, effective, and happy. These are some of the many benefits of self-care!
