Karen Kay "KK" Qualls Lovett

July 14, 1964 – June 14, 2010

She LIVED, She LAUGHED, She LOVED

Karen LIVED

Karen was born on July 14th 1964 in Springfield, Missouri. She was born to a young couple named – Laura Jean [Bilton] Qualls and Gerald Ray Qualls –who were just starting their lifelong journey of ministry. Karen was a colicky baby, but brought great joy to her mommy and daddy. She learned to speak early and was walking at the age of ten months. She stood between her mom and dad in the front seat of the car (before car seat rules) babbling away. When they reached a stop light, she would tell them to stop or go by saying, “wed!” or “geen!” Her Grandpa Bilton nicknamed Karen “Shu-san” after her nagging attempts at asking for someone to put her shoes on.

When she was a toddler, Karen began her debut performance as an actress. She would sit and play for hours, making up stories and playing all the characters. She gleaned her dramatic flair from her mother. Her mother was the best story teller, changing voices to bring the stories to life. Karen often played roles in her mother’s church dramas. Later in high school she took part in various plays and musicals.

Karen was an effervescent, “sunny sanguine” child. She didn’t know a stranger and everyone became her “best friend.” She loved to have fun and everything became an adventure, either pretend or real. Her daddy led the way on much of this by taking her to explore dark, scary, or rocky places and encouraging her to try new things, like roller coasters and high diving boards.

When she was three, her mommy and daddy had another baby girl – Carlene Dawn. Karen would tell the story of her great anticipation waiting for her baby sister to be brought home. She was so anxious to see the little one that she tried to climb on her daddy as soon as the bundle came through the door. Karen wrote later, "I longed to see what was in the blankets and when I did, I fell in Love". Her daddy told her to sit down and he placed the baby in her lap. Karen was overjoyed. She now had a playmate. As the baby grew, they played often together. Karen wrote later, "I can remember playing, dancing, swimming and having fun with my sister. Her laughter was song to my ears. We were full of make-believe and mermaids". The bond between the sisters was deep and life-long.

Karen gathered other childhood playmates around her as well. All the children in her neighborhood would gather outside the Qualls’ girls' house and play at the neighborhood park. They had a ritual of burials for the neighborhood deceased animals in the woods and everyone had a fort. Karen was center stage on all the dramatic play productions and would encourage everyone to play.

When Karen was eleven, her mommy brought another baby home. His name was Kevin Ray. Karen acted like his second mommy. She would dress him up in so many different outfits. Most of the outfits were girl outfits, but Kevin didn’t care. He loved playing with his big sister.

Karen grew into a beautiful young woman and developed deep and lasting friendships even in her teenage years. She was in all the dramatic productions at school and she loved to sing. She also developed a close relationship with the Lord and wanted others to do so as well. She would bring many friends to church and show them how much “fun” church can be.

As she grew older, her relationship with the Lord waned, but after many years of seeking other things to fill the void, she recommitted her life to the Lord. To her, that was when her real life began. She always said that Jesus gave her so much to live for. Karen became a minister to many men, women and children.

In 1994, Karen married Thomas Moses Lovett and together they raised three beautiful children –Thomas Lyle Lovett (27) (married Andrea Morales), Joshua Mathew Lovett (25) and Taylor Paige Lovett (24). Karen has five grandchildren – Lyla Marie Lovett (8), Judah Nathan Lovett (5), Jhamiel Justice Lovett (5), Naomi Ruth Lovett (3), and one on the way to be named later. To her children and many other children – Karen was called “Mama KK”. When she married Thomas, she embraced his three young children as her own. Mama KK’s persistence in prayer and speaking truth impacted the children in a profound way. One of them said, “It was like sunshine coming into their home”.

Karen LIVED every day to the fullest.

Karen LAUGHED

Karen’s number one rule was HAVE FUN! And fun she had. Everyone who met her was entranced by her laughing eyes and her fun personality. She had a way of making everything fun– even the menial tasks. When something made her upset, you would hear her say, “Well, that wasn’t fun”.

Karen had four beautiful nieces. Her sister, Carlene, married John Scott Callis and had Kaleigh Madison Callis, Christin Faith Callis, and Cassondra Karen Callis (Karen’s namesake). Her brother, Kevin married Joy Elizabeth Andrick Qualls and they had Blakeley Elizabeth Qualls.

To her nieces, Karen was “Auntie KK”. She had a special relationship with her oldest niece, Kaleigh. KK would stay with Kaleigh when Carlene had to go out of town. KK loved her trips from Florida and Georgia to Virginia to be with her niece. The entire visit would always be centered on “having FUN” (even though Kaleigh’s mom had a schedule for them to adhere to). Kaleigh remembers that while her mom was gone on a trip, KK fed her ice cream for breakfast. She thought that was “WAY FUN”! Kaleigh also remembers many times playing on the beach. One time, KK took a kayak out and paddled far beyond the shore with Kaleigh as her trusting passenger. As soon as KK stopped to rest for brief moment, Kaleigh seized the opportunity to jump out of the boat and swim. It scared KK but soon she realized Kaleigh had a knack for swimming and said “Well, this IS fun”!

Karen told every child she met about her number one rule: HAVE FUN. One of Kaleigh’s friends remembers KK: "The long summer days with KK will never be forgotten. We three beautiful mermaids were always looking for treasure and avoiding the pirates and the story goes on long into the day as the sun sets on the beach".

KK’s favorite place was on a boat. Once during a recent stay in the hospital, she escaped, oxygen in tow, and was taken to the nearest marina. It was the kind of risk she would take to have fun. Nothing stopped her spirit from loving the beauty of God’s creation and enjoying it to the fullest.

Karen also had a competitive spirit and loved to play any kind of game with her friends and family. Even at the end of her life, one of her favorite things to do was to play a game called “Trash Train” with dominos. She would stay late at family functions if there were games involved.

Karen knew how to LAUGH and was an expert on FUN!

Karen LOVED

The way Karen loved was unique. She made every person she met feel special not only about her, but about themselves. She knew the right thing to say to make a person feel like they were the only person in the world worth knowing. She loved people and she loved Jesus. He was her best friend. She loved people by sharing with them her love for God. She knew from her own experience, that people would love themselves in a healthy way, if they knew the Lord intimately.

Karen helped her husband Thomas in his ministry. She shared her love of Christ through plays, drama, and songs at their church – Crossroads Church of West Volusia (FL). Karen’s passion was for children. She wrote, “After I completed my healing at Teen Challenge, I received a vision about children. My heart broke as I wept at the ease in which the enemy was destroying lives so young. I had a dream of starting a home for unwanted children”. In Florida, Karen began her children’s ministry and called it “Sonshine Ranch”. She especially loved to have the children use their unique gifts and talents to minister to the whole congregation.

Over the course of her life, The Lord brought people into Karen’s life that needed to see Him and His love more clearly. He orchestrated for her to meet many people, strangers that fell in love with her the minute they met her. Even during times of receiving cancer treatment at the end of her life, she would share the love of the Lord to the people around her. Through her witness, many people came to know the Lord and began their life of love….

Thank you, Karen, for your LOVE.

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When I look at this beautiful earth and all you created I say, “All things are possible with God”

When I see a child laugh and sing I say, “All things are loved by God”

When I see the rabbit and the squirrel playing together I say, “All things are seen by God”

When I look back throughout my life and study the ups and downs I say, “All things are orchestrated by God”

All things - I can rest, I can sleep, I can go, and I can keep loving, laughing and living!

Karen Kay Lovett's journal entry - August 16, 2009