Kristin Hill Taylor

Creating healthy habits as a family

January 20, 2022 by Kristin Leave a Comment

Mothering involves managing a lot of things for a family, including health routines. I’ve actually been trying to establish some healthier routines around here, and I’m hoping those habits rub off on my family. Even small steps in the right direction will help change the course of our health.

Habits and rhythms have been themes for me in the new year. I’m working on living an unhurried life so I can take time to take care of myself and the people around me. I’m reminding myself consistency is greater than intensity.

Take walks

A great way to get some fresh air and to get out of the house for a bit is to incorporate walks into your family routine. We love to traipse around our wide-open spaces in the country, exploring our land and soaking up some sunshine. Of course, I love to take photos when we get out and about. My husband got me a new treadmill for Christmas and I’ve been enjoying that on these colder days.

Cook homemade meals

When you cook at home you are in control of the quantity and quality of the ingredients. Fresh ingredients lead to healthier meals and have less sugar and salt in them. Cooking at home can easily be healthier than ordering a takeout meal, which is typically quite high in saturated fats and salt.

Since 2020, when social distancing forced us to stay home more, our family has grown to prefer cooking at home. We can make foods we love and tweak recipes to our preferences. Recently, my husband has been trying to eat a heart healthy diet, so we’ve been experimenting with cooking salmon and found some recipes we love for that. We especially loved this glaze baked with this foil method.

Catching up around the dinner table is one of my favorite ways to stay connected, so dinner is even good for our mental health as a family. If the kids have basketball practice, we may all meet up at a restaurant, but even then we can recap our days together and maintain the mental health of our family.

Instruct others

Sometimes hobbies become side jobs, so if you’re more devoted to exercise than I am, you could always apply for a cycling certification online. This would motivate you as you motivate others in their health journeys. I’m really enjoying the iFit instructors that lead me through my treadmill walks.

Establish bedtime routines

Most evenings I’m ready for everyone to go to their beds, so I can go to mine! When we’re home in the evenings, we spend the time together playing board games, watching a show together, or reading a good book. Another habit I’m developing this year is reading more books so I spend less time scrolling social media. It’s pretty easy for me to do if I have a book near me, which is easy with my Kindle Paperwhite. (Need book recommendations? I’ve got those too!)

My favorite bedtime routine for my own mental health is to recap the day in my line-a-day journal. I love how the journal has a space on each date for five years, so I get to remember the past years as I recap my current life. I’m in the fifth year of doing this, so I’m going to need a new journal next year.

Healthy habits can be developed one day at a time. Small steps in the right direction gradually change the trajectory of your life, so don’t rush yourself into a completely different lifestyle all at once.

Let us hold onto truth

January 7, 2022 by Kristin 2 Comments

“Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained.” — Philippians 3:15-16

I’m 42 years old, but I’m not as mature as I want to be.

I’ve been studying Philippians with my Precept group and so many life lessons are echoing what Paul is writing about first to the early church in Philippi and also to us as Christ-followers. Our pastor Bro. Ricky Cunningham even stepped away from the teaching series on Acts to teach from Philippians 3 to start the new year because it’s about new life resolutions, not just new year resolutions. (Watch that encouraging sermon here.)

God is wanting me to hear some things, that’s for sure.

In Philippians 3, Paul is repeating himself because what he’s saying is important:

Put no confidence in the flesh.
He counts all the many earthly gains as loss for the sake of Christ.
Faith in Christ leads to righteousness.
Believers share in Christ’s suffering and the power of his resurrection.
Paul is pressing on toward the prize of Christ.
He forgets what lies behind.
Strains forward to what lies ahead.

Paul had been a Christ-follower for about 30 years at this point. He grew up among the people of Israel, from the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews, a Pharisee, a zealous persecutor of the church, and righteousness under the law. But Christ changed him from the inside out and now we’re encouraged to imitate him (verse 17). We should imitate him because he points to Christ alone.

Do people want to imitate me? Some days they should; other days they definitely should not.

When I’m mature enough to “think” like Paul did (verse 15), I’m able to be understanding and wise. I can control my thoughts because I rest in my identity in Christ alone. On days I wake up grumbling because I didn’t sleep well or I’m worried about circumstances far beyond my control, nobody should imitate my grumpy self-centeredness.

Only let me hold true to what I have attained (verse 16).

Too often I let my circumstances dictate my attitude when I know the truth is I’m called to be of the same mind as Christ. I start to believe lies of convenience and assumption rather than rely on the truth that I know deep in my soul or have the conversations that bring me back to reality. Those lies — all the lies — steal my joy.

In addition to studying Philippians, I’m reading “Live No Lies” by John Mark Comer. On a morning when I woke up in a hot, crowded bed much earlier than I liked, I read this:

“The daily decision to rejoice — to cultivate a way of seeing our lives in God’s good world, not through the lens of our phones, news apps, or flesh, but through gratitude, celebration, and unhurried delight — will over time from us into joyful, thankful people who deeply enjoy life with God and others. What starts as an act of will eventually turns into our inner nature. What begins with a choice eventually becomes a character. … We make our decisions, and then our decisions make us.”

I want to make mature decisions. I want to be like Paul. Ultimately, I want to be like Jesus.

*****

While Precept encourages applications from scripture study, every now and then there’s an application prompt that’s a little different from the usual lessons. That’s what happens at the end of the lesson about Philippians 3. Specifically, I was supposed to take some truth that God has spoken to me through Philippians 3 and develop it in such a way to share it with others. So that’s what prompted this devotional writing that helped me work through some disjointed thoughts in my head. I hope you’re also encouraged.

The Girl Who Could Breathe Under Water

January 4, 2022 by Kristin Leave a Comment

Starting “The Girl Who Could Breathe Under Water” by Erin Bartels at the end of one year and finishing it on the first of a new year felt poetic. In the novel, the main character Kendra Brennan is trying to move beyond her childhood trauma in order to write her second book. Some of her childhood trauma was the catalyst for her debut novel, which was successful but also prompted a mysterious note from a Very Disappointed Reader.

While inching closer to her upcoming deadline, Kendra learned there were secrets from her past that complicated what she thought to be true and who sent that mysterious note. This first-person novel switched to a second-person voice when Kendra addressed her childhood best friend, who was a main character in the story but never actually appeared in the current day plot. I don’t know that I’d ever read a book with that alternating voice, but it worked well and allowed the reader to understand Kendra’s friendship with the estranged Cami and gave insight to Kendra’s thoughts.

The summer lake setting worked well for this story of Kendra unraveling the past so she could move forward with her life. The supporting characters had depth that helped move this well-written story along and straight into the depths of many human emotions. Plus I’m always rooting for love — both the friendship kind and the romantic kind.

This novel is emotional and suspenseful — and I really enjoyed it. I’m always glad to see a new-to-me author has other books and I’m looking forward to reading more from Bartels.

“The Girl Who Could Breathe Under Water” is about how secrets shape us and unravel us, how forgiveness is a process, and how love is possible even among the pain. This is an example of how the best stories, even the fictional ones, are built on truth and love.

This 352-page paperback is published by Revell (Jan. 4, 2022).

About the author

Erin Bartels is the award-winning author of “All That We Carried,” 2020 Christy finalist “The Words between Us,” and “We Hope for Better Things,” a 2020 Michigan Notable Book, 2020 WFWA Star Award-winner, and 2019 Christy finalist. A publishing professional for nearly twenty years, she lives in Lansing, Michigan, with her husband, Zachary, and their son. Find her online at www.erinbartels.com.

*****

I received a free, advanced paperback copy of this book from Revell in exchange for a review. These opinions are my own.