Kristin Hill Taylor

Seeking God as the Author of Every Story

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Salvaged

July 2, 2008 by Kristin Leave a Comment


This is actually the brainstorm for a scrapbooking page, but I thought I’d document here while it was on my mind. Yes, these are the things on my mind!

Like most kids, Cate likes stuffed animals. She especially likes to hug them and say “ahhh” while doing so. I think we’ve said “ahhh” once or twice when she’s done sweet things. And she’s a little mimic, so it caught on. Anyway, I liked stuffed animals when I was a kid because each one usually had a story. I even saved my first for Cate.

Well, Cate’s stuffed animals have stories, too. And these three are especially story-worthy.

A few weeks ago, Cate and I were at a yard sale that Friday morning when I ran into a friend of a friend who I’ve met a couple of times. Turns out she was one of the parts of the three-party yard sale. I bought a few books, and then as we were leaving she handed Cate a strange-colored bear and said she thought she needed it.

I don’t know about needed, but it definitely was a sweet gesture. And Cate really liked it. She played with it in the car the rest of that morning as we were going to some other yard sales. Since then, the bear has made his way into the house, so she pulls it out to play with frequently.

Then last week, we were at another yard sale on a Friday morning. (Hey, I like Friday morning yard sales. You get the first look at the merchandise. And it’s a good way to get out of the house with Cate on sunny mornings.) This time the yard sale was out in the county, which means it took me a little longer to find. I went specifically because the ad said she was selling scrapbooking stuff. I bought a few pieces of paper, some embellishments and a Xyron sticker maker that is bigger than the one I have been using. As I’m paying the lady, she asked if Cate wanted a bear or lamb to take with her.

I was thinking: Um, neither. But I told the lady it didn’t matter. She decided to let Cate pick.

And Cate picked this strange-looking lamb that still has a Christmas tag on it from the Salvation Army. It’s head is cocked to the side, and that throws the whole toy off.

Then there’s the stuffed ostrich. I mean, who else has a stuffed ostrich? OK, I admit. I called it a turkey when we brought it home and I showed Greg. Anyway, when we were at Katie’s shower last weekend, her Aunt Marsha brought the ostrich out for Cate to play with, and ended up sending us home with it.

The ostrich definitely wins the prize for the most unique among the free stuffed animals Cate has recently acquired for her collection.

Here’s another shot of Cate with her rescued friends …


… I think she’s learning how to cheese!

And some close-ups of the animals themselves …



None of these pictures does the bear justice. It’s a strange light green color that looks yellow in some lights. Definitely not a Crayola color with which I’m familiar!


And one last group shot …

Fellow scrappers, does a title for the page I’m going to do soon come to mind? I keep thinking about salvaged, rescued, trash to treasure …

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Filed Under: Cate, motherhood

Comments

  1. Bethany says

    July 3, 2008 at 2:31 am

    Aww how fun!! I am a sucker for stuffed animals too!! I am picturing her as an animal rescuer in the future!!LOL

    Reply
  2. Holly says

    July 3, 2008 at 3:22 pm

    I thought the bear in the first picture was yellow. But I was wrong. And I thought it was a turkey, not an ostrich. Wrong again!

    I love her expression in the second picture!

    Reply

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About Me

Telling stories is my therapy and I love sharing them with friends on my porch.

The main characters in my stories are my entrepreneur husband, our high school girl who never forgets, our middle school boy who has no fear, and our joy-filled first-grade girl. As we live out our stories, we seek God as the author of them all.

Learn more about my story here.

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I’ve had a couple of conversations this week wit I’ve had a couple of conversations this week with dear friends who are walking through hard things. I’ve been proud of them and sad about circumstances and weary of the brokenness and yet generally peaceful. 

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I sat across the table at Panera with a dear friend who has tear-filled eyes, who has fasted and prayed and sought counsel. I hear another friend express her loneliness in subtle but deep ways. So many of my mom friends are in the trenches of anxiety, both within their kids and within themselves. I hear of tragedies and brokenness all around me. I feel all the pain, forget about mine for a moment, and want to fix it all.

Sometimes solutions are waiting and trusting. Sometimes action is exactly what’s needed. Knowing the difference is hard for me to discern. 

So I keep going. I do the things in front of that need to be done. I sit with my friend and send another text. I pray about them and about me. I hope I teach my kids enough about the right things. I try to rush less because then I miss what matters. 

Through it all, I am absolutely certain we are meant to walk through this life together. God created us to commune with him and one another. 

One afternoon this week we literally stopped on the country road. No cars were around and she wanted to take a picture. While she captures the landscape, I thanked God for a peaceful pause in a chaotic life and asked Him to continue to show His goodness. 

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People ask when I have time to write. The truth is People ask when I have time to write. The truth is I like to make time to write, but sometimes it happens in the cracks of my days — at Panera, in the Notes app on my phone, at the library before I pickup my kids, or while I’m waiting on kids at activities. This week I edited my manuscript while Rachel practiced soccer. 

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I needed this weekend. The UK Wildcats didn’t I needed this weekend. 

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