Kristin Hill Taylor

Seeking God as the Author of Every Story

  • Home
  • About
  • Books
    • Peace in the Process
    • Bringing Home More Than Groceries
  • Contact

There’s power in words.

February 22, 2012 by Kristin Leave a Comment

Shy doesn’t even begin to describe me as a kid.

I’d hide behind my mom, literally. And I’d avoid grocery store aisles if I recognized someone, mostly because I worried they wouldn’t recognize me and awkwardness would ensue. I lost count of how many times Mom told me my shyness would come across as snobbishness. Speaking in front of a group still ranks up there with my greatest fears.

But I gradually leg go of my mom’s leg, accepted I’d never like dancing, avoided Public Speaking 101 in college, sorted out my jumbled thoughts while writing, started asking strangers questions, and kept writing.

Yes, I’m a stay-at-home mom and wife of an attorney who requests my bookkeeping help once a week.

But I still think I’m a writer. 

I blame Rochelle Riley.

Raised in North Carolina by her grandparents, she’s a black, single mom to a grown daughter. She lives and works and writes in Detroit, although our paths crossed when she did the same in Louisville. And she reached out to kids like me.

In the high school journalism workshop she hosted at The Courier-Journal my senior year, Rochelle inspired me and encouraged me to pursue a career as a journalist and embrace who I was as a writer, even at 18 years old. I went on to college, majored in print journalism, worked at some newspapers and The Associated Press, and settled in small-town America at a desk of a six-day-a-week paper.

During that time, we talked a couple times. But I read her columns and books often. I would grasp onto her words and want to hold on … so tightly. She can write about things that are so far removed from my daily life and I still finish her story and see a little of myself. That’s how she tells stories. Her words capture the world. And I am left wondering how I can give more and do more and write more and love more.

I’ve been taken back to May of 1997 more than once. I had decided upon Murray State University, which seemed to be a world away from my near-Louisville home. But I was ready to go. I needed something new. That’s what happened when I stopped hiding behind my mom’s leg.

What Rochelle said — it was written, of course — at the end of our high school journalism helped me step out, move on, write more, and embrace life. While capturing moments in her own mind, Rochelle wrote, “I remember that Kristin Hill seemed the most like me, serious, but able to crack a joke. Her writing showed that she may one day have a desk near mine.” 

My desk sits in Murray, Ky., in my home while hers sits in a big city. Yet her encouragement still comes. I drew confidence from her then and I gain hope from her still. Usually it’s indirect, through her Facebook posts or her columns written to a broad audience. But we’ve emailed and talked a couple of times, and I want to hang onto every word.

There’s power in words. I’ve learned that over and over, thanks to Rochelle. And all those stories really are worth telling and, more importantly, living.

________

Life with kids can be chaotic, but I want to make sure I don’t miss an opportunity to encourage my own kids or someone else’s kids to embrace what they love to do, especially if it means stepping out in faith. I’m not the only one who believes in the power of someone’s words. It may be brief, but it can still be life-changing. Compassion International‘s President Wess Stafford wrote a book about just that. “Just a Minute” is next on my reading list. 

Want more? Subscribe to get “Insights” in your inbox. Or follow me on Twitter.

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)

Filed Under: books, Compassion, faith

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Let’s Connect

  • Bloglovin
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • RSS
  • Twitter

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.

Subscribe for Updates

Recent Posts

  • How to enjoy motherhood
  • How & why to travel with kids
  • From snow to sand
  • Books of 2022
  • How to enjoy winter days at home

Join the Conversation

Join the Conversation

On Instagram

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. 

Honestly, I feel like it’s a hard cycle to escape. Maybe I’m not supposed to. I never know how much of other’s burdens to carry. And how do I carry their burdens when my own feel heavy? 

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. 

#livingfaithfully #choosingJOY #countryliving #momlife #faithlife #motherhood #createdforcommunion #PorchStories
The world feels heavy & broken because it is. Pare The world feels heavy & broken because it is. Parenting has me at my max emotional capacity because it takes much soul and mental work. Spring soccer season started in the cold tonight. 

Even so, God is good and wants us to live abundantly here on earth while we wait for heaven. This week that looks like church league basketball games, dinner with friends, apologies, sideline encouragement, prayers, middle school humor, theological conversations with friends, tears, and laughter. 

Now it’s time to rest and do it again tomorrow. These are the rhythms of grace and goodness, heaven and earth, sorrow and joy. 

#livingfaithfully #choosingJOY #soccermom #thirdchild #momlife #reallife #faithlife #PorchStories
I sat on my porch beneath a blanket and finished t I sat on my porch beneath a blanket and finished this book today. Yes, I’m fully invested in this Cuba saga involving the Perez family. “The Last Train to Key West” by @chanelcleeton is the third in the series. I have the fourth on hold at the library for pickup on Monday. 

I wasn’t sure I was going to love this one as much as I did Cleeton’s first two, but it was a slow-building story that turned stormy. I loved how the three women were in Key West for their own reasons, developed meaningful relationships as they navigated their lives, and managed to survive the storms of their lives and an actual hurricane. 

The historical fiction story offers hope:

“It’s strange how your life can change so quickly, how one moment you can barely eke by, desperation filling your days, and suddenly, out of the unimaginably horrific, a glimmer of something beautiful can appear like a bud pushing through the hard-formed earth. There’s so much broken around us; maybe all we can do is try to fix each other, do what we can to preserve these precious moments in a world where there is so much sadness and loss. … Maybe some would say my dreams are too small. Perhaps they would dream of railroads that go over the sea, great, wonderful things. Maybe others want riches and jewels, a chance to travel the globe. For me, this is enough: A corner of paradise in this wretched world that I am able to call my own.” — Helen in “The Last Train to Key West” by Chanel Cleeton

#KHTreads #bookstagram #booklover #librarybooks #historicalfiction #weekending #favoritethings #choosingJOY #bookquotes #bookreview
This morning there are three “holes” in Wright This morning there are three “holes” in Wright Road after the creek flooded it overnight. The Calloway County road department responded quickly and is working to pack in various kinds of gravel so it will passable again soon. I’m thankful for their work, but these Band-Aids aren’t an actual solution. 

Wright Road needs a permanent solution for when Wildcat Creek rises. A bridge seems to be the best idea, so the creek can rise and flow beneath the road rather than flowing across it and washing out the gravel on top of the culverts. 

I know it’s an expensive fix and would take local government working with state government, but I wonder how many times the road has to break before it can be truly repaired.

#callowaycounty #kyweather #kentuckyweather #countyroads #countryliving #reallife #murrayky
In a week filled with all the parenting emotions, In a week filled with all the parenting emotions, God has provided conversation with friends who understand, new mercies, a few walks and talks with a friend, and cinnamon rolls on a rainy Friday afternoon. I’ve been reminded when we are vulnerable and share our real lives, friends bring truth and goodness — often in ways we don’t expect but bless us anyway. 

#bettertogether #createdforcommunion #reallife #momlife #weekending #parenthood #choosingJOY #favoritethings #livingfaithfully
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. 

#momlife #writerlife #selfpublished #bloggerlife #authorlife #soccermom #thirdchild #createdforcommunion #bettertogether #favoritethings
I needed this weekend. The UK Wildcats didn’t I needed this weekend. 

The UK Wildcats didn’t win this afternoon like I had hoped. But following our house full of people on Friday night, I’ve spent a lot of time on my couch, under a soft blanket, with a book, while I watch #MarchMadness. 

Yesterday I pulled “When We Left Cuba” by @chanelcleeton from my to-be-read stack and then realized it was the second in a series about the Perez family. Thanks to @libby.app, I was able to get “Next Year in Havana” immediately. 

I finished it today during commercials and timeouts. And now I’m going to start “When We Left Cuba” as another basketball game also gets going. 

#KHTreads #basketballseason #weekending #bookstagram #reallife #booklover #librarybooks #KindleOasis #Kindlebooks #favoritethings
What a fun night! Basketball is best with friends What a fun night! Basketball is best with friends and food. So thankful for all these provisions and others in my life. Oh and a Cats win is icing on the cake. 

#MarchMadness #weekending #basketballseason #bettertogether #choosingJOY #BigBlueNation
You know it’s #MarchMadness when Greg Taylor pos You know it’s #MarchMadness when Greg Taylor posts on Facebook — and a picture at that! — and puts his radio/TV degree to work figuring out how to improve the viewing setup. 

#reallife #basketballseason #wifelife #choosingJOY
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Favorites

Categories

Archives

Copyright © 2023 Kristin Hill Taylor | Design by Traci Michele | Development by MRM