Kristin Hill Taylor

Seeking God as the Author of Every Story

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Giving thanks for community

November 19, 2013 by Kristin Leave a Comment

The same year my son was born our small group from church started a tradition. I’m not sure we knew it was going to be a tradition, but this group of where the kids at least equaled in number the adults gathered around a table for a Thanksgiving meal.

That was 2009. And, actually, Greg and I didn’t get to go because Ben was born on that Monday afternoon. We brought him home that Tuesday afternoon, just hours before they had our first Thanksgiving. Not only did we not go, but my friend Sarah made the green bean casserole I was supposed to bring. And then our friends brought us plates overflowing with delicious food. We weren’t at the actual table with them that first year, but we were with them and they were with us.

Community works that way. 

Four years later, we still gather around the table for a Thanksgiving meal. It happened Monday night, when I broke out my china plates for the first time. For 11 years and 3 months, that china has been sitting around, supposedly waiting for a “special occasion.” Truth be told, I was persuaded to register for the china and really wouldn’t regret had I not added it. But I have it. And I decided having it sit there was pointless.

Because everyday community is a special occasion.

We’re not technically in an official small group with these people because we scattered to build relationships with other generations in our church, but these people are our community. We’ve mourned and prayed and dreamed and hoped and planned and played and cheered and cried and laughed.

And my girl friends even washed by hand the china plates I probably would have put in the dish washer. They’re into the ordinary details like that. They’re helpful like that. We’re in this together like that.

That’s Ben sitting on top of the couch in a blue shirt. He was a day old when this group gathered around a table, literally, to give thanks for how we gather around the table, figuratively, with each other in our daily lives. He’s grown up knowing those other kids who surround him on the couch and their parents. He’s grown up in community.

Among these four families, we have nine kids from 7 years to almost 7 months (two of them weren’t in the picture …). Yes, the adults were outnumbered last night. But we sat around the table, talking and laughing while we played a Thanksgiving-inspired version of The Game of Things. The kids laughed and played their own games in the living room. Just like us adults, the kids were excited to share life.

We jokingly talk about how Ben and Davey (sitting on the couch in the navy shirt), who are less than a month apart in age, may both be chasing after Caroline (purple rain boots), who is less than a year younger. Regardless of what happens, I’m thankful they don’t know life apart from each other. And I pray they all inspire each other to chase after God. 

These are my people. This is my community.

I continue to be amazed about how God has build community up around me and my family. With these three families. And with others. Honestly, I wondered if that would happen here.

I moved back to my college town that is also my husband’s hometown when I was 23. I couldn’t imagine people my age would move into a rural college town on the edge of far western Kentucky. My dear college friend Jaclyn (in the grey sweatshirt), who stayed after she had her degree in hand, and I were thankful for each other when I moved back.

But God did more. He surprised us with community in a town I wasn’t sure would be able to offer us new friends. And that community continues to happen right here around my table. 

________

I’m linking this Jen Ferguson’s Soli Deo Gloria party, where she shows true beauty this week, and Jennifer Dukes Lee’s #TellHisStory because community is one of the best parts of God’s story.

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Filed Under: Ben, community, faith, friends, holiday, Soli Deo Gloria

Comments

  1. kasmith03 says

    November 20, 2013 at 4:32 pm

    I haven't had much time for blog reading the past few days…but just got caught up here and loved all these posts!! Hope you are having a wonderful day!! 🙂

    Reply
  2. KristinHillTaylor says

    November 20, 2013 at 4:36 pm

    Thanks, Kristin! I hope you're settled back in from being gone the past couple of weeks. I'm thankful for your presence here on the big 'ole Internet and looking forward to the day we get to meet in real life!

    Reply
  3. Alecia Simersky says

    November 20, 2013 at 6:12 pm

    Hey Kristin! I've been silently reading along with your Adoption series, and LOVE how God worked everything out. And I love how open you are in sharing your story and experience with others, I'm sure you are dispelling a lot of fears and worries when it comes to adoption. God bless, friend!

    Reply
  4. KristinHillTaylor says

    November 20, 2013 at 6:31 pm

    What kind words, Alecia! Thanks for your comment and for reading along!

    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 ninth-grade girl who never forgets, our have-no-fear sixth-grade boy, and our joy-filled kindergarten girl. As we live out our stories, we seek God as the author of them all.

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Old friends and live music are two of my favorite Old friends and live music are two of my favorite things, so having them together is the best. My friend Aaron and I went to multiple Dave Matthews Band shows together during our college years, so now two decades later it’s fun to do it again as grown ups with our spouses for a band that speaks truth into our lives. 

@needtobreathe put on the loudest acoustic tour I’ve ever seen, but it sure was good! And its encore of completely unplugged songs was especially sweet. 

#NTBlive #needtobreathe #bettertogether #choosingJOY #favoritethings #livingfaithfully #weekending
Happiness is … … a slow morning that gave me Happiness is …

… a slow morning that gave me a chance to finish reading a good book right after I fixed my favorite cinnamon toast. 

… some shade to invite me to pick some more weeds around the house. But why doesn’t my Apple Watch count this as exercise? It felt like exercise to me! 

… an appointment with my oldest girl for us both to get our nails done this morning. 

… my youngest girl’s last soccer game of the season, even though the heat made her a little grumpy. 

… pool time, another good book to read, my mom visiting for the second weekend in a row, a little more weeding, and a night at home with no specific plans. 

Happiness is everyday, normal life with my people, especially when it comes with a slower pace after a hectic week. 

#OneDayMay #maydays #soccermom #KHTreads #momlife #weekending #choosingJOY #livingfaithfully #poolpeople #PorchStories
I regretted having to go to sleep last night befor I regretted having to go to sleep last night before I finished this book, so I picked it up at breakfast and didn’t do anything else until I finished it. 

I loved the Alaskan cruise setting, the quick love and understanding between Greta and Ben, and the realistic ways grief changes people. Well done, @jenniferesmith! 

#KHTreads #bookstagram #kindlebooks #booklover #kindlepaperwhite #reallife #weekending #recommendedreads #poolpeople #amreading
Happy Friday! 🎉 We’ve got four more days of s Happy Friday! 🎉 We’ve got four more days of school next week and then it’s #88daysofsummer! Obviously, we’re ready. ☀️ 

Here’s to a refreshing weekend with much anticipation of what’s to come! #weekending #choosingJOY #livingfaithfully #thirdchild #momlife #summerisbest #poolpeople #PorchStories #maydays
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I’ve already bou ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I’ve already bought three copies of “Glad You’re Here: Two Unlikely Friends Breaking Bread and Fences” by @walkerhayes and @craigallencooper to gift to specific friends. I’ve referenced this story in conversations this week and will likely recommended it for years to come. 

This story is about two seemingly different guys befriending each other because their kids were on the same baseball team and their wives became friends. They kept showing for each other, encouraged each other, and changed each other for the better. In fact, their friendship was the catalyst for Walker deciding to follow Christ. 

Give me Applebee’s on a date night, a real-life story of how we are eternally better together, and an audiobook that makes me want to drive and I’m a happy girl. I’m fancy like that. 

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I’m majorly behind on laundry, dishes, emails, a I’m majorly behind on laundry, dishes, emails, and to-do lists. Birthdays, a field trip, end-of-school things, squeezing in some friend dates, and just general life with three kids have occupied much of my time. But my friend @whitneyrscott at @blushsalon did tend to their shaggy hairs. So check! 

#momlife #reallife #girlmom #boymom #maydays #siblinglove #livingfaithfully
What I’m wearing … I don’t wear in jewelry, What I’m wearing …

I don’t wear in jewelry, but I love having bracelets that mean things to me. 

Today my friend Monica and I talked to our oldest daughters’ high school health class about adoption. My other friend @megandelaneythomas invited us because she recently taught about the reproductive system and wanted the class to hear about adoption as an option. We talked about adoption as a process, redemption to broken circumstances, and picture of God grafting us into his family. We shared resources and advice on counseling for abortion, befriending people who have made different relationships choices, and parenting regardless of how God builds a family. 

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Things working together for the good in Christ doesn’t mean easy or convenient. But it does mean all the details and relationships matter. I’m forever grateful for how God built my faith and my family through adoption. Wearing these sweet reminders is good for my soul. 

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