Kristin Hill Taylor

Seeking God as the Author of Every Story

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In The Middle

February 3, 2016 by Kristin Leave a Comment

You know sometimes you hear an idea that just makes sense and gets you excited about participating? Well, that’s how I was when my blogging friend Britta LaFont told me about her Meet Me In The Middle Project. I like it so much, it’s going to be the theme of my posts on Wednesdays for the next seven weeks — that’s starting next Wednesday with Ash Wednesday and continue through the Lenten season. 

I invited Britta to come share about the project here, so that’s what today’s post is. There’s absolutely no pressure for you to participate in this project, but if you want to, I’d love for you to link up both here and at her place. And, even if you aren’t joining in The Meet Me In The Middle Project, you’re always welcome to link up here for #ThreeWordWednesday, and nothing that that changes. Honestly, I’m excited to have a focus for the coming weeks, especially throughout Lent. 

So, welcome, Britta, and I hope the rest of you get as excited as I am. 

_______________

I remember walking up the stairs and seeing her at the computer, out of the corner of my eye. She was muttering to herself and shaking her head.

“What’s wrong, Sweetie?”

“Mom, I just want to hurry up and get all my work done, so I can have some fun,” fumed my homeschooling sixth grader.

Everyone likes to have fun, but my child always loved school too. What had happened? Instantly, I knew where she learned that way of thinking and it stopped me in my tracks.

I was the one always rushing, Let’s get our reading done, so we can have recess. Let’s try to finish early, so we can meet our friends at the park. Let’s hurry up and do our work, so we can bake.

I turned around and went downstairs. I repented of my haste. I explained to her that most of life is work and if we can’t see any value in it, we are missing our calling to honor the Lord in all we do.

Col 323-24
Do you ever find yourself rushing ahead, wanting to get to the next place, to move straight from Before to After without spending time in the middle? That day on the stairs, I realized that I was constantly chasing the “After” and missing the Middle. And it got me thinking…

Most of us dread the workout, but want to look great in our jeans. We don’t enjoy cleaning, but we love the shiny, sweet-smelling endpoint. We don’t like waiting, We want results, and we want them fast. We don’t want to wait for anything.

What if…we realized that most of life is lived in the Middle? That most of life is work, sweat, and tears?

What if…we saw a Before & After and did not covet the result, but admired the effort exerted?

What if…we acknowledged that every “Big Reveal” pales in comparison to the biggest reveal of them all — the Resurrection?

— The Meet Me In the Middle Project, A Lenten Curation

YOUR INVITATION!

Won’t you join me in celebrating the middle places that we sometimes miss, because we want so badly to get to the After? It’s a small commitment, but I think it could be really fun! We are calling it a Lenten Curation of Before & After pictures. We want to repurpose those Before & Afters and show how they point to the gospel.

WILL YOU MEET ME IN THE MIDDLE?

1. Create a before/after collage
2. Post it (on a blog or Pinterest or Instagram)
3. Tell how the story of the pics is a gospel story (can be a few sentences)
4. Hashtag #Meetmeinthemiddleproj
5. Link up Wednesdays Feb10-Mar23 (You CAN link up with the permalink from the Pin or the Instagram post!)

Sign up! Then link up at meetmeinthemiddleproject.com. In all, it is just seven before/after collages! Easy peasy! Here are some examples:

A furniture refinishing Before & After can remind us that Jesus promises to complete the work He began in us (Phil 1:6, ESV).

furniture Instagram

A garden Before & After reminds us that The Holy Spirit is an imperishable seed placed in us, that we will yield fruit even if our hearts look like fallow ground now (1 Peter 1:23, ESV).

Garden Before and After

The Before & After graphic design creation below is from a tutorial, where you can learn, step by step, how to create a tachometer that begins as a simple line. The website responsible for the images generously shares expert knowledge, offering FREE tutorials, using FREE (professional quality) vector graphics software. The everyday kindnesses represented in this Before & After remind me of how Jesus lived and taught, “Think of the kindness you wish others would show you; do the same for them” (Luke 6:31, VOICE).

Before&After Tachometer Tutorial

We start next week. Link up first here, at Three Word Wednesday. Then hop over to the Meet Me in the Middle Project and join us there!

_____________________


Britta LaFont is a sojourner. She was a military kid and is a military wife. She lives in the hot, hot desert of Arizona far, far away from her New Orleans family. She gratefully homeschools two of her most favorite people on the planet: 12-year-old Gracie and 10-year-old Josh. Britta and her husband Scott recently celebrated their 21st anniversary and foresee a happy ending to this military life in the very near future. Find her online at her blog, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.

_______________

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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.

Learn more about my story here.

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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. 

#KHTreads #bookstagram #bettertogether #livingfaithfully #hospitalitymatters #audiobooks #booklover #favoritethings
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. 

I left that high school health class thankful for @ncca.lions and the opportunities my kids have had to learn about real things in the context of the gospel. I’m also grateful for this adoption bond Monica and I share with our kids who are the same ages. I’ve always said, adoption is relational to its core, far beyond just bringing a baby home. That circle widened a little today, and I’m glad to welcome others into pieces of our story. 

Also, how fun are these bracelets @katie_cunningham85 gave me last week for my birthday? Today seemed like the perfect time to wear them along with my Romans 8:28 reminder — “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

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. 

#OneDayMay #maydays #adoptionislove #adoption #PeaceInTheProcess #authorlife #bettertogether #livingfaithfully #choosingJOY #momlife #firstborn #girlmom #boymom #reallife @scott_monica_bidwell
Another new book from a popular author that was ex Another new book from a popular author that was excellent! @harlancoben is a great suspense writer, and this is among his best in my opinion. It picked up with an old character and references another character from another book. But this story is well done even without those details. 

#KHTreads #bookstagram #booklover #kindlebooks #kindlepaperwhite
I’ve read many @lisascottoline books, and this o I’ve read many @lisascottoline books, and this one is definitely at the top of my list. I didn’t know much about it going in, but I especially loved the WITSEC portion of the storyline and the suspense that unfolded about what happened to the Bennetts. 

#KHTreads #bookstagram #kindlepaperwhite #booklover
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