Kristin Hill Taylor

Seeking God as the Author of Every Story

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Five Things I Learned in July

July 31, 2017 by Kristin Leave a Comment

Oh, July, how you’ve been fast, hot, and fun. In fact, as the school supplies sit on my kitchen counter, that’s how summer pretty much has felt. But here we are, at the end of yet another month. Of course, I’ve managed to learn some things …

1. Rachel can climb out of a pack-and-play.

She first performed her new trick while we were staying at our lake house for Fourth of July weekend. I knew exactly what had happened as soon as I heard the door knob moving from inside the room.

We were in a hotel in St. Louis a few weeks later and she climbed out of the pack-n-play so many times I lost count. But for three nights she was much more interested in jumping on the king bed than sleeping in her own confines.

2. When it’s really hot, lines are shorter at an amusement park.

Honestly, armed with our spray bottles and pocket fans, I would take the heat with no waiting at Six Flags with the heat index of 111 degrees. We walked right up to roller coasters and rode every ride we wanted more than once. I’m sure there were plenty of lines at Six Flags’ waterpark, but we didn’t even venture over there.

Of course the next day, which was equally as hot, the indoor Magic House was busting at its seams.

3. Lingering longer really is good for my soul.

Give me a vacation, and I can plan every minute of it. But when we recently spent a long weekend in St. Louis, we weren’t rushing from one place to the next and it was so nice. I browsed Target with my oldest kids while Greg sat with a napping Rachel in the car. We played cards in one room of the hotel suite while Rachel delayed sleep with her hotel acrobatics in the other room. We took our time walking through Soulard Market with friends. We ate at some favorite restaurants with no agendas.

The concept of lingering longer applies to my whole summer, and not just that one weekend in St. Louis. I do hope I can carry the slower pace – at least the pace inside myself – into other seasons.

4. Editing my own book (again) really does speak to God’s faithfulness to write the best stories.

I’m working to publish an updated “Peace in the Process,” which will be available in paperback and ebook on Amazon. This self-publishing process has been a good one, and I’m excited to share more about it – and my actual book! – with y’all this fall.

I love the cover, the contributions from other adoptive moms, and how God’s faithfulness is woven throughout my soul-baring story. I’m putting together a launch team now to help me spread the word when “Peace in the Process” is self-published in mid-September.

I say self-published, but, let’s be honest, it’s taken more than just me. I’m grateful for my graphic designer and photographer friends who helped make the cover exactly what I wanted. I’m glad there is an internet full of resources, including Fist Bump Media, to help me get my story – which is actually God’s story – bound up in a book.

(If you want to join the launch team, click here to let me know.)

5. Documenting a hard time is bittersweet.

Using the Project Life app, I made some photo collages of Ben’s burns to include with the journaling I did so he can remember the experience as he gets older. Granted, nobody wants to remember the pain of second-degree burns, but God showed up in Ben’s healing and the community that helped care for our family during that time – and that’s certainly worth remembering.

How was your July? Also, if you have figured out how to slow down time, please let me know.

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Filed Under: Things I Learned Tagged With: Peace in the Process, Rachel, summer

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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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@racershoops camp was so fun for Rachel and a few @racershoops camp was so fun for Rachel and a few of her friends! Despite all the basketball she has consumed as a spectator, I didn’t know how Rachel was going to feel about playing basketball. 

Spoiler: She enjoyed it, learned to grab rebounds, scored on the 10-foot goal, and turned extra cartwheels to celebrate. 

Big brother gets his turn next week. We love our Racers and are grateful to have these opportunities. 

#84daysofsummer #basketballcamp #basketball #RacerNation #WeAreRacers #momlife #thirdchild #summerisbest #girlmom
🎶 All throughout my history / Your faithfulness 🎶 All throughout my history / Your faithfulness has walked beside me / The winter storms made way for spring / In every season, from where I'm standing / I see the evidence of Your goodness / All over my life … 🎶 @joshbaldwin in “Evidence”

I love summer. But my summer has started off busy: appointments, book edits deadline, establish new habits with the kids at home. All that’s necessary and good, it just cuts into my down time beside the pool. 

Today we have two open gyms for our basketball players, my book study with a few friends, a new weekly high school girls’ book study at our house, and a monthly dad-son character study. 

I long for a little more white space on the calendar, but I also wouldn’t change a thing because the kids are only 16, 13, and 7 once. This summer will only be this summer once. And I’ve already learned time flies with big kids. 

So here we are finding out footing, singing praises with church friends on our porch, grilling delicious chicken, and squeezing in the wide-open spaces when we can. This is evidence of the good stuff. 

#84daysofsummer #poolpeople #momlife #momconfessions #faithlife #livingfaithfully #favoritethings #choosingJOY #countryliving #reallife #PorchStories
The Hill family reunion at @shelterpointretreat ha The Hill family reunion at @shelterpointretreat has become a favorite tradition to kick off summer! The weather was perfect and everyone enjoyed one another. 

#familyreunion #lakelife #kentuckylake #kylake #getoutside #familytime #memorialday #memorialdayweekend #favoritethings #84daysofsummer #summerisbest #choosingJOY
Hello, #84daysofsummer! ☀️ #TeamTaylor #girl Hello, #84daysofsummer! ☀️ 

#TeamTaylor #girlmom #boymom #momlife #reallife #summerisbest #siblinglove #countryliving #poolpeople #getoutside
First of all, who else has read this book? The plo First of all, who else has read this book? The plot was promising as a thriller and the setting really worked. There were some good twists, and then there were ridiculous twists. I skimmed the end only because I wanted it to make sense. And it didn’t. It was too weird for me. 

But this made me wonder: how do we know if a book is going to be weird, contain elements we don’t like, or go places that don’t make sense? I don’t like to read much about a book before I read the book. Usually, I do a better job of picking books for myself. 

#KHTreads #bookstagram #booklover #donotrecommend #bookofthemonth @bookofthemonth
I needed this low-key weekend that was pleasant we I needed this low-key weekend that was pleasant weather, a mixture of productivity and rest, and had plenty of wide-open space to enjoy our property and each other. 

#weekending #TeamTaylor #poolpeople #countryliving #favoritethings #choosingJOY #maydays
And that’s a wrap on soccer season! I love watch And that’s a wrap on soccer season! I love watching them both play. 

#soccermom #weekending #springtime #momlife #girlmom #boymom
On Mothers Day, I wanted to sit by the pool with a On Mothers Day, I wanted to sit by the pool with a book, but I didn’t know what I wanted to read. Whenever I have indecision about books, picking up a thriller usually helps because of the story’s pace. 

“The Only Survivors” worked well because there was a lot happening! Lots of creepy, mysterious moments. Only so many people could be guilty of infiltrating a small group who had lots of secrets! 

I loved the timeline of this one. The back story about an accident was told in seven one-hour segments. The present mystery was told in seven days. 

#KHTreads #bookstagram #booklover #latergram #bookofthemonth @bookofthemonth #poolpeople #mothersday
Y’all we are very ready for summer. ☀️ And Y’all we are very ready for summer. ☀️ 

And when I say summer, I mean we are ready to shake up the routine, mentally regroup, turn off the alarms, establish some new habits, soak in the sun, and catch up with friends we’ve been crossing paths with too quickly. 

I want to savor the #84daysofsummer and I want to embrace this new season. And it’s almost time. Three more days of school. (Deep breaths.) 

Meanwhile, I’m going to keep collecting the moments — the hard, hurried, happy, and heartfelt. The seasons do change, but this is the life we are living. 

“The moments you collect may not be loud or flashy. They might be quiet or covered or a far-off view you were lucky to catch. But this I know to be true: A moment savored says to your soul, ‘You have lived something beautiful.’ And it keeps you buoyed. It sustains you when you’re running empty. It lifts you up and carries you forward.” — Joanna Gaines in @magnolia summer 2023 journal issue no. 27 

#momlife #reallife #momconfessions #livingfaithfully #summerisbest #teenagedriver #choosingJOY
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