Kristin Hill Taylor

Seeking God as the Author of Every Story

Happy birthday, Ben!

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I don’t know at what point kids’ ages stop sounding all grown up, but it’s not 14 years old. My boy Ben turns 14 today – yes on Thanksgiving! – and it sounds impossible and sudden to me. Even so, I love having big kids and am happy to celebrate him! 

November has been an incredibly hard month for my boy. It’s a story I’ll probably share publicly at some point. For now, I’m giving thanks for Ben’s life and our community of people who love him well. We started celebrating on Sunday with eight of his friends and our dear friends the Gachokas who are like family. We had a delicious meal at Texas Roadhouse and then spent a couple of hours at Top Golf. The ride to and from Nashville was loud — with singing, middle school humor, and spicy hot takes.

The bigger picture: it’s not just these friends who love our boy, and I’m grateful to know so many have encouraged and supported him through the years. We’ve seen this real-life community in this hard season he’s facing, and we are so thankful to be surrounded by so much goodness. I’m praying my boy continues to soak in that truth.

Meanwhile, he loves making music playlists, watching videos from Mark Rober and Dude Perfect and How Ridiculous, building and taking apart pretty much anything, eating double bacon cheeseburgers, drinking Glacier Freeze Gatorade, collecting key chains and crazy socks, and playing soccer. He likes to anticipate what’s next, is a good friend to people, and would rather not be at school. 

I’m proud of his bravery to work through hard things and look forward to seeing what God continues to do in his life. 

*****

Ben, 

You’re brave and bold. I’m thankful to call you my son and watch you be a friend to so many people. I pray you know you’re loved by God, your family, and your friends. Walking through this world can be hard and dark, but there’s so much goodness in the light.

Keep being you and following where God leads. I love being on this journey with you! Happy birthday, son! 

Love, Mom

*****

I share more of Ben’s story in my book “Peace in the Process: How Adoption Built My Faith & My Family,” which is available for FREE through Nov. 26 on Amazon.

Look back on my boy’s life:  1 year old. 2 years old. 3 years old. 4 years old. 5 years old. 6 years old. 7 years old. 8 years old. 9 years old. 10 years old. 11 years old. 12 years old. 13 years old.

Ben is 13!

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We are now a house with two teenagers — and in many ways, I couldn’t love it more. Ben is the boy sandwiched between two girls, many days wishing he had a brother. In the past year, I’ve seen the lives of Cate and Ben overlap more with friends and basketball. Overlapping friends can be hard between siblings, but it can also be a sweet spot. 

Ben loves playing soccer and basketball and talking about those things with his friends. He prefers school assignments with concrete answers. He likes to doodle and read non-fiction books. He has had to work hard to quiet some anxieties, expectations, and realities — especially at school. But I can look at his life and see emotional and spiritual growth, and I’m so thankful to get a glimpse at what God is doing in him and through him. He’s braver than he realizes and funnier than I probably admit to him!

With a Thanksgiving week birthday, he’s adamant about waiting until after that holiday to move on to anything about Christmas. Playing Christmas music on the way home from our Thanksgiving trip was pushing it for him.

We celebrated Ben’s birthday with a trip to Memphis for a Grizzlies game, a hotel stay, and a Bass Pro Shop outing. (And with lunch and brownies at Gran-Gran’s house the weekend before, Texas Roadhouse on our way to Indiana for Thanksgiving, and more brownies with our Thanksgiving meal at my sister’s house!) We brought three of his friends along. I’m thankful for the friends God has given him, even when finding his place is sometimes a challenge. He’s quick to friend people and sees the needs around him. 

We also got in some good cousin time with a couple of fun days at my sister’s house. Ben loves being around her two boys. They got him an Indiana sweatshirt, which was a well-timed gift because we went to an IU basketball game on Friday. We were glad we got to experience a game at Assembly Hall!

*****

Ben,

This definitely seemed like the right year to do something different for your birthday. I’m thankful I came up with an idea you were excited about! What fun memories we made! You’ve often challenged me as a mom and person, but I’m thankful for all we’ve walked through together. The longer we’re at this mom-son thing, the more I see our similarities as people. I see you and love you and am blessed to be your mom. 

Here’s to the teenage years, bedtime conversations, and lots of Haribo Peach Gummies and Sour Patch Kids. 

Love, Mom

*****

I share more of Ben’s story in my book “Peace in the Process: How Adoption Built My Faith & My Family,” which is on sale (!!!) right now on Amazon. Look back on my boy’s life:  1 year old. 2 years old. 3 years old. 4 years old. 5 years old. 6 years old. 7 years old. 8 years old. 9 years old. 10 years old. 11 years old. 12 years old.

Brave Ben & his broken heel

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When I saw my boy jump off the porch to save some helium balloons one Saturday evening in April, I thought he had his first broken bone. We went to the ER and nothing was noticeably broken on the X-rays, but the radiology told us to follow up with an orthopedic doctor. We did. He also couldn’t determine much from X-rays because the injury was near Ben’s growth plate. He ordered an MRI, which happened that Tuesday. 

We went back the following day to talk about the MRI and make a plan. It was a non-displaced fracture, so essentially the MRI showed an injured heel but no cracked bone. He has to stay off of it completely for four weeks and the doctor is hoping he can then gradually start walking and applying pressure. He hopes Ben is young enough for it to heel quickly and not have to stay off of it the normal eight to ten weeks. 

He was a champ figuring out how to maneuver school and home and life in general with crutches. His big sister helped him get into school and his friends were helpful getting his stuff from his locker and to classes once he’s in there.

Days seems longer for him right now. It’s exhausting to ask for help more than he’s used to doing, miss out on being active, walk on crutches, and try not to dwell on the pain in his foot. 

Honestly, my boy was sad when we left the orthopedic doctor’s office. Four weeks sounds like an eternity when it means no more PE this school year or soccer this season. Soccer camp was in five weeks and basketball camp was seven weeks away. 

Thankfully, swimming is fine, although it hasn’t been great swimming weather since the last day of school. He’d fished and kayaked. This isn’t how we wanted the spring leading into #88daysofsummer to be, but he’s adjusted and made the most of it. 

We went to the orthopedic yesterday for the four-week follow-up appointment and he hoped he’d be putting on the second tennis shoe he brought in the car. Unfortunately, he’s supposed to wear the boot for a few more weeks, but he can walk and run on it.

I had to cancel soccer camp, but basketball camp might happen. He can stop carting around the crutches, thankfully. 

Oh, and he caught the balloons for his little sister as he jumped off the porch that April evening.