Kristin Hill Taylor

Seeking God as the Author of Every Story

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On organizing the dreams God gives

March 17, 2016 by Kristin Leave a Comment

I’m a Type A person who finds great pleasure in getting things done. I like a clean house. I like to start and finish projects. I like to mark items off a to-do list and make plans because, really, if it’s on my calendar it’s going to get accomplished.

I used to think I wasn’t a dreamer, considering myself too practical for that. Then God used Holley Gerth and many of the ladies who write for this website to show me He’s the Dream Giver. He’s given me gifts and personality traits to use for his glory – and when all that merges it truly is a dream come true.

God-sized dreaming is about far more than the end result, though. {Tweet that.} It’s really about the process of making choices about how we will spend our time, surrendering the details and timeline to God, and connecting with people. Too often I’ve tried to do it my way, but God is working on me.

My dreams are about mothering and writing. I share our family’s adoption story because it’s my faith journey. I share about our everyday life so other moms know they aren’t alone. I believe stories have power – so I tell them and write them.

But real life doesn’t always allow me to write whenever I’m inspired. Sometimes I have to email myself an idea so I don’t forget it while I’m feeding the baby or doing laundry or grocery shopping. Other days the baby takes a longer-than-expected nap so I get extra time to work on whatever project is in front of me. God surprised me with a lake house management job a few years ago that I love because it combines my love for details, planning and hospitality.

Regardless of what the day looks like, I’m thankful for my iPhone that allows me to carry much information and many ideas while connecting to people anywhere.

{Read more at God-sized Dreams, where I’m sharing specific ways I organize information and connect with people.}

_____________________

Subscribe to get new posts in your inbox and a monthly newsletter with content not available on the blog. When you subscribe, I’ll send you a FREE #choosingJOY printable. 

“Peace in the Process: How Adoption Built My Faith & My Family” is available on Amazon. Like me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, peek into my life on Instagram, or follow 152 Insights at Bloglovin’.

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On sharing stories

March 11, 2016 by Kristin Leave a Comment

I’m joining Kate Motaung and many other writers for Five Minute Friday. Each week, there’s a prompt and then we write for five minutes. Like a flash mob of writers. 

This week’s prompt: SHARE. 

Ready, set, go … 


Later today I’m going to share with some homeschool students what it’s like to be a writer. My friend who organized the career fair invited me as an author/writer.

As I was jotting down notes yesterday about what I would share, I remembered how being a writer is a broad term. I’m going to share all the many ways one could be a writer – non-fiction author, fiction author, blogger, newspaper reporter, poet, screenwriter, songwriter, technical writer, speech writer.

And I’m going to share why when I was editor of my high school newspaper, I decided I really did want to be a writer. I spent four years in college working toward my print journalism degree. I had jobs where I was paid to write.

It all comes down to this: I believe in sharing stories. {Tweet that.}

Maybe that’s simplifying it all. Being a writer runs deep because it’s part of who God created me to be. Being a writer looks different with each season. But being a writer is a calling.

So that’s what I’m going to share with these students who are learning about subject-verb agreement and how to write persuasive essays. I’m going to share with them that words matter because stories are the essence of life.

And stop.

_____________________

Five Minute Friday is open to anyone. Come join us at Kate Motaung’s place. 

Subscribe to get new posts and/or a monthly newsletter with content not available on the blog in your inbox. When you subscribe, I’ll send you a FREE #choosingJOY printable. 

“Peace in the Process: How Adoption Built My Faith & My Family” is available on Amazon. Like me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, peek into my life on Instagram, or follow 152 Insights at Bloglovin’.

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Five Things I Learned in February

February 29, 2016 by Kristin Leave a Comment

It’s Leap Day – like a whole bonus day in our year. And it’s Monday, which does leave me wishing we got an extra weekend day. But, you know, I’m always wishing for more time, so I’ll take what I can get!

Speaking of weekends, as a stay-at-home mom who does some freelance work on the side, I’m always surprised with how glad I am for Friday to get here. I thrive on routine, but I’ve really been loving the other days – the ones that break from the usual. So even though I spend quite a bit of time at home during the week, I really love the weekends when all my people are here and our lives don’t revolve around school and work calendars.

1. Spontaneity is good for my Type A soul.

Our best friends had four free extra passes to Winter Jam in Nashville (two hours from our house) and offered them to us the day before the concert. We decided to go, meaning we drove two hours after school for a five-hour concert, and then two hours home. We got home at 1:30 am, and thankfully all three kids slept nearly the whole way home, but they were all up past their bedtimes. Ben did take a nap in an awkward position in his chair while musicians and speakers blared throughout the arena.

I’m so glad we went. The road trip was good for my soul and connection with my husband. (We have some of our best talks in the car!) And we got to hear Lauren Daigle, Sidewalk Prophets, Matthew West, Crowder, and For King & Country (and some bands I cared much less about).

2. Sometimes two books have a message so intertwined you know you were meant to read them at the same time.

That’s how it was with “The Gift of Friendship: Stories That Celebrate the Beauty of Shared Moments” and “Better Together: Because You’re Not Meant to Mom Alone.” They’re different books with a similar message of we aren’t meant to do life alone because we really are better – stronger, kinder, wiser, funnier – together.

In “The Gift of Friendship,” Dawn Camp has compiled stories from different writers that celebrate and encourage real-life friends. Jill Savage and her daughter Anne McClane offer practical advice and inspiration for moms in “Better Together.” Friendship requires vulnerability and books like these are good companions for the journey.

{Here’s a real-life story on friendship from my own life. And here’s some mom confessions inspired by a theme from “Better Together” with information on how to get free resources if you order the book before it releases tomorrow.}

3. Colleen Coble is an author I like.

I bought one of her books – “Tidewater Inn”  – when the Kindle version was really cheap several months ago. I needed something recently to keep me company on the treadmill so I started it and was hooked. I immediately continued to the second book in the series and then the third. Turns out, Coble has written tons of books, so that’s good for me.

{Here’s the Hope Beach series I’ve devoured :: Tidewater Inn // Rosemary Cottage // Seagrass Pier}

They’ve been an entertaining combination of romance and suspense set on an island that makes me want to go to the Outer Banks. Plus the characters are likeable and it’s fun to see their stories intertwine. Once I finish “Seagrass Pier,” I’m likely to read the other few series she’s written.

4. RSV is vicious.

I’ve never had a baby get RSV … until last week. Third baby is a charm, apparently. Of course, the other two coughed and had low-grade fevers, but RSV didn’t keep them down like it did Rachel. I knew she was sick when she went a couple days without really smiling. {See an Instagram post about that.} It was sad to have her coughing and lethargic, but I did enjoy the extra snuggles with my baby girl who seems so big some days.

5. I’m having fun planning and designing a new monthly newsletter.

And by new, I mean, one that never existed from me to you!

I’ve been messing around with MailChimp, and I’m excited to launch my monthly newsletter on March 1 {TOMORROW!}. And if you subscribe to my newsletter and posts, you’ll get a FREE #choosingJOY printable.

I have other plans for my email friends – who are likely to receive other free gifts and be among the first to hear news, like when I finally get around to updating my ebook (hello, third child).

I’m grateful for those of you who already let me into your inbox! {The rest of you can subscribe here.}

Happy Leap Day! How was your February?

_____________________

I’m linking up with Emily Freeman, like I do at the end of every month. 

{2013} June. July. August. September. October. November. 
{2014} January. February. March. April. May. June. 
July. August. September. October. November. December. 
{2015} January. February. March. April. May. June. 
July. August. September. October. November. December.
{2016} January. 


Want more insights? Subscribe to get new posts in your inbox and a monthly newsletter with content not available on the blog. When you subscribe, I’ll send you a FREE #choosingJOY printable. 

 “Peace in the Process: How Adoption Built My Faith & My Family” is available on Amazon. Like me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, peek into my life on Instagram, or follow 152 Insights at Bloglovin’.

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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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🎶 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
I’ve read quite a few World War II novels, but t I’ve read quite a few World War II novels, but this one by Soraya M. Lane focused on three nurses, their friendships, and how the war changed their lives. It’s a hard story, but it’s full of love and hope despite the destruction around them. 

And it’s the second historical fiction audiobook I’ve listened to in a row! #KHTreads #bookstagram #booklover #audiobooks #Audible #KindleUnlimited #historicalfiction
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