Kristin Hill Taylor

Seeking God as the Author of Every Story

Vooks improves screen time

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My youngest child has a vivid imagination, loves books, and somehow already knows how to work all the technology! Vooks is is a collection of virtual books that incorporates so many things my girl already loves. 

Vooks is a streaming library of ad-free, kid-safe animated storybooks, trusted by teachers and enjoyed by millions of children around the world. The titles can be streamed or downloaded. Each virtual book has printable lesson plans, activities, discussion topics, and additional resources related to the story. As a mom, I was truly impressed with the amount of content and resources available beyond each animated storybook. The service is $4.99 per month. 

With Vooks, kids are reading, strengthening their vocabulary, and learning about lots of different subjects. This is a productive use of screen time and fosters independent learning. That’s a win-win for parents and their kids. New titles are added weekly. 

My 5-year-old Rachel is looking forward to kindergarten in August had a fun time scrolling through all the Vooks choices. Of course, her first choice was a story about a unicorn and a horse. She later learned more about earth and loved seeing different animals. I haven’t printed any coloring sheets yet, but she’s pumped about that being an option. 

Rachel used Vooks on both my laptop and Kindle. I wish there was an app for the Kindle because using the browser on that device wasn’t the most convenient. I did download an app for my iPhone that is easy to use. I’m looking forward to streaming the virtual books from my phone to the TV when I want to offer an alternative to watching television shows. 

As a mom, I love when technology incorporates readings and learning so I don’t feel guilty for using screens to give myself a little quiet and a chance to regroup from noisy life. Generally, we limit screens — the bigger television, smaller Kindles, and personal phones — but Vooks is a great addition to how we use devices in our home. 

You can try Vooks free for 30 days! Go to VOOKS to sign up! I’d love to hear what you think about this modern take on books. 

Giveaway

One of you will receive a year-long subscription to Vooks! Use the Rafflecopter widget below for entries. You’ll see that following @vooks on Instagram or Facebook is one of the required entries. Rafflecopter will randomly choose a winner on Wednesday, April 28. 

Enter giveaway here!

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Many thanks to Vooks for providing me with a free year-long subscription to review and being willing to provide another year-long subscription for me to give away to one of you. Opinions are 100 percent my own and not influenced by monetary compensation. #VooksMIN #MomentumInfluencerNetwork #vooks #betterscreentime #vookspartner

Sharing lives & gifts

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November is National Adoption Awareness so I wanted to combine my loves of adoption and hospitality in today’s post. Truly, adoption taught me much about hospitality as we navigated three similar but different open adoptions, accidentally built a community of other adoptive & foster moms, and continue to teach our kids about the value of sharing our lives.

This is a fun post! I’ve got an edited excerpt from “Bringing Home More Than Groceries: Stories of Gathering & Nourishing People” to share with you. And then I have THREE GIVEAWAYS (!!!) of my books plus so many goodies from other mommas in my adoption community.

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Some of the friends I see the most in this parenting season are other parents from my big kids’ school. We chat at pickups, sit next to each other at games, carpool to field trips, and bring treats to the same classroom parties. We invest in our kids’ lives but come away with a deeper community too. So then we also make plans to see each other in the summer when our lives aren’t revolving around the school calendar, celebrating birthdays together and confiding in one another when we’re having hard days. Of course, all this looks different these days, thanks to COVID-19.

Investing in friendships with like-minded moms has helped me navigate motherhood. Sometimes this is a weary job! But raising kids is a worthwhile investment that takes time over the course of lots of seasons. Galatians 6:9 is a good reminder for me: “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.”

I’ve heard this before, but it struck me in a new way when I was stretched among three parenting seasons. These words reminded me that with each conversation, boundary, ride home from school, and correction, I’m investing in my kids and the life we’re building together for God’s glory. Having friends in similar parenting seasons, as well as ones a few steps ahead of me, reminds me all the mental energy we’re investing is worth it.

More recently, parenting has involved conversations about cell phones, sleepovers, and vacations; discipline regarding grades and attitudes; and training and establishing habits. Yes, you can play basketball; no, you can’t have a cell phone. Yes, you can go over to her house after school, but you can’t spend the night.

I’ve talked with like-minded friends, many of whose kids are my kids’ classmates, and discussed with my husband, who thankfully lives on the same page with these things. Articles have affirmed why my kids won’t have cell phones anytime soon and why we don’t do sleepovers, but they’ve also reminded me living counter-culturally is hard but not beyond where God has called us, especially if we bring others with us.

My others have come as I befriended my kids’ friends’ parents, but also through engaging in shared activities with others. I have a group of fellow writer friends who first gathered online and then at my lake house for a retreat. We talk and text on Voxer almost every day. We came together initially to share each other’s writing and products, but we ended up praying together through lots of hard situations, discussing various parenting seasons, sifting through theological questions we didn’t always agree upon, and sharing details of our daily lives. We still root each other on in our craft, but we also consider each other dear friends.

I also have a group of Bible study girls. We sat down at the same table as part of a larger group, but as we studied scripture together, we shared pieces of our lives. We’ve had playdates at the park with our young kids and gathered at my pool when Bible study is on summer break. A few of those girls were among the first people with whom I shared my complicated grief when my dad died. Delana could be our mom and loves to cook for us. We sent gift cards to Leslie when she miscarried a baby and to Tara when she was sick. We prayed for kids and decisions and families. We recommend books to each other and check in on each other when we’ve gone too many days without touching base.

These groups of friends began on specific common ground and have continued to be a foundation in my life because we went beyond that initial reason for gathering. Maybe it’s not writing or studying the Bible. It could be any hobby or interest that brings you together with others you may not have otherwise known.

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Now for the THREE GIVEAWAYS! I asked in my Adoption Together group about possible gifts to share with y’all and so many people responded that we’re going to have two giveaways for people who live in the Murray, KY area and another for someone who lives elsewhere:

GIVEAWAY ONE!

GIVEAWAY TWO!

GIVEAWAY THREE!

Use the Rafflecopter widget below before Friday, Nov. 13 to enter to win one of these packs of goodies! The first two prize packages are for folks in the Murray, KY area and the third is for any U.S. resident.

Enter giveaway here!

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This is the second in a monthly series about why hospitality matters in every season. Be sure to download the free printable with ideas about how to welcome others into your home and your life regardless of the season.

Bringing Home More Than Groceries

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Y’all, meet “Bringing Home More Than Groceries.” I’m breathing a deep sigh of relief that today is here and this is ready for you. I’m also a little nervous as I bare more of my soul to the world. Of course, I want to celebrate too!  

After years of writing and thinking about this book that has morphed from one thing into something else, I finished it while people were socially distant from each other. Talk about irony. But those months at home with a smaller-than-usual community have convinced me more than ever of the importance of this message. I believe in it, and I’m grateful for your support along the way. 

Join me in the grocery store, around tables with friends, and on her beloved porch where she loves to gather people. When I grocery shop, I bring home more than bags filled with cheese, fruit, eggs, and ice cream. There are life lessons, preparations for meals that create meaningful connections, and glimpses of my children as they become who they’re created to be.

Sometimes hospitality is flinging the doors to your home and life wide open for others to enter. Other times it means accepting invitations elsewhere because God has something for you there. Like everything in life, hospitality has seasons. What we do, what we eat, what’s on sale at the grocery, where we go, who comes with us all vary depending on circumstances and seasons – and through it all hospitality is love in action.

Of course, I couldn’t write a book about hospitality with some help from my friends! In “Bringing Home More Than Groceries: Stories About Gathering & Nourishing People,” you’ll also hear stories of hospitality and community from twenty-one of my real-life friends. Come on into the grocery store, in the kitchen, and on the porch where we learn how hospitality heals, nourishes, celebrates, and supports. 

I have a beautiful new landing page for this book, thanks to Mandy Roberson Media. Mandy, Traci, and Amy did a wonderful job bringing together what I saw in my head to paper and the screen. On the book page, you can find a sample chapter, hospitality resources, endorsements, and a playlist. You can buy the book on Amazon ($11.99 paperback; $6.99 Kindle) or from me directly ($10 paperback for local purchase plus $5 if shipped).

Giveaway!

And what’s a celebration without a gift? That’s right! I have a stack of goodies for one of you. Just look at what you’ll win!

  • Your own copy of “Bringing Home More Than Groceries”
  • $25 Walmart card
  • Paperback copy of “Practice Hospitality,” a devotional by Christen Price
  • Anchored Women meal planner PDF from Kayse Pratt
  • Package of 50 paper plates
  • 48 plastic forks and 48 plastic spoons
  • Ghirardelli brownie mix
  • Pioneer Woman set of three mini spatulas
  • Two regular-sized spatulas
  • Travel hand sanitizer
  • Two vinyl tablecloths

The giveaway is open to U.S. residents between now and Monday, Sept. 14. I will randomly choose a winner the following day. Use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter to win.

Enter More Than Groceries giveaway here!

I hope you are encouraged by these stories about hospitality, about love in action. And I hope you’ll swing your own doors and heart open to others, accept invitations from others, and recognized we truly are better together.