Kristin Hill Taylor

Seeking God as the Author of Every Story

Being faithful in 2019

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Happy new year, friends!

When I chose to focus on living rescued in 2018, I knew what I thought that meant. Of course, God took things to his own level and interrupted my plans. But he wove that theme into my heart through books, devotions, conversations, podcasts, and everyday life. He knows I need repetition to truly learn and he was faithful to teach me.

I’ll never be an expert on living rescued because I’m too quick to want to make a plan and solve a problem. But I believe God knows who I am in all my first-born, recovering perfectionism ways and won’t give up on using my natural disposition to lead me to him.

I reflected on 2018 and have been anticipating 2019 with my friend Kayse Pratt from Anchored Women. She hosted #reflectandrefresh2018 on Instagram and the prompts were just what my heart needed. Thinking through and documenting those eight posts led me to my word for the year when I didn’t expect to have one. I really assumed God was still working on the RESCUED theme in my life. And he is. But he’s also reminding me of how living rescued leads to faithfulness in all areas.

I want to say yes to the moments that interrupt my plans, to the little voices in my house even when they’re loud and constant, to loving people well even when they’re hard to love, to drinking more water and taking more walks and eating more vegetables; to moments that seem small because they matter in the big picture.

I want to say no to listening to voices that aren’t rooted in the same principles on which Greg and I are building our lives, to defending choices I know are right for our family, to guilt and shame and doubt, and to trying to please people who will never be satisfied.

I want to be faithful in all the small ways in my everyday life as a wife, mom, daughter, sister, friend, and, most importantly, Christ-follower. I want to live believing the small steps have great value in the current season and the ones to come.

Being faithful is about being loyal and steadfast,
true to the original, who is Jesus, the only one
who can and will faithfully rescue and redeem us.

{Tweet that.}

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If you want to see my #reflectandrefresh2018 posts that inspired this word FAITHFULNESS for 2019, here they are:

One thing I’m grateful for in 2018
The best new discovery in 2018
One book that impacted my year
Something that went well in 2018
Something that was a challenge in 2018
One thing I’m saying yes to in 2019
One thing I’m saying no to in 2019
One big dream for 2019

I also shared some highlights, favorite things, books, and TV shows from December, if you want to check out that last post of 2018.

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Raising my hand in surrender

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I stood between my husband and my best friend with my hands raised as Matt Maher and Zach Williams closed out their concert with a song together.

“Love will hold us together
Make us a shelter weather the storm
And I’ll be my brother’s keeper
So the whole world will know that we’re not alone …”

Raising my hands was an act of surrender because that’s not my usual style. Sometimes I’m too distracted to give myself fully to God at that moment. Sometimes I worry too much about what others think. Sometimes I just don’t want to draw any additional attention to myself.

But this time I needed to surrender and let go of all the thoughts and worries and striving. Raising my hand was a physical act of what was happening in my heart.

Matt Maher has taken me into the presence of God as I’ve driven around my small town or cooked dinner in my kitchen with the usually messy floors. He’s been on my list of who I’d like to see in concert for a long time. I like Zach Williams’ music and message too.

Concerts are my love language. Being at this specific concert with my husband, my oldest daughter, my best friend, and her two daughters was so good for my soul. Then twice Matt Maher had a video from Guatemala scrolling behind him. Seeing the church built on a hilltop, the children who look like ones I’ve met on other Guatemala hillsides, and the scenery that reminded me of where we were in June. The whole night was a perfect merging of people and places I love.

For the past year or so, God’s really been teaching me about living rescued, which is rooted in surrender. (Here’s where I introduced RESCUED as my focus for 2018 and explained what God was teaching me.) The songs I heard at the concert really spoke into that freedom that comes because God has already established his kingdom and welcomed us in through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. Living rescued is about letting go and living in God’s truth rather than striving for impossible standards in our own power.

Living rescued allows us to lay down our
burdens and be burdened for what matters.

{Tweet that.}

Matt Maher talked about laying down our burdens so we could be burdened for what burdens God. I have to be rescued from my selfish ways every day if I want to truly see others. I have to be rescued from my own plans if I want to be willing to go with God. I have to be rescued from all the distractions if I want to remember the truth.

I walked out of the Carson Center that night feeling lighter from being in God’s presence with some of my very favorite people. I told Greg I wanted to go back to Guatemala. I told Cate I was glad I finally got to see Matt Maher in concert and enjoyed Zack Williams too. And I thanked God for rescuing me over and over again.

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If this idea of living rescued speaks to you, earlier this year I shared Five Practical Ways to Live Rescued. I also wrote about another concert that prompted this season in my heart of living rescued. Like concerts are my love language, so are playlists, so I have a playlist about the rescuer.

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Hope from Our Rescuer

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I cracked open Holley Gerth’s new devotional recently and scanned the Table of Contents. I loved how each devotion has a one-word or short-phrase title that reference ways God cares for us. Of course, I zeroed in on the word “rescuer,” which keeps weaving its way into my life and turned to page 166 to read a story that starts at Niagara Falls where someone fell in and ends up in my own heart.

“I keep picturing those rescue workers. So diligent, so intent, so determined that the outcome would be one of victory. They could have said, ‘This is too much to ask of us. He’s on his own.’ They could have stood along the railing and just shook their heads. But no, they changed the ending of the story. And this is what our great God does too.” –Holley Gerth in “Hope Your Heart Needs“

Other titles in “Hope Your Heart Needs” that caught my eye were Author, Tear-Catcher, Holy-Maker, Sustainer, Grower, Advocate, Perfecter, and Purpose-Giver. Right there at the beginning, Holley gives God names rooted in truth she so beautifully shares through her words.

This is definitely a devotion that will be near so I can reach for it when I needed to be reminded God does indeed care for each one of us.

About the book

Understanding more of God’s character and how he loves us changed bestselling author Holley Gerth’s life in beautiful, powerful ways. She realized that she didn’t have to settle for “I’m fine” when there was someone whispering to her in every moment, “You’re mine.” The hope, joy, peace, and purpose she longed for were already there, in the heart of God.

Now in 52 devotional readings, Holley shares with women the answer to the restlessness they feel in their hearts that keeps them hurrying, striving, pushing. She shows them that “the God who scattered stars like diamonds across the velvet of the universe, the keeper of every sparrow, the maker of us all, is inviting us to draw closer to him. He is the place where our hearts can go on the hard days and the happy ones, in the highs and lows, when we are sad or frustrated or downright giddy. He is what we’ve been searching for all along.”

“Hope Your Heart Needs: 52 Encouraging Reminders of How God Cares for You” is a 256-page hardcover devotion that perfect size to carry around with you. It’s published by Revell (Sept. 18, 2018).

About the author

Holley Gerth is a Wall Street Journal bestselling author, certified life coach, and speaker. She loves connecting with the hearts of women through her popular blog and books like “You’re Already Amazing” and “Fiercehearted.” She’s also cofounder of (in)courage and a partner with DaySpring. Holley lives with her husband, Mark, in the South. Connect with her at her website.

I’m a longtime fan of Holley’s work and have reviewed several of her books here (“You’re Already Amazing,” “Fiercehearted”) as well as talked about a sweet in-person time with her. She even kindly endorsed my book.

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I got a free copy of this devotional in exchange for a review, thanks to Revell Reads, but these opinions are my own and I happily included it in my list of favorite devotionals.