• Summer hospitality

    ByKristin hospitality, summer

    I grew up in a house in a neighborhood that was a gathering place for my friends. Mom made grape Kool-Aid with extra sugar and let us all come and go from games of flashlight tag. 

    I’ve always wanted my home to be where the teenagers hung out. And now that I have two teenagers, I’m thankful they do. When we moved to the country a decade ago, I wondered if this would impact our social life, but it hasn’t. So far this summer, we’ve planned parties, welcomed friends on a whim, and hosted my Bible study girls. I’ve fed college students, hosted our golf team families, and caught up with friends. 

    These are the days I’ve longed for in so many ways.

    Of course, there is grief I didn’t expect and valleys I didn’t see coming. 

    But life is best on the porch with our people, especially with our new string lights. 

    Recently, another mom who was at our house said she is friendly to her neighbors but doesn’t necessarily want to be friends with them. I appreciated that she knows that about herself. Meanwhile, fill my pool up with the kids and let me make some macaroni and cheese to feed them. 

    Now, I don’t say this because it’s the only way to do life. I just wanted to share how we do summer hospitality. And, truthfully, know every summer doesn’t look the same. 

    Serving ware

    I used to almost exclusively use paper plates when we had multiple extra people over, but, honestly, I just got tired of spending money on something that would be thrown away. I got a whole stack of these cheap, plastic plates and expanded my Fiestaware collection, thanks to the Peddler’s Mall. And that’s what we’ve been using. In fact, I had to buy more forks because I think sometimes even the “real” forks end up in the trash! 

    But, please hear me, if paper plates work for you, use them. If you have a cabinet full of plasticware leftover from take-out meals, use it! I’m definitely NOT a fancy host. My house looks lived in because, well, we live here. 

    Meals 

    I love to cook for people. I don’t bake much, but I love to make dinner. I don’t cook complicated meals, and I have some go-to recipes for serving a crowd. 

    • Joanna Gaines’ Chicken Spaghetti – It’s from one of my favorite cookbooks! I don’t think I’m a better chef than Joanna, but I do tweak this recipe a bit. I leave out the mushrooms and green pepper, add zucchini, and don’t measure the sweet peppers or onion (the more the merrier)! I also don’t usually use white cheddar. 
    • The Best Chicken Marinade – I found this recipe during the social-distancing days of COVID-19 because we were craving meal inspiration. This is our go-to marinade for grilled chicken, and we make it often. I buy chicken breasts, cut them into smaller portions, like often into sixths, and then Greg grills them. We’ve perfected this and usually make more than we need because it’s great leftover in salads, quesadillas, or however else you want to use it. 
    • Mac & Cheese – Remember when recipe exchanges were email chain letters? Well, a friend sent me her family’s Baked Mac & Cheese recipe, and it’s become our family recipe. It’s so good and makes a ton!
    • Chicken Salad – I like to loosely follow this Chicken Salad Chick copycat recipe!
    • Taco Bar – This way, everyone can pile on whatever they prefer – chicken or beef, rice or sweet potatoes, salsa or guacamole, shredded cheese or queso. My favorite additions to the taco bar are Chuy’s copycat Jalapeno Ranch and Pioneer Woman’s restaurant-style salsa. 

    Of course, cooking for a crowd isn’t always an option, so carry-out and potluck are good options too! We do a lot of parties where we provide the main course (think burgers & hot dogs!) and drinks, and others bring sides and desserts. 

    Soda Bar

    Dirty sodas are popular right now – and I like the concept! Give me a Dr Pepper Zero with sugar-free coconut syrup and coconut creamer, and I’m happy gal. Throw a lime in for good measure too! Or choose whatever other flavors you love! We had a Dirty Soda Bar for my daughter’s 19th birthday party and it was a hit. Sometimes we make them just because. Here are some of the ingredients we love to have on hand for these fun drinks! 

    Game Nights

    We have a Nertz-playing group of friends. We have other friends who will play any game that’s in front of them. My favorite kind of Game Nights are when the adults have a game going at one table while the kids have another game going. We have lots of favorites and go through seasons with them, but here is some inspiration. 

    Pool Party

    We have a pool, so that’s the summer attraction for sure. But my youngest is enjoying the simple fun of a hose and some soap on the trampoline. On Memorial Day, she and her friends used all the soap in my house. Literally. Every foaming hand pump and all the bottles of dish soap. So now I stock up on cheap dish soap for her. 

    Another summer day, my college girl and her friends made themselves into a slip-and-slide by wearing trash bags doused with soap! A tarp is always fun on the hill in front of our house. 

    Inviting others in doesn’t have to be complicated or fancy, and, in fact, I’ve learned people like ordinary hospitality. We all like to be seen and known. We like to be fed. We like to be invited. 

    *****

    Here are more ways to open your home & your hearts in any season as inspired by my book, Bringing Home More Than Groceries: Stories About Gathering & Nourishing People.

    God authors the stories on our porches – in every season, wherever we are. If you haven’t already, please subscribe to  #PorchStories emails to receive them about every other week.

  • A decade of country living

    ByKristin family, life
    6 Comments

    We’ve lived in the country for a decade now. 

    When we moved out here, our youngest wasn’t even toddling around yet. Rachel took her first steps here in our one-story house, even though she learned to climb the stairs at our old house in town. We’ve celebrated all of her birthdays here.

    Our oldest, who is probably currently living here for the last summer, was nine that summer we changed addresses. Our boy, sandwiched between his sisters, was six when we moved seven miles from town. Nobody was double-digits yet, and now they’re all there; they’re 10, 16, and 19. Two are driving, and that little one who wasn’t even toddling a decade ago does her best to keep up with them both. 

    We paved the driveway, extended the driveway, finished the room above the garage, filled in a pond, and dug another pond that’s now stocked with fish. We cut trails and maintained trails. We installed a pool and expanded our porch. We built a barn, but I have no idea why we call it that because it houses the lawn mower, side-by-side mule, ping pong table, and space that doubles as a pickleball or basketball court. 

    As a family, we’ve explored, grown as a people, grown tomatoes, grieved, celebrated, swam, walked, and planned. We’ve made a billion decisions around our kitchen table or our porch. We’ve been surprised by life in the best and worst ways. We hunkered down during the social distancing of COVID-19 and several snow days right here on our acreage. 

    For 10 years, I’ve wanted to name this property, but I’ve never found the right name. Even so, this place has given me life, or, rather, God has sustained me and rescued me over and over again, here in the country. I’ve become a plant lady and a cat lady. We have dogs now. The wild turkey and deer are still near, and I try not to think about what else lives in our woods. 

    After my dad unexpectedly passed away in 2019, I bought myself a sign that hangs in my kitchen and says: “And so they built a life they loved.” And it’s true. The decade here on Wright Road has shaped me and grown me in ways that echo God’s faithfulness over and over again. Our family has walked through some winding roads that have challenged us, but we still choose to sit down to dinner together. 

    This is the life we built in the country. Thanks be to God for every moment, all 315,532,800 seconds. 

    *****

    This isn’t the first time I’ve written about our country-living life. I wrote about it in my book, “Bringing Home More Than Groceries: Stories About Gathering & Nourishing People,” and shared that excerpt. I also wrote about what I learned after a year of country living.

    God authors the stories on our porches – in every season, wherever we live. If you haven’t already, please subscribe to #PorchStories emails to receive them about every other week.

  • The surrender of motherhood

    ByKristin faith, holiday, motherhood

    I intended to share this on Mother’s Day, but in true motherhood fashion, my schedule didn’t necessarily go as planned last week, and I took some time to rest this weekend, so here I am. Better late than never, and motherhood spans all the days, not just the Hallmark ones. 

    I held my week-old baby girl in my arms on my first Mother’s Day. The irony of it all was that I needed another woman to carry my daughter in her womb. You’d think that would teach me about unexpected plans and surrender. Three times that’s how God orchestrated being a mom for me. Adoption is beautiful, relational, and emotional. 

    Yet somehow I used to think the best moms had all the answers and were really good puppeteers. But the older I’ve gotten, and the older my kids have gotten, the more I’ve learned that being humble and living with a posture of surrender is how to be the best mom. My kids are currently 19, 16, and 10 years old. It’s been a while since I held that first baby girl in 2007, and I still have a lot to learn. 

    This Mother’s Day comes with realizing the value in surrendering to Jesus. (Let’s be honest, this isn’t a new lesson, but one God has to repeat to my heart over and over again.)

    I have realized most of life isn’t black and white, and hardly any decisions are forever. Faith, marriage, and motherhood are the only absolutely forever commitments I have. Yes, I value faithfulness, but sometimes transformation is required. Sometimes changes surprise us, rock our world, and, ultimately, make us better people. 

    I’ve gotten better about when to stay quiet and when to shout what I know to be true from the rooftops, but often real conversations happen in the middle of those two places. I wish I didn’t have to repeat myself, but then I remember God is patient and repetitive with me daily. Sometimes boundaries have to be adjusted, rules have to change, and plans tweaked. 

    I am confident there isn’t a magic formula that works for every child, in every season, and with every situation. The puppeteer tendencies in me wish I could correct my teenager’s behavior, but I also see fruit from the hard seasons. Even if the fruit is slow in my teenager, I see it in myself, my marriage, and my family. 

    When my kids were little, I could give them a Band-Aid to cover a scraped knee, hand them Goldfish when they were hangry, and require bedtime and naptime in a bed with bars. Now the needs are deeper: there are broken hearts, insecurities, questions that don’t really have answers, and ugly grief. Yet us moms keep showing up – sometimes doubting ourselves, sometimes forgetting God’s promises, and sometimes trying to fix the situation before we surrender to the One who truly can. 

    *****

    I really loved the sermon at our church yesterday, and I encourage you to listen to it if you are a mom, hope to become a mom, or even have a mom. Yes, basically, anyone should listen. And remember what is true: Disciple-Making Motherhood.

    If you are interested in learning more about how I became a mom through adoption, I’ve shared our story in my first book, Peace in the Process: How Adoption Built My Faith & My Faith.

    Lastly, God authors the stories on our porches – in every season, wherever we are. If you haven’t already, please subscribe to  #PorchStories emails to receive them about every other week.