Kristin Hill Taylor

Seeking God as the Author of Every Story

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In open fields of wildflowers

July 31, 2020 by Kristin Leave a Comment

“In open fields of wildflowers
She breathes the air and flies away
She thanks her Jesus for the daisies
And the roses in no simple language
Someday she’ll understand
The meaning of it all”

– From “Love Song for a Savior” by Jars of Clay

We’ve been at home for the vast majority of four-and-a-half months, and I’ve started thinking about what life might look like when schools open and soccer practices start. And, honestly? I think I’ll miss this season. Our #95daysofsummer became #109daysofsummer earlier this week when our school, like so many others in our state, pushed back the in-person start date to the last Wednesday of August, so I’ve still got some time.

Of course, I won’t miss masks and virus stats and controversy. But I’m going to miss slow mornings, wide-open days on the calendar, and the space to create new-to-us meals while we settle deeply into our home. 

I typically make decisions easily and quickly, but these days I can’t look very far in front of me because there are so many variables. As I get older and my kids grow before my eyes, I am becoming more of a home body.

I like home-cooked meals, especially my teenager happily helps prepare them. I like multiple rounds of Skyjo, Trash Pandas, and Code Words at our kitchen table with our oldest right after we’ve all humored the youngest with a couple games of Matching. I like all the wide-open Saturdays we’ve had to do stuff around the house and enjoy the home we’ve created. I weigh our yeses against what I’ve learned when I was forced to slow down and draw a smaller circle. 

At the beginning of the year, I chose a word based on what God was teaching me and what I wanted to learn: BECOMING. In January, I had no idea I would have this bare canvas to create and learn and rest right as spring came and then summer lingered. I also had no idea I’d finish a book about hospitality during a social-distanced season. And I certainly didn’t know we’d become cat owners that morning four weeks ago when Ben heard meowing. I’m still trying to implement some better habits for my physical and mental well-being. I’m finding myself taking more deep breaths.

I’ve watched open fields come to life as new creations blooms. I’ve noticed green and pops of color in new ways because I’ve been still enough to truly see around me. I’ve even see our plants sprout some zucchini and peppers as results of our first gardening adventure.

There have been days where I miss people and what used to be, but there have been far more days of knowing this is where I belong. Here’s to believing I’m still becoming and growing because of God is still providing and rescuing. 

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Porch Stories in August

August 28, 2019 by Kristin 13 Comments

Well, August always gives me all the feelings. I feel filled by summer, but I don’t want summer to end. I like routine, but I like having my people close too. Basically, I wasn’t ready for my kids to return to school until they did.

My dad died the week before Summer Break started and then we spent the first long weekend of Summer Break on a wonderful vacation to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Then I just never really had all the space I needed to process the grief that came with my dad dying and the realities that revealed. I had a long lunch with my mother-in-law who is also my friend last week because we needed to catch up. I’m thankful for the space for that sort of thing now. And I’m thankful my kids’ school years are off to a (mostly) smooth start.

Highlights

When I turned 40 in May, Greg gave me a trip to Colorado to visit some longtime friends and the Rocky Mountains. Again with the grief, we delayed the trip until our anniversary weekend in August. It was perfectly timed and such a wonderful trip. I shared about it the trip along the way on Instagram and Facebook {You can see all the posts & pictures here!} and then wrote a whole blog post once we were home.

The weekend before school started, we went with our best friends, my mom, and a nephew to Holiday World, an amusement park about three hours from here. If our family has a happy place with too much stimulation, this is it.

We spent a lot of evenings this summer riding through our woods, including the backside of our property that a company has been logging. I never would have predicted to find myself fascinated with the logging process. The picture at the top of the post is from one of our rides recently. There’s some profound about the seasons of the land and how God grows things from the ground to provide for us.

Favorite things

Adoption post – I always love sharing our adoption story, so I’m thankful Mandy Farmer invited me to share about adoption changed my legacy. {Read the post here.}

Jason Gray’s new music – I have to pep talk myself regularly because I’m quick to forget how to navigate well life’s winding road, so I’m grateful God gave me a soundtrack for this season. Jason Gray has a new EP of five songs that are the anthems my soul needs. If I didn’t know better, I would think this musical stranger wrote these songs for me in the midst of “order, disorder, reorder over and over,” as one of the songs says. But I am aware I’m not the only one who needs to perceive the new thing God is doing. {I wrote more about this.}

PackIt Freezable Lunch Bags – We love these lunch boxes! They have built-in gel packs that freeze so the food inside stays cold until my kids’ lunchtime. The bags fold flat and don’t take up too much room in the freezer. Plus when the packs thaw later in the day, the bags don’t sweat. Plus they’re easy to wipe out inside.

Counseling – My calendar once again has regular counseling appointments on it, and I’m so thankful for that space. I’ve missed it (and my counselor specifically) and I’ve needed it more than ever with all the things that got stuck in my head over the summer. {Here’s a post about when I first went to counseling in 2017.}

Outdoor Movie Night – Y’all know I love when life happens on the porch. We recently had a Friday Family Movie Night out there. We watched “Breakthrough,” which is based on an inspiring true story, but I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I was (mostly) prepared for the boy to fall through the ice, require a miracle, and live. But I wasn’t prepared to relate to the momma main character who adopted her son, has diabetes, and wants to control all the outcomes in life. Talk about hitting home. Even so, I’m thankful for my family and our time together. I also really love our new projector and screen so we can have more nights like this – but probably with a lighter movie!

From the bookshelf

“Blue Smoke” by Nora Roberts – She’s written hundreds of books under two names, and this is the first one I’ve ever read. I really loved parts of it, although I had the mystery figured out well before the end. Still, I read it in two days and didn’t regret any of that.

“The Sometimes Sisters” by Carolyn Brown – This was a Kindle deal purchase quite a while ago, but I really enjoyed the sisters in this story and how their characters grew in their own stories and together as a family as they processed their pasts and recent grief. I liked the lake resort setting too.

“A Grief Observed” by C.S. Lewis – A friend had recommended this book to me and I found it for 25 cents when I happened upon a used bookstore in Estes Park, Colorado. I read it on the plane on the way home and marked several passages. I’ll be thinking about this one for a while and likely revisit in the years to come.

“Without Merit” by Colleen Hoover – I also found this fiction read by one of my new favorite authors for 25 cents at the used bookstore. I devoured it in two days. I loved how this story developed, revealing secrets one daughter in a complicated family couldn’t hold inside anymore. It’s a story about love and forgiveness – and how those things look different for everyone.

“Ugly Love” by Colleen Hoover – Disclaimer: This book had more sex scenes than I would normally read. I skimmed them. But I really loved the character development, how the story was mostly told from one character in the present and one character in the past, and where the plot went.

“All Your Perfects” by Colleen Hoover – Yep, another one! She’s a wonderful storyteller and I really loved how this one alternated between then and now chapters of a marriage. Infertility was a major theme in the book and having walked through that in my own life, I was impressed with how accurate and heartbreaking that storyline was.

“Verity” by Colleen Hoover – Obviously, I’m a fan of this writer. This is the seventh book I’ve read by her, yet this one was the first suspenseful one. She did that on purpose, venturing out of her usual emotional romance. Of course, there was some of that too. I read it in a day, thought I had it all figured out, and then was still a little surprised in the end.

“Finding God’s Life for My Will” by Mike Donehey – I heard this Tenth Avenue North lead singer recently on Annie F. Downs’s podcast and ordered his new book before the podcast episode was over. He said things about leaders and followers that intrigued me and encouraged me to follow Jesus more closely.

In “Finding God’s Life for My Will,” I marked catchy lines and thought-provoking paragraphs and rhetorical questions I need to keep asking myself. I texted a friend a few pictures of pages from the chapter about sorrow & joy and I read aloud to my husband funny and meaningful stories. I’m going to recommend the book to multiple friends with whom I have ongoing conversations on faith. (Obviously, I’m recommending this book to y’all too.)

I haven’t read many non-fiction books this year and am generally selective about which ones I read. This world is so noisy and bossy. But in this book, Mike Donehey shares stories that are gentle, funny, and true. He quotes scripture and reminds readers of what Jesus did for us, what we should do about it, and how life is not nearly as complicated as we make it sometimes.

On the screen

I already told you about “Breakthrough” and there’s not much new TV on right now. My kids did watch “Lion King” with my mom while Greg and I were in Colorado.

“New Girl” – I don’t usually choose sit-coms, but I needed some laughter in my life, so this is a good choice right now. I literally laugh out loud sometimes and these roommates and the new girl roommate in their life.

How was your August?

*****

Kristin Hill Taylor - Porch Stories

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Breathing easier in the mountains

August 20, 2019 by Kristin 3 Comments

I’ve been unpacked for a couple of weeks, but I’m still thinking about Colorado.

For my 40th birthday in May, Greg planned a trip for us to go to Colorado. We postponed the original June plan a couple of months because the beginning of summer was hard for me. But we flew out three days exactly after I turned 40 on what was also our 17th anniversary to see some friends and some mountains. I’m grateful for the way Greg knows me and knew I needed this trip at this time.

While I love planning trips, part of the joy of this gift is Greg mapped out our route and planned the general itinerary. We sat down together one night to book flights, hotels, and some activities for our four days in Colorado. I’d never been and was happy to go this way!

Monument / Colorado Springs

After breakfast at Snooze in Denver, we headed to Monument, just north of Colorado Springs, where my high school friend Dustin & Shelley (well, Dustin and I have been friends since middle school …) live. They fed us at a delicious, local Mexican restaurant called La Casa Fiesta, where I learned about calabacitas, before giving us a tour of Garden of the Gods.

Pikes Peak

Greg drove up to the summit at Pikes Peak, which is 14,115 feet high. The drive between mile markers 13 and 16 was particularly tense, but we parked at the last shuttle lot at mile marker 16 and took a shuttle to the top, where there was construction happening for a new visitors center. Even so, the views were amazing. We were at the top around noon and it was 50 degrees, compared to 80 degrees at the same time in Colorado Springs.

Breckenridge

The drive from Pikes Peak to Breckenridge might have been my favorite stretch of highway. The meadows and little towns between the mountains were lovely. I kept taking pictures of this drive (and all the others) and the images just don’t do the reality justice.

(But you can see all my attempts at capturing this lovely state here.)

We stayed at the River Mountain Lodge in downtown Breckenridge and really loved the hotel. The location was perfect and the room was spacious yet cozy. We didn’t get to explore downtown Breck as much as we had hoped because it was raining by the time we got there. We did eat a delicious meal at Blue River Bistro.

The next morning we had breakfast at Columbine Cafe and then rode the gondola up a mountain to where there were summer activities on what would otherwise be a ski slope. We took a chairlift up farther and an alpine slide down.

Idaho Springs

We didn’t get much time in Breckenridge because we had an early afternoon whitewater rafting reservation with Colorado Adventure Center in Idaho Springs. We did the beginner trip and really enjoyed the trip in the creek that’s fed by snow runoff and was still 38 degrees.

Estes Park

After rafting, we headed toward Estes Park, mostly on the Peak to Peak Highway, which was a gorgeous drive through and around and up and down mountains. We got there in time for dinner at The Grubsteak and dessert on the strip of downtown shops. Greg had ice cream in a homemade chocolate chip cone from the Danish Cone Factory and I had the best taffy I’ve ever tasted from Purple Mountain Taffy.

We stayed at a quaint hotel called Nicky’s Resort at which I wish we’d had more time to eat and relax. In the morning, we ate cinnamon rolls at a Cinnamon’s Bakery and then headed into Rocky National Park. Greg drove us along Trail Ridge Road, which is the highest continuously paved road. The highest point of this road that meanders right through mountain tundra is 12,183 feet. Once again, the temperatures on top of the mountain were about 30 degrees colder and prompted us to put on sweatshirts.

We spent some more time walking around downtown Estes Park. We lunched at Bob and Tony’s Pizza before I discovered Cliffhanger Used Books, where I could have spent even more time than I did. We drove around Estes Park taking in some more lovely views before we headed back to Denver, where we visited with our college friend Sarah before heading to the airport to fly home.

Conclusion

The road trip really worked for us, giving us time to take in views, listen to music, and talk about whatever came to mind. I really loved Colorado and already hope to take my kids back someday, perhaps even spending more time in each location.

I’m a details person, but the great big mountains and views of all these different places in just four days were good for my soul. I felt like I could breathe easier (figuratively, hello, altitude) and remember my place in this great big world while enjoying the adventure with my husband.

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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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I know traveling is a privilege, but I will always I know traveling is a privilege, but I will always tell you: Take the trip. It may not be easy or convenient, but it’s always worth it. And always take lots of snacks along for the ride! 

HOW & WHY TO TRAVEL WITH KIDS is #ontheblog today. The post includes some of our travel experiences, tips for including the kids, and a tip to make it more affordable. Plus there are links to posts about some of our recent trips. 

#linkinbio #bloggerlife #momlife #travelwithkids #adventurers #getoutside #travel #travellife #travelers #choosingJOY #favoritethings
I know, “everyone” is reading “Spare” by P I know, “everyone” is reading “Spare” by Prince Harry. But I also keep hearing different opinions about it. So here’s mine!

I am intrigued by the royal family and I liked watching “Suits,” just so you know my very loose interest. I had also watched the @netflix documentary Harry and Meghan released. 

Short answer: I really enjoyed listening to this book. 

An heir, then a spare. Deep grief as a child when his mom dies that he doesn’t really confront until he’s older. An institution that governs every decision in his life yet doesn’t protect him when he felt like he needed it. That’s some heartbreaking makings of a good story. And I appreciate Prince Harry telling it — even though I’m sure parts were incredibly difficult. I also appreciate why he and Meghan did what they did and are trying to establish new, different roots. 

Ultimately, this book is about death and life and all the moments in between. I’d recommend listening to it because his voice is a good one. 

One minor, silly complaint: There are 232 chapters, although they’re numbered starting with one in each of the three sections. That makes the audiobook not flow quite as well as it would otherwise because most of them are just a few minutes long. 

I give it ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and I’d love to hear what you think because, you know, everybody is reading it! #KHTreads #bookstagram #booklover #readersofinstagram #audiobooks #audible #princeharry
We are all in for basketball season! Tonight was @ We are all in for basketball season! Tonight was @murraystateuniv Spirit Night at the @memgrizz game. We had some pre-game fun with friends, watched the Grizzlies come back from 19 down to win, and witnessed Ja Morant’s triple double.

#memphisgrizzlies #basketballseason #NBA #TeamTaylor #bettertogether #weekending #favoritethings #RacerNation #MurrayState #WeAreRacers
Cheering for our Racers — and, really, most ever Cheering for our Racers — and, really, most everything in life — is more fun with friends! What an awesome atmosphere at the CFSB Center today with a Murray State win, Ja Morant in the arena, and more memories.

#RacerNation #MurrayState #collegebasketball #basketballseason #bettertogether #WeAreRacers
I’ve worn a favorite sweatshirt that says “Let I’ve worn a favorite sweatshirt that says “Let heaven and nature sing” twice this week. I may not be singing Christmas carols anymore, but I still felt the depths of winter this week. The sweatshirt seemed right. 

The sun didn’t shine much this week, although seeing on Friday as we wrap up the work and school week was welcomed. It’s mostly been cold and gray. It’s felt like winter. 

A lingering tension needs resolution and understanding, but honestly the gap between seems so vast. I crave slow time at home and meals around our table. I miss some friends and was reminded of the heartache that can come with community, but I also felt the deep appreciation of friendship and remembered the beauty of sharing this life with others. I was excited for an invitation and easily accepted it. I started a new habit (hopefully) walking with a friend. 

While driving through my days, I remember how uncertainty is what makes me look up. I remember my Creator when I am slapped in the face with the reality I’m not actually in control. I remember (again) to surrender. 

Goodness happens in the gray of winter. Life may look and feel different, but new life is always preparing to break through the cracks of the ground. The gloom that tempts us to look down doesn’t last long when we believe the sun will break through the icy trees and the fog will lift. 

This is hope. Even in winter. Thank God for it all. Let’s let heaven and nature sing. 

#countryliving #latergram #livingfaithfully #choosingJOY #reallife #weekending
I heard mixed reactions about this book from two d I heard mixed reactions about this book from two different friends, but I enjoyed it! 

I liked the backward timeline, although I was uncertain about how it would work until the end. Some of the twists and connections were so good! 

I also liked the bigger ideas Gillian McAllister tackles: We miss things when we are living our life at our normal pace. What if we could go back? What would be notice that would change our reality? And, of course, perhaps, there would be unintended consequences. 

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ It did get a little slow in the middle, but the end and beginning are quite good! #KHTreads #bookstagram #booklover #kindlebooks #kindleoasis #readersofinstagram
This about sums up motherhood: My teenage girl in This about sums up motherhood: My teenage girl in the middle rebounding and playing hard and little sister photobombing the moment! 

Honestly, parenting has been hard lately. Nothing major. But so constant and always adjusting. 

Even so, I love watching them on the court and in life. There is so much excitement and goodness among the repetition and exhaustion. 

This is real life. And those are our 10-0 Lady Lions out there. 🦁💛

@ncca.lions #momlife #reallife #basketballseason #momconfessions #livingfaithfully #girlmom #firstborn #thirdchild
I finished studying Colossians today with my Prece I finished studying Colossians today with my Precept group. Paul wrote this letter to an established church that was still growing and learning and maturing in the faith — like us all.  I really loved this study because it spoke right into my life with encouragement for knowing Christ, walking in wisdom and truth, praying continually, letting peace rule, and giving grace. Plus Paul deeply loved his people. 

“Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.” — Colossians 2:6-7

Too often I step out of God’s presence for two minutes while are loading up the van in the morning or I’m rushing kids to bed. Too often I don’t surrender my fleshy desires and feelings to the One who holds this whole wide world in His hands. Too often I think my plans are worth holding onto tightly. Too often I think I can bring peace to my household, minivan, or dinner table. 

But real peace passes all my understanding. It rests in God’s wisdom and knowledge alone. How amazing we have access to that, thanks to Jesus. How easily I forget where I’m rooted. 

I want to let peace rule — in my home, in my head, and in my heart. 

Today while I was driving, I noticed how lovely the road, land, and sky looked. But today was really windy, like feel-it-move-my-vehicle and knock-over-trash-cans windy. It almost felt deceptive with the beauty before me, but, really, that’s like life. 

Sometimes it seems I have it together. People know my gifts of organizing information and people. I show up on time and am responsible. But so many thoughts and feelings are swirling in my mind. I replay conversations and fight against the same insecurities from the previous day. 

I feel both lovely and like my swirling mind could knock me over at any moment. And that’s why I needed God, particularly through His words through Paul to the Colossians. 

#livingfaithfully #faithlife #churchlife #reallife #countryliving
This girl has been complaining of a sore throat th This girl has been complaining of a sore throat the last couple of days, but she hasn’t had a fever or any other symptoms so I kept telling her she was fine. Truth be told, she a bit of a hypochondriac and generally happy, so it’s hard to tell if she sick sometimes. 

The folks at Aligned Health took care of her this afternoon and are treating her for strep or whatever bacteria is making her throat look and feel rough. 

I’m thankful for access to medical care and an unexpected night at home.

#momlife #thirdchild #reallife #momconfessions #livingfaithfully #choosingJOY #sickday
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