Five Minute Friday: Adore

Every week, a whole heap of fabulous women get together and bravely write for Five Minute Friday, and it's the last prompt of the 2014! Today's prompt is...Adore

Go.

It's been a rough few weeks. Blatant disobeying and bursts of entitlement of a certain four year old have put me in a pre-Christmas funk I can't seem to shake off. The decorations are brilliantly displayed, the cookies baked, and almost all some a couple of the gifts are wrapped. But my heart... Well, my heart just hasn't been in it.

After the sobs of said four year old brought my fatigued self into her room for the FOURTH time last night (due to her mourning of a lost toy from her antics the day before), I found myself staring out of my bedroom window: silent tears streaming down my cheeks, wondering where I've gone wrong, questioning my parenting skills, and begging for an answer from High Above.

Within the deep dark sky, something caught my eye: a single shining star high above, with mere white specks among it. For weeks I have been racking my brain to the solution of my woes, when God did His thing (once again), and smacked me over the head with His own desire: Come a bit closer, Kristin. Adore Me.

Something about the missteps of the past few weeks had gotten me off course. My head knows the true reason for this sweet anticipation of our Lord's first coming in the flesh and blood of a baby boy, but my heart had lost its way and found itself caught up in the "why me" and "so much to do" and "there's not enough time." Seeing this sweet star in the heavens above in the early hours of this morning gave me the reminder I needed: the one reason we are here, we celebrate, we adore.

Stop.

Well, it's Saturday, and not Friday, but I still feel the need to click "Publish." Because God's drum beats on a different time zone than the rest of us, and I don't think it's an accident that brightly shining star caught my eye last night. From my family to yours, may your days be Merry and Bright, and may you find the time in the rush of these coming days to stop, be still, and adore our sweet Savior in swaddling cloth. Merry Christmas, sweet friends!

xoxo, k.

When Your Calling Isn't Saving All the Things in All the World

And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?

Esther 4:14b

Maybe it's the onslaught of commercials vying for my attention, or the never-ending post after post on my newsfeed of the needy in this world. Maybe it's just this way during Christmas because people feel a little deeper; they see the need and just have to do something. Because it's Christmas, and that's what you're supposed to do.

And then a conversation my core group had the other week in Community Bible Study really got me thinking about serving, our own ministries, and looking at the big picture. Especially in this Advent season as we wait for the arrival of the Messiah.

"I just feel like we're not doing enough during this Christmas season."

"My kids are too young to serve the poor. What can I teach them about giving?"

"We just don't have the money to give right now. I feel like I'm failing this year."

I think sometimes we see the big things others are called to do in this life, and then it gets so overwhelming, and so awe-inspiring, that we forget the little things. Is going to a far off country and ministering to the poor important? YES. It's amazing. And I would love, at some point in my life, to be able to do that thing. But. As a wise women once said,

"Your ministry is right between your own two feet."

-Jill Briscoe

Ministry doesn't always mean the big thing. It doesn't always mean traveling to far off places and discovering what true poverty looks like. True poverty is often right in our own backyards. And here's the kicker: you don't need a lot of money. You don't need a lot of time. You just need yourself, and a giving heart.

So we came up with some ideas. Child friendly, inexpensive ideas, to give in this holiday season, even when you feel like your little thing isn't as much as the big thing... You're wrong. Your little thing may be just the thing a person needs today...

* Hand out smiles. Be deliberate. Be genuinely happy. Look people in the eyes. Don't think it will make someone's day? Think again.

* Offer a hand. In the grocery store. At Wal-Mart. Push a grocery cart. Help put bags in the trunk. The biggest lesson Miss E has learned this year? The blessing of helping. She's seen the look on the woman's face when we offered to help her with her groceries, to push the cart back to the store for her. Blessing others is often a bigger blessing to the one who serves.

*Surprise gifts. A small gift card on someone's windshield. Baby wipes in the Target restroom (because haven't you been the mom with the explosive diaper and wipes are in the car, and not in your purse where they're supposed to be?!). A candy bar for the check out person. A compliment. Pay it forward in the drive-thru.

The list goes on and on. I think sometimes we just get stuck in our own busy and distracted places; it's hard to just look up and see the need immediately in front of us. What I do know? We have been placed in our current situations, neighborhoods, families, communities for such a time as this. Take advantage of it. Live it fully. Use the ministry that's been placed before you, and the blessings received will abound.

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in very good work.
2 Corinthians 9:8

My biggest prayer for each of you, each and every day of this Advent season, is this: You're given the opportunity to serve, and to be served by others. That you see the smallest of needs set before you, and you don't remain silent. That you act upon these inklings of the Holy Spirt, and you abound in His blessings. His grace.

Peace and joy to you in this sweet Christmastime!

xoxo, k.

Four Thoughts for Thursday

Hey y'all! I've been missing you, so thought I'd just throw a post together of my random thoughts of the week...

4. I'm so over Pinterest.
Don't get me wrong. I LOVE me some Pinterest. But I think it can totally impact our own feelings of accomplishment and sense of self-worth. Have you seen some of those Christmas posts? I just don't have it in me to make picture-perfect moments, then post them up on Facebook or any other social media. Agree with me? Here's a GREAT read from a sweet friend of mine: http://www.serenitynowblog.com/2014/12/im-not-having-pinterest-perfect.html

3. God's blessings this month are blowing. my. mind.
Some things I'd like to keep personal, but I just want to put this out there: When you give God everything you have, He will absolutely knock your socks off! Between God working on the hearts of those around me, and His provisions as I started my new business, I have just been blown away by the countless blessings over the past year, and especially within the past few weeks. He just keeps on coming, and for some reason, with each blessing, I'm surprised! I should know better by now!

2. Christmas is in two weeks.
Nobody panic.

ohmygoodnessohmygoodnessohmygoodnessohmygoodnessohmygoodnessohmygoodnessohmygoodnessohmygoodnessohmygoodnessohmygoodnessohmygoodnessohmygoodnessohmygoodnessohmygoodnessohmygoodnessohmygoodnessohmygoodnessohmygoodnessohmygoodnessohmygoodnessohmygoodnessohmygoodness

But don't really. source

All right. Panic over.

1. I love y'all.
You know what's even better than having awesome readers? Having awesome readers who support you even when you're having writer's block and just can't get yourself together. Y'all rock.

xoxo, k.

Five Minute Friday: Dear

Every week, a whole heap of fabulous women get together and bravely write for Five Minute Friday. Today's prompt is...

Dear

Go.

Something about this holiday season has me in a bit of a funk, and I just can't seem to grasp ahold of the reasons or the whys. I'm finding myself floating along, doing the tasks, admiring the glow and twinkle of lights, but I just can't seem to dive in and really live it.

Stuck.

But there's something about the sweet sound of laughter in a basement, coffee cups splayed on a table, inhibitions left at the door, and the undeniable sense of safety. Of love. There's something about leftover Thanksgiving goodies as we bare our souls to dear friends, relating our stories of God's glory, our failures, His promises, our shortcomings, His perfection.

There's something about the lifting up and the digging deep and the keeping it real. These dear women keep me focused on the One who does all, knows all, loves all. 

"...your faith is growing more and more, and the love you have for one another is increasing..."

2 Thessalonians 1:3

You see? These women? These encouragers of faith and supporters of life? They were designed specifically for you. He did that for you. Embrace them. Grow them. Love them. Whether they are right in front of you face to face, or if they're in the virtual community you call home each week. Love them as He loves you.

Stop.

Y'all! December is kicking me right in the rear. No joke. In addition to extra family fun, Christmas cheer, and all other things crazy, I started my own business. I know. I've probably lost my mind. (it's so exciting, though! More on that later.) But one thing is for sure: I MISS YOU! So I promise to write more in the upcoming weeks, especially as we anticipate the sweet celebration of Christ's birth. In the meantime, I'll keep checking in on you, and you keep checking in on me. Deal? 

xoxo, k.