Mission Moments: Compassion International

August 3, 2015 By Kristin Hill Taylor 4 Comments

Life is worth celebrating. I want to rejoice for the life of my kids, who we adopted as newborns. Their birth moms chose life for them. That is worth celebrating each year and each day, really. And, yes, there is joy in unwrapping a gift that someone chose just for you. I get that. And I want that for my kids.

But I don’t want stuff to drown out compassion for others who don’t live the kind of life we have. Kids don’t choose the circumstances into which they’re born.

While I worry about how I can help combat the greediness in our culture, I know there are mommas in other places – some even right down the street – who spend time thinking about how they’ll feed, clothe, and medicate their kids. I can’t imagine wondering if my son and daughter will be educated and medicated in ways that will help preserve their future.

One way our family has learned about poverty – and how to give to others – is through Compassion International, a child-advocacy ministry. The ministry strives to release children from spiritual, economic, social, and physical poverty. The goal is for each child to become a responsible and fulfilled adult. This happens through monthly sponsorships as well as other financial gifts.

Throughout the years, my family and friends have collected money at our annual Jesus Birthday Party to purchase gifts for families who don’t have monthly sponsors and hosted Compassion advocate and musician Shaun Groves at our church. My kids and I write our sponsored children letters and send extra money for their birthdays and Christmas.

But I want to share one of my favorite ways I’ve seen Compassion – both the organization and the characteristic – lived out in my house.

For a couple of Ben’s birthday parties in November, we celebrated the life of Jean in Ecuador. He’s one of the Compassion International kids we sponsor and shares my boy’s birthday, although they’re eight years apart in age. The kids at my son’s parties made Jean birthday cards and donated money for us to send to him. We asked for the donations instead of gifts. Of course, some people still brought gifts. But they chose to bless Jean while celebrating Ben.

Not long after one of the parties, we received a letter from Jean. He thanked us for the money we sent and told us what he bought: two pieces of cloth to make a school uniform, a backpack, a pair of shoes, a ball, and two pairs of sandals for his sister. Seriously. My kid got dinosaurs and superheros and Jean bought himself clothes and shoes for his little sister – and was happy about it.

This is why I spend time thinking about stuff. I can’t imagine Jean’s momma wondering how she was going to buy her 11-year-old boy school clothes. But I can imagine how proud she was her boy wanted to share his birthday money with his sister, who needed shoes.

We’ve done the same thing for some of Cate’s birthday parties. Our Compassion girl Roselyn in Guatemala is six months older than Cate. This meant she received fewer gifts, but, let me tell you, my girl was still blessed with some new horse toys, a cute cowgirl outfit, new crafts, and other goodies. She unwrapped joy.

One year, a bunch of little girls collected $147.54 for Roselyn and her family. The girls at the party also colored pictures and made her cards. One sweet friend brought a Zip-loc bag full of change, the money she usually uses to buy stickers to send to her Compassion friend. Roselyn unwrapped joy when the blessings prepared at the party here arrived at her house there.

That’s celebrating life. And that’s compassion at its finest.

Learn more about Compassion International online at its website, Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.

Shared by: Kristin Hill Taylor

How God builds dreams

June 19, 2015 By Kristin Hill Taylor 2 Comments

I prayed for God to use my family’s adoption story.

It was a wide-open prayer I offered up over time – sometimes hesitantly, other times confidently. Meanwhile, I wrote an ebook called “Peace in the Process” tells about the hard season of infertility and then how God led my husband and me to adoption. The crux of the story is God built my family of four in a way I never expected – and simultaneously built my faith.

I sold some copies of “Peace in the Process” and started getting feedback from people I didn’t know. And then I started praying for people I didn’t know as they shared their infertility and adoption stories.

I continued to pray God would use these words for his good – even though I had no idea what that would look like. Meanwhile, I started getting involved with a local adoption ministry. The co-founder and I connected easily and planned some events. Through the events, I met other women who were waiting and hoping and struggling and wondering like I did – and sometimes still do.

I recently read Ephesians 3:20 in The Message: “God can do anything, you know – far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.”

Adoption has long been part of my God-sized dreams. My husband and I have wanted to adopt again. I’ve wanted to connect with other adoptive families. I’ve wanted to spread the word about how others can come along side adoption – even without bringing a child into their home.

Sometimes I feel like I fell into this role of encouraging others in adoption. A woman recently called my writing and sharing our story a ministry. My initial thought was I don’t have a ministry. But, I do. So do you – with whatever you’re passionate about, wherever you are.

I prayed for this. And God heard my prayers. He answered them over time as connections were built and stories were shared. And he’s still answering them.

Right now, my husband and I are actually in the midst of a third adoption process with which God surprised us. And I realize how much God has done since we first embarked on adoption in 2006.

Dreams are often journeys. {Tweet that.} Events, moments, relationships, and opportunities gather and build over time. God does one thing that leads to another – and it all amounts to more than we can ever imagine. These dreams are realized as God works in us and we’re transformed from the inside out (Romans 12:1-2).

God’s greatest dream for us is to know him and make him known. That looks different from each of us. But when we offer what we are and have experienced back to him, he does something beautiful with it. Call it ministry. Call it a dream come true. Call it your life.

Regardless, may all your dreams rise from the foundation of the ultimate dream of glorifying God. {Tweet that.}

Shared by: Kristin Hill Taylor

Easter is for dreamers

March 30, 2015 By Kristin Hill Taylor 12 Comments

I know the Easter story. I try to comprehend the significance of Jesus’ resurrection. But I’ve never thought about how Matthew 28:1-10 also has much to say about dreaming.

Two Marys were at the tomb, but they weren’t there expecting a miracle. They went there because of obligation and tradition. Somebody needed to put oils on the deceased’s body to prepare it for burial.

But God surprised them. A stone was moved not because Jesus needed it to exit the tomb but so these women could see inside. They witnessed the miracle.

“The women left the tomb quickly. They were afraid, but they were also very happy. They ran to tell Jesus’ followers what had happened” (Matt. 28:8). Of course, dreaming is scary, but it’s also joy-filled beyond our imagination. And that makes us want to proclaim the good news – The Good News, especially – to others.

Jesus told the women they didn’t need to be afraid. And he told them to go. “Then Jesus said to them, ‘Don’t be afraid. Go and tell my followers to go on to Galilee, and they will see me there'” (Matt. 28:10).

Sometimes when we dream action is required. (<— Click to tweet.)

Making the phone call. Sending the letter. Accepting the job. Booking the trip. Serving in another country or on your street. All of that can be scary, but God may have a surprise waiting when you least expect it.

There are seasons to wait on God. Even though it can be quiet and long, that time of waiting isn’t wasted. Waiting is an active, faith-building journey. Maybe God is moving a stone for you. (<— Click to tweet.)

Other times we need to act. We need to go. We need to do the hard thing. We need to trust wherever God is leading us.

When we obey whatever God is telling us, Jesus’ followers will see him when we do. When we tell our story, people will see God’s faithfulness. When we face our fears, God is writing our testimony. When we give our dreams words and actions, people will know the Dream Giver. (<— Click to tweet.)

And we may be surprised along the way.

In “He Still Moves Stones,” Max Lucado reminds us it’s okay to dream again:

“Just when the womb gets too old for babies, Sarai gets pregnant. Just when the failure is too great for grace, David is pardoned. And just when the road is too dark for Mary and Mary, the Angel glows and the Savior shows and the two women will never be the same. The lesson? Three words. Don’t give up. … Don’t quit. For if you do, you may miss the answer to your prayers. God still sends angels. And God still moves stones.”

That dream of growing your family? Don’t give up. The dream to start a business or go on a mission trip? Don’t quit yet. The dream that forgiveness will come and the relationship will be healed? It’s still possible. The dream that their marriage will make it and they’ll have the grandest story to tell? Keep on praying.

Easter is in a week. That story is the cornerstone of our faith. And it’s a reminder to dream – not just because the calendar says it’s time, but because Jesus lives.

Shared by: Kristin Hill Taylor

You’re Loved No Matter What – A Book Club!

March 3, 2015 By Kristin Hill Taylor 25 Comments

Holley Gerth shared about the message of her new book about a year ago as I sat at a table with her some other God-sized dreamers. I remember nodding in agreement that this message needed to be shared. I knew then and still know that laying down perfection at the cross is a necessary message because it’s one my soul needs.

I’ve been journeying away from perfection and toward grace and joy. The process has been like leaving the darkness and walking into the light. What’s been so hard about it all is letting God reshape my natural tendencies and change my expectations. What’s been really encouraging about the whole process is how God intertwines so many books, friendships, conversations, blog posts, songs, and moments to teach me.

I am loved no matter what. There’s nothing I can do to change what Jesus already did for me.

That’s the message Holley shares in her newest book, “You’re Loved No Matter What: Freeing Your Heart from the Need to be Perfect.”

I read the first few chapters in one sitting recently and felt like she was writing for me. But I know I’m not alone in needing this message. It’s the kind of practical wisdom that would thrive in discussion with other women. We can share our struggles and the ways God has redeemed them.

So beginning March 16, I’m going to host an online book study of “You’re Loved No Matter What.” The book officially releases today!

We’ll take the book a chapter at a time as I post discussion questions each Monday. It’ll be a private Facebook group so what you say there is safe within the group. You can join the conversations as your week allows.

While I hope those who commit are invested in sharing and encouraging, I can promise you there will be grace. I believe this book will prompt conversations we as women need to have – with God, with ourselves, and with each other.

Who’s in? Please comment here with your email address and Facebook name (if we aren’t already friends there and you doubt I have your email address) or email me so I can keep you informed and get you added to our group. Meanwhile, please make arrangements to get the book and read the introduction and first chapter by March 16.

Shared By: Kristin Hill Taylor

On building a life while dreaming together

February 6, 2015 By Kristin Hill Taylor 2 Comments

He asked me out for ice cream when I was 18, still a college freshman trying to find my footing in an independent life I was trying so hard to embrace. I soon realized I didn’t love ice cream like he did, but he could calm my perfectionist-driven heart.

That was 17 years ago this month. The boy who asked me out for ice cream became my boyfriend for most of my college years, took the brunt of my emotional growing pains, proposed marriage four years later, and has been my husband for more than a dozen years.

Greg has known me for half my life now. And when I say “know me,” he really does.

Marriage was really hard at the beginning. I don’t want to say it’s gotten easier – but God has changed us. We’re more in sync.

After all these years, we can dream together. {<— Click to tweet.}

His dreams used to scare me because they were so unfamiliar to me. His entrepreneur spirit made me nervous. He’d suggest something that was different than what I had concocted in my head, so I’d reject his ways because mine seemed better. I wanted him to read my mind and was disappointed when he didn’t.

But God has shown me over and over how Greg has our family’s best interest in mind – even when he’s dreaming big. Maybe especially when he’s dreaming big.

Greg isn’t the kind of guy who wants to settle for what everyone else is doing. Of course, I don’t want to either. But sometimes we have to figure out how to end up on the same page – our page. This life we’re living is made up of our dreams. And together our dreams are bigger and unlike anyone else’s. That used to scare me.

But now I see dreaming our own dreams is the best way to live. {<— Click to tweet.} And doing it with someone else is sweeter.

We want to teach our kids to serve. We don’t make Christmas and birthday wish lists because we don’t want to encourage them to want more than the abundance we already have. We’re picky about what the kids watch on TV. We like to take road trips. We sponsor Compassion kids. We invite people into our home – and our lives.

These are the things we do in life. But they aren’t haphazard tasks and rules. They are the stuff of our dreams. How we live echoes the dreams that fill our heads and hearts. {<— Click to tweet.}

I’m grateful for Greg, who has spurred me on to dream big and think outside society’s box. Some days and seasons are hard. Sometimes I have to face past scars that overflow on to my todays. Sometimes I have to do things I don’t want to do. Sometimes I have to stay quiet when I want to open my mouth. Sometimes I have to speak truth that is hard to say. Sometimes I fail because I lose sight of my dreams.

But I am never alone. God promises that. And so did my husband.

God never ever fails. And my husband tries his best to protect me, serve our family, and dream mighty big God-sized dreams beside me.

Shared by: Kristin Hill Taylor

Planted for God’s glory – let’s shine!

December 17, 2014 By Kristin Hill Taylor 13 Comments

The wild tree in my living room reminds me that life is full of adventure as we seek God and the dreams He’s given us.

A few years ago, we decided to cut down a tree from my mother-in-law’s farm to use as our Christmas tree. We brought along some friends who did the same. Mimicking the children’s classic “We’re going on a bear hunt …,” our kids chanted, “We’re going on a tree hunt …”

If four years in a row can make a tradition, we made one – one that we never anticipated but continues to go down as a favorite holiday adventure.

This is the fourth year our living room is decked out with a tree from our hunt. I love the smell and the unconformed look of its branches wildly reaching out. God created this tree uniquely – just like he does each one of us and our dreams.

I prefer white lights and ornaments from places we’ve been and those that document my kids’ growth. I even like their handmade ones. Our tree is perfectly imperfect and radiates beauty. Maybe your Christmas tree is artificial with shining colored lights. It doesn’t matter – it’s yours.

And it’s okay if you don’t decorate for Christmas the same way every year. We’ve had artificial trees in the past, and in some ways, that’s easier. But we like the adventure that comes with my husband Greg using a chainsaw, hauling the wild tree home, and making it fit in a portion of our living room. The kids like to help decorate, stretching their little arms as high as they’ll reach.

I really love when the house is quiet and dark, but there in the corner of the living room is the glowing beauty of our tree. Sometimes I need the quiet and dark to see the glory.

I think about when God told us to adopt. We had no idea what we were getting into – talk about adventure.

I remember when I realized I was supposed to tell our infertility and adoption story because it’s my faith journey that taught me I belong to God. Yes, the earthly adoptions made us a family, but we’re also co-heirs with Christ. The parallels are exciting and the most tangible example of faith I’ve experienced.

I spend time with my community of people. It’s loud and chaotic, but God is there and I can’t imagine my life without them. That’s real life adventure right there.

Holidays sometimes complicate our dreams.

Click To Tweet

There is so much goodness this time of year, but there are also so many expectations that society, relatives, and we unnecessarily put on our shoulders. The tree in my living room reminds me to let go of perfection, embrace my right now, and pursue the dreams God has for me.

In Breaking Free: The Journey, The Stories, Beth Moore wrote directly to my recovering-perfectionist heart that has been known to get discouraged even in the best of times: “No, I do not believe in fairy tales. But I do believe in God. He sent His Son for just such a purpose. Whatever the cause of our mourning, Christ can be the lifter of our heads. He can give us beauty instead of ashes … Satan wants to destroy our dreams. God wants to surpass our dreams. I believe God gives us dreams so we’ll long for God’s reality.”

Christmas isn’t a fairy tale, it is God’s reality at its finest.

Click To Tweet

Love came down and was born in a lowly manger for you and for me. We can put presents under the tree, but the Savior’s presence is what matters.

Regardless of how we feel about this or any other holiday, God redeems and breathes new life into us. And, really, isn’t that the greatest dream of all?

“To all who mourn in Israel, he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the Lord has planted for his own glory” (Isaiah 61:3).

How that’s demonstrated in our lives varies from day to day and season to season. It certainly looks different in your life than it does mine. But let’s celebrate wherever we are. Let your life sparkle like those lights wrapped around the tree. Display your story like ornaments hanging from branches.

Like our trees, your journey isn’t going to look like mine – and that’s okay. But wherever God takes us – individually and together – is going to be beautiful because His glory will shine.

Christmas is certainly no fairy tale – it’s better. And there’s plenty of adventure to be had and dreams to be fulfilled.

Shared by: Kristin Hill Taylor

God Orchestrates All the Details Faithfully

November 5, 2014 By Kristin Hill Taylor 4 Comments

We loved everything about our daughter’s independent, private adoption process. We built a relationship with her birth mom in a way we wouldn’t have been able to with an agency in the middle.

On Cate’s second birthday, we started taking steps toward our dream of a second adoption and met with our social worker. And, yes, we dreamed of another independent adoption process. But we assumed we’d have to proceed with the “normal” agency adoption route. (Yes, I realize there’s actually no normal in the adoption world.)

My husband, Greg, and I both knew we had been blessed by our first adoption process and considered it a little greedy to hope it would happen again like that.

So we chose an agency in Fort Worth, Texas, and made plans to attend an orientation there a couple months later because we already had an extended family vacation planned to the Lone Star State. I filled out grant applications, gathered documents for our home study, and made an appointment to meet with our local attorney to update him on our desire to adopt again. That last matter was important because I’d already put his name on countless forms.

More evidence of life not being what I expected, our attorney called a couple days after we met with him to tell us he found us a birth mom. Well, actually, the birth mom found him and he thought of us.

I couldn’t even orchestrate this miraculous timing if I tried. And Lord knows I tried.

A local, pregnant, unmarried 25-year-old who worked full time and was going back to school wanted a family to adopt her baby boy who was due at the beginning of December.

Yes! Really? Maybe. Wait …

We were supposed to leave on Saturday for Texas, where our itinerary included meeting with an adoption agency that seemed like a perfect fit for us. Yet the Monday before we were to leave I talked to a woman who was pregnant with a boy who needed a family.

We sat on a couch in her living room the night before we left for Texas and discussed how adoption could work. The baby she was carrying was due about the same time her son turned 1. She believed adoption was the best plan – both for the son she was raising and the one growing inside her.

We left her house believing she was committed to her decision, but we hadn’t talked with the birth father yet and had one hesitation: We live in a typical small town, where people know each other’s business.

We love our adoption stories – and we love telling our adoption stories. But some details of adoption don’t need to be tossed around small-town gossip circles – or even among my husband’s large extended family that has lived here for generations. The birth mom was on the same page, uninterested in small-town drama.

We met with the agency anyway, but the more we talked about it the more clear our decision seemed to be. Conversations and prayers led to peace, erasing our hesitation. When we returned from Texas, we proceeded with this second independent, private adoption we weren’t expecting but were thrilled to embrace.

We meet the birth mom at her next appointment and saw our son via ultrasound. He was 25 weeks in his birth mother’s womb and weighed 1 pound 7 ounces – so much like his big sister’s storyline.

Only God fulfills dreams like that. {<===Click to Tweet}

The second independent adoption process we had dreamed of unfolded in ways better than we imagined.

Adoption had blessed our family once and God was doing it again, in some of the same ways and in plenty of different ways. In the end, God’s faithfulness remained and he continued to hear the desires of our hearts.

__________

That second adoption process led us to our son, Ben. I tell this story and others from my journey to motherhood in my new ebook “Peace in the Process: How God Built My Faith & My Family,” which is available on Amazon. Adoption is an everyday conversation at our house, but this month is National Adoption Awareness Month, so I’m hoping the topic finds its way into other homes and hearts.

Shared by: Kristin Hill Taylor

How stories help us dream

September 26, 2014 By Kristin Hill Taylor 4 Comments

My 4-year-old son Ben loves Daddy to tell him stories before bed. Usually my husband chooses childhood memories of fishing or exploring with his brothers and friends. Ben is captivated and often wants to hear the same story told over and over again, as if he’s claiming the adventure has his own dream.

Really, aren’t some of our dreams birthed from stories we’ve heard? {<=== Click to Tweet}

The Bible is full of adventures that entice us. We watch TV shows and read books that draw us in with their characters and plots. Stories are the foundation of so much more than bedtime entertainment.

Earlier this year I read “The Secret Keeper,” a fictional story of a woman uncovering her 90-year-old mother’s story. This book by Kate Morton had nothing to do with faith specifically and everything to do with dreaming and discovering. Sometimes we discover stories that wreck our reality. Other times what we uncover propels us to dream.

One passage in “The Secret Keeper” has come to mind several times since I finished the book and reminds me of God-sized dreaming:

“The Nightingale Star is a great ship that leaves each night from the rim of sleep. Have you ever seen a picture of a pirate ship, one with billowing white sails and rope ladders that swing and sway in the wind?”

Laurel nodded hopefully.

“Then you’ll know her when you see her, for she looks just like that. The straightest mast you can imagine, and a flag at the very top, silver cloth with a white star and a pair of wings at its center.”

“How do I get aboard, Mummy? Will I have to swim?” Laurel wasn’t a very good swimmer.

Dorothy laughed. “That’s the best part of all. The only thing you have to do is wish, and when you fall asleep tonight, you’ll find yourself on her warm decks, about to set sail on a grand adventure.”

Many of us want adventure, but sometimes we’re scared because we aren’t good at something such a dream would require. Like Laurel, we wonder if we’ll have to swim or face whatever other fear could hold us back from that big, beautiful ship that’s ready to carry us away.

Sometimes we have to wait, but God always invites us along. {<=== Click to Tweet} He’s the vessel that will take us places we could never otherwise imagine.

God is the giver of all our dreams and he wants us to set sail with him. He wants us to live out His story – the greatest love story that redeems all the darkness. We’re all characters in this greatest adventure that God authors.

In “The Secret Keeper,” Dorothy told her daughter all she had to do is wish. Likewise, God tells us to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Jesus went to prepare a place for us (John 14:1-4) where we can spend eternity with our Captain – and that’s going to be the adventure that lasts forever.

The dreams and stories we live here will bring God glory here and set our minds on what’s still to come. Telling stories with our lives helps others discover the next steps in their own dreams.

Shared by: Kristin Taylor

We Weren’t Made to Create Absolutes

August 18, 2014 By Kristin Hill Taylor 21 Comments

As a preschooler, I wanted to wear only pink and purple dresses. As a young adult, I refused to eat at the local Chinese buffet, telling my husband adamantly I didn’t like Chinese food.

I never wanted to live in Murray after I graduated from college, work for a specific small-town newspaper we criticized in my journalism classes, or send my kids to a private, Christian school. Of course, I also assumed I would have kids biologically when I was ready.

You know that cliché about “Never say never …”? Well. I’m here to tell you, it’s true.

And while you’re eliminating “never” from your vocabulary, go ahead and strike out “only.” Never and only create absolutes that are impossible to uphold.

Truth is, we don’t have any authority to create absolutes. Only God is absolute. (<==== Click to Tweet)

God is The Way, The Truth and The Life (John 14:6). Unlike my childhood clothing preferences, God never changes. He’s steadfast and constant too – something that can’t be said about my food choices either.

Here I am, regularly wearing jeans, T-shirts and flip flops while eating (and sometimes even cooking!) Chinese food. I’ve been back in Murray for 12 years since moving away briefly after graduating. That newsroom I swore I’d never enter turned out to be the job I loved. I only left that job because God called me to something better and harder – mothering. Of course, those kids weren’t born in my way or my time. But God wrote a story of adoption that built my faith like nothing else I’ve ever experienced.

And did I mention my daughter is getting ready to start her third year at a tiny, classical Christian school that is such a good fit for her and our family?

Only God. “Never” certainly is not in his vocabulary.

Paul reminded the Philippians he – and they – could do all things through Christ who gave him strength (Phil. 4:13). The same applies to us.

We can do all those things we never thought possible because God cares for us and guides us. Some times that means taking steps into unknown territory or venturing into those places we had sworn were never meant for us.

I’ve slowly realized when I trust God and let go of my stubborn “I will never …” and “I only …” statements, I’m surprised by blessings I may have otherwise missed.

Here in this town I never wanted to call home, I have a community of friends who have sustained me and encouraged me. I’m the momma to two kids who have spurred me toward God in ways nobody else could. And I’m so thankful I long ago gave up limiting my wardrobe to pink and purple dresses.

It’s here, where God has led me that I’m able to testify to his faithfulness and pursue the dreams he puts on my heart.

It’s here, where God comes along side me that I’m able to tell others what he has done for me.

It’s here, where I never thought I’d be that I can’t imagine being anywhere else.

And, yes, it’s here I vow to never say never and let God be the only absolute truth.

Shared by Kristin Taylor

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