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Choosing Thoughtfulness over Defensiveness

in (In)Courage· Belonging· Colorado· Courage· Seasons

I unwrap my brand spankin’ new 2021 calendar, the old timey kind made of card stock that you hang up somewhere like it’s the 1900s. I love new calendars, and I love fresh starts. But this year, I’m disheartened to find several of the same old disturbing problems following me into 2021. Certainly, I find this to be true in my…
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Letting Go of Expectations and Letting in the Light

in (In)Courage· Advent· Change· Faith in Action· Girl Meets Change· Seasons

After reading Myquillyn Smith’s philosophy about how lamp light can “sprinkle some cozy” and improve the mood of a room, especially in the winter, I put on my shoes, grab the car keys and my purse, and skedaddle myself off to the Home Goods store. With the sky-climbing Rockies just to the west of us, it gets dark mighty early this time of…
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Looking Back and Looking Ahead

in Advent· Parenting· Teens· Thanksgiving

This past Thanksgiving, I placed my china plates on our dinner table, just as I’ve done since 1995. They come out from their hiding place in the hutch every holiday we’re home, and often for impromptu tea parties in-between. As I sat a plate at each chair, I remembered how its pattern is a classic compromise between my husband and…
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When You Don’t Want to Run the Race

in Uncategorized

At one time or another in your life, and maybe that time is right now, you’ll feel flattened and despondent from what is being asked of you. In a season when I felt the same, I shared what I was going through with my friend, Alli. The crux of my agony and angst was this: I was plumb terrified to…
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When Change Piles on Top of Change–and the Dread Piles on Top of You

in Change

When I saw the little snowflake icon on my phone for Tuesday and Wednesday, I just about ran screaming up Pike’s Peak. I know that sounds dramatic. And yeah, the longtime locals ’round here will say, “That’s just Colorado!” And they’d be right. Still, I was heartsick that a freeze this early could end our fall season before it even…
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Get Back Roads to Belonging for $1.99!

in Back Roads to Belonging· Belonging· Books· Change· Uncategorized

Howdy, friend! One year ago this month, you may have been one of the dear folks who helped me send this book into the world. And since you liked the book enough to share it with your own friends and family, I thought you might be interested in knowing that right now you can get the e-book version of it…
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When Awkward Leads to Awesome: The Gift of Difficult Conversations

in (In)Courage· Belonging· Friendship

I run around our dining-living-kitchen room like I do before company comes over, making sure there isn’t too much dog hair on the sofa or too little water in the garage sale pitcher with sunflowers. I peek into the oven and see the peach crisp is finished baking. I turn off the oven, but I leave the dessert inside. I…
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When You Want to Belong, Try This

in (In)Courage· Belonging

I can still remember the exciting summer of ’91 before my senior year of high school, when educator Marva Collins came to my Oklahoma hometown. While I hadn’t heard of Marva Collins before that time, I learned she was a big deal in the education field who’d been featured in Time, Life, and Newsweek magazines. Ms. Collins and her good…
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A Giveaway for Some Beloved Folks

in Giveaway· Military

If you’ve been around this watering hole a while, I hope you’re receiving regular(ish!) fresh air encouragement that helps you see your life and circumstances through the filter of God’s care and provision. I hope you find a story or two here that helps make sense of your own and helps you see your season with more hope and less worry. …
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Month of the Military Child: A Prayer for Military Kids

in Change· Girl Meets Change· Loss· Military· Prayer

I know we all have a lot of topsy-turvy crazy in our life right now, but I couldn’t let this month–Month of the Military Child–fade into the rearview mirror without lifting up and celebrating the youngest of those serving our country. In these current times, I can’t help thinking of our military families all the more. As I wrote before,…
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Who Can Help Ease the Changes We Face

in (In)Courage· Change· Family· Military· Writing

When we were stationed in Hawaii, I homeschooled for one very, very, very long year. Let’s just say it wasn’t a raving success because I let distractions interfere as much as my kids. This proved especially true with those subjects I didn’t really like — namely, anything involving the left side of my brain. One thing said more than once by…
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Change in the Time of Corona

in Change· Faith in Action· Family· Girl Meets Change· Gratitude Attitude

Today, I turned the calendar page in our kitchen from March to April with all the grandeur and flourish of the queen of England completing an important ceremonial role. We must get our fun where we can, folks. Recently, Aimée brought a chai latte to my porch, keeping herself socially-distant in the appropriate way even as her heart stayed close….
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On Instagram

Hey there, dearheart! I’m Kristen, and welcome t Hey there, dearheart! I’m Kristen, and welcome to my little corner of the world here in the Colorado woods outside Colorado Springs. 

I wondered if you’d want to go inside, pull up a chair ‘round the fire, and hang out a bit? 

If you’re newer, here's a little about me: 

I like: 
▫️Country and classical music. 
▫️Most hot teas and cocktails with bourbon. 
▫️The beach and the mountains. (Why must we pick one over the other?) 

I don’t like: 
▫️Muffins (They’re just sad cupcakes with no frosting.) 
▫️Long winters (God shows His sense of humor by placing me in CO!) 
▫️Cruises (In spite of being told otherwise, I did, indeed, feel the ship moving.🥴) 

👏🏻I’m a mighty fine encourager, and if you do/say/wear something I genuinely love, I’ll let you know it and/or tell others about it. 

🙁I sometimes let fear dictate what I do or don’t do, and that’s exacerbated by my bossy inner critic. 

🙅‍♀️I don’t like mean people. BUT I can be awfully sarcastic, and sarcasm is often just mean in cuter clothing. 

😢A friend and I talked recently about how raising teens and big kids has us tender to the touch, often with tears just below the surface. 

💙Speaking of kids, I’m mama to three hilarious, hard working, and big hearted kiddos—twin sons and a daughter—whom I adore. 

❤️I’m wife to a USAF veteran, David, (raising my Polish pottery mug of hot tea to the military spouses here!), who’s also an all around amazing, amazing fella. 

📚I wrote two books called #GirlMeetsChange and #BackRoadstoBelonging. I love to help folks see their change and lack of belonging it often brings in a more hopeful light—because difficult change is never the end of things. God’s grace and goodness are. 

☕Thank you for being here—I’m passing you a virtual cuppa your favorite hot beverage and a cupcake (sorry, no muffins). 

💬This is more than enough about me. Tell me something about you! 

📷 Photo by the gorgeous and gorgeously talented Jen Lints of @jenlintsphotography. 

#FridayIntroductions
The sun sets on a downright delightful month of ha The sun sets on a downright delightful month of having all the chicks back in the nest. We puzzled, Uno’d, and played a new game called Knope for President. (So fun!) We watched Mandalorian all together, and David and I started a Netflix show called Turn. We had tea (and coffee!) at 4:30 each afternoon like some kind of Brit wanna-be’s. I cooked like a crazy person because cooking is the most predictable Enneagram 2 thing I do. Pot roast, spaghetti, and baked casseroles, oh my! Plus, 21 year olds who’ve had a semester of fending for themselves on the food front are mighty appreciative when dinner magically comes out of the oven. 

Said 21 year olds are back at college now, but I’m thankful for the good memories that stay with the rest of us Strongs after they’ve left. This last month held hard stuff for many of us, I know, but I hope it left you with some good memories as well. 💛
If your life looks anything like mine, difficult c If your life looks anything like mine, difficult change that started in 2020 didn't give one whit about the new year and walked right with you into 2021. Your change could be more broadly felt like fallout from a lingering pandemic, or it could be more individual —marital, parenting, job, or relational struggles that refuse to let go. 

Or  it could be both, one worsening the other.

If you’re weary from the loneliness that change can bring OR tired of resenting change altogether (and seeing it only through a lens of anxiety and frustration), consider giving #GirlMeetsChange and #BackRoadstoBelonging a look.

Our difficult change may not be going anywhere, but our outlook on it can. 

With both books holding 200-ish reviews on Amazon and a 4.8 star rating, I still get the loveliest messages about how they’ve helped folks welcome a hopeful view of change and where they belong. 

Visit my profile for links to both! 
#fromthebookstack
#whereIbelong
#changemanagement
#anxietyreducer
#fearmanagement
#livingfaithfully
My daughter read that this past Christmas season, My daughter read that this past Christmas season, Christmas light sales were up 300% compared to years past. We may leave ours up for another week or two, and I’m 300% okay with that. 

In the wise words of @iamtabithabrown, it’s my business. 

It’s also my business how I choose to respond to something—indeed, it is a choice. Will I be thoughtful or defensive? Will I be someone who displays or douses the light of Christ? 

In our work to love our neighbor as ourselves, may we be a people who persevere and refuse to stop using our own unique God-given light to dispel the dark. People are desperate for it, and this work matters.
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