Chasing Blue Skies

encouragement for every season of life

  • Home
  • Kristen
  • Blog
  • Books
    • Back Roads to Belonging
    • Girl Meets Change
    • Serving You (for military wives)
  • Subscribe
  • Instagram
  • Archives
  • Free
    • for everyone
    • for military spouses
  • Contact

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…
Read More

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….
Read More

The Mountain in Our Way

in Authors Extraordinaire· Books· Courage· Faith in Action

I first met Kristen Welch in 2011 when we roomed together at a retreat in South Carolina. (I still find it crazy that these are the days of meeting people on the internet before meeting them in real life.) I liked Kristen right off the bat–she was warm, welcoming, and hilarious. As a bonus, she also spelled her name the…
Read More

Boundaries: The Friend of Every Parent

in Back Roads to Belonging· Belonging· Faith in Action· Family· Grace· Home· Parenting· Teens

During my son’s senior year of high school, he and a few of his friends had a rather telling conversation with their choir teacher, one my son later relayed to me. In the course of their chat after class, someone asked this teacher – who is young, smart, and beloved by students and parents alike – what she thought was…
Read More

Instead of Panicking, Try This

in Back Roads to Belonging· Encouragement· Faith in Action· Seasons· Writing

It’s our sons’ last couple days of Christmas vacation, and we are spending them in the mountain towns of Keystone and nearby Dillon, Colorado. The drive to Keystone should only take two and a half hours, but three accidents and a white-out snowstorm along I-70 dictate otherwise. After no small amount of travel drama, we finally make it into town,…
Read More

A Frustrating Part of the Vulnerability Conversation

in (In)Courage· Back Roads to Belonging· Belonging· Friendship· Seasons· waiting

Before the USAF moved our family to the Rocky Mountain town of Colorado Springs, we were stationed in the tropical islands of Hawaii. I still remember landing at the small island airport for the first time, walking hand-in-hand with my four-year-old daughter towards baggage claim. I was exhausted after the long flight and terribly nervous about finding my place and…
Read More

The Gift of Seasonal Bookends During Change

in Belonging· Books· Friendship· Parenting· Teens

A couple months ago, I made my way north to Ft. Collins, CO, home of Colorado State University. My twin sons, both excited and nervous to be driving toward their freshman year of college, followed behind me in their granddad’s 2003 silver Honda. We arrived alongside a sea of other wide-eyed kids and teary-eyed parents and spent the whole day…
Read More

Let’s Have a Porch Chat (about Unfollows)

in Back Roads to Belonging· Porch Chat· Social Media

This is a post based on an instagram story I gave concerning unfollows on social media. If you’d like to watch this porch chat on instagram, just visit the saved stories on my Instagram profile page and tap the circle titled “unfollows.” Watch other #porchchatswithkristen on instagram, too. So, I did something recently against my better judgement. There is this…
Read More

One Way to Expand Your Sense of Belonging Today

in Back Roads to Belonging· Belonging· Uncategorized· Words

There’s a particular Starbucks I frequent, one that sits across the street from the courts where my daughter, Faith, has tennis practice. While Faith works on her tennis game, you can often find me working on my writing game at one of their outdoor tables under an umbrella. I’m there a lot this summer. One day, after ordering my typical…
Read More

Can I Send You Free Goodies Chock-full of Awesome?

in Back Roads to Belonging· being in· Belonging· Uncategorized

UPDATE: The preorder bonuses are no longer available because Back Roads to Belonging is here! Purchase your own copy everywhere books are sold! As I may have mentioned once or twice recently (heh), I wrote a book about exploring the back road way to belonging: remaining in Christ and relaxing in the places God has you today. It’s called Back…
Read More

Want to Join My Launch Team for New Book Back Roads to Belonging?

in Uncategorized

UPDATE: *The application process is now closed. Thanks so much to all who applied!* If you were to poll my family members or friends I’m blessed to hang out with in my day-to-day life, they’d tell you I’m the type of person that has a hard time making a decision or jumping into something new all by my lonesome. Doing…
Read More

A Prayer for the Mama of the Graduate

in Being a Woman· Family· Growing Up· Parenting· Teens· Uncategorized

Here it is, mid-May, and I’m going back and forth between reading news on Meghan and Harry’s baby boy and remembering this time last year when two of my three kiddos graduated high school. Planning a graduation is in many ways like planning a wedding. Out of town guests? Check. Cake and a party? Check. Lots of bittersweet tears because…
Read More

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • …
  • 46
  • Next Page »

On Instagram

This week brought to you by family heart-to-hearts This week brought to you by family heart-to-hearts around the fireplace, tulips on the table, and my first trip of the year to the garden store. ⁠⁠
⁠⁠
Never underestimate the ministry of flowers for you and your family. ⁠⁠
⁠⁠
"Home is never simply a threshold you cross. It is a place you make and a place that might make—or unmake—you. In this halfway space, we would begin to learn the costs of stepping into the role God first gave in a garden: to be, like Adam and Eve, the makers and caretakers of a particular place." ⁠⁠
~Christie Purifoy (@christiepurifoy), in her stellar book Placemaker ⁠⁠
⁠⁠
#backroadstobelonging
Holler if you're a fellow expert at coming up with Holler if you're a fellow expert at coming up with worst-case scenarios and making plans to divert them. ⁠⁠ 📣
⁠⁠
In this particular case, I thought I had foreseen every possible problem. I took measures to ensure the best possible outcome. I’m not talking about anything outlandish or expensive. Rather, I used good ol’ hard work and productivity to take care of things responsibly.⁠⁠
⁠⁠
And then came the turn of events only God saw coming, and all my forethought and “responsible planning” didn’t amount to a hill of beans. I didn't asked for or want this outcome, but it was what I had.⁠⁠
⁠⁠
Yeah, it's easier for me to daily assess the risk of doing something than to lean into trust.⁠⁠
⁠⁠
I write more about this at my second online writing home, @incourage. Visit the link in my profile to read more. 💛
I belong where it will snow in April (and May!), b I belong where it will snow in April (and May!), but where spring always comes, eventually. ⁠⁠
⁠⁠
Where do you belong today?⁠⁠
⁠⁠
#whereIbelongWednesday
Remember my post from a few weeks ago about our fr Remember my post from a few weeks ago about our friend Ryan, a USAF vet, who lost all all feeling and control from mid chest down due to a sudden spinal stroke?⁠⁠
⁠⁠
This is his wife, Rebecca, and she is one of my dearest friends in the whole wide world.⁠⁠
⁠⁠
Sometimes when a change comes that turns our world upside down, God works through others to turn it right side up again.⁠⁠
⁠⁠
This gal has surely been a turn-the-world-right-side-up gal in my life, and now I'd love it if *we* could help do the same for her.⁠⁠
⁠⁠
As Ryan undergoes physical therapy and rehab in the spinal cord unit of the VA hospital in Denver, we would like to help Ryan and Rebecca defray the many costs not covered by insurance following this spinal stroke, such as:⁠⁠
⁠⁠
▫️Outfitting Ryan and Rebecca’s home for needs regarding Ryan’s limited mobility.⁠⁠
▫️An outfitted vehicle that’s wheelchair accessible.⁠⁠
⁠⁠
These needs and several more are on Ryan and Rebecca's own dime, and they cost a shockingly WHOLE LOTTA DIMES. ⁠⁠
⁠⁠
If you're interested in helping with these needs and/or sharing about it with your people, please check out the link to our fundraiser in my profile.⁠⁠☑️
⁠⁠
Swipe to see a pic of Ryan and Rebecca and a pic of the GoFundMe page.⁠⁠
⁠⁠
And on behalf of Ryan and Rebecca, thank you for your continued prayers!⁠⁠❤️
⁠
Follow on Instagram
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Copyright © 2021 Kristen Strong · Site by Design by Insight · Chasing Blue Skies Logo by Aliza Latta