Kristin Hill Taylor

Seeking God as the Author of Every Story

Search Results for: label/Guatemala

Build what matters

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I saw the Five Minute Friday prompt last night on Twitter and immediately knew what I wanted to write about. When I finished folding some clothes, I typed this out on my phone. I love when one word spurs on so many thoughts and pulls together what’s been happening in my mind. That’s what Kate Motaung’s one-word prompt did for me last night. 

Five Minute Friday is a flash mob of writers, all writing for five minutes about one word. This week the one word is BUILD. Write away. And then join us at Kate’s place. 

Ready, set, write … 

A year ago my husband, oldest girl and I were in Guatemala. That one week in a foreign land rocked my world. There have been related tears and joys and friendships and dreams – all rooted in one week in a land whose language I barely speak.

My first mission trip changed my perspective of pretty much everything. We went there to build houses and distribute clothing, food, and wheelchairs, yet God is building something bigger. I see parenting and church and service and relationships and society different than I did before stepping foot in Chichicastenango, Guatemala.

For the past year, God has been building upon that mission trip I took to Guatemala. I know what he’s doing in my life, and I have to wonder what he’s still doing there with the seeds we planted.

Sometimes in the midst of everyday life, I still find myself wanting to let God build more, starting in my heart and mind and spilling over into all the corners of my life.

We moved into our new house June 18. Since then, we’ve unpacked {most} of our boxes and arranged furniture. The washing machine here didn’t work so before I did my first load of laundry, we had to move some appliances around. We’ve had one toilet overflow twice and the plumbers have been here twice to fix two of the three toilets.

Ben had a pretty bad case of poison ivy the day before we left for a road trip that started with Greg’s business meeting four hours away and continued with a stop-over in Louisville on our way to Buffalo, NY, where we visited my sister and the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. At the end of our trip, my nephew unknowingly shared his hand, foot, and mouth virus with Rachel. W came home to “road closed” signs near our house, thanks to crazy amounts of rain. A few days later lightning from another storm struck a tree that blocked us from the open portion of our road.

It all seemed overwhelming. I thought I had come into summer intentionally choosing a freer scheduler and then I found myself outlining my day on Post-It Note because I was worried I’d forget something. Summer has been more adventurous than I planned.

And then, right there with a Post-It Note slapped on my calendar, I remembered my week in Guatemala. I remembered what we were doing on July 7 and July 8 one year ago. I remember how building houses built my faith.

And I remembered that God is building a good thing here too. We are making a new-to-us house a home. We are creating memories and embracing adventures. We have work to do for God’s glory.

All of that is the kind of building that matters.

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Read all my Guatemala-related posts here. 

Gratefulness & Guatemala

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I don’t want for a thing. Not a single item.

I’ve been known to spout lectures to my kids about how they need to be grateful and appreciate what we have – every single last thing.

But gratefulness isn’t just about things. Gratefulness is an attitude, a perspective. Yes, all the things are part of it because that’s the kind of world in which we live.

Gratefulness goes far beyond the things and takes root in our hearts. {Tweet that.}

My husband, oldest daughter, and I went to Guatemala last year. {Read more about that here.} We spent a week there, helped build some houses, and distributed wheelchairs, clothing, and food. And that one week spent in a foreign land almost eight months ago has rocked my own world.

While building houses there, the beginning was a concrete slab. The middle involved metal walls, a roof, and a couple windows. The end result was a sturdy, blue-painted house that far surpassed these families’ previous housing.

Yes, the houses were blessings that I’m sure spurred gratefulness in these Guatemalan families. How could they not? But I’m not sure the houses were necessarily the intended result. The hearts of the people – the ones who call Guatemala home and those of us serving – are what ultimately matters.

Sure, those families are better cared for because they have a roof over their heads, but I pray they know the love of Jesus in a new way too. We gave them food, but did they realize we really wanted to give them love that truly nourishes. Absolutely, God cares for our physical needs, but he yearns for our souls. {Tweet that.}

I’m still feeling the effects of that one week. That trip spurred on a couple new friendships and offered a new perspective. In any given moment, I appreciate my life and my things while longing for a simpler, less cluttered lifestyle.

And I understand gratefulness in a new way that I’m praying overflows onto my kids.

“The very thing most parents long to give their kids – a grateful heart – is destroyed in our attempt to simultaneously give them the world. It’s hard to have both because true thankfulness is experienced when we first understand we are missing something. And that’s hard to teach when we are trying to give them everything. When we have everything, we are thankful for nothing. When we have nothing, we are thankful for everything.”

It’s nearly impossible to live the American dream and long for God’s Kingdom at the same time. But the everlasting kingdom is better than any fleeting dream, so that’s what I want to hold onto here in the middle of it all.

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I’m excited to join Britta Lafont for her Meet Me in the Middle Project during Lent, when I’m going to slow down and notice the pieces of life I bypass in a rush. Find all the details about the Meet Me in the Middle Project here or reference Britta’s introductory post.

#ThreeWordWednesday friends, I’d love for you join in Meet Me in the Middle by linking up there and here, but the weekly #ThreeWordWednesday link up is open as usual even if you’re not participating in this Lenten project. I’m always so glad y’all are here.


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 “Peace in the Process: How Adoption Built My Faith & My Family” is available on Amazon. Like me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, peek into my life on Instagram, or follow 152 Insights at Bloglovin’.

On Saying Yes {a guest post}

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I’ve been asking my husband to write a post about our Guatemala trip. I know, you’ve heard my stories and perspective, but I wanted him to share too. And then when he did, I cried and wanted to go back. We’re grateful for our Guatemala experience and how it’s changed our family. And I’m excited you get a chance to hear more about that from Greg. 

How many of us actually like the idea of a God who calls us to submit our whole lives to Him? Isn’t that radical? Isn’t Him asking that of us crazy?

And how many of us Christians actually submit our will to His on a daily basis? I know I haven’t, not really, at least not on a daily basis.

Yet I do see examples in the lives of my friends and family – people submitted to the Lord and daily taking up their cross and following Him. These people are ministering to those around them, meeting physical and spiritual needs, and taking Jesus’s love into this dark and dying world even when it seems crazy to do so.

Last fall, I clearly felt the call of the Holy Spirit to look into this Guatemala mission trip with Bethel Ministries. I couldn’t escape the thought that God was calling us to this experience at this time. And despite so many failures in the past to follow the Holy Spirit’s leading, this time I said yes.

As Christians, we follow a God who loves to shake things up and turn our world upside down. He called Gideon while he was threshing wheat in hiding, He called Moses while shepherding in Midian, and He called Elisha while plowing in the field.

If you are serving a God who never humbles you, never disrupts your world, and never calls you to do things outside your comfort zone, you are probably serving your idea of God, not the Lord of the universe. When He calls you, don’t expect Him to ask for anything less than your whole heart.

The cool thing about how He works is He doesn’t ask us to use our willpower to change our hearts or give us a long list of things to do in order to get an “A” at being a Christian. He simply asks us to be obedient and submit to Him when He calls. He asks us to say yes when our selfish flesh would say no. And as we submit one choice at a time, He then changes our heart and transforms our mind, spirit and attitude. He is the one doing the work, all we have to do is say yes. {Tweet that.}

The powerful thing about what the Lord did through our team in Guatemala is that He took us and transformed us for His purposes that week. For the nine adults and four children who answered the call, we left our normal selfish selves in the USA and became a unified team with one purpose of serving the Guatemalan families we met.

So as our team got together to go to Guatemala, you may have looked at us from the outside and said that we looked like a bunch of imperfect people, not really suited to do real ministry. And you’d be right. But the truth is He had a specific plan for us to meet with families and children in Guatemala and bring glory to His name. The families we met with didn’t ask us about what sins we were struggling with or how many times we had let God down. They simply saw the love of God in the food that we brought, the wheelchairs we distributed, and the houses that we built.

And through that, God changed not only the families we served in Guatemala, but He changed us. My daughter, Cate, experienced poverty on a level that she had never seen before. Yet she also experienced the joy of the Lord in a new way, as she played with and smiled with those children who trusted God despite their circumstances.

She experienced what it was like to say yes to God, and the radical, crazy, amazing love of Jesus became a little more real to her that week. The day before we came home, she talked with Kristin and I about baptism and what that meant. We prayed with her and sensed that she felt God was calling her to submit to Him and that she wanted to say yes. I had the privilege of baptizing her at our home church with our family and friends a few weeks later. She felt the call of God, and said yes. And I am so thankful that she did.

Our trip to Guatemala reminded me in a new and fresh way that Jesus is the only source of contentment and joy. No matter what our circumstances, we can take joy in knowing Him, and remembering that this life is fleeting and eternity awaits. Nothing else matters when we are confronted by His relentless grace. {Tweet that.} I am so looking forward to what He has planned next.

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Read my other Guatemala-related posts here :: 

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Want more insights? “Peace in the Process: How Adoption Built My Faith & My Family” is available on Amazon. Like me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, peek into my life on Instagram, follow 152 Insights at Bloglovin’, or subscribe to receive “Insights in Your Inbox.”