Week 43: A Peek Into This Past Week (plus, what I’m reading, listening to, and watching!)

Kierstyn had her last cross country meet on Monday. She had big goals and hopes for the time she wanted to run her mile in. She was SO excited about it. But then she went out pretty fast and, just a few minutes in, had to stop and walk because she got a side stitch.

In this next picture she is saying to me on the sidelines, “I can’t do this. My side hurts too bad.” She wanted to stop right then and there.

But she kept going, even though she had to walk most of the way. When she got near the very end of the race, she was SO done. You can see it as she walks with her head down in this screenshot of a video I took:

I took her hand and walked with her and told her how proud I was that she kept going even when she wanted to quit. We walked together all the way to the final stretch and then I told her I thought she could run to the finish line and guess what??

She did!

Also, my phone was on and must have been jostling and it captured this picture of the shadow of me holding her hand and I love it so much!

I was so proud of her and she was so proud of herself. Not because she hit her goals — she was way behind the time goals she had set — but because she finished when she wanted so badly to quit.

Watching her try a brand-new sport and learn how to push herself and pace herself and do hard things this year has been incredible. And she’s already talking about what she’s going to do differently next year and how she’s hoping to win a medal! I love her persevering spirit!

In other family sports news, Silas got a completely unexpected email over the summer and I have to tell you the story… 

At the end of the summer baseball season, we knew his current travel team was going to be undergoing a lot of changes and we felt really unsure and unsettled as to what Silas was supposed to do baseball-wise in the fall. However, he had broken his hand and couldn’t try out for any other teams so we felt kind of at a loss as to what to do.

So we prayed a lot for wisdom and direction. We had a lot of conversations and we still didn’t have any clear path forward. It was extra hard because this is a pivotal time for his baseball future — especially since his dream is to play in college.

I’ll admit, I struggled as a mom with wanting to figure something out for him or make something happen. But there wasn’t really anything I could do but pray.

At times, I felt anxious about it, but I kept going back to reminding myself of the truth that God loves my boy even more than I do and I can rest in His good plan for my son and his future.

I had to keep reminding myself of this over and over.

And then, out of the blue, we got a random email from a coach offering him a spot on a national team.

To be honest, we were skeptical and thought it was probably actually just some recruiter trying to sell us some program (there are SO many of these out there – you can pay crazy amounts of money to try to play sports in college.)

We didn’t even answer it for a few weeks because we didn’t think it was legit.

But finally, I was like, “Why don’t we respond and just have the initial phone call the coach asked for? I mean, if they are just trying to sell us something, we can say no and walk away.”

So we set up the call — with a lot of skepticism. And I prepped to have to give a hard no to whatever the guy was trying to sell us. Only when we got on the call, we realized they weren’t trying to sell us anything! Instead, they had found Silas’s social media, they had watched his film, and they were legit offering him a spot on a national team!

I wish you could have seen the excitement we all expressed when we got off that call! We had done nothing to make this opportunity happen and it was everything Silas had dreamed of and wanted for this next season! There was nothing we could attribute it to but God’s answer to many, many prayers we prayed.

We have been SO impressed with the program and the coaching — it’s at a very different level than Silas has played before and he is thriving!

And I think it was such an amazing opportunity for Silas to get to see God’s faithfulness!!

When we didn’t know what to do, when it felt like there weren’t many options, when we were discouraged about it all, we had no idea that God was working behind the scenes to open up a door that was better than anything he could have opened on his own!

I hope he doesn’t forget this in the future when life feels unsettled or confusing and it feels like there’s nothing he can do. God is working in the waiting!

God is still in the business of doing miracles. He’s often working behind the scenes when things don’t make sense. And He is able to do far beyond what we could dream or imagine. (And He cares about everyday things like baseball!)

Trust Him. Cry out to Him for wisdom and direction and provision. And wait expectantly to see how He provides and takes care of you! He is a faithful God!

I hope this story encourages you in whatever you are trusting God with right now. ❤️

I saw this on substack from EmmaGraceSV and loved it so much and it deeply ministered to my soul that I wanted to share it with you. This is my heart and hope and how I want to live — sitting in the presence of Jesus.

Final Chance!! Don’t Miss This Bonus: 5 Days to a Financially Healthier You

My new book, The 7 Habits of Financially Healthy Women, officially releases *tomorrow* October 27, and I’m SO excited for you to start reading this book that I’ve poured my heart and soul into! 

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This Week on The Crystal Paine Show: House Hushing: The Simple Method to Declutter and Decorate for a More Peaceful Home (with Myquillyn Smith)

Have you ever walked into your house and felt overwhelmed by all the stuff staring back at you or felt guilty about the books that you haven’t read, the hobbies that you haven’t pursued, or the projects that you haven’t finished? If so, then this conversation is for you!

I am so excited to have today’s guest in the studio again, especially since she was actually my first ever guest on this podcast!

Listen in as I welcome Myquillyn Smith to The Crystal Paine Show. She is the author of House Hushing: The Simple Method to Declutter and Decorate for a More Peaceful Home, and I relate to SO much of what she shares in her book and in this episode! We talk about how our homes can become visually overwhelming without us even realizing it and how all that visual noise can leave us feeling exhausted instead of refreshed.

With six kids and a baby in our care three days a week, I know what it’s like to have a gloriously full life, and I love the idea that our homes don’t have to add to the noise!

Hear Myquillyn share her brilliant backwards decluttering method, which takes about twelve minutes and allows you to experience a room with less stuff before deciding what to keep or let go. We also talk about quiet decorating and how to make a space feel cozy without adding more clutter.

We also explore soulful styling, or displaying sentimental items in ways that give them the attention they deserve, and creating boundaries around collecting things so that not everything competes for our attention. Plus, Myquillyn shares her approach to living seasonally, including how to evaluate what matters most in each season of life instead of feeling obligated to repeat traditions just because that’s what you’ve always done.

This conversation gives me so much to think about, especially how our homes need to change as our families and lives change, and it will surely leave you thinking about this as well, so if you’re ready to create a more peaceful, welcoming home without feeling like you have to tackle everything at once, you won’t want to miss this episode!
Listen to the episode here.

What I’m Reading…

What I’m Watching…

What I’m Listening to…

More Links You’ll Love This Week:

• How to Brick Your Phone on the Cheap — Have you ever picked up your phone to check one thing, only to look up 30 minutes later and wonder where the time went? I sure have! One popular way to take control of your screen time is the Brick, but it costs $60! We set out to discover easy ways to do the same thing while spending less and I’m so excited about what we found! Read this post for all the details on how to spend less time scrolling and more time doing what you actually wanted to do.
  
• Encouragement If You Feel Like You’re Bad with Money — Your patterns with money today might be your younger self just trying to stay safe. For a long time I didn’t fully understand the connection between my past and my relationship with money. But the more I’ve learned and grown, the more I’ve realized so much of how we handle money goes back further than we think… Read more on Instagram at this link.
  
• Egg Roll in a Bowl — This $10 family dinner idea is an easy, healthy skillet meal that comes together in less than 30 minutes! You can find variations of this recipe all over the internet, but if you’re looking for the easiest, fastest one — this is it!
  
• 7 Ways to Earn Free Amazon Gift Cards — Feeling the Christmas budget crunch? You don’t have to cover it all out of pocket. This post shares simple ways to earn free Amazon gift cards, perfect for gifts, decorations, or even groceries and household basics.
  
• 10 Ways to Listen to the Emma M. Lion Audiobooks for Free (or Almost Free!) — If you’ve been anywhere near BookTok, Bookstagram, or book-loving friends lately, you may have heard people raving about The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion. They’re SO good! The only problem is that library waitlists can be long, so we rounded up 10 ways to listen to the audiobooks for free (or almost free)! 
  
• FINAL Chance to Score My New Book’s Preorder Bonuses — The 7 Habits of Financially Healthy Women officially releases tomorrow, October 27, and if you’ve been thinking about pre-ordering, now is the time! When you pre-order the book from any retailer, you’ll be eligible to claim the FULL collection of exclusive pre-order bonuses I’ve created to help you put what you’re learning into practice: The Money Reset Toolkit, Couples’ Guide to Healthy Money Conversations, and 5 Days to a Financially Healthier You Video Course. If you’ve already ordered, THANK YOU!! Don’t forget to claim your pre-order bonuses here.