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Kristin Sterk

Kristin Sterk

Simple, Grace-Filled Living

Kristin Sterk
Kristin Sterk
Simple, Grace-Filled Living

Simple, grace-filled

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  • NEW Explorer Bible Dictionary for Kids + GIVEAWAY

    NEW Explorer Bible Dictionary for Kids + GIVEAWAY

  • The Gift of Corporate Worship

    The Gift of Corporate Worship

  • Is Red Light Therapy For YOU?

    Is Red Light Therapy For YOU?

  • We Took WHAT On Vacation?

    We Took WHAT On Vacation?

  • 50% OFF BIRTHDAY SALE – LUMEBOX

    50% OFF BIRTHDAY SALE – LUMEBOX

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    From Blackberry to “Crackberry” and Beyond

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Meet Kristin

As a Christ-follower, wife, blogger, author, and advanced heart failure and leukemia patient, my desire is to encourage others in those same roles, through honest and real conversation. May you be inspired to embrace YOUR story of God’s grace in your own life, through simple, grace-filled living.

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So we arrived home and saw a large box on our fron So we arrived home and saw a large box on our front steps, which I knew was our new canvas family picture to hang on our wall. Eagerly anticipating to see what it looked like, we cut the tape, pulled it out of the box, and THIS is what we received…I’m not certain we have the right picture…little did we know our family had grown 🤣!
✏️ SCHOOL’S OUT! Hard to believe we are at the end ✏️ SCHOOL’S OUT! Hard to believe we are at the end of our school year! Mazy is officially a middle schooler (🫣), I completed another year as a parapro, and we’ve already been living summer to its fullest with swimming, ice cream runs, bike rides, spring cleaning (🙌), and slower days. Bring on a 1990s-type summer! Do you have dreams of slowing down summer and living into each day, instead of jam-packing it full of scheduled activities? I’d love to hear what type of summer you prefer!?
What an incredible night of worship with Phil Wick What an incredible night of worship with Phil Wickham, Tauren Wells, and Jamie MacDonald! A night that brought tears to my eyes several times, especially since we went with my BMT nurse coordinator (and her daughter) who I was a patient with and now am friends. It was a bit of a last minute opportunity and while we sang the “Goodness of God”, I couldn’t help but look at her and then praise God for that full circle moment. The gift that moment was; if I hadn’t gone through cancer, I wouldn’t even be in that moment. GOD HAS BEEN AO GOOD. Thank you, Tara, your professional care and now friendship has had such an impact on my life! 

Worshiping with that many people brought me back to the days of convention with Youth Unlimited, and yet looking down and seeing Mazy praise God too, holding her hand, again, brought tears to my eyes. From generation to generation, may your name be praised! 

I think it has been decades since I went to a concert, but boy was it powerful. To GOD be the glory! @philwickham @taurenwells @jamiemacdonald
Oh the places we’ve been after 20 years! While loo Oh the places we’ve been after 20 years! While looking through my social media memories on this day (a fantastic way to see God’s faithfulness), there were pics of our wedding, vacations, hospital stays, Mazy’s baptism, COVID, my LifeVest (AED), and cancer recovery celebrations. Tonight, Dan took me to all the places where our relationship began. Our first date was at Applebees for dessert only bc I was too naive to realize he was asking me out for supper and told him I already ate dinner 🤦‍♀️🤷‍♀️. But not dessert! We also had our “first kiss” at the Rockford Dam, which once again proved that I had lots to learn bc we joke that Dan kissed a brick wall that evening 🤣🫣. AND the RBC gazebo (now Kuyper College), where we talked for hours on end, figuring out if we could make this dating relationship last a lifetime.

And here we are, 20 years later! We walk a bit (okay a lot) more scarred, bruised, fragile, and with 2 kids in heaven, but our spiritual hearts stronger, refined, and seeing our Father more clearly, TOGETHER. For that, we wouldn’t trade any of it. All praise be to God for the things HE has done.
Oh the places we’ve been after 20 years! While loo Oh the places we’ve been after 20 years! While looking through my social media memories on this day (a fantastic way to see God’s faithfulness), there were pics of our wedding, vacations, hospital stays, Mazy’s baptism, COVID, my LifeVest (AED), and cancer recovery celebrations. Tonight, Dan took me to all the places where our relationship began. Our first date was at Applebees for dessert only bc I was too naive to realize he was asking me out for supper and told him I already ate dinner 🤦‍♀️🤷‍♀️. But not dessert! We also had our “first kiss” at the Rockford Dam, which once again proved that I had lots to learn bc we joke that Dan kissed a brick wall that evening 🤣🫣. AND the RBC gazebo (now Kuyper College), where we talked for hours on end, figuring out if we could make this dating relationship last a lifetime.

And here we are, 20 years later! We walk a bit (okay a lot) more scarred, bruised, fragile, and with 2 kids in heaven, but our spiritual hearts stronger, refined, and seeing our Father more clearly, TOGETHER. For that, we wouldn’t trade any of it. All praise be to God for the things HE has done.
Have you ever watched how your child reacts to pre Have you ever watched how your child reacts to present-opening time for their birthday? I don’t know about you, but days and weeks before, our daughter is trying to find every way possible to try and get us to tell her what the present is. She just can’t WAIT. And then the day FINALLY comes. She can FINALLY open the present she’s been waiting for, dreaming of, and eagerly anticipating!

That, my friend, is what God has given to us EVERY WEEK with the Sabbath.

What if you had a gift for your child, all wrapped, spent tons of time preparing for, and you gave it to them, only for them to say, nah, I’m good. Thanks anyways! And they walk away.

That’s what we do if we don’t honor the Sabbath.

God, as Creator and sustainer of creation, has GIVEN us a day of rest, telling us don’t worry, I’ll uphold the world while you rest. Doesn’t every person dream of that? I once read, God didn’t rest out of exhaustion, but out of satisfaction. He looked back on what He created and said it was “good”. Do we even take time to look back on our week to say the same? Do we even observe a Sabbath to know the difference?

Often what we desire gets in the way of what God desires. The idols we create, act as a barrier to this very given day.

Instead of treating the Sabbath as another Saturday, what if we became AVAILABLE to our family and friends? What if we left the to-do list behind? What if we stopped ourselves from going on that website or in that store, stopped buying and selling, and just appreciated what we already have? What if we accepted the invitation God has given us, to be with Him? Fully? With nothing getting in the way?

It's the 4th commandment and the longest, ensuring we get the point. But we don't. How are we doing as a society? How is your family doing? How are YOU doing with it? What executive decisions need to be made to ensure this day remains holy? It’s not a suggestion. It’s a command.

Let’s live accordingly.
I recently tried the @trulyfreehome STONE AND STEE I recently tried the @trulyfreehome STONE AND STEEL cleaner and wowzas, does it WORK! As you can see, the area where I used it and didn’t, was drastic and I am embarrassed at how dirty my paper towels were! Definitely work a try! Link 🔗 is in my BIO!
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