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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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10 DAYS OF GRATITUDE – Day 8

10 DAYS OF GRATITUDE – Day 8

10 DAYS OF GRATITUDE – Day 7

10 DAYS OF GRATITUDE – Day 7

10 DAYS OF GRATITUDE – Day 6

10 DAYS OF GRATITUDE – Day 6

DAYS OF GRATITUDE – Day 5

DAYS OF GRATITUDE – Day 5

10 DAYS OF GRATITUDE – Day 4

10 DAYS OF GRATITUDE – Day 4

10 DAYS OF GRATITUDE – Day 3

10 DAYS OF GRATITUDE – Day 3

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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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Time to reflect. Think back through each month. I Time to reflect. Think back through each month. I’m sure each has it’s highlights and maybe even disappointments. Each offered its own busyness, while others may have offered some rest and relaxation. Choose one thing. What is ONE thing you are GLAD you did this year? Not that I want to keep beating a dead horse so to speak, but I’m thankful I chose to do a bone marrow transplant. It was one of the hardest things I have ever done or been through, but also am SO THANKFUL I did it. The reason one chooses a BMT is honestly a choice to have another chance at life. Typically it means the option for a cure, rather than chemo for life or until it no longer works. With that said, I can’t help but state my gratitude to my donor, who at 21-years-old, chose to donate part of her, to give to all of me, so that I could continue to live cancer free. I know it sounds over-the-top in saying it that way, but it’s true. Because of her gift, I can now live FREE of cancer and I don’t EVER want to underestimate or take for granted, her gift. What is ONE thing you are glad YOU did this year? Maybe it’s a vacation. Deciding to read a certain book. Make a lifestyle change. Invest in a relationship…
ONE SIMPLE JOY. There are millions. Putting on a ONE SIMPLE JOY. There are millions. Putting on a washed pair of socks. Eating a slice of your favorite pie. Sipping your favorite coffee. Making your favorite meal. Reading your favorite book. Driving to your favorite destination. Putting on your favorite perfume. Using your favorite body wash. The list is endless! Mine? Lights. Specifically Christmas lights. I know, I know, you’re probably thinking, enough about Christmas, Kristin! But I’ve gotta tell ya, ever since I was a kid, I’ve always thought Christmas lights are magical. In fact, I decided that maybe I should leave some type of lighting up in our kitchen above the cabinets, all year around. The past couple of years, due to low blood counts and cancer, I haven’t been able to experience Christmas in the way I had hoped. But randomly, Dan would tell Mazy and I to jump in the truck, and he would take us around, looking for and at Christmas lights. We have driven through several neighborhoods, blare the Christmas music, and oooh and ahhh at the beauty of them. What about YOU? What is ONE SIMPLE THING THAT BRINGS YOU JOY? There is no right or wrong answer. No shame. No judgment. Please comment below!
ONE SIMPLE JOY. There are millions. Putting on a ONE SIMPLE JOY. There are millions. Putting on a washed pair of socks. Eating a slice of your favorite pie. Sipping your favorite coffee. Making your favorite meal. Reading your favorite book. Driving to your favorite destination. Putting on your favorite perfume. Using your favorite body wash. The list is endless! Mine? Lights. Specifically Christmas lights. I know, I know, you’re probably thinking, enough about Christmas, Kristin! But I’ve gotta tell ya, ever since I was a kid, I’ve always thought Christmas lights are magical. In fact, I decided that maybe I should leave some type of lighting up in our kitchen above the cabinets, all year around. The past couple of years, due to low blood counts and cancer, I haven’t been able to experience Christmas in the way I had hoped. But randomly, Dan would tell Mazy and I to jump in the truck, and he would take us around, looking for and at Christmas lights. We have driven through several neighborhoods, blare the Christmas music, and oooh and ahhh at the beauty of them. What about YOU? What is ONE SIMPLE THING THAT BRINGS YOU JOY? There is no right or wrong answer. No shame. No judgment. Please comment below!
🎉 GIVEAWAY🎉 If you have ever done a Bible s 🎉 GIVEAWAY🎉 If you have ever done a Bible study by Priscilla Shirer, you know the power and wisdom with which she speaks! I have done a couple of her Bible studies and have been blown away by each one of them. But I had yet to read one of her books! When “I Surrender All” came out, I knew this was a book I wanted to dive into, and now I know why I felt the push. Within just the first chapter, I found myself realizing how much I try to hold onto in this life, not fully giving it ALL to God. I have read and reread several pages because the truth is so convicting. It has been life-changing and life-challenging, to say the least! If you are unfamiliar with Priscilla, she is a Christian speaker, Bible study teacher, and author. Here’s a bit more about the book: From Priscilla Shirer comes this fervent appeal and invitation to surrender everything to Jesus. To follow Him not just as your Savior but as your priority, your first love, your Lord. To move beyond being a believer to becoming His disciple. Because there is a difference. Salvation is a gift of God. It’s free. It’s grace. It’s the cross. Discipleship comes at a high cost. It’s surrender. It’s effort. It’s a daily choice to lay down your life and follow His. Few believers choose this route, but the ones who do will experience the abundance that only the surrendered life can offer. It’s the one choice standing between you and the life of freedom and fulfillment, of peace and purpose you’ve always wanted. I Surrender All is all about making that choice. The choice that changes everything. This book will be impossible to simply read because it beckons you to make a decision about the kind of Christian you will be. Prepare to engage, to write, to pray, and be called into a surrendered life. An abundant life. A disciple’s life. CLICK THE LINK IN MY BIO TO PURCHASE GUESS WHAT? YOU can win a FREE COPY of "I Surrender All" by simply commenting "surrender" below! Tag a friend for an extra entry! Giveaway ends Saturday, November 23, 2024! #ISurrenderAllMIN #MomentumInfluencerNetwork
🙌 STILL CANCER FREE!!! 🙌 I am 10 months post 🙌 STILL CANCER FREE!!! 🙌 I am 10 months post transplant, over 2 years into the journey, and God has graciously given our family the gift of healing from cancer. Not completely out of the woods, but every negative test is a step in the right direction. When I was diagnosed the first time with leukemia, Mazy made me a sword out of old shoe molding, and wanted me to write “fight this cancer” on it. She randomly found it this week, handed it to me, and I thought wow, what a journey. Who knew we’d fight it TWICE! And as the days go on, I pray God gives me the opportunity to walk with others who also wrestle with the disappointments, burdens, and diagnoses that life brings. I can see Him do just this, and I pray that in SOME way, I can help SOMEone. Also, on December 10, we are going for the 2nd attempt on heart ablation #4! The last one didn’t go QUITE as planned, as I never had it because they discovered I had leukemia, while already put under for the surgery. BUT. We are going to give it another go and we just praise God that my heart survived not one, but TWO intense chemo rounds including a transplant, which that in and of itself is a miracle! I’m trying to allow my heart and mind to accept that MAYBE I can spend the holidays with family this year. It’s unknown and scary at times to let my mind go there again for fear of disappointment. But GOD. There is a song “Amen” by Natalie Layne and it says… When a prayer I pray is answered And it stirs my faith again Amen for a brand new chapter Amen when the hard part ends Amen I’m friends with my Savior… This chapter hasn’t ended, but I also see a new one beginning and it’s a simple reminder that God is the beholder of our days. Our hours. And our minutes. AMEN. #leukemia #bonemarrowtransplant #kickthekeem #aml
🔥LAST DAY OF LUMEBOX’S 50% OFF SALE🔥 Here 🔥LAST DAY OF LUMEBOX’S 50% OFF SALE🔥 Here’s how I use mine: I use both the NIR and Red Light when I turn it on, I focus it in on an area, let it go for 12 minutes, and then I’m done. I sometimes move on to another area of my body if I’ve got a lot going on :). For example, if I’m using it for my feet, I’ll put my feet directly on it, for the full 12 minutes, shifting them around, here and there. For the back of my head (for hair growth, neck pain, or headaches), I’ll put a pillow on top of our couch cushion, rest the device against the pillow, sit down on the couch, and allow the light to penetrate onto the back of my head, about 2-3 inches away, for 12 minutes. These are just some examples of the way I’ve used the Lumebox. If you have a RLT device, where and how do you use yours? Hands down, I would get the Lumebox again. It has been life-changing for me physically after my bone marrow transplant and I’m so thankful for my friend who introduced it to me! What area of your body are you curious about with RLT? I am not medical doctor and am not giving medical advice. I’m just simply sharing my experience with RLT. What area of concern do you have? I’m curious… CLICK THE LINK IN MY BIO TO GET 50% OFF! You can use your health savings account too 👊😁
Growing up, every Saturday my sisters and I would Growing up, every Saturday my sisters and I would walk down the road to our cousin’s house, for a “playdate”. I’m sure the constant question of, “Is it 3:15 yet?” got old for my mom. I honestly can’t think of a Saturday when we DIDN’T make the trek. Hours were spent playing in the cottonseed, jumping off high points in the barn into hay, getting stuck in hay bales, sledding off the barn roof, snowmobiling, quading, playing N64, and making up any fun we could. It amazes me that no one ever broke a bone. Truly, it was a miracle. And it was only repeated again on Sunday afternoons after our naps, when they came to our house. Life seemed so simple. So carefree. Because it was. We just lived for the moment and IN the moment. Excited for the NEXT Saturday. Excited to imagine. Excited to just BE A KID. I sometimes reminisce about those days and wonder, what changed? Why did it have to change? I know you’re probably chuckling because we all know exactly what changed. Life. Circumstances. Responsibilities. Struggles. Aging! No way would I dare sled off a barn roof again… Heart failure and cancer over the past 7 years has really brought life into perspective. At times I felt I was fighting for not just a normal life, but for LIFE in general. I was given a 40% chance of not making it through my bone marrow transplant in January. Now, I know that’s less than 50%, but when I really started to consider those odds, they weren’t very encouraging. But I knew God was calling me to do it. I was more than ready to fight. So I asked Mazy. What do you love about being a kid? Here’s what she said… Big imagination. Not worrying about things. Hanging out with friends. Sports. Our home. That’s it. And you know what? When I look at that list, thesee are ALL things I can love about life RIGHT NOW. At age 40. Dream big. Let go of what I can control. Be with other people. Enjoy activity. Embrace being HOME. What do you miss about being a child? What was your favorite childhood memory? How can you incorporate an aspect of it into your life today? I’d love to hear your thoughts…
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