Cut Your Grocery Bill in Half | Book Review

http://booksneeze.com/blogger/resources/9781400202836

A new spot!

Thanks for reading the blog! I actually have a domain now, so head over to www.kristensteelewrites.com where you can read more of the fun!

Taking Advice From Others

I really like our church. We have been going there for 2 years and we don’t always feel totally connected since it feels like everyone that “fits in” has kids. But we love it. We keep going because the preaching is just so on point, just so applicable and God teaches us so much.

A while ago at our church our pastor, Andy Stanley, did a sermon series called “Destinations” [if you want to listen to it, go here and scroll down to the sermon called "The Path Principle"] and it really resonated with me. Then I realized that Andy had written a book about this topic & expanded upon it & I immediately bought the book, The Principle of the Path!

There’s a whole chapter in the book about asking for help from our friends that really hit home with me. By using the classic “guys don’t ask for directions” analogy, he explains why that’s so silly:

If you are willing to ask for directions when you can’t find a movie theater, why would you hesitate to ask for input when you are making a big relationship or financial decision?

This hit home with me, because so many of my friends are dating, getting engaged and getting married… and I wonder how many of those people leaping into the lifelong bond of marriage stopped to ask everyone else for their input? I know that sometimes it’s hard to ask HONESTLY what another person thinks about your decision, but what would happen if you didn’t ask at all? You’d never know.

This doesn’t apply to only relationship or finances, even though that takes care of a majority of issues, but take the example of my new photography business: if I didn’t stop and ask for direction on how the heck to do taxes, or how exactly do I figure out which products to offer, which companies are reputable and good to use, etc. then I would NEVER have been able to figure all that out.

Reading this book & remembering how important it is to not only “stop and ask for directions” in your life, aka get advice from others, but also to be sure to get advice from wise individuals who are farther down the path than you are. Asking for directions from someone in your same situation might not always been beneficial anyone involved! I’m glad that I read this chapter & it sure did remind me that I need to be getting wise counsel about big decisions in our life.

What do you think about this? Leave a comment below!

Oops, I did it again.

Yep, I’m trying to be more consistent with my personal blog, but as soon as I announced “I’m writing a book,” the pressure seems like it’s on. {Did you notice the month-long hiatus from posting here? Yeah, I was overwhelmed.} So I’m going to choose not to think about that, and instead of thinking about “What should my book be about? What are some deep, hearty topics to discuss?” I’m just going to speak from my heart. I think it’s better that way.

I have had a LOT going on over the last six months: I decided to quit my full-time job and do photography full-time, we went to Italy on vacation, we celebrated our 2-year anniversary, God confirmed to me in many ways that I’m supposed to write a book & we’re now proud parents to our dog-child Winston.

Needless to say, I’ve been a bit busy with everything & the pressure of launching my own business that’s supposed to instantly make tons of $$ and immediately replace my former income is somewhat daunting… and I was trying to do it all alone.

So one of my good friends told me that she could tell how much stress I was under and sweetly asked if I had been praying about it. My initial response [in my head] was, “Well of COURSE I have!” but then as I thought about it more my answer was, “No.” She then said, “Well, I’m going to commit to praying for you and your business everyday for the next week and you should too. I’m going to believe for you that God is going to do more big things for your business than you could imagine.” And while that sounded nice, and I knew that I needed to be praying more, I didn’t really believe it.

I did pray for that week and my prayers started out something like this:

Ok Jesus, I know I need to believe you for my business and I should trust you, but it’s really hard. Please help me with my unbelief and help me to see you do big things for my business if this is really what I’m supposed to be doing.

But by the end of the two weeks where I was fervently praying that prayer everyday, I couldn’t BELIEVE how abundantly God had answered my prayers: I booked two different weddings during that time, developed a new relationship with a dynamite wedding planner, got booked for a large special event this fall, made plans for a huge month of fall-photo-portrait madness & might be going to England next summer to photograph a wedding.

That makes me want to stop and say… Why do I always find it so hard to Trust God? I mean REALLY trust? Not just, I know I should pray more kind of trust but the I know that everything is yours anyways and that you’re my Sovereign God & protector so why should I fear kind of trust.

Here are some verses that I have been clinging to recently:

And those who know your name put their trust in you,
for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you. —Psalm 9:10

Trust in the Lord, and do good;
dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.
Delight yourself in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Commit your way to the Lord;
trust in him, and he will act.
He will bring forth your righteousness as the light,
and your justice as the noonday. —Psalm 37: 3-6

What about you, do you find it hard to Trust God with big things in your life? or What have you been learning recently?
I’d love for you to comment below!

The process

In 7th grade we were sitting in English class & I’ll never forget when our teacher told us about an essay that had gotten the highest grade in the class. This student’s writing was so far superior than everyone else’s that she told us all what he had done: he couldn’t think about what to write, so instead he wrote about his process of writing an essay. By the time he was done, he had created a very solid essay, one that received the adoration of my beloved English teacher. He got an A+ on that paper and I never forgot what he had written about: the process.

I thought about that yesterday as I struggled with what to write. I told you about how I’m writing a book but here’s the kicker: I kinda know what’s going to be in it… but not really. I know that I want to somehow share my story, but I’m still living it… still figuring it out.

When I write, I (selfishly) want to come across as having it all figured out, having mastered my struggle with a particular sin. Why? Because I want to act like the expert. I want to be able to tell other women, “Oh yes, when I struggled with that, I simply did X, Y and Z and then that fixed it!”

But instead, God and I are still on this journey and I realized the other day that maybe God wants me to write about the process rather than just a how-to guide for breaking free from your sin. (Trust me, there are amazing books that are out there- I’ve done the Breaking Free bible study by Beth Moore & it’s good.)

So here I am on this journey and I’ll be honest with you: that struggle that I mentioned before, I still struggle with it. Even after being married, after when I thought it wouldn’t be a problem anymore, but indeed it is. Satan still tempts me, I still fall sometimes, but at the end of the day I cling to GRACE.

But that weakness I think is something that I think we don’t talk about in church. Even as Christians, we act like we have it all together, when really the point is that we DON’T. We don’t have it all together because we still sin, struggle with sin and because of that we NEED Jesus. So on that note I leave you with this:

“My grace is sufficient for you for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest in me.” —2 Corinthians 12:9

Our 2 Year Anniversary

[I posted this on my photography blog on Monday, but since it's more personal than photography related I'm posting it here too... with some added details!]

I hear people saying all the time “time flies when you’re having fun,” but it hasn’t really hit me until today, on our two year wedding anniversary. Looking back over the past two years I can’t believe how much fun we’ve had, how fast time has flown and how far we’ve come.

You might remember me telling you a little bit of our story here, but that doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of David + Kristen.

I’ve been meaning to post these amazing photos by Kate Crafton for sometime now, so now’s a great time!

Just Enjoying Life

We’re in a really fun stage of life: just enjoying each other. The past two years has been about getting to know each other better, doing life with friends we love, working really hard, traveling and starting a family with a puppy (more on this in a bit…).

I love all of David’s quirks with every fiber of my being… You know what I mean, those funny things that you don’t know about your sweet Hubby until you’re living with eachother 24/7 and you just say, “whoah! why do you do that that way?” or “I have NEVER heard you tell that story before!” Those moments are what has made up our last two years together sweet. Oh, and we’re also kind of obsessed with our favorite TV shows (LOST, White Collar, NCIS, Burn Notice… just to name a few!).

I love these photos and I’m SO thankful for Kate that she captured this time of our life: young married without kids. (Yes blog readers, we want kids and maybe even lots of them, just not yet.)

What have I learned?

Any of you who know me well know that I’m an avid reader. Especially encouraging, personal growth books. So when we decided to take the plunge & get engaged I was all hands on deck — reading every marriage book and preparation for marriage book I could find. We were engaged for a year so I read a LOT! All of that reading definitely helped, but I tell my friends that there’s nothing that can prepare you for how absolutely wonderful and fresh and exciting it is to walk down the aisle and finally look at each other and say out loud, “WE’RE MARRIED!!”

The days and weeks that followed our wedding held some dear memories: trying (and failing!) many recipes for dinner including ruining a pecan pie (Dave said he loved the gooey part of the pie so I thought I’d just add more corn syrup… don’t try, it doesn’t work!), learning how to work together on so many things and trusting God to provide jobs for both of us.

Those books I read were great, and they definitely prepared me for certain aspects of what to expect, but I don’t think that any book can prepare you for the unique blessings & challenges that you will uniquely face in marriage. (P.S. If you’d like a recommended reading list, I have a great list!) So the most important lesson I’ve learned over the past two years is…

BE HONEST & GENUINE. It’s funny that I write that because that’s something that I say all the time: that I value real, genuine people in my life. I can’t stand anyone who is fake or superficial, yet that’s something that I’ve had to remind myself of most of all. For me it’s (unfortunately) so easy to gloss over the ugly parts of myself and try to hide. In the end: honesty is always the best policy and that’s something I’ve stubbornly had to learn the hard way.

Rose colored Glasses

{This is the extra, added bit!} I know that it all sounds rosy and looking back over the 2 years that’s what I remember most, but we’ve had some hard times too. Some really serious talks where sometimes I wonder how well I know Dave at all… but those times have been few and far between. But we’ve definitely been there. The last couple of months of me launching my photography career and living on virtually one income have been really challenging… very challenging to say the least. Yet through it all, we always try to go to sleep not angry with one another. Sometimes that means talking through a lot of stuff before we sleep, but I’m thankful to have a humble and gracious husband who loves me through it all.

More than anyone, David has been the one who’s been so supportive of my dream to write a book one day. A couple of weeks ago he looked at me and said, “Do you need to stop doing photography to really concentrate on writing your book?” That meant the world to me, because he knows how much I love both. I’m not really sure what the appropriate photography/book writing balance is yet, but I’m sure praying to find out. I trust and I know that God will guide my steps as I lean more on Him than on me. Lord, you know that obedience in your will is my one goal!

Thank You David

So thank you David, for being such a wonderful and encouraging Hubby to me over the last two years. I would never have been able to accomplish 1/2 of what I have without your support and prodding me when you know that I can do more, and do better. I hope we have at least 52 more fun years together, and that we’re still laughing together like we are in those photos above.

So What’s Next??

So what’s next for us Steeles?? Well, we’re so excited to be bringing home a new puppy named Winston a week from today!! He’s our anniversary present to each other and I couldn’t be anymore excited about him. He’s a Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier & his cute dark brown and black bits will grow out & he’ll be a golden color when he grows up.

Yep, I’m becoming a dog person and you better believe that I’m going to be posting some of his puppy-cuteness here on the blog. These photos are just the beginning… I might have to make a new “Winston” category on the blog if I start getting obsessive (just kidding, oh wait… maybe I’m not).

I hope you’ve enjoyed this post from me & an update on our new puppy! Hugs, K

Tags: Christian Living, Jesus, Marriage, Obedience, Two Year Anniversary, Writing a Book

On the journey: Writing a Book

I’ve started a journey

As some of you may or may not know, I’ve started a journey. Much like that photo above of the hiking path along the Cinque Terre, my journey has taken me a long time to actually even get to this point—I’m talking about it with people, which is huge for me.

For a long time now God has put the desire in my heart to one day write a book. I used to think it was silly, that no one would care what I had to say… but slowly, as I started to tell bits and pieces of my story to others, I realized that my story resonated with their story. Sometimes, stories just need to be told.

Trust me, this journey of even sharing my desire to write a book with others is huge for me. God has been nudging me, putting BLATANT signs in my path and I really just run the other way. But not now. I’m {trying} to embrace what I know that God’s leading me into, a path of trusting Him to give me the right words to say… ESPECIALLY when I don’t feel like sharing what’s on my heart.

How It All Started

My senior year of college I was asked to speak our Campus Crusade Women’s Retreat. This was pretty standard: the Senior women were always the ones who did the talks each year, and so I was really excited about it.

God had been stirring something deep within my soul that I wanted to talk about, but a wise Christian woman who I trusted very much advised me that I might not be ready to talk about it in front of 60 women. She thought I might be too knee-deep in the muck of what I wanted to talk about & too emotional.

So what did I do? I agreed that I probably shouldn’t talk about that and decided that women need to know about The Five Love Languages by Gary Thomas. I whipped up a fancy-schmancy flyer outlining each love language and how we can love one another better.

So we get to the retreat and I’m supposed to talk Saturday night. My friend Kelly talked Friday night, my other friend talked Saturday morning, and I couldn’t help but feeling like I was about to cop-out. I knew that God was trying to tell me that I was ready, that I really should take this opportunity to share my heart.

So Saturday afternoon we had hours of freetime scheduled. I had wanted to go shopping with some of the girls, but instead I took time to borrow my friend’s hammock and just sit outside and wait for the Lord’s voice. Now, it’s not very often in my life that I feel that one with the Lord and so I knew that he was very clearly telling me that it was OK for me to go ahead and speak from my heart.

That wise woman in my life? Well, she was right I was a bit emotional about it, but I don’t think that the women I was speaking to minded one bit. I warned them up front that I tended to get really emotional when I spoke from my heart about certain issues, and that sometimes that might involve crying and snotting and that’s exactly what I did. I just brought up a box of Kleenex and tried to speak as clearly as possible through my snotting and crying and I think I may have gotten my message across.

What message? Well, I’ll let you read my whole talk here, but just know that if you have this blog address I’m trusting you not to judge me and I’m trusting that you’ve had/have a place of brokeness in your life before or are currently wrestling with that. I hope that parts of my story resonate with you & that maybe one day we can talk about your story too.

For me, God and I are definitely still wrestling together on so many different things but what I learned from that Women’s Retreat? Sometimes, God calls you to make the first step. After my talk, about 10 different women came up to me and said, “Thank you SO much for talking about that, I’ve NEVER had someone to talk to about this before.”

THAT’s when I knew that not only this topic, but that many other topics need to be talked about more openly between Christians. Why do we feel like we have to have it all together before we can talk about our struggles?

I’m deep in the middle of so many different things, but friends, I’ve been redeemed and I totally believe that so I don’t have to live in the bondage of sin any more.

What do you think about all this?? Have I opened a can of worms?

Tags: Challenges with Christianity, Writing a Book