Kaitlyn E. Bouchillon's Blog, page 14

twenty-five {gifts + coffee for you}

Today I turn twenty-five.

And I’m just going to be honest, that feels weird to type… much less speak out loud.

Maybe because, for an entire year, every time someone has asked my age (which shockingly happens more often than one would think), I’ve immediately answered “twenty-three.”

I mean, I don’t lie on purpose. Somehow my brain just can’t keep up with the fact that, for literally 365 days, year twenty-four was a real thing.

For reasons I haven’t been able to put my finger on just yet, twe...

Your Story Is Far From Over

There’s this game I like to play and it never fails to catch people by surprise. Here’s how it works: I invite someone to grab coffee and once we’ve found a comfortable seat, our hands wrapped around a cup of something delicious, I look into their eyes and say these words: “So, what’s your story?”

Almost every time, they hesitantly respond, “My story? What do you mean, exactly?” I then offer to go first, to share with them the pages He has given me to live, and for the record, I don’t sugarc...

4 Free Fall Prints for Your Home

This weekend, I went to the pumpkin patch and left with both a pumpkin and a sunburn. But apparently, in the past three days, fall has decided to arrive in Alabama.

And let me tell you, I am here for it.

Bring on the apple cider, sweater weather, crunchy leaves and thick scarves.

If you’ve visited this little corner of the Internet for a while now, you probably know that offering prints and other gifts throughout the year is one of my favorite things to do. There’s an entire page of freebies...

Life Lately: Highs and Lows {and a giveaway}

I tried — I mean I really, really tried — to write these words without having to swallow down a lump in my throat, without blinking back tears.

It shouldn’t be that hard, I told myself. After all, the heartbeat behind this post has been on repeat in my mind for months. The song lyrics have been whispered in the dark, belted while driving down the highway, and hummed while doing the dishes.

During one particularly important but difficult conversation, I stifled a laugh as the song played not o...

If You Need a Moment to Breathe, This Is for You {giveaway!}

I love keeping secrets… but even better than keeping them is finally spilling the beans, the moment when the secret gets to be shared.

Nearly a year ago, I received an invitation to partner together on a couple projects with LifeWay and (in)courage. (Writing that sentence is absolute craziness. And quite humbling. And also really exciting.)

You didn’t know it, but way back at the beginning of 2017 many of you prayed for words being written, words that would one day be printed and bound, ship...

When Your Prayers Go (Seemingly) Unanswered

Isabella Morganthal, author and founder of a magazine for young girls, has a lot of wisdom for her twenty years. If you’ve read Chapter 1 (Questions & Answers) of Even If Not, you’ll understand why I smiled real big when reading her words below, the ones she wrote for you in this space. Welcome to this little corner of the Internet, Bella. Thank you for sharing wisdom and truth with us through your words.

My eyes were riveted to the TV where every channel seemed to be saying something about...

You Were Created to Create {giveaway!}

“Being his workmanship doesn’t mean we are all poets. It means we are all poems, individual created works of a creative God. And this poetry comes out uniquely through us as we worship, think, love, pray, rest, work, and exist.” – Emily P. Freeman, A Million Little Ways

I did something new last week.

Well, technically, I’m almost positive this was part of my childhood at some point… but I have no recollection of it, and so it feels new to me.

Give me an empty page and I’ll put words down.

Tu...

What I Learned This Summer

One of the ways I purposely work on appreciating the beautiful but so-very-ordinary stuff of real life and regular days is by keeping track of what I’m learning.

It’s simple and yet also meaningful, a practical way to practice the ministry of paying attention.

Summer is my least favorite of all the seasons (don’t hate me for saying that, please… it’s just. so. dang. hot.). But as I pulled this post together, I was reminded that every season shows up with something to offer.

Don’t get me wrong...

The Next Right Thing (How 2,000 Words Changed My Life)

Somehow two years have gone by and yet this is still the face I make when I think about that day. Exactly two years ago, I opened up a blank page and wrote 2,000 words.

It felt like breaking wide open, like an offering poured out. Also, it felt crazy.

But I wrote because He made Himself more than clear: to do anything else would be flat out disobedience.

I did it because He said to — not because I wanted to. And to be perfectly honest, writing out the broken pieces of my story terrified me. ...

You haven’t been buried, you’ve been planted.

“I have literally nothing together about my life.” -Me, in an Instagram story this week

Currently, there are more questions than answers, unknowns looming around every corner and piling up every time the calendar flips.

On Wednesday night I felt led to share about this on Instagram stories. Which, honestly, was about the last thing I wanted to do.

Be vulnerable in front of a camera, with no idea what the response might look like? Speak instead of write, knowing that I ramble and words can’t...