Kaitlyn E. Bouchillon's Blog, page 3

The Storm Is Never The End of the Story

A couple walks arm in arm, runners sprint past, and grown men whiz by on bikes. A little boy cries crocodile tears as he tries to maneuver the trike with training wheels. The trail is full today, but so are the ditches on either side.

A week of gray skies and pounding rain kept us indoors, the pathway empty. Yesterday’s storm raged, the wind violently ripping branches, and we sidestep what has haphazardly fallen, careful to avoid the trees split in half that nearly block the way. The small dips ...

For When You’re Stuck in One Long Winter

You know Jennifer Dukes Lee, right? She’s one of my favorite people and I’m not kidding when I say it took approximately thirty-five seconds to land on her newest book, Growing Slow, as the first All The Things book (more on that below). This is the message we need after all the January words about goals and success. This is the book we need when winter is dragging on. I’m delighted to welcome her to the blog today . . .

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I don’t know a single person who describes herself as a “winter person...

“I’ll Hold It With You”

I was about to walk into a birthday party when my phone buzzed. After several months of waiting for appointments and tests, the results were finally here and the diagnosis was clear: cancer.

Again. Actually, again again.

Cancer keeps weaving its way back into our family story, climbing into another chapter, leaving its fingerprints year after year.

Just half an hour earlier, I twirled in my bright fuchsia dress, ready to celebrate.

I read the message again as I contemplated driving home. How can...

15 New Books I’m Looking Forward to This Spring

Annnnnnnd we’re back! The first book list of 2023 is here and, well, sorry not sorry for including 15 this time. I promise I trimmed it down. (I began with 55 bookmarked titles so truly, this is not too shabby.) As always, I’ll share more book recommendations, along with what I’m currently reading, in Thursday Things (you can sign up here) . . . but if you’re looking for a new read for 2023, there are many to get you started here!

I’ve read an early copy of almost all of the books below, but for...

The Night Is Deep but Light Runs Deeper

I hit play and suddenly the familiar voices of characters I’ve come to love are speaking, shouting, whispering in my ears. The story rises and falls. With each turn, at every “there’s no way out” moment, my heartbeat quickens, my eyes widen, and I wonder what will come next. I’m frozen, holding my breath until they breathe a sigh of relief and make it to the other side of the cliff, until they’re safely through the unknown, until the page turns.

Chapter after chapter, my investment in the story ...

You Are Not a Trash Can

My phone rang with a FaceTime notification and within seconds, I was staring at the faces of two dear friends. One woman had just hung up from an unexpected phone call that provided clarity and also included quite a few careless words. She processed, we listened, and after a while she said:

“Kaitlyn, you’ve been quiet but I can tell something is on your mind. What do you think?”

I hesitated for a moment, wondering just how crazy the answer would sound, but I know these friends and they know me, ...

13 New Books I’m Looking Forward to This Fall

Here we go! The final book list of the year. As always, I bookmarked and read early copies of way more titles than will fit on this list. (Oops?) I’ve narrowed it down from 43 books to 13 and over the coming months, I’ll share other releases in my Thursday Things emails (you can sign up here) . . . but if you’re looking for a new fall read, there are many to get you started below!

It always amazes and intrigues me when a theme emerges for a specific season, and this time was no different. Genera...

Don’t Forget to Remember

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For many years now, I’ve asked myself the same nine questions as one year turns into the next. You’ve likely seen a similar “end of the year questions” list, and I can’t help but laugh at myself as I reflect on these questions in August as the store aisles fill with back-to-school supplies. The thing is, this year, one question stretched beyond a winter day of reflection and stayed with me through the seasons: What’...

Get Your Hopes Up

I’ve been in a fight for over a decade.

Sometimes I wonder if I’m fighting with Hope, wrestling in the desert through the dark of night, begging for a blessing. But this long-standing fight, this particular back and forth of daily cries and deep sighs and tears rolling down cheeks, is a fight for hope, a fight to hope, a fight of hope.

Even now, writing these words brings tears to my eyes. It’s true that hope heals but also? Hope hurts. It’s risky.

When you’ve hoped for something time after time...

When It’s Been a Lot for What Feels Like a Long Time

It’s funny the things that can immediately bring tears to your eyes. On an ordinary Tuesday afternoon, I opened my inbox and gasped. Inside, an email invited me to congratulate my grandma on a milestone number of years in her listed profession: pastor’s wife.

Just past the hilarity of “How in the world is she on LinkedIn and who signed her up?” is the gut punch, the sting of tears, the unexpected wave of sadness rolling in.

What LinkedIn doesn’t know is that my grandma passed away. Today, as you...