Kaitlyn E. Bouchillon's Blog, page 5

Jesus Will Meet You in Your Mourning

While waiting in line at the coffee shop on the other side of town, a familiar voice called my name. Before I turned around, I knew the face that would greet me. We weren’t meeting there to catch up. In fact, I had no idea my friend arrived moments after I walked through the door.

But I’ve heard him say my name enough times that I know his tone and cadence well enough to determine his identity with my eyes closed or my back turned.

The same is true for my family and close friends. We’ve known ea...

12 Can’t-Miss Books Coming September-December of 2021

Here’s something incredible and wildly fascinating: there is a very clear theme in the books below. In fact, 90% of the books I considered for the September-December list circled around the same few topics/themes . . . this is, apparently, what we really need to hear right now.

And of course we do.

Fun fact: Book deals are generally signed 1.5-2 years prior to when the book is available for purchase, which means the books releasing right now were, by and large, likely signed right before (and th...

Scars Are Miracles Written on Skin

I sit quietly in the chair as hair falls to the ground. She works quickly and with each snip of the scissors, another question comes my way: Remind me what you do for work? Are you dating anyone? Did you want layers today?

I stare at my reflection in the mirror as I answer each one, ask a few of my own in response, and then hold my breath wondering if she’ll ask about the scar suddenly on full display.

You’d never know it unless I were to pull my hair into a ponytail, unless I put it into a bun,...

This Is What Success Looks Like

You are talented.

Before you shake your head, deny those words, and click the little red X on this page, let me ask you a question: Do you remember the parable of the three servants who were given different amounts of talents?

In Matthew 25, Jesus tells a story about a master who gave specific amounts of talents (money) to three servants before leaving for a trip. Upon his return, they were to give the money back. Two of the servants chose to invest what they had received while the third servant...

It’s Okay to Not Be Okay Today

I wrote this article three weeks ago, Nana went Home two weeks ago, and Pap-Pop passed away exactly one year ago… to the day. As someone who loves and remembers dates/details, when I was assigned the May 12th article at incourage.me, I was confident it wasn’t a coincidence. And then I tried to write day after day, night after night, but each word put up a fight. In the end, I wrote about grief and gratitude and hope and loss. I knew I’d need these words and thought, after 2020 and 2021, you migh...

12 Can’t-Miss Books Coming May-August of 2021

Somehow I managed to narrow it down from 40 to 12 last time (here’s the January-April list) and I’ve kept it at a dozen again, but odds are slim I’ll be able to go three times in a row. Y’all. As of right now, I have 32 titles bookmarked to potentially be part of the September-December list. Bless it.

What I will say is that I’ve read almost every book below and highly recommend them. For the few that I haven’t had a chance to read yet, they come highly recommended by friends (who have early cop...

You Have Something to Offer

My mouth dropped open at the number on the screen. A few minutes earlier, a friend sent a text that a gift was on the way. “It isn’t much . . . but it’s something!” she said, knowing that medical bills were starting to show up and add up.

Her “not much” brought me to tears. With the click of a button, she completely covered the cost of a medication that I needed to pick up that afternoon.

It wasn’t long before another bill arrived. With no answers in sight, I opened the envelope and skimmed the ...

This Is Not Where Your Story Ends

A few weeks ago, I walked into the living room, still groggily wiping sleep from my eyes and mentally thinking through my to-dos for the day, and immediately started blinking back tears.

I planted the bulb in December, watered it through January, and kept waiting for it to bloom. An amaryllis grows in winter, when harvest has come and gone and we’re waiting for spring to arrive. When so much feels quiet and still, dead and bare with no signs of life to be seen, the amaryllis slowly begins to ris...

Go Ahead and Light the Candles

The post was originally published in the January 2021 issue of LifeWay’s HomeLife Magazine. I’m honored to be included in the print publication, and grateful for the opportunity to share the words with you here as well.

As a new year begins and we say goodbye to all that 2020 held, I find myself returning to the lesson of a lit candle.

For years, I stored half a dozen candles in a cabinet, always waiting for a “better day” or the “best time.” Each unlit wick told the story: at some point along...

12 Can’t-Miss Books Coming January-April of 2021

I’d like to begin by saying you’re welcome for only including 12 books. I narrowed it down from a list of 40 titles, but based on the books I already have filed away for May-August, I make no promises for stopping with a dozen next time.

But after 2020, “too many” great books releasing at one time is pretty much the best problem to have. Yes to all the words, yes to filling our bookshelves, yes to writers continuing to tell stories that make us laugh, make us think, and change lives.

The nonfict...