Kristin Shyla

A Good Marriage. Pursues

Kristin Shyla — Tue, 14 May 2013 19:38:34 +0000

Take the time to intentionally ask. Take the time to intentionally listen. Take the time to intentionally plan.
Take the time to date. Take the time to woo.

The Bells. Family

Kristin Shyla — Wed, 08 May 2013 12:09:50 +0000

I love these floors with you, these doors with you and everything in between. Life with you is never the same. Our schedules are crazy but our love is fervent. When you are working late, I fight to stay awake just to see you and you still make me laugh. Our family is ours. Children laughing, running through the house while tutus flap in the wind. Pirouettes and toe spins. Swinging, sandboxes and tents. I look at you, You look at me. This is ours? How did we get such a gift? I am full everyday.

This is the Bells. Matt, Heidi, Isaac & Micah.

I am so grateful that I was able to spend the day with you all! I was challenged by your love for others, your church and your heart for missions. I look forward to our paths crossing again soon!

To see their whole gallery you can here: Bell Family

One For You. One For Me. April Winner

Kristin Shyla — Thu, 02 May 2013 23:40:17 +0000

…and the winner is of the super hip glasses that make you feel good and look good while you wear them is…

I was so encouraged by all of your definitions of LOVE. I am so grateful for you all!

Sam & Lauren. Engaged

Kristin Shyla — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 16:31:02 +0000

A city on a hill rising high with all it’s dimensions exists a girl. She works everyday in a little office helping students find a place to call home. He walked in one day. She was busy and didn’t notice but he saw her standing there. He mentioned to himself if I go here, I will get to know her. That was his mission. She handed him a pen, he signed a lease and time past. The seasons changed and Lauren, began to see Sam, his character and his intentionality. He was marked with a deep love of God that invaded his every pursuit. The greatest one of all, was Lauren’s heart.

This is Sam & Lauren. This is love. The kind that made me cry.

One for you. One for me. April

Kristin Shyla — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 21:31:13 +0000

I don’t want to throw the word love around. I really don’t. It isn’t a cheap word to me and I say it when I am describing the many things that I like. Lately I have begun to wonder if I cheapen the definition of it when I use it so frequently? It’s just that I enjoy many things and it is often the first word that rolls off of my tongue. I would like to come up with a new way of saying something that I extremely enjoy without saying love, love, love, love all the time. I have been tossing around saying something like… I like this to the googleplex or I like this 10 times to the 100th power squared…can I even say that?

I am also a fan of slang and a new friend reminded me of the phrase “Boss.” You know when you like something you might find yourself saying “That’s Boss” or you might hear me say “That’s rad.” I wonder if Boss would be a good one to add to to the repertoire? Okay homies onto something that I think is rad to the googleplex and want to share with all of you! A pair of Warby Parker glasses! I own a pair. They are so “Boss”…(does it work)?

Honestly, since I can remember, I have always worn a pair of nerdy glasses. Now! Nerdy glasses are hip…so I am skating on the edges of hipsterhood with my Warby Parkers (I own the Zagg Tennessee Whisky pair). I actually purchased mine a few years ago and I have to say it… I love them and even greater I really love this company. What’s so unique about this company is that they are a one for one (meaning you get something and someone in need gets something). That way of doing business is so Boss (does it fit?) and very close to my heart.

For all of my friends who wear glasses, want a new pair, want to feel good about buying a new pair or who just want to skate on into hipsterhood, this month’s one for you is waiting for you. *They also sell sunglasses, so you can be a hipster in the sun.*

To enter you just have to answer one question by commenting below: How do you define Love? Does using the word love to describe a spectrum of feelings about things cheapen it’s meaning. What’s your definition?

The last day to enter will be on May 1st. I will be drawing on May 2nd.

via

Sing Loud. Ari, Lara & Grace

Kristin Shyla — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 12:53:00 +0000

Our lives imperfect. Our need very great. God in his initiating love gives and he gives gently bringing both of us to Him. We sing, we cry, we dance. Our greatest need, we needed a savior. We sing, we shout, Jesus. Our great God, we sing aloud and invite others in. We are not who we are, nor who we will be. We are in the midst of the day, the journey, the fight and we, we are fighting for what matters. God, our marriage, our family and loving his people.

“Lay down these promises broken. I will hold your hand until the colors fade. I will be here until your dying day. Sing aloud. Carry me over mountains to the end of love. Even when you think it’s all over, I will be here until your dying day.”

Sing aloud. Ahavah. Carry me until the end of love. Until Kingdom Come.

Ari, Lara & Grace it was an honor to spend the day with you. I am in awe of the might of God when I listen and peer into the life that He has laid out before you. His love is Ahavah, and He has put that in your heart. So grateful our paths crossed. The best is yet to come.

To hear more about Lara, Ari & Grace you can head over to laracasey.com. She inspires me daily. Go read and get fired up!

A Good Marriage. Ahavah

Kristin Shyla — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 12:56:10 +0000

“I’ve seen the ugly side of you and I am staying. Ahavah. A love of the will. I am not going anywhere.”
To hear more about initiating Ahavah love, go here. You will be encouraged and know love.

A Good Marriage : Embrace Often

Kristin Shyla — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 17:39:47 +0000

Be a criminal and steal those embraces as often as you can. In the kitchen, outside, in the car, washing dishes, walking the aisle in Target…embrace. Grab her hand, pull her close and hold on even if it’s for a brief second. Enjoy being an us.
A Good Marriage. Embrace Often.

The Petersens. Family

Kristin Shyla — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 21:51:16 +0000

The winter that seems to never end combs through North Carolina. The morning frost kissing the window pane while snow clouds linger. It’s time to rise. The kitchen blanketed in darkness, Ben, enters and begins loving his wife, Veronique, by giving her a clean slate. The dishes, the coffee, and the kids. He is present. She is present. Together they begin caring and giving as their kids are waking. The day and all it’s routines have begun and faithfulness treads throughout this home. When you consider love and all of it’s definitions you begin to understand that real love doesn’t seek it’s own but the happiness of the other. A simple pursuit of each other accompanied with enjoyment. Love is present here. It is visible.

Pure enjoyment & happiness.
Ben, Veronique, Joshua Lee, Caleb & Isaac Petersen
“It is not how much we have, but how much we enjoy, that makes happiness.” -Charles Spurgeon

Ben & Jes Tugwell. Great Expectation.

Kristin Shyla — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 13:07:19 +0000

It’s sunday morning. She rises early. The smell of breakfast wafts through the house drawing you out of bed and into the kitchen to see what is in store. Her husband, Ben, has been gone since 6:30am. It’s sunday morning. Jes, takes care of their two little ones, Finn 6, and Gideon 1, getting them ready for church and to go see Daddy teach people about God. Jes, knowing that Ben can’t eat before he preaches, grabs a coke to deliver to him when they arrive at Integrity Church. What began in 2007 with great expectation, a core group and a lot of prayer has grown into 2 services, 9am & 11am, in 2013. This is where they are now but their beginnings were meager.

Arriving in Greenville NC in 2007 Ben, burdened by the lack of presence of gospel centered churches in Greenville NC, he and a core group decided to plant a church. They had nothing of monetary value but an authentic love for the gospel and people. They were passionate about spreading it. They found a small apartment and Ben got a job working at Crown Bolt stocking hardware supplies at Home Depots.

A Newborn, a new town and a husband that worked around the clock, Jes thought to herself… “I can’t believe that I am a pastors wife”. ”Our first year was really hard but totally worth it. I cried and cried and cried.” & “There were times we didn’t know how we were going to pay our bills and checks would appear in the mailbox covering our needs. God took care of us continually and it only made us trust Him more. What we were doing is what He wanted.” It is in the stresses of life that you often begin to grow.

Ben, still working two jobs, realized that he needed more time to be a husband, father, pastor, and to be a church planter. He couldn’t deny what God was doing in Greenville, so he reached out to JD Greer from the Summit Church for support. That was the beginning of a beautiful relationship of support, financial and spiritual. Eventually he became a apart of the A29 network which further freed Ben and the vision of Integrity Church to go forth in spreading the gospel in Greenville, NC. Their first meeting in 2007 consisted of Ben, Jes, Finn Tugwell and another couple, Philip & Judianne Wall. Two long but short years later they launched their first public service.

Now they 350-400 people gather weekly at The City Hotel and Bistro to encounter God who made them, loves them, died for them and delights to give them new life. This is Integrity Church.

A faithful family who loved God more than their circumstances, trusted Him and believed that what He had for their lives, hard or easy was worth it. It meant being a part of God’s kingdom coming here on earth. You can’t put a price or time on that. Jes is quite the artist. She stays at home with Finn and Gideon, home schools, runs a small decorating interior business, Coloring Clementine and loves hospitality. I was able to spend two days with them and was loved through and through. They will invite you in, cook for you, listen to you and love you where you are at.

It is with Great Expectation Integrity Church. Ben & Jes. Church Planters.