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A book for the broken hopefuls… Even If Not: Living, Loving, and Learning in the in Between

Even If Not: Living, Loving and Learning in the in Between

kaitlyn_bouch

📚Author of #EvenIfNotBook
✏️Writer: kaitlynbouchillon.com
☕️Lover of iced coffee
💻Virtual Assistant

The ordinary moments of today are miraculous answe

The ordinary moments of today are miraculous answers to long-ago prayers. A life that is meaningful starts with a heart that is grateful. Thankfulness in small things — can give you joy in everything. - Ann Voskamp⁣⁣
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A wonder-filled life is grateful attentiveness to the awe in our ordinary. - Alia Joy⁣⁣
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Grace is everywhere, like lenses that go unnoticed because you are looking through them. - Philip Yancey⁣⁣
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Today’s prayer, and tomorrow’s too:⁣⁣ God, grant me eyes to see.
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#beautifulordinarynow #kaitlynsees2020

“Sometimes our questions take the form of “Wha

“Sometimes our questions take the form of “What should I eat for breakfast?” or “Should I start a new episode on Netflix even though it’s already one in the morning?”⁣
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Those questions have answers. But sometimes our questions look more like this:⁣
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▫️ What if I don’t get a miracle?⁣
▫️ Should I stay or should I go?⁣
▫️ Am I enough? Am I too much?⁣
▫️ Is there someone out there for me?⁣
▫️ Does God hear me?⁣
▫️ Do I begin something new or give more to what already is?⁣
▫️ Is it too late? Is it too early?⁣
▫️ Does love really exist?⁣
▫️ Why is there evil in the world?⁣
▫️ Can God handle all these questions?⁣
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That’s just the tip of the iceberg of questions I’ve raised to the heavens.⁣
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Through my own questioning and doubting I’ve come to find that the first step to receiving an answer is being brave enough to ask a question.⁣
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Sometimes that bravery simply looks like being willing to wait and listen in the dark. Because He will answer, I can promise you that.⁣
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Spoiler alert: He is the Answer.” - Even If Not, chapter one⁣
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💛 Earlier this week, I sent one of my double-sided prints to someone who messaged saying she just finished reading and reviewing #EvenIfNotBook. I’m honestly never going to get over it. 😭 The places God has and continues to take those pages astounds me.⁣
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Each chapter of Even If Not begins with a piece of artwork featuring a quote from the chapter. They’re all free for email subscribers 🎉 but if you’d like a double-sided print, I have 10 left!⁣
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If you haven’t already done so and choose to leave a review, DM with a link to your new book review + your address and I’ll mail one your way. (Until I run out.) 📬⁣

The whole “new year, new you” thing? Yeah, no

The whole “new year, new you” thing? Yeah, no thanks.⁣
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How can four small words carry such weight? The pressure feels like a burden. I’m overwhelmed and exhausted just at the idea.⁣
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I want this instead: New year, same God.⁣
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On Christmas afternoon, after the table was cleared and the torn wrapping paper picked up, I pulled out The Greatest Gift and read these words:⁣
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“He is the God who is so for us that He can’t stay away from us. The God who loves us and likes us and isn’t merely 50 percent or 72.3 percent for us, but the God who is always, unequivocally, 100 percent for us — the God who so likes us, the God who is so for us that He is the God who chooses to be with us.”⁣
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He didn’t call Himself “I Might Be” or “I Was.” He is the right-this-very-second, in-this-moment, always-with-you God. He is the God of Right Now. “I Am.”⁣
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Emmanuel. God come to us, God come for us, God forever with us.⁣ Emmanuel⁣
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El Roi. He sees us and He sees us through every high and every low, every ordinary in-between.⁣
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It’s just as true on January 9th as it is on December 25th. He’s as faithful and good, loving and present, on this page of the calendar as He was on the last.⁣
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He’s the God who comes and stays and sees, and more than anything else in 2020, I want to see Him with 20/20 vision.⁣
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In the difficult roadblocks, in the wide open spaces, in the twists and turns of what seem to be confusing detours, and in the benches along the way that welcome me to pause and rest. In happy hellos and grief-filled goodbyes, in tears that lead to laughter and laughter that leads to tears, may we see Him every step of the way, present on every page.⁣
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In every moment and every change, the unchanging One remains. He sees us . . . may we see Him ever more clearly in the coming days.⁣
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New year, same God.⁣
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(This is an excerpt from my newest blog post. If you want to read the whole thing 👉🏻 click the link in my bio and choose “the latest blog post.”) #kaitlynsees2020

Maybe strength doesn’t reside in having never be

Maybe strength doesn’t reside in having never been broken, but in the courage required to grow strong in the broken places.⁣⁣
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Beauty from ashes, life from death, light from darkness, joy from grief.⁣⁣
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Don’t give up just yet... you’re stronger than you know, and the Author isn’t don’t writing. There’s more to the story.⁣⁣
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I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. - Psalm 27:13-14⁣
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#kaitlynsees2020

May we trust in the dark what we know to be true i

May we trust in the dark what we know to be true in the Light. He is the way-maker and the promise-keeper and so although we may not know what’s coming our way and 2020 may hold more questions than answers, we can trust that He’ll be with us through every change.⁣⁣
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From beginning to end, He is faithful and true on every page.⁣⁣
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“Look! Look! God has moved into the neighborhood, making his home with men and women! They’re his people, he’s their God. He’ll wipe every tear from their eyes. Death is gone for good—tears gone, crying gone, pain gone—all the first order of things gone.” The Enthroned continued, “Look! I’m making everything new. Write it all down—each word dependable and accurate.” Then he said, “It’s happened. I’m A to Z. I’m the Beginning, I’m the Conclusion." Revelation 21:3-6, MSG⁣⁣
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"We can trust the unknown of the future to the God we know is authoring its pages. He never promised to answer all of our questions, but He promised to be the answer to every question we'll ever face." - #EvenIfNotBook⁣
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#kaitlynsees2020

2019 was a hard year, to be perfectly honest with

2019 was a hard year, to be perfectly honest with you. There’s not too much I’d like to repeat.⁣
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There were celebrations and adventures, travels and laughter and answered prayers… But also? There were dreams that died and worst fears realized, difficult conversations and teary goodbyes.⁣
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These aren’t your favorite pictures from 2019, at least according to likes. (You can swipe to see those - a few are on both slides, which makes me smile.) But when I sat down last night to pull 9 that summarize 2019 (to me), I landed here. Each one tells a deeper story, but if you string it all together it says this:⁣
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From sunrise to sunset, in the ordinary and the difficult and the lonely and the beautiful, God is working all things together for good. You’re right where you’re supposed to be. He writes all the pages in our book and this chapter might be the highlight or it might be the lull, but ultimately, it’s His to write. Relax into it. The story isn’t over. Even in the chaos, He is writing a symphony.⁣
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Here’s to 2020. May we have the courage to ask hard questions and the grace to listen well. May we look for the light even when the night is long, hold onto hope, and follow His lead even if we walk alone May we set a longer table, choose to fight for instead of with one another, trust that He is always at work for our good and His glory, and dare to say “even if not” when we don’t understand. May we see Him in our beautiful and ordinary right here, right now days.

In every high and every low, may you remember that

In every high and every low, may you remember that you do not walk alone. There is no wave that can overtake Him, no storm that can overpower Him, no wind that can shout louder than His gentle whisper.⁣
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You don’t have to be more or do more. Instead, choose to anchor yourself in the rhythm of grace, knowing that your worth is secure in Him. His eyes are ever on you, His presence ever with you, His love ever for you.⁣
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If He calls you to join Him on the roaring seas, if He invites you to step into uncharted territory, go. One shaking step at a time, walk forward in faith that the best place to be is not the imagined safety of a ship but wherever He leads. May you find Him in the questions and the mystery, may you keep your eyes above the waves, and may you always have the faith to call on His name. He will hear, and He will save.⁣
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May you be anchored in a hope that does not change in changing winds. As you step out in faith, listen for His voice and look for His hand. You are not adrift in a sea of chaos. You’ll discover Him in the deep, and you will not sink.⁣
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🌊⚓️✨⁣
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Every year, I write a letter to myself based on my word of the year. That ☝🏻 is an excerpt of the letter (shared fully on my blog last February).⁣
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The word “anchor” has shown up no less than two hundred times in 2019. My camera roll is full of “random” images of anchors that appeared, but this one means the most. Six months before 2019 began, I stood beside this anchor on the Sea of Galilee. I didn’t think anything of it and had no idea what it would mean to me later — but He did.⁣
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I know what the next word will be, but I also know I’m not done with “anchor” just yet. Or, maybe it’s not done with me. Did you pick a word this past year? If so, what was it and did it “randomly” show up?

What if I said Jesus wasn’t a carpenter and mang

What if I said Jesus wasn’t a carpenter and mangers weren’t made of wood?⁣
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I’m not trying to wreck your nativity scene, but we’ve gotten a few things wrong. I didn’t know this until going to Israel, and you can totally keep your wooden mangers, but I thought I’d share because, well, sometimes being wrong is just the best.⁣
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The word translated “carpenter” is, in Greek, “tekton” which means craftsman or builder. Based on Israel’s landscape, Jesus was almost certainly a stonemason.⁣
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Trees were and are scarce in that region. They exist, but not enough to cut them down left and right. Switch “you cannot see the forest for the trees” to “you cannot see the hillside for the stones” and you’ve got it.⁣
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From pebbles to boulders, they’re literally everywhere you look. I kept trying to find a place that didn’t have a stone in sight and all I did was fail. Everything we saw surrounding the Sea of Galilee? Stone.⁣
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Would you feed your animals out of a trough made of wood from your meager supply or use the resource you’d never run out of?* Jesus may have worked with wood, but He absolutely worked with stone every day.⁣
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In Psalm 118, Acts 4, and 1 Peter 2, Scripture says the stone that was rejected became the cornerstone.⁣
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(A cornerstone is the rock upon which the weight of the structure rests, the first to be laid down, the foundation.)⁣
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In Matthew 21, Mark 12, and Luke 20, Jesus refers to Himself as the cornerstone.⁣
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From a manger to a tomb, from Christmas evening to Easter morning and all the (extra)ordinary days in-between, He is steady and sure. He's a firm foundation, the rock we can depend on.⁣
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"My hope is from Him. He only is my rock and my salvation; my fortress and my defense, I will not be shaken or discouraged. On God my salvation and my glory rest; He is my rock of strength, my refuge is in God." (Psalm 62:5-7)⁣
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*I took this picture of a stone manger in Megiddo (2 Kings 23, Rev. 16).

It's the darkest day of the year. I wrote it down

It's the darkest day of the year. I wrote it down weeks ago, not to celebrate the dark but to mark the turning of the page. To remind myself to look for the light.⁣
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Because it's coming. It's on the way.⁣
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From here on out, it just gets brighter.⁣
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Winter Solstice. Advent. Love come down, out of darkness light.

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