Trees Of Hope – Page 3 – Welcome! Here is a place to receive encouragement in your daily walk with God, to bond over motherhood and parenting experiences, and to share ideas for teaching your children. I pray that you are renewed, encouraged and inspired to be a tree of hope for the world to behold. ~Krystal

18Dec 2020 by Krystal 7 Comments

A Covid Christmas

The holidays are upon us! Christmas and ringing in the new year with family and friends is a magical season. Make no mistake, this year is starkly different. The traditional gatherings have been almost non-existent between family and friends due to this Covid Christmas. Our house, which is usually a revolving door of Christmas visitors, has been shut tightly for now. Even so, I find myself once again desperate for more PEACE and JOY. How can this be, even in the midst of Covid simplicity? Nevertheless, internal panic erupts while I simultaneously try to press on in my own strength. Every day: STOP (what you are doing). SEE (His creation). BE (still): STOP. SEE. BE. "How can I be such a failure?" runs through my mind. "I should have had…

20Nov 2020 by Krystal 8 Comments

The Day We Were Told to STOP

Faith

Stop our routines, livelihoods, goings and comings, Cancelling shows, the sports games and recitals felt numbing. The weddings, graduations, baby showers and such, Would be put on hold and not thought of much. Yet the one thing we never expected to hear: To stop seeing and hugging those whom we held most dear. We have gone through a lot in our history together, But never had such a strange order to measure. I now know the pain AND the power of CARE, Longing for a time when we’ll once again share. It’s the missing embrace and much-needed affection, The simplest of joys now but a fond recollection. One thing we may have never been told: A hug will always have more value than gold. For the many that pass on…

25Sep 2020 by Krystal 12 Comments

Want EASY? Not Happenin’!

Personal Testimonies, Teaching Your Children

Every month I pray and reflect on what my next blog could be. The idea came to me today while pondering the unrest, division, and uncertainty surrounding the world and our own nation. EASY. We could say this year has been everything BUT easy. The coronavirus began its deadly, silent and invisible spread which crippled us from almost every form of normalcy. I remember my brother warning me, "It's getting really weird. They're closing it all down, even the restaurants and the gyms." This is easy...pumpkin rolls that you buy pre-made and just heat up the dough! YUMMY fall treat Yeah, we have ALL experienced UNeasiness and HARDship. It was last week when I saw a man wheeling his handicapped son into the supermarket. It was the same man and…

31Jul 2020 by Krystal 8 Comments

Where is Your Identity?

Faith, Personal Testimonies

Yesterday was another birthday for me! I got up early and went on a jog. I felt my body responding, finally, after nine months of not being able to run. The thought came into my mind: I'm feeling more like "myself." Just as quickly as that thought entered, I realized being a runner was part of how I defined ME and my identity. Me at 38! I then began to reflect on the local woman in Buffalo who was struck at full speed by a police SUV months ago, and is currently a quadriplegic. I pondered the person she was and contemplated the contrast with the circumstances and physical limitations she is now enduring. In extreme cases, such as hers, when your "identity" seems to be stripped away, what is…

22Jun 2020 by Krystal 4 Comments

Writing from Weakness

Faith, Personal Testimonies, Teaching Your Children

I write from weakness. My book and my blogs were and are birthed out of my own life filled with joys amidst lifes' hardships and unanswered questions. Nonetheless, the finished product of my writing can misleadingly seem like “I have it all together." Truth be told: I am an imperfect mom with imperfect children. The difference, the game-changer: having a PERFECT and HOLY God who LIVES in me! This means if I can give him my “pen” (or my keyboard), and my thoughts, He can bring godly insight and eternal blessings of encouragement from me, a broken vessel that HE provides HOPE and HEALING to. I chose this random picture of me because one of my kids snapped it without me knowing...not a glamorous picture but it shows imperfect ME.…

11May 2020 by Krystal 4 Comments

TOP 11 Homeschooling Tips and TRICKS!

Teaching Your Children

Homeschooling is a LIFESTYLE. It’s been our family’s “normal” for five years now, with all the blessings and challenges that it has brought our way. I am a former K-6 ESL(English as a Second Language) and high school Spanish teacher. I worked at a private school abroad and then at various public schools here in New York state for a total of six years, receiving tenure in the West Seneca Central School District. I made the decision to leave the public school classroom and begin homeschooling my little ones even though no one in my family had done so previously. It's been an adventure ever since! So, my kids have never been to "school" outside of our home besides homeschooling co-op groups once or twice a month and weekly Sunday…

04Apr 2020 by Krystal 10 Comments

Last Flight

Faith, Personal Testimonies

My heart is now broken. Why did it take so long for me to GRIEVE for humanity? I was numb when the coronavirus spread through China, intrigued and concerned when it made its way here, and now that the death toll will be “good” if it hits 100,000-200,000 cases in our country: devastated and emotionally overwhelmed. It finally HIT HOME in more ways than one. The numbers are daunting and chilling. The president of the United States reported that we will be saving at least a million lives potentially if we continue the measures in place. There is no doubt that COVID-19 is a pandemic of epic proportions. Paradise Park in Cuenca, Ecuador Though the coronavirus was on the news, it had not yet made its way around the world.…

25Mar 2020 by Krystal 13 Comments

“Corona-Crisis”

Faith, Teaching Your Children

Two little cousins who are missing each other right now: My Davin and nephew Dawson We are living through a historic time right now. Each day I try to ask God what I can do in the midst of it. I keep living, breathing, teaching my kids, cooking meals, doing laundry, but inwardly I know my little routine somehow matters more now. I am in compliance: the stakes are higher, as public health is top priority. The weirdness of the new term “social distancing” is already being “embraced” (pun intended)! It's our new reality, our temporary "normal" worldwide. My mind can’t completely wrap itself around the implications of this pandemic, but here are some I have noticed: People can’t mourn the way they normally would when someone passes away, as…

01Feb 2020 by Krystal 9 Comments

Blessed Assurance

Faith, Personal Testimonies

The day of the accident she came. Out of nowhere her arms enveloped my weak and broken body when I couldn’t move. Reassurance had arrived, love from God above. The kids were okay, I couldn’t believe it, but there I was lying in the street. I cried out, “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, help me!” She echoed every one of my pleas with her own calming voice. The noise of the ambulance, the crowd, the stares, nothing mattered in the next few moments apart from her embrace: her face behind me, her arms around me. My sweat was no deterrent to the many motherly kisses she planted on my head. “I have to go now,” she said, “I am picking someone up. He is with you.” I had to get a glimpse…

04Jan 2020 by Krystal 9 Comments

Your “Unwritten” Goals…

Faith, Personal Testimonies, Teaching Your Children

2019 has come and gone, but its memory in my heart and life will always live on. It began with a warm Ecuadorian family celebration to ring in the new year, each one of us sharing our hopes and aspirations. I had written down a few goals for the year, including teaching myself how to play piano by ear and writing a new book. In another sense this would be a year in which physical suffering would remind me of my weakness and frailty to accomplish anything on my own. It started in the spring as I was planting seeds with my children: I hit our metal mailbox and had to get stitches on my head. That didn’t stop me, and summer was a pleasant time of family bonding, active…