Trees Of Hope – Page 5 – 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

03Aug 2019 by Krystal 4 Comments

Who is sharpening YOU?

Faith

A few days ago was my birthday, I turned 37! Turning one year older has had me reflecting on who I am, who I was, and who God is making me to be. Just the other night, as I was ready to cry looking at our cluttered basement full of toys, books, etcetera that needed to be sorted and purged through, God graced me with a sacred treasure. I came across some old e-mails that my dear mother had printed from before I was married, containing a pure and relentless love for God. The tidying up could wait, for this was no small find. Some of these letters were written by me, others by my parents or siblings, and a few by a special cousin. Each and every e-mail I…

01Jun 2019 by Krystal 7 Comments

An Act of Love

Faith, Personal Testimonies

Love from an aunt It was already 7:00pm as I was heading into Dollar General with my four kids all geared up with swimsuits to have an evening in the pool at grandma and grandpa's house. The next day was a garage sale at our house, and I was in need of poster board and some duct tape for signs. My children followed me around the store for the items on my list, and then they spotted the swim gear! So they each got a pair of goggles, I grabbed a few extra items including laundry detergent, and we headed for the check-out. Being a regular customer at this particular location, I greeted the cashier by name while he was asking my children questions about where they were going to swim.…

18Apr 2019 by Krystal 2 Comments

Easter Reflections

Faith

Spring is in the air, today being the 70 degree day we were waiting for since the middle of winter! It's a day in which new life is emerging, hope is soaring, and people are rejoicing! Four days ago, on Palm Sunday, we sat down and watched The Passion of the Christ. The movie begins with Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane and focuses on just that "short window" of unimaginable suffering from his arrest, trial, sentencing, and ultimately his crucifixion. The images are harsh, and yet we still can't truly fathom all that He endured. A crown of thorns for the "King of the Jews" was mockingly forced upon his head, as many spat in his face and hurled insults. He was brutalized with a cat of nine tails…

22Feb 2019 by Krystal 4 Comments

A Testimony of God’s Provision

Faith, Personal Testimonies

Jorge & I -2018 The story I am about to share is our own. My husband Jorge is from Ecuador, South America, and we met while I taught English there for a year. He arrived to the United States in October of 2007 on a fiancé visa, and we were married that December. From then on we began our journey together. Jorge had a secure and well-paying job in Ecuador as a computer engineer in one of the biggest phone companies. At the time I remember being so in love that I didn’t seem to worry at all about how life in the United States would be for him; I simply trusted that God would provide. The beginning months of his stay here were filled with learning English, a language he…

22Jan 2019 by Krystal 4 Comments

Helpless & Uncomfortable

Faith

I didn't want to write this entry. I have been uncomfortable for the past week, following the news about the little two-year-old boy, Julen, who fell down a long narrow borehole on a mountainside in Totalan, Spain. Over ten years ago I myself studied in Spain, about 30 minutes away from where this tragedy has now taken place. And, I have a two-year-old little boy. My heart strings were and are attached to him, empathizing with his pain, condition, and the hearts of his family and loved ones. The effort to rescue him has been slow-moving. The equipment needed to begin excavation had to be delivered, and much deliberation took place as to the method they would use to create a tunnel to reach him. Five days passed before digging even began, with…

28Nov 2018 by Krystal 3 Comments

~Learn to RECEIVE~

Faith

Last year-Christmas 2017As the Christmas season approaches, we think a lot about GIVING. As a Christian I know that God is the ultimate example of a GIVER, offering us His Son so that we might believe and be forgiven. The self-less message in the air this time of year reminds us to do the same: GIVE, GIVE, GIVE, which is all fine and well. Yet conversely, I feel the message of RECEIVING is just as important for us to hear at Christmastime. Read on, as I quote a passage from my book Mommy's Inspirations, chapter 40, p. 119-120:"Recently, we hit a time where we had more bills coming at us than we had income. It was stressful to feel somehow irresponsible despite our attempts to be careful with our money. We…

23Oct 2018 by Krystal 2 Comments

A Tree of Hope to Me!

Faith, Personal Testimonies

Recently I have had my share of times to cry, with personal struggles and some emotional days. A lot of people ask me how things with my book are going and I seem to have lost enthusiasm to even talk about it. Yet, I want to remember that GOD gave me all the ideas for the book that I wrote entitled Mommy's Inspirations. I started writing it when my oldest was two and finished after he turned three. I didn't have any plans to publish my writing until I got further along and God took me all the way to 52 chapters. Once I finished this weekly devotional, I literally stopped writing for four years, and the book "sat." All I can say is that I had a God-given push to…

07Oct 2018 by Krystal 4 Comments

~Let Christ Alone Set the Tone~

Faith

Fall is here in Western New York where I live: the crisp, cool, flannel-shirt and jeans, soup-making weather. 🍜A neighbor was walking a few weeks ago with her two children, her son whizzing by on an electric scooter. He is a young five year old and I commented that he is very coordinated to have mastered that at such a young age. Her response struck me as she replied, "Yes, well I originally saw your son doing it and I thought he should have one too." We can set the tone for others and their decisions, both big and small.Davin pointing at YOUto let Jesus set the tone~Tone in the dictionary states, "the general character or attitude of a place, piece of writing, situation, etc." Some synonyms include mood, air,…

24Aug 2018 by Krystal 4 Comments

WHY “Trees of Hope?” Read about our daughter to find out….

Personal Testimonies

Our little girl, Laurelle Esperanza, turned four a few weeks ago! Having two older brothers and one younger brother, she got stuck in the middle and has changed our lives. Princess power!2017 My baby girl and I!What is this princess power you may ask? Let's start from the beginning: when she was born I literally saw and felt myself in her. I have heard others say, "Newborns are newborns," or "Babies are babies," but it was a unique experience from the get-go to have a girl in my arms this time around. As Laurelle grew she also began to resemble me more physically. My dad has commented to me, "You're back" when looking at Laurelle. How cool, right?!Being a girl myself, and a mother to my children, I have discovered…

07Aug 2018 by Krystal 2 Comments

An Anxious Heart Lacks Peace

Faith, Personal Testimonies

It's been a few weeks since I've shared, which feels weird because of having gone through a summer where I plunged through writing one or more entries each week! This post will explain why.I recently met with some faithful women who intentionally followed my blog this past month, and I asked them to write down what word encapsulated their last four weeks. I myself wanted to have a happy, uplifting one to describe my month, but I was honest and wrote ANXIOUS; that was how I had felt more often than not.ANXIETY in the dictionary reads, "a feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease, typically about an imminent event or something with an uncertain outcome." WORRY and UNEASINESS were overtaking my spirit and ultimately my ability to not only enjoy but to…