Archive for the ‘ husbandry ’ Category

Crystalized Moments

Author: Shilo Taylor

Aug 20

This summer has been nothing of what I imagined. I thought we’d spend a lot of time at camps with S., but the weather was lousy through July and I stayed home instead of sitting in the rain with four little ones. We thought we were moving…and then decided to rent the same house from new owners. We hoped to take a late vacation…but are now committing to doing a “homeschool school” that starts in less than two weeks.

Thankfully, even in the midst of a disappointing summer we experienced some crystalized moments. When S. and I were dating we started calling those moments where the world seems to pause and your mind wants to freeze frame the happenings around you “crystalized moments”.

Here are a couple of my summer’s crystalized moments (at least the ones caught on film).

Sister loving. Having my own sister who I adore, protect, and call daily (who am I kidding- who I call hourly) causes me to have a heightened excitement for these two sisters:

Read the rest of this entry

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11 years

Author: Shilo Taylor

Aug 15

And it’s one of those things where I think, how can we have really already been married for eleven years?! Then I think back on all that has happened in those eleven years and I think, Sheesh- has it really only been eleven years?!

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Die, Wisteria. Die.

Author: Shilo Taylor

Aug 13

There is a passage in Isaiah that initially made me want to kick the Israelites. On closer examination, it made me want to kick myself.

In Isaiah 30:15-16 God gives the secret to rest and internal peace. “In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and confidence shall be your strength.” But you would not, and you said, “No, for we will flee on horses”- Therefore you shall flee! And, “We will ride on swift horses“- Therefore those who pursue you shall be swift!”

The Israelites were looking to Egypt for their security and strength. It made sense politically, It made sense on a rational, strategic level. God was telling them that their peace would never be found in another nation- regardless how strong they are. The only way to be saved and have rest is to return to God and let Him be their strength.

Nearly four years ago my husband hit a wall. And then he hit the floor- literally. The perfect storm had been brewing: a busy ministry, expectations from others that were raised each time some were met, some painful confrontations and hard staff decisions, working 60 hour weeks and still treading water, and then the looming September which would only bring more intensity. Read the rest of this entry

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A link to change your life

Author: Shilo Taylor

Jul 10

For all you have been asking to hear a message by my husband- go to mvctk.com and scroll down to where it says “May 31st- a Holy God by Sean Taylor”. Have a listen!

And if you couldn’t care less about hearing my husband preach a message, but have ever wondered “how can a loving God punish sin so harshly?” or “What in the world does ‘holy’ mean?” You can also have a listen!

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Happy birthday, Shilo!

Author: Shilo Taylor

Jun 23

My wife has sure found her voice her in this blog. In the 13 years we have known each other, I knew her thoughts, convictions and ideas needed to be shared with others to offer encouragement, hope, ideas, and faith.

In the “blogosphere” I truly believe my wife’s writings offer peace in the midst of noise; hope in the midst of uncertainty; perspective in the midst of an overwhelmed generation. Read the rest of this entry

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She thinks his tiller’s sexy

Author: Shilo Taylor

Jun 11

At first I thought I found my husband attractive because he was handling a machine and smelling like man…

Then I realized even more than that it was because he was doing it all for the health of our family (can’t wait to plant extra carrots, beans, and squash to puree for Little Girly), and for his wife who despite selling the house- really, really still wanted a garden. Not only that but I didn’t even ask or beg, he voluntarily spent his Saturday afternoon doing this. And that my friends- is a turn on.

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33

Author: Shilo Taylor

May 16

“Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. This people I have formed for Myself; they shall declare My praise.” Isaiah 43:19,21

Last year when S. turned 32 I struggled with how to celebrate. I could see the workings of the Spirit but S. had gone through low lows and I had watched him self-destruct in front of me. It was a hard year to kick up our heels and celebrate.

Ahh…but this year is so sweet to commemorate. Coming to the end of himself and his own ability to succeed- even in ministry- was what ultimately brought him to “deny himself, take up his cross” and follow Christ. When Jesus says “whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it” (Matthew 16:25 ) He doesn’t just mean to become “Christian”. S. was a believer for years but only in the past year and a half was brought to such a deep place of surrender. He lost everything that felt ‘secure’ in his world. Instead of throwing in the towel or making things happen on his own, S. got on his knees and waited for God to begin building life into him.

And now…I could write for hours and kick up my heels. As S. has responded to the Lord, I have seen God focus him, teach him discipline, and feed Truth into him. For the first time since we’ve been married S. committed to do a Bible Study this past year where he didn’t teach or lead. He studied for his own relationship with God and God met him there.

S. has sought wise counsel and it has refreshed both of us to build friendships with people smarter and wiser than we are. He has slowed down to fall in love with our family. Not only is he intentional with our own kids, he has allowed God to break his heart wide open to love Little Girly as his own. It didn’t happen automatically. He prayed that God would put him in the right place as he was tempted to have his guard up, not knowing if she will become a Taylor. He believed God was telling him that in this season he is Little Girly’s dad and chose to take on that role without inhibition. His love for her is evidenced by the way that she grins, squeals, and throws her arms in the air when he walks in the room.

I have seen the Lord take a man brimming with creativity and ideas and I have watched Him chisel away to give clear direction and specific vision. S. started BIG OAK with about fifty possible directions to take it. God gave us a fantastic board of directors and the right connections to move in the best direction in this season.

A week and a half ago I had the privilege of working the BIG OAK booth at a leadership conference. We got to share about a;life and give mini-presentations to people about how it will work to have this devotional tool online. Watching the vision catch, hearing people from churches and Y*uth for Christ say, “This is a need! How can we get our hands on something like this?” fueled my excitement for what we do.

I am excited about a;life and how the Lord has pulled pieces together for it. Even more so, I am excited to have a husband listening to the Lord. Watching him at the conference, I was excited about his ability to communicate vision and his growing passion to get students grounded in Scripture.

My prayers continue for my husband. I pray this year that God would continue to quicken S.’s ears to His voice, to continue renewing his mind and transforming his spirit. But mostly, this is my year of thanksgiving. It is my year to step back and praise God that the prayers I prayed for a decade are being answered in gracious ways.

This morning at 3am I sat on the couch with Little Girly and her stuffy nose, which was preventing her from sleep. S. stumbled out with some great bed head and said we might as well be up together. As we watched a sitcom and rocked Little Girly, I marveled at the irony: somehow as S. and I are at our poorest (materially) we are experiencing the richest of all seasons. That can’t be anything but the work of the Lord. May we get to experience more of God’s richness this coming year- Happy Birthday Sean!

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March Madness

Author: Shilo Taylor

Mar 27

I just glanced at the calendar on my way through the kitchen and realized that we still have a few days before the end of March. At first I thought, “I can’t believe it’s nearly April.” Then I thought, “How have we fit so much into March?!”

It has been three and a half weeks since we got Little Girly home. This was obviously the biggest life change and we are all still wiggling around in our new roles to try to make them more comfortable.

Because it happened so fast, we have been fully immersed in getting to know Little Girly while also doing ‘life as usual’. Darla finished up a season doing dance/cheer, which she loved. We tried a little homeschooling in the cracks but for the most part March has been a bit of extended Spring Break.
We got to go down to Mount Vernon to celebrate with my brother, Elijah, a long awaited cd release of his band, Into Light.
At the concert, Elijah’s 4 day old son Harrison Rits made his debut. That’s right- once again in less than a month the Tadema family added more than one baby.
My nephew Gage got to experience his first birthday at the age of five. It was a huge celebration with all the cousins.
Of all the Taylors, Everett has had the most ‘adjustment’- as anticipated. He has displayed this by completely reverting in potty training. All our work in the past year has temporarily gone out the window.
In case you needed a visual… the cousin count is now at 14 children ages 6 and under:
We got to visit with long-time friend Steve when he came up to support Elijah’s cd release. (This is us attempting a sing-a-long with 14 children underfoot. Fail.)
As though a new baby, getting the hang of the foster care responsibilities, backward potty-training, regular life, and special events weren’t enough…our family came down with the stomach flu last week. (I’ll spare you a picture- although S.’s face while stripping beds and using an entire bottle of carpet Spot Shot was thoroughly amusing…if I hadn’t been gagging.)

Thankfully, we got healthy the day before Hudson went in for surgery. He had ear tubes re-inserted and his adenoids removed. As our most resilient child, he toughed it out and we all had a beautiful family day filled with popsicles, ice cream, smoothies, and a middle of the day movie. Surgery in style.

The next day S. packed up to go speak at a middle school weekend retreat, where he will be until tomorrow. (We joked about who would get more sleep- the one with 4 small children or the one with 100 middle schoolers.)

So here I am with one baby hiccuping beside me, one toddler going through many pairs of underwear, one pre-schooler who hears well and is adenoid free, and one kindergartener (oh, shoot! Kindergarten! Back to that on Monday.)

With a twinkle in his eye, S. has been reminding me of my favorite quote by William Ross Wallace, “The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.”

Look out…we are out for some serious world dominance, people.

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The new thing

Author: Shilo Taylor

Feb 22

Marrying someone with big vision can feel like that moment a plane takes off when you close your eyes for a moment, take a deep, calming breath, and work hard to not leave fingernail marks on the armrests.

I have had a few people ask about S.’s ventures with Big Oa k and I see their concern. I know they think after eight years of crazy paced youth ministry it’s probably not wise to jump into starting a new business. We’ve had some ask how his anxiety must be now with the financial pressures and other strains of building a new ministry.

To that I must say…it’s the strangest thing. It’s strange that in the season that should be the most stressful, we’ve experienced the most peace. I recently told someone, “I don’t know how this is going to turn out for us financially. Some months it seems doable and others it’s completely overwhelming. But I do know that if at some point it all comes down, if we have to walk away from it because we can’t make it work, we’re going to be just fine. It wouldn’t devastate us because for the first time our marriage is healthy, we have the same vision and are excited about moving in the same direction, our kids are healthy and thriving… and we are on our knees in prayer and focused on the Lord every day.”

I wouldn’t have been able to say that about our little family previously. Honestly, if I had my way I would have had some recoup time of stability, a nest egg, and other practical measures before venturing out into a vast unknown. But no matter how we tried, the Lord kept bringing us back around to this.

I told my sister last week, “it’s amazing to me that every time I feel doubtful and discouraged- S. has a surge of faith and confidence in what God is doing. Then the days he’s ready to throw in the towel, I’m determined that we are where we are supposed to be.” That’s something.

December & January were full of encouragement and financial support. February has been hard (it’s not over yet!). For those dear worriers who wonder how I hold up under it all- I don’t always (hold up) but I do have to say that the only thing I don’t like about my husband’s job is the not-knowing finances. I love every other aspect.

There have been some amazing developments with creating software that can put our devotional material on mobile devices for students. The details would take a separate blog to describe (and truthfully I’m not smart about how it all works…I’m the nerd that wrote the whole devotional with a pen and college ruled paper. I know- I’m old school.)

S. is partnering with a local church who sent their youth pastor on a few month sabbatical. The youth pastor had a similar crash & burn experience to S. a few years ago. Now S. has an opportunity not only to walk with his pastor friend, but also partner with the church in leader training, vision casting, and mentoring while his friend takes a needed rest.

We’ve had camp opportunities in abundance. One well known local camp has hired S. not only for speaking but asked Big Oak to give the camp a boost with marketing and networking.

It’s also looking like Big Oak will put on a camp next fall for leaders and students in the area from multiple churches. The details are awesome (and as usual- slightly unconventional) but will also wait for a future blog.

This past weekend S. spoke at a camp at Mt. Baker. 3 nights of building relationships with a few youth pastors from WA, speaking 6 times to a group of 100 high school students, and a day of skiing…seriously?! This is work?! The kids, my sister-in-law Megan, and I went up on Sunday during free time to sled, drink hot chocolate, and meet some students and leaders.

By God’s grace we are doing all of this and yet living a maintainable pace, taking time to play and rest, having time to bless others and eat meals together. We all work hard but we also turn it off and get to apply those great ideals of “margin” and “boundaries”.

The verse this week that speaks to me on so many levels is Isaiah 43:18,19 “Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”

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Love, Love

Author: Shilo Taylor

Feb 17

When I met S. I was anti-Valentine’s Day. Maybe it was the non-conformist in me, maybe it was the overt commercialism, maybe it was the feeling of forced affection or the combination of pink and red. Regardless, I informed S. that I wasn’t a fan of the love fest that is February 14.

He responded by an over-the-top romantic dinner, flowers, sparkling cider (with a custom label he made and glued on), a menu he designed with inside jokes incorporated, and lots of pink and red. He did this all on February 13 and called it an “Un-Valentine” celebration.

So…I lost that battle. As I’ve so obviously matured I do enjoy Valentine’s but wanted to make it a family celebration instead of just a romantic night for S. and me. Last year a dear friend surprised Darla and me by sending a Valentine package- everything we needed to throw a party for the five of us. It began a fun tradition for the five of us. This year we were again surprised by a Valentine kit in the mail and set to work decorating.

Darla adores Valentine’s. She loves the decorating, the creativity, the getting “fanced up” as she calls it, and mostly…the ice cream sundaes.
Loving on their valentine.

Notice that we managed one shot with nice smiles… except for S. looking tough…
When we say “smile for the camera” my kids think it means “pull a funny face and try to make everyone laugh”… which they apparently get from their father.
And of course- my valentine.