Kristen Welch

We are THAT Family

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My Life

Color of Hope [Flash Sale]

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Hope.

There’s just nothing like it.

After She Is Priceless, I’m feeling a lot of it. Thank you for showing up.

We have rescued six girls in Kenya this month. Six pregnant teen girls who are experiencing a new hope today.

We are celebrating by flash selling these adorable zipper pouches with their hand stitched rainbow by my artisan friends in Ukraine for only $10!

Want more hope? I, mean, if the May Fair Trade Friday doesn’t give it to you, you actually might be hopeless. (See what I did there.) It features a custom batik wax canvas with paint, a paint tray and brush, a colorful felt garland, colored pencils in a cute tube and a set of greeting cards from our art camp.

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The Sisterhood of a Second Chance

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I was sitting alone, trying to stay awake, in an airport in the middle of the night waiting to fly from one African country to the next. Sleeping sitting up wasn't going well. The airport was nearly empty and the only noise was the old TV monitor above my head. The Sisterhood of Traveling Pants was playing in a different language. As I stared at the screen and yawned, four friends shopped together. I pieced together the plot and remembered these girls found a seemingly ordinary pair of jeans ... Read More

Tear Down A Fence + Build a Bench

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I've taken my kids to countries in Africa for the past decade. Waking to the Muslim call to prayer that broke the early morning silence in the city became a normal part of our trips. Our ears were filled with foreign languages and our mouths with unique foods and fives times a day, many in the city would stop, roll down their shop doors and roll out their mats and they would stop to pray. On one of those first trips, when my youngest was only four years old, we walked past a group of ... Read More

Life Has a Purpose. And This Is It.

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I've been in a funk since I got home from Kenya. It's okay. You don't have to fix me (something I tell my husband often). It's not a new thing--the jet lag, the clashing of the first world with the third, the way the burden of Mercy House Global seems to multiply every year. Even after countless trips, I struggle with the tension between my selfishness and the sacrifice obedience demands. I wrestle with what I have, with what others don't and how even after all I've witnessed, I still long ... Read More

Moms: Keep Going. Don’t Stop.

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Hey moms, I know if you're like me, you're constantly wondering if you're getting this parenting thing right. But every kind word. Every tender touch. Every time we love them well--we are showing them how to love others. This week, I've needed to give myself a pep talk more than once...a nudge to put one step in front of the other; to push through the fatigue, the misunderstandings, the challenging days. So, I'll tell you what I need to hear: Momma, keep going. Don't stop. You can ... Read More

Parenting Is Less About What We Get Wrong And More About What We Get Right

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I was stirring dinner and a salty tear or two might have splashed into the soup. I had just sent all three of my kids to their rooms because honestly, they were safer there. One of my kids was so whiny from a sleepover my eye twitched every third word she said, my middle one was following me around making noises and my teen had just hurt my feelings. I stirred soup and thought about all the things that had gone wrong in the last hour and how I had handled them and I cried. I looked ... Read More

Ten Things.

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Jet lag. I have it. There is exactly one week to get one of these amazing Fair Trade bundles for Mother's Day. Local to Houston? I'm speaking!  Parenthood. I just need to talk about it (I'm on season 3). Is there a support group you could recommend? I went and got my nails done yesterday. It felt kind of weird to do it the day after I returned from Africa. But also, it felt really good. I'm trying to make self care normal for me. How do you pamper yourself? Tomorrow (Wed. April 24) ... Read More

Get Up.

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A few years ago, I was at the beach with my kids and we ventured out into the ocean. We didn't realize we were drifting until we tried to spot our colorful umbrella sticking in the sand. Before I knew it, we were in deep waters with waves crashing into us. My kids clung to me and I was afraid. I held on tight to my tiny swimmers and slowly inched our way out of the deep waters. I can't tell you how many times I've been on dry land and felt that same overwhelming feeling. Life can be ... Read More