Inspirational Leaders

The Queen of Hearts

It’s officially spring break in Texas, which means mamas everywhere are doing all the things. They run the gamut of family trips, mission trips, staycations, squeezed in experiences, to simple strategies for keeping kids safe and alive while mama continues to fulfill her grown-up adult responsibilities. I’m somewhere in the middle all of it. Since we snuck in an early long weekend trip, the boys are finding fun ways to entertain themselves at home, while I’m trying to find times to be fully present and engaged, while also catching up on all the things I got behind on during our trip.

It’s the ever-shifting of the “mama priorities”.

A fun new activity for us this spring break is playing Texas Hold’em. Our new neighbors (who are not from Texas) taught the boys how to play one night, a month or so ago, and they’ve loved it ever since. So much so that they were …

At the “BraveHearted Cookie” GNO Thursday night, this incredibly strong and brave sister Regan, shared a story with all the women about one summer in college when she volunteered at a teen adventure camp. The last week of camp they set out white water rafting. She had all twelve of her kids in the raft when she saw the other boats were all flipping at a certain point in the falls. The lead guide instructed her that if she didn’t want her boat to flip she needed to get all the kids to the front of the boat, paddle hard, and aim the boat to HIT THE ROCK HARD!

It seemed counter-productive, but Regan trusted that the guide understood exactly what needed to happen.

She knew the kids in her boat. She knew they were strong enough to do it and that they would be brave enough to hit that rock hard. …

by Crystal Gornto Girl's Night Out Inspirational Leaders Inspirational Women Love In Action Roadblocks in Life The Journey Through Life Leave a comment chat

These two don’t look like anyone you’d want to meet in a dark alley. On a dance floor, yes! But anywhere else, you’d surely go running for the hills. This is my friend Regan Frizelle, standing with me at our HeartStories GNO 1st Birthday Bash, which we hosted 80’s Style with the help of Big D Party Rentals. The entire party was an invite for the ladies to get dressed up in their best/worst eighties garb, let their hair down, and have a great time. I was not at all surprised when this beautiful lady showed up rocking stirrup pants and a painted units top, complete with a lovely perm-on-top/straight-on-bottom mullet. It took courage.

And Regan has it, in spades.

But it’s not just the kind of courage you need to take a deep breath and jump off the high dive the first time. Regan practices a very different kind of courage consistently. …

by Crystal Gornto Girl's Night Out Inspirational Leaders Inspirational Women Love In Action Love in Friendship Loving Others The Journey Through Life Leave a comment chat

It’s such a beautiful thing, the way that friends influence our lives. I’ve known I needed to get a library card of my own for quite some time now. In the summer, one of my boys enjoys listening to audiobooks while he reads along. In fact, the discovery of audiobooks has changed his entire attitude toward reading. But the first summer we tried it, we were buying them on Audible and other online platforms. Then one day, I was looking for a title that was a little harder to find and my search returned a result showing our local library had that audiobook available to check out. I’m not sure how I’d somehow missed the fact that public libraries offered digital audiobook rentals, but I was thrilled to find out.

Except that I didn’t have a library card.

I “phoned a friend” named Dad, and asked to borrow his library card. Within …

by Crystal Gornto Inspirational Leaders Inspirational Women Love In Action Love in Friendship Purpose The Journey Through Life Leave a comment chat

This is what it looks like when you have a “black ops” renegade on the loose at HeartStories Holiday GNO. Meet my beautiful friend Ellen (you might know her from the Frisco Public Library). In a crowd she might, at first, seem a little shy or soft spoken, but set her free with some holiday greenery, ribbon, and red headphones, and a reindeer she will be! While in the middle of a heated, team competition to make reindeer antlers out of pantyhose and balloons, Ellen decided that one set of supplies per table clearly wasn’t enough.

She looked around, and quickly realized that there were other available options.

I didn’t see it in time to call it out, live at the event. But oh, I see it now. Ellen wins first place for most creative and resourceful antler design! She’s clearly my kind of ruckus maker. Recognizing that the limited amount of supplies would …

by Crystal Gornto Girl's Night Out Inspirational Leaders Inspirational Women Love In Action Loving Others Loving Yourself Roadblocks in Life The Journey Through Life 1 comment chat

On Thursday night, as part of our annual GNO holiday party, I held the mic a lot less than is typical and I loved it. We got to hear from 12 other women on a huge range of topics to help us all get ready for this holiday season. We learned about everything from healthy (& shameless) eating, quick skin care, table setting, makeup tips, hair tricks, gift selection, and gift wrapping to connecting conversations to keep it positive during the holidays. It was a night chock-full a valuable insights to get us through the busiest month of the year. But there was a moment that was a complete surprise, even to me.

It was this one.

After I welcomed the ladies and gave away the first few raffles, I invited my beloved friend Libba to come share with the ladies. As I introduced her, I found myself saying. . . “This is …

by Crystal Gornto Girl's Night Out Inspiration Inspirational Leaders Inspirational Women Love Love In Action Loving Others Purpose The Journey Through Life Leave a comment chat

The Queen of Hearts

Aim for the rocks!

Who’s standing beside you?

The kind of friend who makes others fond of good things

Play a different game

Courageous Leadership