grace | HeartStories

Extra “mom grace” required

As I look back at pictures of the boys and me when we were ALL younger, I realize even more, what a wild journey this role of motherhood is. Those sweet chubby cheeks and baby kisses feel like an eternity ago. It would be easy to gloss over it all with a Hallmark card this weekend, saying that I’m the best mom ever. And maybe they will. But I know better. So much has happened and changed since they were itty bitties. The only things that are constant in the journey of motherhood are the invitation to grow and learn, and the deep strand of love that cannot be broken, no matter what.

At almost every stage, I’ve felt a new level of incompetence.

As soon as I feel like I’m getting this thing down, one of the boys enters a new phase of life that requires a new parenting skill …

As such a thoughtful part of her gift for my birthday, my friend Jennifer gave me this incredible little book called, “Grit & Grace” – uncommon wisdom for inspiring leaders designed to make you think. Not only is the book aesthetically pretty, it’s full of beautiful words, the hard-won wisdom and stories, of ninety women with trailblazing careers fueled by purpose and passion.

In simply opening the gift, I felt known and loved.

If you know me personally, you know I’m hard to buy gifts for. Gifts are genuinely not my thing. I’m a quality time and physical touch girl, all the way. Come sit with me on the couch in jammies. Road trip with me on an unplanned exploration. Create time and space to just “be” together without anyone needing anything from me. . . that is totally my jam. And it’s obviously, not an easy gift to give.

But this little gift surprised …

by Crystal Gornto Girl's Night Out Inspirational Women Roadblocks in Life The Journey Through Life Leave a comment chat
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Radical grace required

If you’re on the outside, looking in, it may appear that all we do is horse around at HeartStories. We throw fun parties, laugh and tell stories all day every day. But the reality is we work our booties off to make things happen. It seems like we’re constantly learning to navigate new curveballs. Over here, behind the scenes at HeartStories HQ of late, we’ve been dealing with an ongoing issue, that is requiring lots of extra grace. As a means of comic relief from the stress of it, Lauren and I have been sending each other ridiculous gifs via text message. Nothing cruel or demeaning of anyone, simply our personal reactions to each other. Right in the middle of our text conversation yesterday, I opened Instagram, looking for something in particular, and this quote was the first thing I saw:

“Patience is when you are supposed to be mad, but …

by Crystal Gornto Inspirational Women Loving Others Our Story Priorities Roadblocks in Life The Journey Through Life Leave a comment chat
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The only way through

On Monday, this photo came flying in like a blast from the past. My friend Courtney was apparently archiving some old photos to digital format and paused long enough to send me on this trip down memory lane. It’s funny how photos remind you of moments you’d likely never think of again, but as soon as I saw it, I remember that night like it was yesterday. . It was Halloween 2007 and we were (OBVIOUSLY) expecting Oaks to arrive any day. Outside of the fact that our little golfer doesn’t look very happy to be there, we were doing pretty good. How crazy is it that I remember that one of my biggest challenges at that time was blow drying my hair? (Oh, how life has changed!) It was exhausting. My arms were already tired from carrying that 15 month old chunky monkey around and by the time I finished, my …

by Crystal Gornto Girl's Night Out Inspirational Women Inspirational Words Loving Others Loving Yourself Motherhood Roadblocks in Life The Journey Through Life Leave a comment chat
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There’s always more to the story

Since the day I met Vanessa Corral, she’s been dreaming up incredible ways to help the women of the HeartStories community feel more beautiful in their own skin. She cares deeply about capturing the unique beauty of each woman. She wants them to see the best version of themselves, not only in their hearts, strengths and accomplishments, but also in the way they look on the outside. While most media tries hard to convince us that we should all look one way, Vanessa pushes back, insisting that physical beauty isn’t about a cookie-cutter stereotype.

One look at her site or social media, and you’ll quickly see that Vanessa fully embraces the incredible beauty in our diversity.

She’s been taking headshots of our beloved HeartStories Members at our annual Holiday Ready GNO for the past three years in a row. But lately, Vanessa has been dreaming specifically, about ways to add value to our treasured HeartStories …

by Crystal Gornto Girl's Night Out Inspirational Women Love In Action Loving Others Loving Yourself Purpose The Journey Through Life Leave a comment chat
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The beauty of the dance

This is, apparently, my cork board selfie. While we’ve been endlessly purging this home we’ve lived in for almost 15 years, the hardest things to let go of are the keepsakes. The creations of art made by the boys over all the years are like little one-of-a-kind treasures. Letting go of the stained glass, pottery, paintings and pictures of years gone by is emotionally difficult for the boys and me.

Clearing out the giant cork board in my office was no exception.

It was covered, top to bottom, with their handwork, so I asked the boys to do it. They each got a basket to stack their work neatly inside, with the promise that we’d take a photo of each piece. At first it was so hard, but then they started laughing and enjoying the process. I left them there to get it done while I moved on to another room.

When I …

by Crystal Gornto Loving Others Loving Yourself Motherhood The Journey Through Life Leave a comment chat
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