gratitude

Go rogue today

This precious “baby” boy of mine celebrated a big birthday on Saturday. His one birthday gift request? This enormous board game he’s been eyeing at the hobby shop, “Axis & Allies” (circa 1981), which depicts WWII on a grand scale. It comes complete with a world map board, infantry, armor, fighters, bombers, battleships, aircraft carriers, submarines, troop transports, anti-air guns, and factories. As a family, we made the trip, and the investment, in this giant game about war, to celebrate our boy who is fascinated by the stories of history.

The night we brought it home, it took over an hour just to set up the first two teams in all their proper locations, according to the instructions.

Being the history buff, that I am not, during the subsequent re-setup, when I started feeling a bit overwhelmed by the intensity, I decided to go rogue. I couldn’t handle all the strategy and the …

I remember this day. Maybe not quite like it was yesterday, but I remember it. I remember the cabin we stayed in on that trip, it belonged to a friend of a friend, who graciously offered it to our family for a road trip to Colorado in the summer. I remember sitting inside, at the log table eating, what felt like millions of grapes, until my stomach felt like it might explode.

Aren’t we a motley looking crew of sisters?

With an 11 year span from oldest to youngest, we were in completely different life phases in this photo. (But at least our fashion game was on point!) Back then, I was a self-focused 12-year-old. One look at this picture now, as an adult, I have so much understanding and empathy for what each of those girls must have been going through. It brings back so many memories. It reminds me …

by Crystal Gornto Inspirational Women Love in Family Priorities The Journey Through Life Leave a comment chat

This is Beth, Sunny, Angela and Megan. Along with Heather, Natalie, Madison, Ashley and Shelly (not pictured) these fabulous ladies are the ones making beautiful things happen at the HeartStories GNO. I would say, “I can’t imagine life without them”. But the truth is, I actually can. I remember life without them.

I’m overwhelmingly grateful as a result.

I remember our very first girls night, in April of 2016. It consisted of my sister Kim planning the menu, the two of us shopping endlessly at Costco, and her working her fingers to the bone in our neighborhood clubhouse kitchen for hours on end. The table cloths were pieces of muslin fabric I cut to size. The flowers where wisteria from outside my bathroom window mixed rosemary Holly collected from her back yard. My friend Carly, of Tribe Alive, was our guinea pig, as the first featured guest and business highlight. I hired my …

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

Today my heart wants to honor the life of Martin Luther King, but in the current climate of racial relations our society, my brain begs me not to. I’m aware that I feel completely inept, unqualified and quite honestly nervous, about saying the correct thing. I worry about coming across cliche or trite on a day like today. It feels unsafe either way. Silence is clearly wrong, but a white girl speaking up with the wrong words can bring backlash. One thing I’ve learned over the years is that speaking up, when my voice is shaking, is often the most important time to speak.

So today I’m writing, when it would have been more “comfortable” to pass.

Reading Dr. King’s Letter from the Birmingham Jail, reminds me that same desire for self-preservation, and “absence of tension” by the good-willed white moderate was exactly what kept them silent. It was also the most bewildering part …

by Crystal Gornto Inspirational Leaders Love In Action Loving Others Priorities Purpose The Journey Through Life Leave a comment chat

If your family is anything like mine, things can get a little crazy at holiday gatherings. Like this one time we started a conga line through the house for no apparent reason at all. (Okay, let’s be honest, that wasn’t the first time.) Moving on. The point is, all families have their own kind of crazy and most of us have “feelings” about what it’s going to be like to gather with the ones we love over the holidays. This is especially true when it involves gathering with people we didn’t grow up with.

Because seriously, their kind of crazy just isn’t normal.

Just ask Scott. I don’t think he grew up dancing in a conga line through the house. I’m thinking he probably didn’t do family olympics on Friday nights in the front yard for all to see either. He’s had a lot to adjust to, spending time with my family …

by Crystal Gornto Love Love In Action Love in Family Loving Others Loving Yourself Roadblocks in Life The Journey Through Life Leave a comment chat

We were strolling through Frisco’s Central Park last week on the fourth grade field trip when I noticed this faded sidewalk plaque. There are little sayings about life on The Shawnee Trail scattered throughout the park, but this one in particular caught my eye. In our lives of such abundant privilege on this modern Shawnee Trail, a drought of water isn’t even on our radar. But as we travel into this week of Thanksgiving, we’re carrying many other types of droughts and soul-searing experiences in our hearts and minds.

We’ve all experienced pain and heartache on the trail this year.

For me, this year has brought some incredible joy and growth. As it often does, quite a bit of it came through pain and struggle. This year has brought healing from old hurts and a few I’m working to heal. But when I settle in with what is, I can see that …

by Crystal Gornto Inspiration Love In Action The Journey Through Life Leave a comment chat

Go rogue today

Nothing gets in the way of family

Remember gratitude

Today, I will shine this little light

Their kind of crazy

Tempered by drought, a Thanksgiving blessing