[00:00:00] Christine: Hey guys, welcome to another episode of the milspouse mastermind show. I’m so excited for you to hear this episode today. I’m sharing my conversation with Chrissie Kenaston and I know that you’re going to get so much out of today’s episode. Chrissie is a military spouse, a mom of three, and the author of What If I Name Her Grace?

[00:00:20] She’s also the founder of Copy with Chrissie, an online copywriting business that she started in 2018. Chrissie’s writing has been featured in various online publications, such as Thrive Global and For Everything. She currently lives with her family in New Mexico, but moves frequently as most military families do. We really dig into what it looks like to find purpose as a military spouse and mom in every season of life.

[00:00:52] Figuring out how to make time for the things that tugged on her heart, the importance of community mentorship, making the most of every opportunity, and perhaps most importantly, finding peace in the midst of the uncertainty of the military lifestyle. I know you’re going to love this episode. So let’s dive into the show.

[00:02:07] Before we get started with today’s conversation. I want to remind you that the 30-day clarity challenge is currently going on in the milspouse mastermind Facebook community. If you have not already headed over there and joined us, please do so now. You can find it in the show notes below this episode or on our website at milspousemastermind.com/community.

[00:02:30] This 30-day challenge is going to give you a prompt every day to help you start talking about it, thinking about it, journaling about it, sharing with others and figuring out what it is that really lights you on fire and how you can incorporate more of that in your everyday life and start living a life of purpose of joy, of impact today.

[00:02:55] I will see you over there in the Facebook group. Until then let’s dig into my conversation with Chrissie Kenaston today. I am so excited to introduce to you Chrissie Kenaston. Chrissie is a military spouse, a mom of three, a business owner, and now an author. And she has a lot of good information that she’s going to bring to us today. So welcome.

[00:03:18] Chrissie: Hi, thank you so much for having me.

[00:03:20] Christine: I’d love to start out today by just hearing a little bit about your background, your story, and what you do today.

[00:03:28] Chrissie: Sure. Yeah. I have a mass media degree from Florida State University. And that is where I met my husband.  I was 19 and he was 24 when we met. And he was fresh out of the Navy.

[00:03:44] He had done six years in the Navy and had decided to get out. And we met and we started dating. And about three years into our relationship, he said, I can’t do the civilian life. I’m going back into the military and I’m going to be in the air force this time. And he joined the air force ROTC. And at that point, you know, I had never envisioned myself as a military spouse.

[00:04:07] I did not have family in the military. But at that point we knew we were going to get married. We’d been together three years. And so it was like, okay, I’m coming along for the ride. And so, right out of college, cause I finished before he did, uI got a TV news job. So I was a television news producer, and I got it in the same town where I had gone to college.

[00:04:30] So I was blessed to be able to stay there and work in my career. Well, he finished school and then he got his first assignment that took us to middle of nowhere in New Mexico. And there was no TV station. And I, my career was kind of done at that point. But I remember feeling peace about that.

[00:04:50] You know, I had done it for about four or five years and it was a really high paced. Long hours. A really fun job for your early twenties, because you don’t really have a lot of responsibilities. And so working all the time like that, wasn’t that big of a deal. But once we got married, we were ready to start having kids. And I knew that it wasn’t a good fit anymore.

[00:05:06] Anyway, so we had our first baby in New Mexico and she’s eight years old now. And then we moved to Guam after that. And I had two babies in Guam. So I had three kids in five years and they are four, six and eight now. So I did the stay-at-home mom thing, you know, all through the baby and toddler years. We moved again to Virginia and then we moved to Florida. Now we’re back in New Mexico.

[00:05:34] So it’s been five moves in 10 years, a lot of moving. And around the time that my youngest was two. Well, I started feeling like I could breathe again. I didn’t have any babies anymore. We were, you know, our family was complete, and I felt like the season of stay-at-home mom was over, and I was being called to do more.

[00:06:00] But I didn’t want to leave the home. I wanted to work at home. And so I actually had a friend who was a virtual assistant. And she was working from home and I thought, well, I could do that. That sounds flexible, which is exactly what I wanted, to still be home with my kids and work around my husband’s crazy schedule and all of that.

[00:06:22] And so I looked into it, and I did it maybe for about a month or two. And I realized that the whole admin thing is not my skillset. I’m a writer. I’ve always been a writer. I’ve kept journals since I was a kid. I just, I love writing. But I’d never done anything with it really. And so I had a mentor bring up the idea of copywriting, which is just really marketing, you know, it’s writing words that sell.

[00:06:46] And so I jumped into that world, doing copywriting for online businesses, email marketing websites, Facebook ads, that kind of thing. I started my freelance copywriting business at the end of 2018, beginning of 2019, and it’s been such a great journey to be able to write and get paid to write.

[00:07:09] I mean, that’s like a dream come true. And make my own hours work as much or as little as I want, to take vacations that, you know, line up with my husband’s schedule. Cause that’s the hard one, you know, to pin down. I’m there for my kids. When they get home from school, it’s just been really awesome and I’ve met some incredible people.

[00:07:30] Okay. So I kind of got ahead of myself, but right before I started that business, I wrote a book. And that was kind of the catalyst to starting the business, where I realized if I could write this book during nap times and after they went to bed and things like that, then that meant that I could work. That I could fit it into our family life, without taking too much time away.

[00:07:53] And so I signed up for what’s called national novel writing month, which is every November. And the challenge is to write your whole book, 50,000 words in the month of November, between the first and the 30th. And I just like, I sat down and I was like, you know what, this is my goal. I’m going to make it happen. And I’m just one of those people who, if I set a goal, like come hell or high water, it’s going to happen.

[00:08:15] And so I did it. And I mean, by the grace of God, I finished this book. And, you know, it’s really a faith-based, God-centered message. And by, you know, showing that I could keep that discipline and get that done is what showed me that I could start this business and really let the business grow.

[00:08:38] Even, you know, through the pandemic and everything, it’s because it’s all online. It’s just been such a blessing to be able to keep working. And we moved from Florida to New Mexico during this time. And I just took the job right along with me. And I took a week off for our move and then jumped right back in, like nothing had changed. So, yeah, that has been my journey over the last 10 years.

[00:08:59] Christine: Well, that’s so exciting to hear. And I think there’s so many elements of your story that I can’t wait to unpack with you. Let’s go back to when you decided to step back from your career, because moving with the military,  I know you said you felt some peace with that. Did you feel content for a while, or was there a point in there where you started feeling like something was still missing? That you wanted something for yourself.

[00:09:30] Chrissie: Yeah. You know, it’s funny when I was leaving my job and all my friends and moving with my husband, I did get a lot of judgment about that.

[00:09:40] Like, you know, you’re giving up your career and following a man. And you know, that’s not what women do now. Right. And I remember thinking, yeah, I am. It doesn’t feel wrong to me at all. I love him. And I’m just like, I was so excited for the adventure. But then yes, once we got there and we were in this tiny town in New Mexico.

[00:10:01] I did feel kind of lost. And it was about a year and a half before we had our first child. And so I had that year and a half of trying to figure out what to do. And I worked at a couple of different places. I felt like I needed a job. I needed to keep busy. And so I, you know, I wasn’t happy anywhere that I worked there. And it was, yeah, I did feel like I was floundering for a little bit.

[00:10:25] And then once I got pregnant and was having that first baby, it was all about her. And that was just so exciting. And then from that moment on, I definitely felt like, you know, this is my purpose in this season right now is to just be mom. And I loved that season. It was definitely challenging when you have three littles, still challenging days. All that comes with that season.

[00:10:49] Christine: So talk a little bit about that season for you. Was your husband around, or were you having a lot of time, you know, solo parenting? What were some of the most challenging aspects of that season? And what were some of your favorite moments of that season?

[00:11:07] Chrissie: Yeah. So my oldest was 18 months when we moved to Guam and the entire time that we were in Guam, he was gone a lot.

[00:11:17] He had a lot of TDYs, you know, he was gone two or three weeks. And then he deployed. It was his first deployment when my son was four months old. So I had a two year old and a four month old and we got about a 10 day notice. Would you usually get about a six month notice? So that, that was probably the hardest time of my whole military journey so far, was him leaving on such short notice.

[00:11:39] We hadn’t been in Guam very long, so I didn’t have a support system really yet. And he was gone and I had a baby and a toddler. And I didn’t know how to do two kids. And my son, who was four months old, bless his heart. He’s the best sleeper now. But as a baby, he woke up every two hours till he was 18 months old. I mean, I didn’t sleep for a year and a half.

[00:12:00] And then my daughter’s two. So, you know, I mean a two-year-old is difficult too, and we’re potty training and it, you know, it was a very challenging time. And that was probably one of my darkest times. I was dealing with some postpartum anxiety, which I didn’t know that’s what it was. I hadn’t even heard of that at that time.

[00:12:18] And that was when I really started drawing closer to God. And when he just really taught me to rely on him for strength, because I had none, and I was constantly feeling like a failure. And full of that mom guilt, of messing it up every day. Why can’t I get this baby to sleep? Why am I always yelling at my two year old?

[00:12:39] You know, we were in survival mode. Like there was nothing, there was no joy during that time, really at all. And I would, I remember just desperately crying out to God, help me. I don’t know what to do. And I ended up, that was the first time in my life that I started reading my Bible regularly and doing devotionals. And really just learning about God. I’d never really done that before. And I started to feel that relationship grow, where I felt like I could talk to him. Like I was talking to a friend. And I could feel peace about being in the season that I was meant to be in, even if it was hard. That he was going to get me through it. And he did.

[00:13:20] And, you know, we had our third child three months before we left Guam. And that was just such a fun, sweet time. Because by that point I did have a support system and I had a lot of friends, and we had this new baby, and my husband was home. Cause we were getting ready to move. So they don’t really send them out too much when you’re getting ready to move.

[00:13:41] And so those last few months in Guam were just so sweet. Being with friends and having the baby and the two-year-old, the four year old. And it was just chaos, you know, but it was such a good time. Because when you can create that community and feel like you have that family outside of your real family, that just makes all the difference, especially when you’re living somewhere as far away as Guam.

[00:14:03] Christine: That’s one of the things I loved about connecting with you, since we are in Guam right now. I understand, because I see it all the time. It’s an absolutely gorgeous island. So many great opportunities. But you are so far from family, and if you don’t make those connections, I see people just really feeling lonely and isolated and really needing that connection, especially in that season of young motherhood.

[00:14:32] My girls are at two, four, and six now. So I know what you’re talking about. I say all the time, this is so much easier than it even was two years ago with like a newborn and a two and four year old. Just the ability for them to be able to do some things on their own. I know you mentioned you started volunteering at your church during that time. Can you talk about how you got involved with tha, and just a way to give back, even in that crazy season.

[00:15:05] Chrissie: Yes, that was such an incredible opportunity. So, the church that I went to, they participated in something called orphan Sunday, which is a worldwide movement. It’s, I think, the second Sunday in November, where they really highlight the call for Christians to help the orphan.

[00:15:23] And so, in this day and age, that’s really foster children. That’s who, you know, they need our help and God calls us to help them. And their families need our help. Because what I learned that Sunday is that not all of us are called to take the children into our homes. Some people are, but if you aren’t, you can still help the families in a way that makes it easier for them to bring in the kids, and to be able to help these kids, and love these kids.

[00:15:46] Foster families and foster children were not on my radar at all before that Sunday. And I heard that message and it was like, it was for me. I felt like the pastor was talking to me and it was just for me. And I knew in that moment, it didn’t matter how crazy things where at home. I told my husband, I said, I have to start volunteering. We have to figure out how I can do this.

[00:16:08] And so I found a babysitter who would take the kids two mornings a week for, you know, like nine to 12. It wasn’t a huge time commitment. And I started volunteering with Harvest House, which is a nonprofit on Guam connected with the church who helps foster families.

[00:16:26] And it just, it gives them all the things they need. Like baby clothes, toys, strollers. You know, you get a child, but you don’t get a bunch of money to buy all that stuff right away. You need that help. And we held events for the foster families to come and just have fun and forget about all the hard things they were going through for a little while.

[00:16:46] And it just, it meant the world to me to be able to give back in that way. You know, I think it was because I had had my own children at that point, that hearing the stories of what these foster children were going through and what they’d experienced. It just, you can’t listen to those stories about it, without it breaking your heart.

[00:17:03] And I knew that we weren’t called to bring in children at the time. And so it was like, this is something that I have to do to give back. And then when we moved to Florida, I felt that same calling. And I ended up meeting a couple of other women, and we started a nonprofit in the Florida panhandle called the Gulf Coast Foster Bridge that does the same thing. That Harvest House does, helping the foster families in the panhandle. And that was just an awesome thing to be a part of and help those families

[00:17:33] Christine: And so, you got to Florida and you started that. Did you get it started and step back? What was that process like?

[00:17:43] Chrissie: We had two years in Florida. So during those two years, I was very involved in the whole process. I was actually the president of the board for a little while, and then we got the surprise orders to move to New Mexico. We thought we were going to be in Florida for four years. And so I’m still technically on the board today, but because I’m so far away, I just help out every once in a while with social media or things that I have experienced in, with copywriting that they might need. That’s about the level of my involvement now.

[00:18:12] Christine: Okay. So let’s dig into…at what point did you figure out you had a book on your heart.

[00:18:23] Chrissie: Yes. So, the national novel writing month that I mentioned, I had wanted to do that for years. I had seen a friend do it probably around the time that I started having kids.

[00:18:35] And I thought I can do that. I want to write a book. How cool would that be? Becoming a published author, to me, had always seemed like becoming a rock star. Like so few people can actually do it. That status is how it had seemed. And I just knew I couldn’t, I didn’t have the ability to sit down and write the book when I had babies.

[00:18:56] And so it was this dream, that one day I’ll do it. And then in 2018 it came around again and it popped up in my Facebook feed or something, that the challenge was happening. And I was like, okay, I can do it this time. But what am I going to write about? You know? And so I knew I didn’t have a fiction book in me.

[00:19:15] That’s just not my forte. And so I just started thinking about it and, you know, I was praying about it and trying to figure out what. I want to make this worth the time that I’m going to spend on it, time away from my family. And I realized that my story of growing closer to God through that incredibly hard season of three babies in five years, moving around the world, husband leaving, all of that.

[00:19:42] My husband and I even had a rocky start to our marriage and God completely saved us and it was all such a transformational thing for me, that completely changed me as a person for the better, like a thousand times for the better. I felt like, if this helped me so much, I felt like it was my calling to help other moms and other women, maybe not even necessarily moms, but you know, women that are in that place of maybe a struggling marriage.

[00:20:11] A hard time with friendships. Dealing with anxiety. All of those things that God can pull us out of. But I think what happens, especially in this day and age, when we’re so busy, is that we’re going through all these things and God’s just on the back burner. We forget to go to him.

[00:20:28] We forget that that’s the best thing to do. We say, well, I guess all I can do is pray. And it’s like, no, that’s the best thing you can do. And so I wanted to just convey that it’s doable. That there are practical ways to draw closer to God in any season of life. And that it doesn’t have to be, you know, two hours in your Bible at 5:00 AM, if that doesn’t fit the season that you’re in. It doesn’t have to be church every time the doors are open, if that doesn’t fit the season that you’re in.

[00:20:50] We go through these seasons, and God knows that it says that in the Bible, that there’s a time for everything. And so I wanted to just talk through these different things: marriage, motherhood, friendships, all the things, you know, and show how scripture guides us through it. And how we can turn to God when we’re struggling in all of those areas. And just make it really relatable and feel like an easy thing to do, even in a busy season.

[00:21:26] Christine: What I love about this is that it combined the dream that is on your heart, just to write this book. But then it ultimately came down to sharing your story and how your story could impact so many other people. And I love how God sometimes just plants these dreams on our heart, and then it’s fun to see how they come to fruition.

[00:21:50] So talk a little bit about that process of actually sitting down and writing the book. You said you did this challenge, you did it in a month. What, what was that like?

[00:22:02] Chrissie: So that was a very cool experience. So I describe it as my own personal manna from heaven experience. Because I knew how I wanted to start the book, you know, with my marriage being in a tough place and how God brought us out of that.

[00:22:16] But then after that, I didn’t know what I was going to write about really. And so I literally would wake up each morning. I have the idea for a chapter right at that day and go to bed, not knowing what I was going to write about the next day. And then I’d wake up and I’d have the idea. And it was literally one day at a time.

[00:22:36] And I just had to trust God that he was going to give me the chapter the next day. And then I actually didn’t get to the 50,000 word goal of the challenge. And that was another moment where I had to trust God that I was like 45,000 words in. I felt like he was telling me it was done. Like that was it. Don’t keep writing just to hit this number. That’s not what this is about.

[00:22:55] And so the way the book is structured is each chapter can stand alone. So a busy mom or a busy woman can read it one chapter at a time without, you know, feeling like they’re getting lost. But it’s also a six year story that flows throughout. So, the goal was to make it easy to read. But still be a continuous story. And it was, yeah, just a very cool experience to write it that way. And just trust that I was going to know what to write the next day, until it was done.

[00:23:24] Christine: So once you finished the story, did you have a plan for how you were going to publish the book? Or did it, it just kind of sit there? What were your next steps?

[00:23:35] Chrissie: It totally sat there. I had no idea what to do with that. And like I said, I, I realized after I wrote that book, that I had time to work from home and I could start my business. And so I dove into that literally the next month. And that became my world for the next year and a half.

[00:23:53] I was building my business and learning everything I could about copywriting and trying to get clients and all of that. And then God helped me make these incredible connections that ended up getting me the book deal. So I joined a business coaching program and really connected with the coach. And then she ended up saying that she had a connection with a publishing house in New York city.

[00:24:14] And she submitted my book proposal to them, and they accepted it and gave me the book deal. And I mean, I’ll never forget that day, because it still feels like a dream. Even sending off the book proposal, I thought, okay, that’s a cool rite of passage that I got to do that. But I can’t imagine it’s going to go any further than this.

[00:24:34] And when I got the, yes, it was just, that was in spring of last year. I got the, yes. And then it’s just been a process up until now and it’s being released and been so cool.

[00:24:44] Christine: What does that feel like?

[00:24:47] Chrissie: It still feels like a dream. I truly still feel like I’m pinching myself sometimes going, is this real? Like, am I actually a published author? I mean, when I first saw it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.com, that was the coolest thing. Just to see it there with my name on it. And then people started leaving reviews. And they’ve been all good so far. I know there’s gotta be a bad one coming. Cause I think that’s another rite of passage. You can’t please everybody. But I, and I cannot wait to see it on the store shelves at the end of June. That’s just going to be the coolest thing.

[00:25:19] Christine: So let’s take a step back for a minute and talk about what you were wanting at that point. Feeling like, okay, it’s time to move into a new season. Can you talk a little bit about.that? Hey, my time just focusing on my kids and being with them, that’s coming to an end. How you started that process of wanting to work from home. What are some options for me to do?

[00:25:50] Chrissie: Yeah, I, you know, it was kind of just a conversation that came up one day between my husband and I. We had always talked about me  going back to work when all the kids were in school. And I kind of just was ready to do something before that. I mean, I always knew I wanted to work. And I always, I had worked since I was a teenager. It was fun to be mom, but once they weren’t such needy babies, I was starting to feel like I have a lot of free time now, you know?

[00:26:19] And wouldn’t it be great to contribute to the family’s finances. And, you know, I kind of felt like the world is my oyster. What am I going to do? I can do what I want to do, which is a very blessed place to be that I was able to do that. And then, you know, the more we talked about getting a job and doing daycare, and it was like, well, you’re just going to end up making enough to pay for daycare, probably.

[00:26:41] So, what’s the point of that when you can be with your kids? And that’s when I had started talking to a friend who was the virtual assistant. She described her life of working at home and being there with her kids and making her own hours. And I felt like, yes, that sounds amazing. And so I really, I didn’t really look into much more.

[00:27:00] I just thought I’m just going to explore that path. And I think I found like a $97 course to get started down the VA path. Then it, yeah, like I said, it was fun at first. And then I realized the admin thing was not my forte, not something I really enjoyed doing. And so that’s when I went down the copywriting path and I had, you know, my first client, bless her.

[00:27:25] She took a chance on me when I didn’t really have any proof that I knew what I was doing. And I was Googling and YouTube-ing everything, you know. And I pulled it off and she was…I have a writing skill, but copywriting is a very specific type of writing. And so, I did have to learn that. The persuasive sales writing and, you know, she was pleased with what I turned in. And she started referring me to other people and it just, you know, my business has been like 90% referrals. And so it grew from there.

[00:27:54] And then about nine months into the business is when I got my first business coach. And I was like, okay. I’m going to take this thing really seriously. And that’s when I really started to grow. And I really made the connections to get, you know, top tier clients. And my business really took off.

[00:28:09] Christine: You know, we have these pivot moments where we try something and we’re like, okay, that’s not quite it. Maybe let me try this instead. Do you think it was writing the book that made you go down that copywriting path or was it a conversation with somebody? What helped you make that pivot?

[00:28:31] Chrissie: Yeah, I think it was the conversation that I had with my mentor, where I was talking to her about not really loving the admin thing. And I was, you know, saying the whole reason I started this was to do something that lit me up, that I was choosing to do. So I feel like I’m choosing something that’s not lighting me up.

[00:28:46] I’m going to take hours away from my family, I want it to be something I enjoy. And she just started asking me, okay. What are you passionate about? What do you like to do? And as soon as I said writing, she was like, oh gosh, copywriting can be a really lucrative career. And that sounds like a great path.

[00:29:06] And so I just started researching it. And I thought, oh yeah, that’s absolutely something I can do. I mean, when I worked in the TV news business, I wrote a lot of things that had to do like selling the audience on not changing the channel. Right. You know, all those things before the break where you say coming up next, we’re gonna have a squirrels skiing on, you know, things that make people want to watch.

[00:29:27] And so I felt like, yeah, that’ll be a natural fit. Writing the book I think is what showed me I could do the business. I mean that really just being able to get that done and still be mom, and not feel like I was really taking a lot of time away from my family. That’s what helped me see. Okay, you can do this business. So it all just kind of flowed until I found my calling in the copywriting world.

[00:29:52] Christine: So you mentioned talking with a mentor. Was that somebody you were meeting with? How did you develop that relationship?

[00:30:01] Chrissie: I say that that was a total God thing too, because I got into the local Facebook moms group where we lived in Florida. It was like moms of Navarro. And I said, Hey, is anyone here a virtual assistant? I’d love to chat with you, because it was still so new to me. And I just wanted to pick the brain of someone that lived nearby. And she responded. And she actually lived two streets over from me in my neighborhood and said, yeah, I used to be a VA.

[00:30:29] And she had become an online business manager by that point, but she said, I’d love to chat with you. And we just, I think we talked over an hour on that first talk. We connected. And she just really, I mean, I owe so much of that first year to her because she helped me. I knew nothing about websites or, you know, all the different apps that we use to keep track of everything, and how to send an invoice and have a contract.

[00:30:53] And I knew nothing about any of that. And so she walked me through all of that, just out of the kindness of heart at the beginning. And she made me that first connection with that first client who took a chance on me too. So I owe so much to her for the start of my business.

[00:31:08] Christine: So did you just start working for that client or did you take any additional courses or anything to help you with the specific copywriting.

[00:31:19] Chrissie: Yeah. So I worked with her for about six months and that’s when I was really just Googling everything. And I feel like I kind of just got lucky for a little while there, but I did reach a point where I knew that I needed some form of copywriting training. And so I joined that business coaching program because the coach had been a copywriter and then she became a business coach.

[00:31:43] And so she was able to walk me through a lot of it. And then for all of 2020, I did a year-long copywriting academy program. So that really just dialed everything in and helped me get certified in a lot of different copies so that I have, you know, credentials to show that I know what I’m doing. And I learned so much. And I made great connections too. I mean, every online course or program I’ve done, I’ve made connections that have helped my business grow. Those are so worth it.

[00:32:11] Christine: What do you think are some of the biggest lessons that you’ve learned about yourself, or finding your purpose, your journey along the way?

[00:32:23] Chrissie: For me, it has all been about trusting. Because there have been so many times, whether it was when I, you know, before I was a mom and our first move, or when I was a mom and having such a hard time with all the littles so close together, and then even starting my business. Every moment has just been about trusting that God’s got me, that he’s going to be there to protect me and guide me through each season.

[00:32:51] And just trusting that I’m hearing him right. About what I’m supposed to do. Writing the book and sharing some really personal stories from my family and my marriage and things that I knew would help people, but they were personal, you know? And so to trust that I was supposed to do that and to trust that I was supposed to start this business that was going to inevitably take some time away from my family.

[00:33:15] You know, if you want to grow a business, you’ve got to put in the time and yeah, just really trying to stay tuned into him, so that I knew that I was taking the right steps and trusting that if I couldn’t see the next step, that was okay. Because he was going to show it to me eventually. And I think that’s so key for the military life, especially, because you never know what’s next.

[00:33:37] You never know where you’re going to move, or when your husband’s going to be gone, or when he’s going to come back. And so having that trust in, that peace that came from it made all the difference. And that’s why I wrote the book, because I wanted to help other people see that. That having that peace makes everything so much more doable.

[00:34:00] And learning to trust him came through just being really disciplined in spending time in the Bible every day. And some days that was an hour and some days that was five minutes. But it was something I made sure it was something every day. And then it was making sure I had a good group of Christian friends who could encourage me and I could encourage them. Who actually were praying for you, if they said they were praying for you. Who could give you great advice when you needed it. You know, that was biblically sound advice.

[00:34:20] Always being in a good church, everywhere we move. That’s the first thing we do is find that church community. And so through all of those things, I have developed a real relationship with God, that feels like he’s someone I can talk to, who I feel like I hear back from. And that, yeah, that’s just given me so much peace in all the uncertainty that comes with this lifestyle.

[00:34:49] Christine: As we close out today, is there any one piece of advice you would love to give a young military spouse?

[00:34:58] Chrissie: Yeah, I think it really is just give Jesus a chance. You know, and if you haven’t ever, you know, invited Jesus into your life,  that’s what will bring you all those things I was just talking about.

[00:35:09] You know, that peace that comes with being okay with the uncertainty. That, you know, next 10, 20 years is going to have, because there’s so much uncertainty. And if you have known Jesus and maybe you have pushed  him to the back burner, because life is so busy and chaotic… that’s what I did…you know, come back to him and really just be intentional about letting him know.

[00:35:33] Be the Lord of your life, because that changes everything. And it will start to change you as a person. You’ll become a kinder, gentler person who extends grace to people, which makes you a better wife, a better mother, a better friend.

[00:36:02] A And then really finding that community everywhere you go. I made the mistake at the first couple of bases of letting that first year go by, everywhere we moved, where I was just too scared to get out there and meet people. And I just kept saying, well, let me get settled in first. And I learned that lesson the hard way. Where when I finally did meet amazing people that were that strong community I needed, we were leaving. You know, it was such a short time. So the last few bases, I’ve been so intentional about getting out there, right away.

[00:36:19] Even though I’m an introvert, I’m a home body. I don’t want to do that, but I saw what a difference it makes in my life and in my husband’s life too, when we have that community. So now we try to get out there as soon as possible and start meeting people. And that makes such a difference.

[00:36:36] Christine: Okay.So as we wrap up, talk a little bit about your book.  It’s coming out this summer, right? Talk a little bit about what that is going to look like, and then tell everybody where they can find it.

[00:36:48] Chrissie: Yes. So my book is called, What If I Name Her Grace? And right now the e-book is available, and the paper back is available for pre-order, and that’s on Amazon and Barnes and noble.com. And then starting June 29th, you will be able to see it wherever books are sold.

[00:37:01] Which is going to be so exciting. And you can find me on Instagram. I’m at Chrissie Kenaston and my website is ChrissieKenastoncom. I have a blog there as well. And then I have a page Chrissie Kenaston Author on Facebook.

[00:37:23] So I would love to connect with you. I hang out on Instagram a lot. So send me a DM. Let me know you heard this and we can chat.

[00:37:30] Christine: Well I’m so excited that we got to connect and everyone is going to get to hear this story. I’m excited for you. And I can’t wait to see your book in stores. Thank you so much for joining us today.

[00:37:42] Chrissie: Thanks for having me. It was such a fun conversation.

[00:37:45] Christine: Y’all! I hope you love that conversation with Chrissie as much as I did. I will have all of those links in the show notes, along with a link to where you can get her new book, What If I Name Her Grace? Go check it out. Get a copy. Helps support a fellow military spouse. Have a wonderful week. Until next time may you live filled, fueled and full of joy.