Kristena Tunstall

I am first and foremost a wife and mother. My passion is for writing. I write on my author blog as well as a dedication website in honor of my 8 1/2 year old daughter who left this earth for heaven on July 16, 2008.

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Loss… Then Blessings Abound… #believer #blessings #beyondgrateful

Loss… Then Blessings Abound… #believer #blessings #beyondgrateful

OMG (Oh My Goodness)… Find the joy through the tragedy is, I believe, imperative. It’s this one thing that allows us to find the hope in every situation, and some times things look pretty darn stark.

In every life, we have our own set of “darkest days” we have to live through. No two people on the face of the planet go through the exact same set of dark days because each and every person on the…

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Blessings... Seeing Through Catastrophic Loss #blessing

Blessings… Seeing Through Catastrophic Loss #blessing

Catastrophe. That’s quite a word. It’s the epitomy of a word trying to describe the worst of a circumstance and even with this word it’s still not enough to truly explain the loss.

Flood, almost 4 feet deep = Catastrophe. The catastrophic nature of what happened back on May 19 doesn’t begin to describe enough the significant loss Keith, Athena, me, and my mom went through.

Athena literally…

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Loss... Sentimental and/or Physical #flood2020

Loss… Sentimental and/or Physical #flood2020

The evening of Monday, May 18, it had been a typical day in our home. I’m a virtual assistant (equivalent to an executive assistant/personal assistant from the comfort of my home office). I’d had another typical day of taking care of my clients and the tasks they needed me to take care of. Due to COVID-19, Keith was home and not working (lots of freetime). Athena was also home as there was…

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Thoughts, Reflections, and More (#bestill)

Thoughts, Reflections, and More (#bestill)

The last time I sat and worked in the devotional journal I purchased at the end of last year, “100 Days of Bible Promises, ” was back on February 15. So about three months ago. My desire to read and write in it just hasn’t been here. I know if I’d forced myself to do it, while it would be done at this point, I’m not sure how honest my responses would’ve been. However, I know today’s entry comes…

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#2020 - Looking Back

#2020 – Looking Back

2020. Wow! Hard to believe we’re already twenty years into the new millennium. When I think back over the past twenty years, I’m amazed not at just what our country has gone through, but what I’ve personally gone through.

Here in just under a month, Keith and I will celebrate our 26th wedding anniversary. Here’s a list of strikes against us to not succeed, or at least made things harder:

The…

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Happy New Year #2020

Happy New Year #2020

Wow! 2020 is here. 2019 seemed to just fly by.

I just looked back at the last post I did, and it was clear back on March 21, 2019. My desire to write has been non-existent. While I think about it quite often, I just never do it. I’m not sure why. After Mari died, I wrote all the time. It felt like I constantly had things I needed to jot down and write out to express how I was feeling. Now, Mari’s…

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Out of Control

Have you ever felt like your life is out of control? You have a direction you’d like to go, but your path is anything but straight. If you’d look back, it’s as if you’re drunk with the way it looks like you’ve weaved back and forth along the way.

For the last few years, that’s how my life has been. There are things happening in our homethat began in the summer of 2015. While I can’t go into…

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Living Hope

A couple of days ago I shared how I’ve been internally struggling with a lot of self-loathing and simply not feeling good enough. While the struggle is still ongoing, it’s my daily quiet timethat helps more than anything else, or for that matter, anyone else, to stay as grounded as possible. Some days I fully outright fail. These are days filled with many tears and the inability to see myself in…

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Sharing My Struggle

I’m sitting here at my keyboard trying to figure out how to start this very post, yet I can’t think of a “fancy” way to do it. So here it goes…

I’ve not shared with very many people the struggles I’ve been going through for several months now. While I won’t go into details, there have been a lot emotionally trying things happening in our home to where I’ve been really down and my self-loathing is…

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Do You Have Shiny-Object Syndrome?

Do You Have Shiny-Object Syndrome?

no procrastination – do it now

Awe… The time-elusive Shiny-Object Syndrome (squirrel)… In other words – PROCRASTINATION!

How quickly can we become distracted by something “shiny” that diverts our attention from what we either should or need to be doing? For me, it some times feels, it’s all the time. There are things I’m supposed to be doing but don’t feel like it. Forcing myself can be so…

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Is There Such a Thing as a Perfect Job?

Is There Such a Thing as a Perfect Job?

I can remember from the time I was little dreaming of the job I’d want to do when I grew up. My dreamto be a nurse started before I was 5 years old. I can remember sitting for an artist who drew one of those silly characters to where you have a little itty bitty body and your head is HUGE. He drew me like this as a nurse. I just knew this is what I wanted to be all through elementary school,…

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Does God Have a Plan for Me? #ArmorOfGodStudy #ControlGirl

I haven’t felt compelled to write like this in quite some time.

I’ve been having my daily Quiet Time (QT) with God each morning at 4am. Yup, you read that right: 4AM. Let me explain the significance here. I am a die-hard NIGHT OWL (you know – whoot whoot). So me and anything before the sun comes up is so not my thing.

However, several months ago I felt God convicting me that in order to startmy…

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Nehemiah, The Story Continues...

Nehemiah, The Story Continues…

Wow, another long one. I feel like when I’m on a roll, the words just flow out of me and onto the page. I loved how I can see the Holy Spirit working through me as I was studying just the background of the Book of Nehemiah. I hadn’t even gotten into the book itself yet.

Today is November 8, 2015 and I’m doing week 4 day 3 of the study guide today.

Continuing in the Book of Nehemiah

1. Nehemiah,…

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Are You A History Buff?

Are You A History Buff?

I was debating on whether to share the Week 4 Day 2 entry I’d written back on November 7, 2015. It’s the first day Jen Hatmaker has us research the background of a book in the Biblebefore actually getting into the book itself. When I looked at day 2 I figured I was going to be expanding upon this specific day so I better include it so it makes better sense in the end. My hope is that maybe you…

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Where to Get the Ultimate Guide Book

Where to Get the Ultimate Guide Book

(While the following post is much longer than normal at almost 2,000 words, please read the entire thing. I reveal some very person things going on in my life at the time. Thank you.)

Today is November 6, 2015 and I am on week 4 day 1 of the study guide. During my quiet time, I talk about some very personal stuff but just how much God has been working in my life.

When we think of the Bible, it’s…

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Miraculous Breakthroughs (they really do happen)

Miraculous Breakthroughs (they really do happen)

I did week 3 day 5 of the study guide back on November 5, 2015. This was a huge break-through day for myself as I discovered some things God was showing me. I literally snapped out of a very depressive state. It was one of the greatest feelings I’ve been through and grateful the Holy Spirit worked through me the way He did that day. Now I’m going to share it with you what I wrote that day.

We are…

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How to Find God's Provision and Protection

How to Find God’s Provision and Protection

For week 3 day 4, Jen had us read Psalm 68:5-10 and establish the main idea, turning it into a title.

Title: God’s Provision & Protection

“Today let’s see what alternate versions can do for your time in the Word. Allow the Spirit to fill your mind with truth as you read the following translations of verse 6:

“God makes a home for the lonely; He leads out the prisoners into prosperity, Only the…

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