About the Author

Kristen Strong, author of Back Roads to Belonging and Girl Meets Change, writes as a friend offering meaningful encouragement for each season of life so you can see it with hope instead of worry. She and her US Air Force veteran husband, David, have three children and live in Colorado...

(in)side DaySpring: things we love
& you will too!
Find more at DaySpring.com
(in)side DaySpring:
things we love
& you will too!
Find more at
DaySpring.com
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  1. We all have to respect everyone no matter who they are. No matter what skin color they are. See thing from their point of view. We might have white skin they might have brown they might black. But if we are saved we are to love them like Jesus would. Like the song you get it on YouTube I was taught it in Sunday School when small. It is a song so true for us Adults and Children today. It is “Jesus Loves All The Children Of The World Red And Yellow Black And White” That is so true. We especially the saved are to do the same. Even if not saved. Look at people no matter what their skin color is. Look at them from the Heart. For who they are. Each one has personality of their own. Just like we have. We are to do what Jesus would want as to do that is Love all people of all walks of life of all skin colors. Get to know them if we can especially someone with a different skin color than we have. See how they see things. Don’t judge what you don’t know anything about. Instead Pray for them. Love them like Jesus would. You never know you could become very good friends. As I am friend with a we boys Mum who I used to look after when I was Childminder. She is has from the Philippines her and her husband. They are Christians. We just got on they have even their Son now 13 brown skin. The kids I looked after at the time had white skin they loved the we boy with the brown skin. They never passed any remarks that he had brown skin they were white skin. That is why it should be in life. I said this so often. When you are in Hospital you don’t care what color skin the Doctor or Nurse is as long as they make you well again. So why should skin color matter. We should all Love either saved or not saved. Be thankful we are alive to enjoy every day God has blessed us with. Thank you for writing what you did. I am so blessed. Thank you incourage for everything you all do. Keeping you all in prayer Dawn Ferguson-Little xx

    • Thank you for sharing here, Dawn! I love the way you detail Jesus’s love for all. And while Jesus does indeed love all His children, we humans (including myself!) don’t always reflect His truth to those around us as we should. Here’s to listening and learning, to living out these truths in action as well as in word. Sending love, Dawn! xoxo

  2. Kristen,

    The main problem in our country is that not many are listening. We all want to spout our opinions. Not many of us are willing to really get to know the other person. We are quick to judge based on skin color, race, etc. More Americans-Christians need to be like you- asking the hard questions & willing to listen & hear the others’ stories. Don’t base your opinions on what someone else thinks or said. Jesus would say “ALL Lives Matter”. We need to show this sinful, hate filled world that everyone is important. All opinions, thoughts, etc. are important. Christians need to show more tolerance & love towards ALL people-rich, poor, black, white, Asian, etc. Let’s put love over all & start intentionally spreading some Christ likeness into this world. We might change things if we start asking the hard questions & taking time to listen to their side.

    Blessings 🙂

    • Beth! It’s always a delight to see you here! Yes–Jesus would say all lives matter. I also believe He’d say that black lives matter because all lives matter. I’m thankful for my friendship with Salena and the gift of our hard conversations that has shown me the truth of this statement and a hundred others that I never considered beforehand. Here’s to, as you said, ” . . .asking the hard questions and taking the time to listen . . .”

      Love you, Beth, and so grateful for you, too!

  3. I am definitely an avoider of awkwardness because in my mind it can lead to disagreement and confrontation. Everyone seems so charged politically that I just keep my mouth shut. But then I miss out on growing and learning. Thanks for the reminder that the end result of change and peace are worth the awkward start.

  4. I love the “build tables instead of platforms” idea. When we gather around a table, especially if there’s food being served, we are more willing to not just listen but to ‘hear’ one another. It becomes an invitation to be – accepted, heard, allowed, seen, embraced, and the list can go on and on.
    I have been blessed to be friends with a family for 38 years. We have become family. As you can guess with that many years together we have experienced it all. Graduations, births, deaths, financial woes, divorce, weddings, you name it. With all the memories we share, the best times have been around a table sharing a meal and then once it’s been cleared it became a game table with more snacks and laughter and as each new generation comes along they become part of the tradition.

    We cannot bring about change until we are willing to make changes as needed to our own hearts. Christ didn’t just speak to the crowds, he approached sinners one by one and had conversation, meaningful conversation with them. He gave each one opportunity to engage and to accept what He was offering. That’s all that we are expected to do – have an answer for our belief. If all we know is John 3:16 then let us tell everyone that they too can become a ‘whosoever’ and receive the freedom that salvation brings.

    There are no quick fixes and we may never have a world free from strife, but we can still be who Christ wants us to be to everyone we come in contact with. Nothing will define us more than by how we treat one another every day.

  5. You are so right, Kristen. We need to say “YES to talking with rather than talking at.” It seems an awful lot of shouting is going on these days with little desire to listen. I suppose the listening will have to start with us. “Lord, help us keep our talk to a minimum. Give us ears to hear, and hearts to understand and respond in healing ways. Provide opportunities for us to do that, I pray, even during this pandemic. AMEN.”