Today...

I got home from Colorado late Wednesday night. I went to bed peacefully, and woke up yesterday to life. The messy, overwhelming, frustrating, sad kind of life.

I know it's a mix of the new hormones I am on, big dramatic life issues, and the little annoying hair pulling issues that are piled on top. It is enough to make you want to sit numb and motionless with no motivation to move. Which is pretty much how I spent my day.

Last night I went to bed in tears. After all the stuff that piled up through the day, I just wanted to talk to my friend. And I was reminded, as I am constantly, that she is gone.

It has been almost two years now, but I still miss her everyday. I miss her quirky view on life. I miss her straight forward honesty that somehow always seemed kind. I miss her grace. I miss her childlike giggle being only a phone call away. I miss the way she would have told me ~in her cheery voice~ to take a hot bath, drink a latte, and get on with life.

I woke up today thinking of her. Today is her birthday. So in honor of her, I am going get up, take a hot bath, stop pouting, and get moving. I am going to get on with life and do what needs to be done with as much grace as possible, because she reminds me how precious life is.

She reminds me that with all the ugly in this world, there is beauty beyond belief.

So, Happy birthday Lindsey. Today, because of you,  I will live a little bolder, dream a little bigger, and laugh a little louder. Love you my friend.  

 

Oh, Deer

I am still in Colorado, hanging out with my family and these guys in one of the most beautiful places in the world.

I spent the last four days in the Sangre de Cristo mountain range. The name (which means "Blood of Christ") is perfect, because the beauty is so engulfing that it is impossible to not be filled with worship for our Creator and Savior in this place.

I am so thankful to have this time of fellowship with my family and with the Father.

I hope you take the time today to let His beauty engulf you.



~I'll be back in three days. I can't wait read about what you all have been doing the last few weeks.

*Crickets Chirping*

Hey friends. Sorry it's been a little quiet around here. I wanted to check in and let you all know I am alive and well.

Because if you are anything like me you spend nights tossing and turning when you haven't heard from your blogger friends for an unusual amount of time. Okay, so maybe I am exaggerating a little, but  really, I do worry.

I have been with my family here in Colorado for several days now. Between hanging out with the family, helping my mom move, going to church, going to more church, and making new friends, I have been pretty busy. Plus, with the move, the internet has been sketchy at best. All this to say, I miss you all, and will come hang out with you some more when I get the chance.

I hope you are all doing wonderfully :)

Much love,

Summertime Tradition

Last night I took some of my Youth for Christ girls to our annual summer baseball game. Each year a wonderful local business donates baseball tickets for our local minor league team, and through going to these games each year, we have started our own little tradition.

We get to go in through a "special door" with no line, and to the littles one's delight, we even get to take the elevator instead of the stairs. Oh, and not to mention, we have great seats!

And not only do we get to go enjoy a baseball game, we get to do it in style. Last night we got free tickets to the buffet, and on top of that, free hotdogs and sodas (delivered to our seats), and all we could eat popcorn! (And its a good thing I brought my mom purse, cause one of my girls insisted on taking some of the goodies home for her siblings. My purse now smells like a concession stand :)

We had such a fun night, and to top it all off, we stayed to enjoy a post game fireworks show. It really is a blessing to be able to give these kids a little special treatment once in a while.

 Thank you, Giersch and Associates, for your generosity, and for helping us create lots of great memories!

A Nation is Born

As these words post, the clock turns midnight in Sudan, and the date changes to July 9, 2011. A date that will leave a hopeful mark in history; a day that brings wonderful freedom to many for whom it is long overdue.

Today we celebrate the birth of a beautiful new nation. The birthing pangs have been long, and much has been sacrificed. But today is the day of new beginnings, new hope, new life, and new freedom.

Along with being the world's youngest nation, it is also born as the world's poorest nation, with a GDP per capita of only $90. The bumpy and rough roads of this land are likely representative of the journey that lies ahead for the people.

But at this very moment beauty and love are taking root here;

in this country that through pictures and stories has captured my heart.




Source


If you dare to be vulnerable to the ways God is moving, if you are willing to have your heart broken for these things that break the heart of God, you can catch a glimpse of them From the Unpaved Road and Called 2 Follow.

Will you join me in wishing South Sudan a very happy birthday? Your love and prayers would be a wonderful gift.

The Perfect Accident

You know those people who think their pets are just the cutest things to ever grace the planet and post a million pictures of them for the world to see...like the world really cares?

Well, I'm about to become one of those people.

But really, my baby boy is the cutest and sweetest dog around.

Exactly three years ago I became the foster momma of this over-loveable pitbull baby.

Shortly after, I accidentally became his permanent momma...

Deep down I believe it was meant to be ;)

Cleaning Out Closets

My junior year of college I read through Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster for the first time. It was also the first time that I really understood what simplicity means. I discovered it is not only a freeing way to live, but also an important discipline in living by faith.

The Christian discipline of simplicity is an inward reality that results in an outward life-style. ~Foster

Simplicity is simply laying down our desires to compete for status, position, and extravagance. It is putting aside those cravings we have to impress people with our things. It is dying to our lust for little gods, and making room for more of God in our lives.

Simplicity is an outward life-style of owning what we need, and not having to have bigger, better, or more than our neighbors. It is a discipline God offers us to protect us from love of money. It is not legalistic, but personal.

Simplicity is the key to unlocking the chains of bondage to a materialistic world. It frees our time to spend more with God and our families. It frees our resources to give more to those in need.

Simplicity sets us free to recieve the provision of God as a gift that is not ours to keep and can be freely shared with others. ~Foster

Lately God has been opening my eyes in a fresh way to these verses:

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.  Matthew 6:19-21

Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches,

but give me only my daily bread. Proverbs 30:8

The Bible is flooded with verses like these, yet we so easily forget God's eternal goodness, and put our desire and faith into the temporary.

Although I value simplicity, recently I have realized that my simplicity has turned to something ugly. It has changed from being between me and God, to being a comparison to how much others have. Somewhere along the way my thought became that as long as I have considerably less than those around me, I am living in simplicity. Although this is "bigger and better" in reverse, it cheapens this gift of discipline.

So today I took some time to examine my life and my belongings. I live with a family, in their spare room. I use their furniture, so all my belongings are essentially contained in one closest. Yet today when I took an honest look at what I really need, I was able to give all this away.

I won't tell you an exact number of how many shirts or pants I or anyone "needs" in order to live simply; that should be a personal examination of needs and wants between you and God. I will tell you that I was holding on to many things that have been cluttering my life. And I will say it again...

Simplicity is freeing.

So now I ask, are there inward or outward things you are holding onto that are really holding onto you? Ask God to show you how you can live more simply, free of this bondage.