Getting back into the routine of life is always a little difficult for me…I like the change from routine to holiday and back to routine, which leads to counting down the days till a holiday or trip (HAITI is 10 days away!!!), then back to routine…this rhythm keeps life interesting.
I thrived in the school rhythm…1st semester then a month off…2nd semester then summer. It created a stopping point and a starting point for me.
Adulthood seems to have far fewer defined starting and stopping points…but this year I had a very defined Christmas break. I was able to spend a few days in Texas with the family then a few days in ABQ/Denver with friends. It was much longed for and very timely. Those days away from my normal life gave me a feeling of ending last year and beginning this year.
When I came back to the frozen tundra I found myself looking forward to seeing people I hadn’t seen in a few weeks…I had missed my “normal” life and the “normal” things I do and people I see. One co-worker said to me “I’ve missed this” after a conversation filled with razzing and good banter. I was only gone a few days…but the break gave me a chance to balance out…to start fresh.
So while my transition back into my office today was a little slow on the uptake, it is nice to come back refreshed…re-energized…and ready to do “normal” until my next hiatus (did I mention I go to Haiti in 10 days?) .
Hope your transitions out of the holiday sugar high and into the routine of “normal” are going smoothly!
In June, I was able to take my 3rd trip to Haiti to visit Gertrude & the kids she is currently caring for in her orphanage. Our team trip in April was cancelled due to riots over the food shortage in Port au Prince that brought the issues of starvation & the struggle with widespread poverty to the world stage. After the hurricanes, Haiti was again watched by the world & there have been some amazing outpourings of support from foreign aid & ministries, hoping to free these people from this cycle of poverty & starvation. I am on the board for a non profit called the Haiti Mission Project & this year people donated over $10,000 to provide food, housing, encouragement, & other need assistance for children & families in Haiti. God is good. Just last month we received word that the Kids Against Hunger food program was going to ensure that Gertrude (our dear Haitian friend who runs an orphanage & trade school for women) would have enough of their nutrient rich food for the children at the orphanage & the women at the trade school to eat a good meal each day. This is HUGE. Gertrude now can use the money that people donate to the HMP to buy meat, milk, & vegetables to supplement this meal or provide a second meal each day instead of only feeding these women & children rice & beans once a day. (for more info)
Did I tell you…my dad is coming with us to Haiti in January!!! I am so excited to share Haiti with him & to see all the things God has done & is doing in this country of amazing people since I was there in June.
On other fronts…Woodbury Lutheran is a great place to work. I am blessed to rub shoulders with incredible people who inspire me to be who I am as a child of God & who teach me often what it looks like to humbly serve the Lord. I am still working with the Junior High & this past summer I was part of a team of Jr highers who traveled to Rapid City, SD to share the love of Jesus along with some sweat as we served those in need around Rapid. Our jr high students also shared their muscles & energy all over the twin cities this summer in a ministry called Summer Stretch where we serve every Thursday at different organizations that walk alongside those in need around our community. I love that this is my job.
Mom & Maggie came up in May & we went to Door County, WI. A handful of lighthouse adventures, lovely cherry baked goods, & some dirt roads later, we are still hoping to keep the tradition alive to spend a weekend each year together, just us girls.
Mom & dad came up in August to enjoy the Minnesota State Fair & a little Minnesota summertime which is definitely worth a trip north.
I was able to travel to Michigan with my friend Danielle & her two boys (one of which is my handsome Godson, Caleb) & enjoy a few days on the lake with the Wallers. It was a nice break from the busy ness of summer & be with people who don’t mind if you sleep until noon or if you drive an hour to have a drink in Canada cause you’ve never been.
I’ve been to Chicago a few times, squeezed in a short camping experience, enjoyed a few concerts (Amos Lee, Jack Johnson, Ben Folds), shows (Wicked, Mamma Mia, Yankee Doodle Dandy, & others), I’ve dated a little (no Mr. Right yet) , enjoyed my book club, continued to scrapbook & make cards, enjoy a few hours a week at the gym, & am genuinely loving my life.
Grad school is still going well. Last week I wrapped up my 2nd fall & now I am at the halfway point on this journey towards my M. Ed from the U of M. I am definitely enjoying the challenge & the opportunity to learn more about Youth Development & Leadership.
I have been overwhelmed lately by the number of amazing people in my life…friends who are genuine & inspire me to be the best me I can be, family members that blow me away with their generosity & willingness to love (even when I’m crabby), a great housemate who lets me live in her basement & enjoy the day to day chaos (even when I don’t do the dishes in a timely manner).
I forget it often…but I am rich in so many ways. I pray that your Christmas is a blessed one. That you find opportunities to list your favorite things from the past year, that you take time to tell people you love why you love them, & that you continue to seek ways to bring healing & restoration to the world around you in this season of Hope & Anticipation.
Merry Christmas
There are many reasons why December is one of my favorite months…
so an ode…
I love christmas lights (on houses, trees, moving floats, in my house, really anywhere)
I love the music (i know, I’m crazy….but I become incredibly eclectic during the Holidays…Dolly Parton, Bing Crosby, Priscilla Ahn, Sammy Davis Jr, Lorie Line, Barenaked Ladies, oh I could go ON AND ON)
I love the opportunities to see people I haven’t seen in ages and just enjoy time with them.
Yummy christmas cookies and food
Making candy with my family
decorating my house, dorm room, or living space…
reminiscing while going through ornaments and pictures…
going on drives to see christmas lights…esp the neighborhood by st. kates…and around TCU…
Christmas movies (Elf, Home Alone, White Christmas, Holiday Inn, Christmas Story, Smoky Mountain Christmas, Frosty the Snowman…)
permission to glitterfy everything!
i love it…
I had a pretty normal thing happen in my world on Saturday but it has proven to be rather defining. I had this afternoon/evening of just being awkward. It started with breaking my ipod, then rushing around for a church thing, then meeting up with a new friend…and for whatever reason I couldn’t break through my funk. I was just awkward.
Now, please know I realize that being awkward isn’t anything new for me…but saturday I was in true form. Couldn’t form intelligent questions, transparent at moments where a filter definitely should have been used, inept at describing my views, and unable to make a decision…which all was compounded by hanging out with a person who I am still just getting to know…so all this awkwardness that is me was compounded by my internal desire to make sure I say the right thing, make sure they are comfortable, double guess my first inclination to be sarcastic or make fun of something, and overall just try too hard.
See, if you are already one of my people…you’ve endured “awkward, try-to-hard” Lindsey and gotten to the other side where “fabulous, still-odd-but-endearingly-quirky” Lindsey shines shines through. You’ve hopefully forgotten the first conversation we had…where i probably talked over you…stumbled over my words..busted out the stutter…overshared about how I was a band nerd…and probably made you very uncomfortable. You pressed through and entered the realm of friends, where hopefully I only make you uncomfortable on an occasional basis.
But the terrific thing about having this particular saturday experience is that I was able to debrief my chaos with some amazing people who reminded me that if I have friends who are this INCREDIBLE that I can’t be a loser. These fabulous women and men have made it through awkward Lindsey and chosen to love me in the reality of who I am…and this is nothing compared to the bigger story of Jesus’ love for me.
how quickly I forget…i start to sink into the quicksand of self-doubt, self defeating thoughts, and beat myself up for my lack of smooth or interpersonal skill, i dwell on my internal “sit on my sandwich, walk through the store with toilet paper stuck to my shoes, drop my groceries in the busy parking lot, wearing two different colored socks” self…and in that place I am sure to be awkward, try to hard, and present a very different Lindsey than I really am.
But alleluia…Sunday came! Sunday was an amazing day of restoration to my soul. These fabulous friends of mine shared with me their incredible awkward moment stories and encouraged me to chalk this experience up to a story worthy of sharing!
praise Jesus that Sunday comes after Saturday! 
Last night I went to an INCREDIBLE concert…I would rank it in the top 3 concerts of my life…the two times I saw Guster at the Zoo being the the other 2 top 3 contestants.
There is something magical that happens when a band or musician is in love with performing and are so clearly enjoying the experience.
Amos Lee is a guy who blends soul, funk, blues, and folk into a whiskey experience. It warms me up and takes me to a relaxed place of happy. Do you have a musician like that? I can’t help but move and begin to release all that I may be stressing out about. Oh, and he has a side effect of making me want to make out with someone…so I have to be careful about my Amos consumption.
Priscilla is a new addition to my favorite artists…she is a one woman show in concert and she can fill a room with her voice and laughter. She’s so dang cute.
This video is sketchy…but so funny. I apologize for the language…but this song captures the quirkiness and adorableness of Priscilla…
This video is Amos and Priscilla singing Black River together…yummy
Amos Lee singing Street Corner Preacher…
i just finished re-reading Sex God by rob bell…the book asks a lot of questions and has caused me to think about a lot of things in different ways than I am used to thinking about them…which i very much appreciate…
but i was sure hoping this time that it would cause me to rethink my girly-ness and alleviate some things that make my gut churny and so often leave me feeling powerless…
one of those being my deep longing to be pursued…(in friendships, in relationships, in life…)
i’m a go getter…i often will step in and make things happen…i am not afraid to do it if no one else is doing it…make plans if no one else is making plans…ask someone to be my friend…set up a get together…invite myself along…
if i care enough about it
do you want to know a secret…i love being asked…i long to be invited…i’m excited when someone asks me to be their friend…i don’t know what to do with myself if someone makes the plans…i’m perma-grinny when someone calls out of the blue…
i went to a soul care retreat on saturday (which was fabulous on a variety of levels…) and at this retreat jesus and i had some good “us” time. one of my take aways was something i couldn’t name until today…which was that in my relationship with God he is inviting me…he is asking me…he is making the plans and he is asking me to be his friend and to share my skills with his other friends…he wants to broaden my horizons and my circle of people and
he’s not waiting for me to make the plans or throw the party or invite myself…
he knows my heart’s longing
and he’s chosen to love me in that way…
not sure if anyone likes seeing what other people are listening to…but here’s my fall loveliness mix…(if you know these songs…you may see why they cause me to drift into somber-chill mode…but they are oh so fall)
Lucky by Jason Mraz
Only the Sinner by Josh Bales
You are the best thing by Ray LaMontagne
Cologne by Ben Folds
The Lighthouse’s Tale by Nickel Creek
Falling in love at a coffee shop by Landon Pigg
First day of my life by Bright Eyes
Paperweight by Joshua Radin (MY FAVORITE right now)
Details in the fabric by Jason Mraz
Rain by Patty Griffin
Return by Need to Breathe
The world spins madly on by the Weepies
It is absolutely lovely…
So many yummy things in my life have annoying costs…
I love the feeling of shaved legs inside sweatpants but it is annoying to shave my legs when I wear pants all the time.
I love knee socks but don’t really like shoes that you wear with socks..i prefer flops
I love mellow fall music but am not sure that the romantical nature of the lyrics or the somber/chillness these songs invoke in me helps me to be the best me.
I love the potential of new beginnings but am awful at waiting to see what happens.
I love fall colors but am sad when the leaves fall and the color drains to grey.
I love school but don’t always enjoy the “stuff” of school.
so many yummy things in my life right now…but at times they add up to a stomach ache.
Laura came to town last week and the 998 family came together (plus me…a 998 extra) and did Monday night burgers at the nook.
I have been wiped out by a cold that set in on Thursday…so sleeping has been my primary past time for the last 5 days or so…
I promise to return soon.
In Jr High Bible class this morning we talked about the people in our lives who are apostles…people who bear witness to the faithfulness and movement of God on Earth. More specifically we talked about the people who remind us often of how God is working in their life and encourage us to see God’s movement in our lives as well.
My list was long…and the people are all incredibly different. But I was challenged when I began to think back through my week this week looking for moments when I was a Truth bringer, a light shining on God’s hand in the midst of life’s chaos.
I read blogs of people who live in Haiti and share their gratitude for God’s provision on a daily basis, I have friends who are more quick to compliment than they are to criticize, and I know my heart’s bend towards discontent and judgment. I suppose this is one of those moments when I should praise because God uses the broken and sinful me even with my cracks and faults.
As I was writing my paper this weekend I found myself overwhelmed at the challenge of explaining how God works in spite of my disorganization and lack of awareness of youth development practices. The paper I was writing was supposed to describe a youth program I am a part of and critically analyze that programs youth development practices by creating a Logic model and assessing it’s effectiveness at reaching it’s outcomes. I chose to describe Foundations (our junior high discipleship process…confirmation…). My professor is not a believer and as I described what we do and what our hoped for outcomes are, I kept using words that make sense to me and maybe to other Christians…but I am not sure they are helpful to a person who doesn’t understand faith…or the work of the Holy Spirit…or the reality that I can plan a lesson and have it bomb but still have a young person touched by the Spirit of God and despite my lack of preparation or planning have a significant faith moment occur.
All this to say…I am grateful that I am taking classes at the U…where God is working with or without my prof’s knowledge. I think this weekend’s paper stretched me more faith wise than many of the papers I wrote at CSP…where we were free to talk Jesus-ease on a regular basis but rarely challenged to explain ourselves or stand up for something. And I am tremendously grateful for a God who uses brokenness and the normal to bring His Kingdom. I hope you see God in powerful ways friends…and thank you for being apostles in my life..
