A Quality Weekend

Recently I have been really, really busy. Like, so busy that I've been gone every single night for almost three weeks straight. Each Monday that rolled around I would vow that that particular week would be different, then this or that would happen and by Friday I'd be exhausted.

In an intentional effort to reduce the busyness, both last Saturday and this past weekend, I decided that I would be the boss of my calendar as opposed to letting it boss me. The issue is that I happen to be a very social person and I hate to miss a good party, and with no husband or kids at home vying for my attention, it's easy to just go, go, go. I realize this is not the healthiest way to live, but it was my reality.

Last weekend on the one day I had free, I rested as opposed to making myself crazy. It was good. My body was so physically tired that had I wanted to, I don't think I could have gone one more minute.

When I realized that I only had one "scheduled" thing this weekend, I deemed it the weekend of rest as well. What you might find ironic is that although some might characterize rest as being still at home, I actually feel rested when doing things that fill my love tank.

Quality time and words of affirmation are my top two love languages. This weekend I spent a lot of quality time with a lot of my favorite people and as I sit here and type this blog post at the end of the weekend, my love tank is so full. And I feel rested. Not insane.

Friday night I attended a wedding and sweet Sara happened to be my date. We had the best time and I am so glad she was there. Sara has been a special girl in my life that I've loved getting to know on random lunch dates and outings, but what is really awesome now is that her mama is my co-worker. Isn't that so fun? After spending time with her at the wedding, I got the itch to see all my other college girls that are due home any minute for the Christmas break. I can't wait to give some hugs, spend some time together hanging out, laughing, eating and catching up on all things college life.

Me and Sara at the wedding. This picture happens every time we're together. : )

After the wedding I actually ended up heading to my parents house to see some friends that had come in town. We were having such a great time that I didn't realize it was almost 1:00 AM and I was STILL at my parents. I drove myself home shortly after that and fell right into bed.

Saturday morning after clearly sleeping in a bit, I got ready and drove to the Woodlands to hang out with some of my best college girlfriends Jen, Raven and Katie. I have been a horrible friend to them lately and I needed to redeem myself. Why have I been a bad friend? Because I've missed HUGE events happening like Raven getting engaged and celebrating Jen having a BABY GIRL! I needed to physically lay my eyes on them and hug them, so since Raven was in town and staying at Jen's house, I killed two birds with one stone. It was perfection. I spent five hours with them catching up on every little detail and I've never been happier. I love them to pieces and love what the Lord is doing in and through them! Ironically, we didn't take one picture, but that's because we never moved from the couch. We were comfortable to say the least.

That night I had dinner with my roommates and parents and then we drove around to see a few Christmas lights. Really fun times!

Today was just delightful. Bayou City Fellowship had their first baptisms since launching and it was the sweetest day. We used a horse trough and all gathered around outside since there isn't an actual baptism in the chapel of Houston Christian High School, but I can't imagine a better way to have done this. I said this leaving church today and my roommate said it again tonight to me, but it is just really neat and fun to be a part of a church plant. The Lord is moving and working and the fact that He allows us to take part in what He's doing always amazes me. I am beyond grateful for BCF and all that it's meant to me these past three months. I am praying, anticipating and expecting even greater things the next three years.

This afternoon, after finally decorating our apartment for Christmas, I headed over to the Melton's house, some sweet new BCF friends, to watch the Broncos, or more appropriately Tim Tebow, play the Patriots. Let's be honest, number 15 is easy on the eyes. We may or may not have planned my wedding during that time. ; ) My sweet friend Kristy is originally who invited me and she and her sweet family were there too, along with my friend Angela. I'm telling y'all, quality time plus quality people and I am a happy girl. It doesn't take much. We had so much fun and I told the Melton's to be expecting a knock on their door from me every Sunday evening from now on. I am just so thankful tonight for new friendships and new seasons.

It was most definitely a quality filled, restful, fun weekend. Thank you, Jesus!

Life is Full

Apparently I need a challenge to blog everyday or I don't blog at all. It has been over two weeks since I've even thought about writing one word and just for the record, it is not due to a lack of material. Life has been very full the past few weeks. So full, in fact, that yesterday evening I was visiting some friends and I told them I was glad we were in 2012 and it wasn't 2013 yet. Um, earth to Lindsee, it is actually 2011 and we are only two weeks out from 2012.

To which I say, where in the world has 2011 gone? To say it has flown by at lightning speed would be a vast understatement.

So, to not make this the most boring blog post of 2o11, I'll share some highlights from the past two weeks that would have probably made the blog had I actually sat down and written them out. Of course, if this ends up being the most boring post of 2011, just humor me and pretend it was the best.

1) This does not actually count as it was a few days before December, but a highlight has been the Hillsong Live concert I went to a few weeks ago. A group of ladies from BCF all went together and we had the best time. I said this on facebook, but it's worth repeating, it's amazing to me how on pitch everyone sounds when thousands of people sing together. On pitch and beautiful. Surely, it is a sweet and joyful noise to the Lord.

2) A couple of Sundays ago, I hopped in the car with my friend Angela last minute and we got to enjoy a night of the Shane & Shane and Phil Wickham Christmas tour. Need I tell you how amazing it was? You know my love for all things Shane & Shane. Add a third harmony in there and I'm smitten. Now, I realize that I sound like a complete concert junkie, and I'm really not, but recently people have been tossing free concert tickets at me like they grow on trees. I think in the past six months I've been to five concerts. Really unheard of in my world, but I've soaked up every minute.

3) Our community group had a really fun Christmas party where we did a White Elephant gift exchange and I came home with a moo-moo. Highlight? Absolutely. Attractive? Duh.

4) I recently learned how to play the game "LCR" at a girls night and I'm hooked. Have any of you played it? It's actually a gambling game, but we played for fun. However, there were a few Starbucks gift cards up for grabs, so needless to say, the competition was fierce.

5) Do you remember when I blogged about the Despres family bringing their baby girl home from China? Well, SHE IS HOME! The picked up Sienna two weeks ago and arrived back in Houston a week ago tomorrow. She is an absolute joy. I got to play with her a bit last night and I left with a heart full of love. I am so excited to see what the Lord has in store for her. She is special, no doubt. To read all about their time in China and their journey now, visit their blog.

6) This past weekend Houston's First Baptist Church did their big Christmas Celebration and I went with my people to see my sweet best friend perform in it. I loved it and was so entertained the entire time. I mean, how could you not be when there is a literal elephant in the room? Easily my favorite part of the entire night was getting to see my best friend sing, Hallelujah (Light Has Come) by Barlow Girls, with five other ladies. It was beautiful! I am so proud of Jen.

7) Lastly, and certainly not least, Saturday my sweet friend Raven GOT ENGAGED! I am really a professional at keeping this kind of secret, and let me tell you, it never gets easier. The minute I heard from Nick I wanted to shout it from the roof tops. Unfortunately, I wasn't actually able to be there, which made my heart so sad, but I have celebrated she and Nick all week in Houston. I cannot wait to attack her the next time I see her! Nick is a wonderful, godly guy who happens to be a youth pastor, so I for one, am thrilled for them! Congratulations are most definitely in line. I love y'all!

Well, seven highlights later, I'm out y'all. Hope you weren't bored out of your mind.

Happy weekend to you!

Fifteen

A few weeks ago I went to a Taylor Swift concert here in Houston. I was given tickets at the very last minute so my roommate and I ran out the door and had an unexpected fun night out.

Do I think she’s a doll? Yes, I do. Do I think she’s a bit dramatic? Yes, I do. (I would have never thought that had I not gone to the concert, but the way she talked to her audience was quite humorous and very dramatic. For instance, she kept telling us how incredible and beautiful we were. I just laughed.) Do I think she’s a good role model for the little girls that are falling all over her? Yes, I do. She has a good head on her shoulders and thus far, her walk has matched up with her talk. She’s not gone crazy. I’m praying she stays grounded. You laugh, but I’m serious. Someone needs to say sane! And I say that in the most gracious way. She has a national platform and to see it destroyed would sadden me.

Before the concert I think I owned five of her songs. I knew most of her songs but that was mainly because she gets a lot of airtime on the radio. What I didn’t know, though, were a lot of the lyrics.

Are any of you like me? You think you know the lyrics to a certain song then you look them up and realize you were completely off base? That’s my life. I’m constantly making a fool out of myself in the lyrics department.

After the concert I ended up buying a few more songs that I thought were fun and also decided to look up some of the lyrics. I knew I was singing the wrong words and wanted to fix that. Yes, I annoy my own self.

Taylor has a cute song called “Fifteen”, and it’s all about a girl experiencing her freshman year of high school. She talks about the highs and lows that girls would typically experience.

After lacing themes of friends, first dates, first kisses and breakups throughout each verse, she begins each chorus by singing, “Cause when you’re fifteen and somebody tells you they love you, you’re gonna believe them…”

Taylor is right, is she not? If a fifteen-year-old girl heard the words I love you from a hunk of a boy, she’s going to believe him, no doubt. Those of us a few years ahead of that game know it will probably end in heartache (although those of us hopeless romantics would love to believe they end up as married high school sweethearts), but in the moment, that fifteen year old girl will be floating on cloud nine and will undoubtedly drown out every other voice that tries to whisper otherwise.

But what about the girl that never hears the words I love you from a boy? What if she never hears them period? From anyone?

What if I changed the lyrics of the chorus to “Cause when you’re fifteen and nobody tell you they love you, you’re gonna believe them…”

Our present day culture speaks a lot to the girls that have that heartache and breakup, but I think we forget the girls that never experience that. What about them? What about the girl that spends all four years of her high school career waiting for that special moment and doesn’t get it? Or better yet, all four years of her college career and doesn’t get it? Emotionally, this could be just as detrimental.

As time goes on, if you’re not grounded in Christ’s love, you’re belief system will become that of, “I’m not lovable.”

Since I happen to know that hearing I love you in high school from a boy isn't the end all be all, and I certainly don't advocate it, I'm not naive to the fact that, whether we choose to believe it or not, those words are being tossed around on a daily basis by students everywhere. In fact, they're being tossed around carelessly by a lot of people. Those words hold a lot of weight and attachment with them.

I happen to be in the latter category. I was not the girl that experienced breakup after breakup. I lived vicariously through a lot of my friends that did experience that, which taught me a lot, but that wasn’t me.

To be very honest, it is so easy for me to write my own words to that song, and even at 26, believe that I am unlovable. If I am 26 and have yet to be chosen and heard those sweet words, am I unlovable? I know that is far from the truth, but Satan himself likes to feed that lie most consistently to me.

What I know now is that no human man can ever out-love Jesus. No human man can tell me I love you more than Jesus whispers and satisfies me with His love. But I have to believe that and claim that. That is the tricky part, transferring that knowledge from my head to my heart. No man will ever know me greater than Jesus does and yet love me just the same.

But, I am old enough to know that doesn’t always take away the sting of desiring that human love. In fact, I might argue that the older you get, if the Lord has placed that desire in your heart, the more it stings. Is it wrong to desire that? Is it wrong to desire marriage? Not at all, unless it becomes a stronghold or idol in your life, lest we forget, the Lord ordained marriage and said it was a good thing. However, as we mature and become more like Christ, my prayer is that we would let the Lord tend to that sting and replace it with joy. That is the beauty of getting older; you know how to tend to that sting when it rises up in you.

Believing and leaning into truth means believing that you are loved by the one who knows you the best and loves you the most. It means that there is redemption, healing and hope for the girl who has given everything away and left with a broken heart. That the Lord still desires His best for you. And for the girl who has yet to experience the butterflies, it means there is hope for you, too, and for whatever reason, the Lord has protected you thus far. He is most definitely not holding out on you. Be thankful for that.

Believing the truth means that you are wise enough not to jump at the first chance you have to marry the first guy that asks you on a date out of your fear of being alone. There may be a few good (and bad), dates here and there, but that doesn’t mean you have to marry any of them. Not every single guy you lay your eyes on will be your future husband. Give yourself the freedom to get to know them as a friend without the pressure of trying to win them over so you can be their wife one day. We all do it out of insecurity and fear, do we not? The minute I see a single guy as a potential future husband, is the minute I clam up and don’t act like myself. By setting that aside and shifting our thinking, it’s amazing how the chains fall off and the pressure decreases.

At then end of the day, although culture and media will tell you otherwise, your identity is still found in Christ alone, not in whom you’ve dated or whom you haven’t. You’ll do greater things than date the quarterback of the football team. Praise the Lord.

And for the record, you are dearly loved. And so am I.

“The LORD appeared to him from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.” Jeremiah 31:3

Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving

Y’all, I have apparently fallen off the November Blogfest bandwagon. It is really pitiful.

Quite honestly, I think I set myself up for failure before I even started. If you’re taking notes on how to blog, don’t look here. I had a feeling I might not make it and then told myself I wouldn’t blog on the weekends, however, not blogging on the weekends turned into a week long fast. To which I shrug my shoulders and move on. Notice how I’m trying not to be too disappointed in myself for not finishing what I started.

Anyway, I have not had a lack of material to blog about, that’s for sure.

I grew up singing in a choir called the Houston Children’s Chorus. From fourth to eight grade I lived and breathed all things HCC. It was unlike any other children’s choir, school choir or church choir in that we learned a lot about discipline and excellence. I complained after every rehearsal and concert that I wanted to quit not only because it took up all my time, but also because at the time I thought my choir director was really mean. My parents never let me quit and for that I am extremely thankful.

You would think that by how much I complained that after graduating out I would run and never look back. However, it’s been quite the opposite. When I graduated out of the choir I continued to help at the rehearsals through high school and did some alumni stuff.

Because of the chorus, I’ve been able to do some really neat things and had some incredible opportunities. For instance, in 2004 we got to sing at the Super Bowl with Josh Groban, we’ve also sung in Carnegie Hall and even the Vatican in Rome. Do you hear me complaining now? I am so very grateful for all that the chorus and our director has taught me, and all that it has allowed us to do.

Anyway, as you can imagine, there have been a handful of sweet friendships that have come out of the chorus. When you spend five years of your life with people from all over Houston and then graduate out and go your separate ways, you wonder if you’ll continue to be friends, and although most friendships were just for that season, a few have continued and flourished.

My good friend Amy was one of those and just this past weekend she got married! Amy is a few years older than me and was actually my chaperone on a few trips, but I love her to pieces and she is one of the funniest people you’ll ever meet.

She asked a few of us to sing in her wedding that was in San Antonio, so this past weekend I loaded up the car with my BFF Jen and our moms and we decided to just make a girls’ weekend out of it. It was a blast! The four of us have never hopped in a car and left for the weekend, however, I think it might need to happen again. We laughed til we cried, shopped, talked, ate and sang our way through San Antonio.

On top of that, we got to see all of our favorite peeps from HCC.

A lot of these pictures ended up on twitter, but here is our fun weekend. Thanks to my iPhone, I didn't pull out my real camera once. I really need to break that habit.

You can't drive to or from San Antonio without stopping at Buccee's. Of course, we're standing by the wrong mom, but we were off to a good start.

On the road again. A lot of singing was done in the car.

Both of our dads are Marriott rockstars and we had adjoining rooms all weekend. I don't think we could have had a better set-up. It was perfection! This was the view from our room. I never realized how pretty San Antonio was.

Saturday we played around on the Riverwalk before we had to get ready for the wedding. Here we are on the boat tour. You learn a lot about the history of San Antonio on this ride and thankfully, our tour guide was funny!

Self photo on the boat!

Jen and I overlooking the Riverwalk. So pretty.

Mom and I on our way to the wedding. Yes, we are on a charter bus. The actual wedding was about an hour outside San Antonio so they rented buses to take us there. Brilliant!

Since Jen and I were singing, we sat up in the balcony. This was our view. Gorgeous!

Meet Steve, our director and organ player extraordinaire.

The wedding singers. Kathryn, me and Jen. I love these girls. We were so honored Amy asked us to sing!

First dance.

These little girls were tearing up the dance floor. I wanted to take each of them home.

Jen and I with Steve. Very grateful for this man and all he has taught us.

The girls with the bride in her second dress. This was also towards the end of the evening. Thanks to the humidity our hair was having a heyday! Congratulations, Taylor and Amy! We love you.

Happy Thanksgiving Eve, friends. I have much to be thankful for this year. And because of that I am going to make myself blog about that tomorrow.

Favorite Part of my Workday

Every morning when my alarms screams at me to get up, after a minute of hesitation, because all I want to do is close my eyes and roll over, I tell myself how excited I am and how blessed I am to get to go to work.

Working at LPM is a dream come true, so I’m still pinching myself every morning.

I don’t want to paint the wrong picture that leads you to think LPM is perfect, because it most definitely is not. We are humans with real issues, however, we strive to do our best and work towards excellence and that is reflected daily at the ministry. I definitely want to be a part of something that works towards excellence, don’t you?

Since my move to LPM, I’ve been asked a lot of questions about what it’s like to work there, is everyone as genuine as they seem, what do y’all do for lunch and so on and so forth. My most recent question was what is my favorite part of my workday? I love answering these questions because the answers bring me such joy!

Honestly, my co-workers bring me such joy.

And when your co-workers bring you much joy, your favorite part of the day, naturally, is when you all get to be together.

When do we all get to be together? For lunch!

What can we say? We love Jesus and we love food!

You know what is so funny? I brought my lunch to work my very first day of work. It was a frozen Lean Cuisine and guess what? It’s still sitting in the freezer.

I learned very early on that part of the culture of LPM is that we go eat together and enjoy each other’s company every day. Every day except for Monday’s when we stay in and fast, pray and have Bible study, which, by the way, is equally as wonderful.

At first I wasn’t sure about this because WHOA, the money, and WHOA the calories!

But, here are my two observations:

1) What I spend for lunch each day makes up for the fact that I don’t buy many groceries and rarely eat dinner.

2) Because we typically eat a rather large meal at lunch, most, if not all, of my calories are consumed during that meal, because again, I’m not hungry when I get home. Most nights, an apple will do.

Basically, instead of my finances and calories being spread out by three different meals, they are all filtered into one. I keep my breakfast pretty light.

Also? What we eat in calories at lunch, we most definitely laugh off. I have yet to attend a lunch that I don’t leave with a stomachache induced by the laughter, and not the food.

And although we rotate the same five restaurants weekly, I wouldn’t trade it for anything. We are most definitely creatures of habit. We keep saying we’re going to branch out and for a week experiment with new restaurants, but I’ll believe it when I see it.

There is no rule or regulation that states you must attend LPM lunch everyday, not at all, but I must be honest and tell you that I’d rather not miss an LPM lunch. It’s my favorite, most relaxed, fun, hilarious time of the day.

Lunch is a blessing in every way you can imagine.

What is your favorite part of the day?

The Art of Being

In my flesh I am a doer by nature. I have a desire to do. To serve. To be moving around constantly. Being still does not come naturally to me.

Growing up I watched my parents serve day in and day out at our church. If there was an event, they were there and because we were under their care, we were there as well. Honestly, it wasn’t such a bad deal. My parents have been a part of the same small group since I was little and some of my very best friends in the entire world have come out of that group of people. So essentially, I was always with my best friends. I realize now that that is rare and I do not take it for granted one minute.

Actually, come to think of it, I think they initially became a small group because they were all serving together in the student ministry or in the worship ministry. Of course, people have come and gone throughout the 26 years, but they’ve consistently done life with each other for as long as I can remember.

Because my parents were youth workers, one of my favorite memories was during elementary school after Sunday school, my best friend Jen and I would head over to where the high school students met and we got to hang out with them for that hour. Although I was super scared of the older kids, I wanted to be just like them.

As I’ve matured and grown in my own walk with the Lord and developed my own faith apart from my parents, I am so grateful for their example that serving the church is important. Right before we launched Bayou City Fellowship, we were having a time of sharing and one of the men stated that he was ready to be a contributor and not just a consumer of the church. I thought that was so good. It is so easy to get stuck being a consumer of church, isn't it? Lucky for me, I’ve seen my parents be contributors my entire life. I couldn’t ask for a greater example. And they don’t just serve our church; they serve and love our city and neighbors very well also.

To say that I never thought I’d end up in full time ministry is an understatement. That was never my dream. I truly thought my calling in life was to be an elementary school teacher. I just knew that after playing school all my life, that I’d one day have a classroom of my own. Obviously, at the end of high school and even more so in college, the Lord started to move and stir in my heart a different way. In my desire to be obedient, after college, instead of buying knickknacks and supplies to decorate and fill my classroom with, I was purchasing books on all things girls ministry. Instead, I had an office at a church and would spend most of my time pouring into girls ages 12 – 18. Yes, I loved every minute.

Since I didn’t attend school to learn what the life of a full time minister was like, I learned it as I served. Sometimes, however, I think hands on is the best way to learn. So although I felt like a fish out of water most times, being thrown into it gave me a chance to learn quickly and realistically what ministry was like.

As a full time girls minister, I learned very early on that you do a lot of pouring out. Between Bible studies, retreats, camps, and one-on-one discipleship, you give a lot of yourself away.

My very first year in ministry as I was getting used to a new post-college schedule, after serving all day Sundays (which was a workday, by the way) I would typically head down to Houston’s First Baptist Church to get fed. I knew I wouldn’t last one second if I didn’t take care of my own spiritual health. That first year home from college was weird for me transitionally speaking. Although I moved back home and all was familiar, really everything had changed. Friends were married. I was working at the church I’d grown up at, and I’d just spent four years away from everything familiar building my own faith and life. It was a good, but hard year.

By my second year of ministry, because of some scheduling conflicts, I could no longer attend HFBC Sunday evening. I really missed it, but also knew that my first commitment was to my church and the girls I served and if a later small group time worked better for them, then so be it.

What I don’t think I realized until earlier this year was how unbelievable spiritually dry I was. Quite frankly, I was just coasting. Feeling stuck. I loved Jesus, but was serving more out of obligation than delight. Instead of drinking deep of Christ and overflowing, I was just giving out backwash here and there. I’m not going to say it was detrimental, but I know had I of let it last a long time, it definitely could have been. Don’t get me wrong, I was in a part of a body of believers and still attended a Bible study once a week, but even at that I was serving.

What it boils down to is that everywhere I went I was serving.

Ironically, one of the hardest parts of my transition has been resisting the urge to do, do, do and not just be, especially on Sundays. Not only was I used to serving all day Sunday here and there, but I rarely actually made it to church. I don’t recommend that, but I’m just being honest.

This past Sunday it hit me when I felt guilty for actually getting to attend church, be edified by a wonderful sermon and then went home to rest. It was a lovely afternoon and I enjoyed every bit of it, but by the end of the day I felt like I didn’t do enough.

These past two months have been lifesaving to my faith. With this new change of scenery, there has been a new sense of joy and hope. I have let others around me pour into me and I truly couldn’t ask for anything better. Believe me when I say I am soaking every bit of it up. And not only am I soaking it up, I’m being challenged to the bone again. I used to leave church and Bible study in college with new questions and convictions nearly every week. I grew immeasurably during that time, and for the first time in a long time; I’m feeling that way again.

Most of us can quote Psalm 46:10 by heart, which says, “Be still and know that I am God.” But did you know that’s not the end of this verse? If you keep reading, the rest of verse ten says, “I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” Most people, including myself for the longest time, skip over that portion.

If my genuine desire is to exalt God and make Him famous throughout the world, I must be still and know Him. It doesn’t say, “do everything and know” or “be everywhere and know”, or “commit to everything and know”; it says, “be still and know”.

It’s not that I stop serving and just soak everything up; it means that I learn what it is to balance being still and doing and not feeling guilty over a non-hectic schedule. Honestly, in my desire to do, do, do, what am I trying to gain? A name for myself? The more I do the more people will notice me? The more I do the more people will affirm me? Is my identity wrapped up in my doing as opposed to my being? Where is God in that picture? These are questions I’ve been pondering and asking myself.

The more intimately I know Him, the more He will be exalted.

Isn’t that true of our relationships with people as well? The more I get to know someone, the more I come to love them, then naturally, the more I’ll want to tell people about them.

Being still is tough for a doer. But I’m learning what it is to be, so that I can know and then exalt the One who is worthy of being exalted.

“Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” Psalm 46:10

He can because He Is

I just spent some sweet time in my own personal journal. In case you were wondering, I am pro-journaling. I have been an avid journaler for some time now. It's a wonderful outlet for me personally to focus and organize my prayers and thoughts. Does anybody else get distracted praying? Of course, I would never replace journaling for praying, but doing both are very beneficial for me.

If you are not a journaler, I'm not projecting self-condemnation on anyone. I've said before and I'll say it again, it doesn't work for everybody and that is more than okay. You do what works best for you. This just happens to be my preference.

Tonight as I was listing some pretty serious prayer requests, I ended it by writing something I remember hearing Gregg Matte say in one of his sermons. I'll never forget it.

"Lord, I know you can, but I'm asking that you would."

God is able. He is limitless. He is all powerful. He can perform miracles. He can move mountains.

He can because He Is.

So I rest my requests with Him tonight, knowing He absolutely can, but asking that He would.

What is your would today?

Know that He can. Let's believe that He would.

Apartment Happenings

Tonight's blog material is brought to you by my funny roommates. I am thankful for them as I had no idea what I was going to post on and they gave me some epic material. Thank God for them.

Presenting: A little peek into my everyday home life.

Scene: Walking into my apartment after work, roommate #1 is in the kitchen cooking (we'll refer to her as R1), roommates boyfriend is sitting at the kitchen table working on his computer (we'll refer to him as R1B), roommate #2 is in her bedroom (we'll refer to her as R2).

Lindsee enters apartment.

Lindsee: Y'all, what in the world is that smell? Is something burning?

R1: I don't smell anything.

R1B: Nothing smells weird. I can't smell anything. Did someone pass gas? (Typical boy.)

Lindsee: Seriously, y'all. It is awful. It smells like something is on fire. Like plastic or something.

R1B: Really? I think it smells fine.

Lindsee: (Really starting to freak out and close to dialing 911.) Ben, I need you to walk outside and walk back in and see if you smell anything.

R1B: Walks outside, comes back in.) Nope. Nothing. I don't know what you're talking about.

Lindsee: (Starting to feel hot and getting more nervous.) Michaela, do you smell that? What in the world?

R2: I don't smell anything.

Lindsee: Okay, y'all are so weird. It does not smell right in here.

R1: That's just so weird, we haven't smelled anything all night.

Lindsee: How in the world? Did y'all just blow out a candle?

R1B: (Dying laughing) Okay, I can't keep a straight face anymore. We're totally messing with you.

Lindsee: WHAT IN THE WORLD IS GOING ON?

R2: Yeah, the top of one of Bethany's travel mugs fell to on the heater at the bottom of the dishwasher and burned up? (Pulls down the dishwasher door and shows me the burned plastic.)

Lindsee: Seriously? Y'all were killing me.

R1B: At least you were really persistent.

Lindsee: Well I wasn't going to let our apartment burn down.

Proof of the burnt travel mug top.

About an hour later I was looking at our refrigerator contemplating what small amount of food I was going to ingest. (I eat such huge lunches I'm never hungry for dinner.) I noticed a new drawing hanging up so I asked Bethany about it. She proceeded to tell me that a little boy came knocking on our door selling this drawing for fifty cents. He explained to her that he was saving up for a new book. How in the world could anyone resist that cuteness? She gave him what she had and in return we have this hanging on our fridge. Our very own hand-drawn picture of Albert Einstein. I imagine it will be hanging up until we move out. In fact, I hope he comes back and sells us more pictures.

Is that not the cutest thing ever?

Lastly, my roommate Michaela, who is a high school photo and art teacher learned how to shuffle today thanks to her students. Although we're not near as coordinated, she tried to teach us how to shuffle. Ben got it on video. Classic. I have no moves whatsoever. Shuffle fail, folks. Shuffle fail.

Did I really just post that?

Number Sentences

Making Jesus number ONE in your life is easier said than done. But oh, I pray that He is daily.

I have TWO hilarious brothers, as well as TWO wonderful roommates. To clarify, my brothers aren’t my roommates.

There are only THREE days left until I get to speak at a girl’s retreat this weekend. I am so excited but would love every bit of your prayers!

The longest I’ve ever run is FOUR miles.

I still have FIVE sentences to go and I’m running out of ideas.

I have been a bridesmaid SIX times. I love weddings and was completely honored to stand in each one.

SEVEN is my favorite number.

On Saturday mornings, my body typically wakes me up a little before or at EIGHT o’clock.

There are currently NINE tubes of lipstick in my purse. Hello, my name is Lindsee, and I am a lipstick hoarder.

If I were a blog critic, I would give this post TEN thumbs up. But only because I came up with it at TEN thirty at night. Clever, huh? ;)

Ripped from my Comfort Zone

I have lived in the same city and gone to the same church my entire life. That is no exaggeration. The only exception would be the four years I spent in college in Huntsville, Texas.

It was never my plan to graduate college and attend the same church I grew up at, but the Lord had other plans. Not only did I return to that church, I was now not only a member, I was on staff full time as the Girls Ministry Director.

I dearly loved my church and was so blessed by being on staff and honored that they would even take a chance on me in that position, but one thing we were lacking was a strong young adult program. To be completely honest, when someone would come that was a “young single” I simply referred them to another church. I didn’t know what else to do because we had a college group that met Sunday mornings, but other than that; we literally had nothing for them. How sad is that?

Slowly more friends were coming back to Cypress after graduating and we finally decided that we needed to do something about this ministry.

After praying about it, planning, and recruiting some leaders, in May of 2010 we had our first Bible study. I think there were a total of five of us there. You have to start somewhere, right?

We continued to meet and grow and now a year a half later, we kicked off our small groups just last week. The Lord has given the group favor and it has been neat to be a part of it from the beginning and watch it grow.

This summer as the Lord began to make it clear to me that He was leading me elsewhere, more than anything; I mourned knowing that eventually I’d be leaving that group as well.

In an intentional attempt to get involved and plugged in at my new church, I’ve slowly been pulling out of this group.

For instance, I’m not doing a small group with them. Not only because I’m a part of a community group at my new church, but because come January I wouldn’t be able to go anyway because I’ll be working that night at another Bible study.

When they were calling out the small groups last week, they explained that they purposefully didn’t put friends in the same group so that they could get out of their comfort zone and meet new people and make new friends.

I looked at my friend Allison right away and told her I felt like I’d been ripped from my comfort zone.

Because that’s exactly how I feel.

I started attending Bayou City Fellowship right away and to say I love it would be the biggest understatement of the year. I absolutely adore my church. It has been a breath of fresh air to my soul that was starting to feel really dry and stuck.

However, not only am I attending a new church, I also have a new job.

After leaving a place I’d been 26 years, I walked into a ministry that’s been established for over 15 years.

Both Living Proof Ministries and Bayou City Fellowship have been nothing but good to me. I am in no way complaining about the newness, it is just the reality right now.

No matter what, where or when, change is always tough.

What hit me last week in a fresh way was the thought that I really did leave my church. I’m not just trying something out for a few months and returning later, and I really do have a new job. Everything really is new and God willing, it’s not temporary. It was a fresh, hard, good reality.

There is always a honeymoon stage to all things new, and now that I’m feeling settled and learning this new rhythm to life, the honeymoon stage is ending and the reality is setting in.

I’ve never been married, but I’ve heard countless couples say that they couldn’t imagine loving their spouse more than they did on their wedding day, but even six months later, their more in love than ever, and so on and so forth.

I imagine that is how this new season will turn out. I knew I loved it when I started, but now, even almost three months in, I love it even more.

All honeymoons must come to an end, but that means a sweet future of new memories is just around the corner.

At the beginning of this year I was feeling stuck, comfortable and discontent. Everything around me was so familiar and I wasn’t growing. I began to ask the Lord to move in my midst and He did just that. In fact, He did more and moved more than I could have ever asked or imagined.

Not only was I ripped from my comfort zone; I was also ripped from my discontentment. The Lord knew what He was doing. He knew what would challenge me and scare me. He knew what would spur me on. And although it’s hurt along the way, and tears have been shed, I am so thankful.

When I’m comfortable, I’m not growing. When I’m uncomfortable, I cling to Him, which is exactly where I need to be.

Slowly, but surely, I am feeling more at home in this new season. Thank you, Lord, for ripping me away from all things familiar.

“Forget about what’s happened; don’t keep going over old history. Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new. It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it? There it is! I’m making a road through the desert, rivers in the badlands.” Isaiah 43:18 - 19

Fall Back

If this weekend would have gone as planned, you would have had a blog post from me yesterday, but alas, it did not.

What was supposed to be a super chill weekend, turned into one of the busiest weekends yet. Don't get me wrong, it turned out to be wonderful and fun, but I am sitting here at 7:50 p.m. contemplating what time I can get in bed without looking like an old lady. That could also be due to the time change, but I'm going to blame it on both falling back an hour and a busy weekend.

I'm hoping that my blog about the weekend will redeem the fact that I didn't blog yesterday, but I'm also giving myself a little grace. Saturdays might just me my blogging rest day. Only time will tell.

Friday night was our first core night for my new church, Bayou City Fellowship and it went great. It was a meeting where folks who were interested in joining could come and here what this church was all about and well, join. Curtis said it best when he kept referring to them as the most eager and dedicated 100 people. I felt so energized after leaving there and even got to have dinner with some new friends!

Saturday I visited a really fun resale shop, Buffalo Exchange, downtown with a couple of my friends. We used to go all the time in high school for fun, so it was fun to go back. After that I introduced my friends to one of the cutest restaurants around called Tiny Boxwood's. You don't want to miss out on their freshly baked cookies when you go there. So delightful! We enjoyed the weather, outside seating and people watching.

Me and my friend Mike.

Mike and Alicia!

Me and Alicia. Y'all, is that not the cutest couch for pictures? As you can see, there is a nursery right next door. The flowers were so pretty. I also have to point out the fact that there is only one pillow on the couch. Do you know how much that bugs me? Where was the other pillow?

I planned on coming home to nap and relax, but not two seconds after I walked in my door my friend called to tell me he had two tickets to Taylor Swift that night and asked if I wanted them. I didn't hesitate one second to say yes! Honest to goodness, I actually don't own a lot of Taylor songs, but I own enough and think she's cute enough to see her concert in person. Homegirl definitely knows how to put on a show. I took my roommate Michaela with me and we had so much fun. Is it just me or is anyone else more relaxed and laid back at a show they didn't pay for? We made our way down there just in time to see Needtobreathe open up for her. I love that they were there. They sing truth and love Jesus. For it being super last minute, we had a good time!

Not that I can talk, but I just need to add that if I had one dollar for every pair of skinny jeans and/or dress and boot combination, I'd be so wealthy. It's how we roll.

Also? And then I'll hush about Taylor Swift, but it was so cute to see so many daddy/daughter dates. It reminded me of when my dad took me to see Backstreet Boys. I'm laughing. Sweet memories. They were definitely outnumbered by the mother/daughter dates, but it was still fun to see.

Michaela and I enjoying some Taylor Swift! I think we're still blind from taking this picture.

If you're harboring any jealousy in your heart, don't let it sink too deep. See how high up we were? I am still dizzy thinking about it. But the tickets were free! No complaining here. The concert was at Minute Maid Park.

After that I actually ended up dog-sitting for one of my co-workers. So between that, the time change and having to be at church at 8:00 this morning, I didn't get much sleep.

After church I joined my parents for lunch at none other than the Black Eyed Pea. Throw back to 1995 anyone? I think it was that long ago that I ate there. Our sweet friends joined us as well with one of my favorite two year olds and we bonded over my jewelry like we always do. I was also her french fry fairy.

No lie, immediately upon arrival, Naomi wanted me (probably not more than I wanted to snuggle her) and took off my necklace. However, when your necklace is the size of a bunch of grapes, it's no shock that a little girl would want it. I honestly think that necklace is as heavy as her, but she wore it a long time.

Is she not the cutest thing ever? Such a little princess.

I then came home and proceeded to take a two hour long, glorious nap. And the Lord said it was good.

An Eclectic Song List

I am that girl that if I like a song, I listen to it on repeat until I feel like I'm going to puke. It's just my personality, I do that with a lot of things. My mantra is go big or go home, right?

Anyone reading this that knows me personally is probably shaking their head in agreement and praying for an intervention. But that's just how I roll.

Recently, I was in my iTunes account and under the columns, for whatever reason, I clicked on "Plays". What that does is it sorts your songs in order by the number of times they've been played. Very fascinating if you ask me. If I am correct, I think they compile both the number of times played on your iPod as well as your computer, but I could also be telling myself that so I'll feel better about my OCD like tendencies.

With that said, I thought it would be fun to list my top ten most played songs currently in my iTunes account.

All I can say is take it or leave it.

1) Carry Your Name by Christy Nockels - Play count: 442

I know, it's ridiculous. It's even more insane when I tell you that I've only owned that song since March. Whoa. However, it expressed my heart in a way I can't. It puts the perfect words in my heart and mouth. My desire is that I would carry the name of Jesus Christ well, and not just talk about carrying it well, but actually do it. I LOVE this song. But it's not like I had to tell you that.

2) I Feel Pretty/Unpretty by Glee Cast - Play count: 245

How ironic that this comes in at number two? Truth be told, the tune and the harmonies of this is why I love it so much. I simply love singing it. And if I really got deep, it could definitely be a reflection of my heart every now and then. Some days I feel pretty and some days I don't. Are you inspired? ; )

3) Christ Is Risen by Shane & Shane - Play count: 231

No explanation needed. Just read the lyrics to the chorus, "Christ is risen from the dead, trampling over death by death, come awake, come awake, come and rise up from the grave!" Can I get an amen? You can read the rest of the lyrics here.

4) Less Than Perfect by Pink - Play count: 228

Hanging my head in shame. Like the tune, hate the lyrics. Love to workout to it. Enough said.

5) Rhythm of Love by the Plain White T's - Play count: 217

I have no reason why this song ranks so high in my play list. It's fairly new to me. But oh well, iTunes can't lie. However, it is a catchy song.

6) Come Rest by Lindsay McCaul - Play count: 200

"Busy, busy me full of self-sufficiency, I have tried so fervently to earn your love." Story of my life. My soul ate this song alive the first time I heard it. Oh, how I try so hard to earn Christ's love by doing, doing, doing and knowing that I can't. He loves me no matter what. And you too. I want my sufficiency to be found in Christ.

7) Just a Kiss by Lady Antebellum - Play count: 199

Lady A is quickly becoming one of my country favorites. They put on a great show at the Houston Rodeo last March and it was so fun. They entertain me.

8) I Lift My Hands by Chris Tomlin - Play count: 185

You can never go wrong with a Christ Tomlin worship song. You just can't. Easy to follow, easy to sing and easy to love. This song ministers to me greatly. Also? It has a sweet memory. It was the first song I listened to after accepting my current position at LPM. I turned it on when I got in the car and simply thanked the Lord for all He had done and where He had brought me. I'll never forget it. Let faith arise!

9) All to Us by Chris Tomlin - Play count: 176

Jesus, YOU are all to us. Amen.

10) Raise Your Glass by Glee Cast - Play count: 169

Again, no explanation. But as a girl who grew up in choir singing my way through life, I appreciate the Glee song arrangements to some oldies by goodies. They have some pretty epic harmonies. However, I apparently also have a thing for Pink since this too is her song. What in the world?

I'm not sure how I feel about myself after seeing that list, but the damage has been done.

What is your number one song? I'm intrigued now.

Happy weekend, y'all.

You Can Do it for One

I’ve never met a person that dislikes receiving snail mail. Whether words are your love language or not, there is something special about receiving a card sent to your home address. It’s just sweet. You know that person had to go out of their way to actually find a stamp, put it on your card and walk, or drive, to the mail box. In the end, you know someone was thinking about you.

I still get most of my mail sent to my parent’s house. I no longer live there, and haven’t for two years, but since I’ve moved every year since I graduated from college, it was just easier to have a consistent address rather than changing my address every single time on simple little things. Plus, I only live 20 minutes from my parents so it’s not that inconvenient.

Recently my sweet dad was laid off from his company. He’s been occupying most of his time interviewing with different companies trying to find another job, but needless to say, he has more free time than he did a month ago.

Today was a beautiful day in Houston, Texas. The weather was perfection and one would be silly to not want to spend it outside. Of course, I was in my office all day, but at least was able to open my door to the balcony attached to my office and enjoy the fresh air. It was glorious. Because of said beautiful weather, my dad had to get out of the house so he so kindly drove to my office to deliver my mail. It was a sweet surprise. We actually ended up getting to have a spontaneous lunch, so that was fun.

When I got back from lunch I was thumbing through my mail and saw that I had a letter from my compassion boy, Jhon. There was no way I could wait to get home to read it so I opened it right away. I always LOVE his letters. It’s been really fun over these past two years getting to know him through snail mail.

Anyway, I read his letter aloud to my co-workers and then paused for a minute before I finished. The very last line of his letter says, “Please pray for my dad and his job. Love and goodbye, Jhon.”

Y’all, does the Lord know what He’s doing or does the Lord know what He’s doing?

There are a lot of ways I can’t connect with that sweet boy because I’ve never lived a day of poverty in my life. I can love him and give to him in Jesus’ name, but even my very little financial sacrifice each month is nothing for me, but life-giving to him and his family. And quite honestly, I could do more than I’m currently doing.

But for the Lord to allow us to go through the same thing, on completely different levels, is huge to me. I’m so thankful. And that thankfulness increases my compassion.

Today I will write back to that sweet face and tell him that I am indeed praying for his dad and his job and ask him to pray for my dad and his job as well.

Oh, how I love him. And I’ve never even met him.

If you don’t sponsor a child with Compassion, now is your time to do so. I know for a fact you’ll never regret it. All you have to do is click here to release a child from poverty in Jesus’ name. It’s as easy as one, two, three.

You may not be able to do it for all of them, but let’s do for one what we can’t do for all.

Kelly Kapowski

Growing up I was never boy crazy.

I had two brothers and boys scared me. Sometimes they still do, but that’s another post for another day. (I’ll blame that on my brothers. I think they scarred me for life. I’m not naïve to boy tactics. Or sounds. Or smells for that matter.)

However, growing up I had one crush that lasted for-e-ver. (Said in the Sandlot tone.)

His name was Zack Morris.

He was the boyfriend (off and on, mind you) of Kelly Kapowski on Saved by the Bell.

He was beautiful. And kind. Acted. Played football. Was most popular. Had a brick of a cell phone. And so much more.

What wasn’t to love?

I loved him so much. My love for him manifested itself by doodling his name all over my notebooks.

It looked something like “Lindsee loves Zack Morris”.

“Zack Morris loves Lindsee”.

“Lindsee Morris”.

You get the point.

I wanted to marry him.

The best part, however, is that he was a fictional character.

Zack Morris only exists one hour a day now on TBS during the re-runs of Saved by the Bell. If I was still in love, I would DVR every episode, but I don’t. I let him go. I’ve moved on. Praise the Lord.

All that to say, if I could have dressed up as one person for Halloween, I would have been Kelly Kapowski. Besides the fact that I wasn’t a cheerleader and most popular, we have a lot of similarities.

And by a lot I mean we both have long brown hair.

A girl can dream, can’t she?

While I did not dress up as Kelly Kapowski this past Monday evening, Bayside High was still very well represented.

Can’t be Kelly Kapowski? Wear the Bayside High t-shirt.

I joked so much about going to my friend Amanda’s house as Kelly Kapowski that I almost had the guts to find the items and go as her, but I think I loved it more when I showed up in a Bayside High shirt and shocked everyone.

If they only knew the other paraphernalia I owned.

I’m not ashamed.

Although I am positive no one laid one eye on my t-shirt that evening, I was so happy to assist my friends handing out candy to some of the cutest kiddos ever while representing my favorite childhood television show. We had so much fun.

Angela and I handing out candy. Unfortunately, this was the best shot of the shirt I got.

Alicia and I.

Front porch assistants!

With Scary the Scarecrow! We love you, Amanda.

Yes, I own this. I told you I wasn't ashamed. Now if only I could find my Saved by the Bell CD...


Next year I might show up as Sidney Bristow from Alias.

If you could dress up as anyone, who would it be?

November Blog Fest

Remember that time I complained about staring at a blank screen on the computer because I had no idea what to blog about?

Remember that time I committed, very reluctantly, mind you, to join in on the fun of November Blog Fest?

What is November Blog Fest, you ask? It means that I've committed, with a handful of other bloggers, to blog every day in November. Seriously. Am I crazy? Have I already worked myself up over this? Why yes, yes I am and yes I have.

I've had this blog for nearly five years and what shocks me is when I look at the number of posts from 2007 and the number of posts now and I just laugh. Apparently, I had yet to deal with, what I'll refer to as, bloggers block. Or writer's block. Where posts used to flow freely from my soul, I'm now looking to a hashtag on twitter for inspiration.

I've already told myself that I'll be needing a lot of grace on this challenge. In fact, I think I've already decided to blog only six days a week instead of seven, giving my brain one day of rest. Does that defeat the purpose? Truth be told, I love writing and blogging and I've always been an advocate of journaling, but for some reason this task seems daunting to me, but I'm going for it anyway.

So, here's to blogging every day in November. I am now unashamedly taking suggestions for posts should you think of anything creative.

Oh, and um, since when was it stinking November? My how this year has flown by.

And now that I've bored you to tears, I totally understand if you don't come back tomorrow, which is only 45 minutes away.

Procrastinate much?

Embracing Fall

This weekend was one of those weekends where it really felt like fall. You know what I mean? Typically in Houston we get a tease of the fall weather, it disappears for a few weeks and then comes back. I think we're finally getting into the stages of weather where it's here to stay. I cannot contain my excitement! After months of heat, I'm soaking up every minute of this God-given weather. Jesus loves us, this I know.

It all started out Friday evening when I enjoyed a little Friday Night Lights. My boss's daughter is a senior cheerleader and this past Friday night was her last home game to cheer in, so a few of us from Living Proof went to cheer her on. The best part about the evening, besides the wonderful company, was the chilly weather! It was cold enough to wear a coat, carry a blanket and drink hot chocolate. What other way would you want to watch a football game? It was perfection and Kelli was adorable. We had an absolute blast!

Can you see the moon in the picture? It's that little dot in the sky. Besides that, this picture is un-edited. The sunset was beautiful!

With our favorite cheerleader, Kelli!

KMac caught this little football during the game. She worked hard to get this and was so proud!

Me, KMac, Beth and Sabrina. I love these ladies!

Saturday was a FULL day! I left my apartment at 11:30 a.m. and returned at 11:30 p.m. BUT, it was fabulous.

It started out at my parents house where I got to have a little jam session with my BFF, Jen. We used to sing together all the time growing up, but rarely get a chance to sing together these days. Ironically, there are two weddings we were asked to sing in together both in November, but I can only do one, so we practiced a little bit of that while my mom played the piano. I loved every minute of it.

After that we went over to our friend Missy's house for fall baking day! Can you smell the aroma of all things pumpkin? No one puts on a baking day like Missy. She is the ultimate hostess with the mostess. Before we arrived she already had pumpkin loaves and cookies baked and ready to go, then we helped make Carmel apples, cake pops and tons of other goodies. My roomies love baking days because they get to enjoy the fruit of our labor. Thank you, Missy, for such a fun day!

I ripped this picture off facebook from Amanda. Just needed to give credit where credit is due! Y'all, LOOK at the table of delightfulness. Yum.

Right after that I ran to the salon to get my haircut. Praise the Lord! It was past due. Words cannot express how much I love my stylist. She loves the Lord and I always leave there feeling like I just had a counseling session. She is awesome!

Don't you love it when you get your haircut and then you have to be somewhere? Oh, I sure do. I always feel so fancy. Thankfully, that was exactly my situation last night.

Next on my agenda was a fun girls night with some sweet new friends. It has been fun getting to know new people from church. I'm not going to lie, it takes work and I'm not always up for that, but it's so worth it in the end. I think the toughest thing about this transition has been learning to balance old friendships and new ones. I wish I could merge all of my friends and life together.

Angela, Alicia and I were determined to go somewhere new, so we drove to mid-town and got to eat outside at this little Italian restaurant. It was an interesting experience, but tasty. I was about to eat my fist I was so hungry, so I of course enjoyed every bite of my margarita pizza. After that we carved pumpkins. This was only the third time I've carved a pumpkin in my life, but we had the best time. A lot of laughs were exchanged and in the end we had the cutest family of pumpkins. And I even did it all by myself. That's success, folks! I am loving getting to know these girls!

First you take the pumpkin and you carve it.

Danger!

Then you take the pumpkin and you pull out all the mushy stuff. I don't do well with textures like that.

Last you take the pumpkin and you admire it.

Isn't he cute?

Our little pumpkin family.

Me, Alicia, Angela and Kim. So fun!

More than anything, this weekend I felt so settled. Two months in, I can honestly tell you I'm falling in love with this new season. I'm finally figuring out the rhythm, absolutely loving my new church and enjoying these new friends, while I am of course still keeping up with my old ones. Transition isn't always easy, and I'm still learning what it's like to do all things new, but the Lord was really sweet to me this weekend. I am beyond thankful for His sweet blessings and reminders that He still knows what He's doing.