My Summer of Rediscovery

So, hello again blog. I know it's been a while but lately, I thought it might be cool to journal the events of what looks to be a remarkable summer in the story of my love life with the one and only Creator of my soul and this world.
This past year has been crazy indeed. There have been many changes, ups and downs, good things and bad things, holy moments, and selfish moments.
I had realized I was someone I didn't recognize. I was someone I never once dreamed of being, and pretty distant from what is good. and what is true. and what is holy. Thus, this summer of rediscovery.
I needed to rediscover some things. The Lord. His will. My Life. And Daily Dependence on Truth. and not myself.
And God is faithful. I was being led to give something up for the summer. I was giving up fun, adventure, investment in the youth of America, and community for.... school, and work, and no fun, and organic chemistry. What in the world does God have in store for my future?!


i
have
no
clue.


But God is faithful. Because already, I have felt Him pull me closer to His heart. Work in ways I can't imagine in order to not only lead me to succeed in school, but pass my class with an A (in organic chemistry?!), and restore my heart which was rooted in this world to one that is wholly His for the glory of His kingdom.


As for my life, He is piecing it back together again. And I could never be more glad for God's mercy and grace. That He would still want me for His kingdom. And I pray He molds me, grows me and stretches me all the days of my life.

The Stages of Running.

I love to run. Don't get me wrong here, the feeling is amazing.
Especially at the END. Maybe even, an hour after the END.
Running for me, however, involves stages:


1st Stage: Pump myself up before I leave the house.
             This may sound silly, but I have seriously woken up, got dressed for a run, tennis shoes on, ipod strapped to my arm, in the car...car started....and have talked myself out of going into town for a run. Car turns off. door opens. And I take that short walk of shame back into the house. Getting pumped up is a must.


2nd Stage: "Running sucks."
             I often say this over and over during the first five minutes of my run."This sucks." Why do I like this again?" "ugh, this is just miserable!" There is a slight moment of quitting that comes to mind, but then it gets chased away by another "running sucks comment."


3rd Stage: Acceptance.
            By this time, I've gotten over the miserable first ten minutes of running and have accepted that this is indeed what I'm doing for the next hour or so of my life. And I will like it, and my body will appreciate it later. I begin to realize I'm sweating, and this, I love. I LOVE TO SWEAT DURING A WORKOUT. (i know...gross. But so true, on so many weird and strange levels)


4th Stage: Friendly Competition.
            I love to compete. So, when I run, there's usually several periods of "how fast can I run?" " how much longer can I go?" " Sprint the Hills!" It's insane, I know, but this is the part I love about running. The speed. The endurance. The competition.


5th Stage: Cotton-Mouth, Dehydration, Hyperventilation, and Muscle Failure.
             This is when I stop running. It's when I know my body's reached it's limits, and I settle for a nice walk. By this time Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World" is playing on my song list, and it's about the same time that I begin to realize....I...Love...Running.


And what a wonderful world it is.

Things I Don't Like as a Waitress:

 1. Mayonaise.
2. Filling up the Mayonaise cup.
3. Reaching into the bottom of the Mayonaise tub to fill the Mayonaise cup...
4. Having said mayonaise rub on my elbows from reaching into the mayonaise tub.




BUT WORST OF ALL: WASHING DISHES AFTER MAYONAISE HAS BEEN IN THE SINK!!!


This last statement is quite the most disgusting of them all because while the hot steam from the sink is great for washing dishes, it also creates a form of "steamy mayonaise"......just picture it

Mayo steaming up into your nostrils leaving behind a smell, or little steamy mayonaise droplets condensing on your face, it's terrible.


Or so I thought.

Thursdays I open and close the shop, and this past Thursday the unspeakable happened. And so I will write it...I was washing the dishes. Now, every now and then water sprays up from the sink which is fine. But on this Thursday, water was not the only thing to come flying out of the sink....mayonaise was what came flying out of the sink. And it wasn't enough to just rocket at me without warning...no, this mayonaise was ambitious. 


As I was washing dishes mayo came flying out of the bottom of the nasty, disgusting, sink and into my mouth.

Can you even imagine? Mayo, sink, airborne, and into my mouth....the mayo.
I threw up instantaneously into the trash can beside me. I don't like mayo.

The Three Lady Walkers

so it's FINALLY spring! Hallelujah! seriously, the cold was sinking me into an indoor depression. I just can't handle being stuck inside the house. This means...


I'm back to running outside!!!
This morning when I went running around town I passed three ladies walking. Now, every morning, these older women get up and go walking together. I'VE SEEN THEM EVEN IN THE WINTER. The weather doesn't matter. They go walk everyday. They're always talking, smiling, laughing, and...walking.And I thought,


What a beautiful picture of Relationship
What a beautiful picture of Community


And then I thought, how different would my life be if I spent more of my time investing in my relationships with other people and the Lord...instead of myself?

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

But mostly planes...I'm flying out to the GREAT state of TEXAS for the wedding of my dear friend, Miss Kate Boyington to her handsome beau, Chris Kiser.

Kate and I have shared many plane rides together as we traveled to Malawi, Africa together in the summer of 2006. I cherish so many memories from that summer including all the crazy hours we spent in airports, boarding planes, and in the air. From missing our original flight in DC, to staying awake all night in Senegal baggage claim, synchronized backpack dancing in Ethiopia, and even me sleeping ALL 21 hours of the flight back to the states...together, Kate and me have a lot of travel memories. One year later, we reunited with our friends from Minnesota, and south Georgia to go to a little Malawi reunion in Mobile, Alabama. (all reunions take place in Alabama...duh.) Man, that was an awesome road trip...including our sketchy road buddies we met on I-85. (oh, Chad.)And Just because I can...here's a picture of us on that wonderful day on I-85.

Kate is wearing the red turban...

To end this little trip down memory lane that only I can probably appreciate...I really love my friend Kate. Through the years we've somehow managed to stay in touch, even if it's a phone call every three or four months. I look up to, and admire her so much! And now she's getting married! It's exciting to be apart of such a wonderful moment in time.

Love and Peace-Lindsey.

I feel like I just gave birth...

Moms everywhere will probably have a 99.7% disapproval rate to my thought process here...BUT I feel as if beginning this blog I've birthed something. scary, huh? I've avoided the blog world for a while now and I have no idea how I got here...and yet here it is. MY BLOG. I picked out some colors, put a pretty picture on it, a catchy title (at least I think it's catchy). I spent some quality procrastination time doing this. (however, the test I took this morning wishes I had spent more time studying) Back to my thoughts here...

It's sorta like birth.

Parents wait to find out if its a boy or girl, they paint a room in their house some shade of pastel color, they give it a good name(or at least they think it's a good name) and then bam... your life changes.

Not to say my life is going to change through this...I just started a new project for my life. I hope people that read these things of mine, enjoy them as much as I do...and that in some way they share in my life...and that is a very cool thought.