Goodnight!

I'm really sleepy so i'm going to make this nice and quick! Here's how the art project turned out! Now... deciding where to put it... hmmmm...

Tuesday Party Time

This is going to be my next art project! Yay! I plan to do the exact same thing as I did last time. Go outside, put on Bon Iver, and get to work! Art days are some of my favorites. The first picture is the one I'm going to make, but i'm going to try to combine that lettering and sizing mixed with the lettering below...? Does that make sense? Check it out! I found it on someone's facebook a long time ago and have saved it to do later. The time has come!!!

The other great thing about today is that it's a Tuesday and when night comes around, the party begins! It all starts with Muster Committee meetings, which I'm obsessed with. I don't know what it is, but every year, the committee becomes so close and has quite a little family feel! Maybe it has to do with the purpose of our organization, but it's just incredible.
Next, Breakaway with the roomies! We've made it our "thing" to go as a house. Those four girls I live with bless me and challenge me so much. I believe I'll blog about them tomorrow! Until then.. here's a clip of Breakaway!

Breakaway

David

Hi! So, I've been reading a book by Charles Swindoll called, "A Man of Passion and Destiny; David" lately and I love love love it! I've always felt that I could identify with David in that he was such a screw-up at some points in his life, but he was used by God and truly loved the Lord with all his heart.

I got up and went to Mugwalls this morning and read a chapter in the David book. Here are my favorite things about this chapter. When talking about Samuel going to the house of Jesse to pick one of his sons to one day be King of Israel, Samuel kept thinking that the older sons, those which were big guys and looked like kings, were surely God's chosen one.

"The Lord said to Samuel,' Do not look at his appearance or the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." 1 Samuel 16:7

This was so convicting for me. Samuel couldn't see their hearts and their deepest thoughts. Not only am I guilty of judging the book by its cover, but in my own life, what are the intentions of my heart? What does God see that others might not see...maybe even things I can't see in myself? Just reading this was definitely a challenge to evaluate my heart and intentions in every interaction I have.

Moving along, Samuel eventually sees David, the youngest boy who was humble and tended to the sheep tirelessly and knows that he is the one the Lord has chosen. The Bible says he was a man after God's own heart. Swindoll notes this about David,

"I think that's one of the reasons he was a man after God's heart. He was always approachable, always believable, always authentic... and always faithful in the little things."

I love that David would go on to do many incredible things, and also some horrible things, but either way, he cried out to the Lord constantly...for forgiveness, for comfort, for praise. He was a humble servant whose heart and focus would also turn back to the Lord whenever it had strayed.

This week, I want to observe my heart and intentions constantly. I want to strive to focus my face on the Lord and keep the big picture in mind, being faithful in the little things.

Let the Good Times Roll!

My mom says I should talk about how much I love her today... my dad says he doesn't know what I should blog about and that that's why he doesn't blog. haha   So...today...I think I'll talk about the big things of these last few days!

   *I got to go to Dallas and see TONS of my friends. It was one of my favorite trips ever because of it! 

   *Hung out with Kenzie and her 3 cute cousins. Josh, the middle child, reminded me of and looked so much like my brother, Josh, when he was young! He was 3 and a half and talked my ear off. It was so much fun to think of my childhood with the best brother in the world. Josh and I have only gotten into one fight in our entire life... my mom says it was in a basketball game with the neighbors and I was blatantly fouling. Sorry, Joshy...always so chill. haha

   *Hung out with MaryCameron and Gracilynn...those 2 girls bring so much light into my life. We've gotten very close this past semester through our humor and powderpuff, respectively. After lunch with them, we ate at Sprinkles cupcakes!!! Yummmmms

   *Banders and I went to get fitted for Julie's bridesmaids dresses!!! The store was located right in the middle of this little "post-college-like" community...and I started to get sooo pumped up for next year! I may even look at that area for apartments...so many new people and also an area where alot of my college friends will be as well!

   *BGriff and I went to see a movie, as always. That girl is so great! Her and her family bless me so much!

   *Went to the Village with my friend, Chris. This was the second thing that made me so excited for next year! I'm pretty sure this will be the church I attend. I went this whole past summer while I was on my internship in Flower Mound and it is so good for me. Matt talked about Habakuk and how he was completely honest with God. He explained that honesty with God is essential for growth and intimacy in our relationship with Christ. I cannot WAIT to be there and get really plugged into that church community!

   *I ran 10 miles! However, i was soooo stupid. I ran when it was snowing, made the worst, most boring route ever on mapmyrun.com and then I hurt my knee. I'm not sure what's going on with it, but 3/4 through the run, every time I took a step, I felt a pinch. I ran to my Aunt Kay's house and then jumped in the hot tub to stretch and massage my knee. I rested it today, so I'm going to be honest with God about how depressed I'll be if I can't run a full marathon. We'll see what His answer is ;-) haha

That's all for now because my fingers are freezing. Dad keeps the heater on like 60 degrees...ah! Great weekend, Great friends, Great times! Bye bye!

Times

When being in Wichita Falls for a long period of time, you can often run out of things to do. When this happens to me, I grab my things, go to Hastings and have some Lindsay time.

Today's Lindsay time was great! Last year, I had an obsession with the band, Tenth Avenue North. Every one of their songs just touched me and when I would listen to the lead singer explain each song and the meaning of it, I enjoyed the songs even more. There's one song in particular that I would replay over and over again last year and just today, I thought of it again! It's one of those songs that I can put on, sing with, dance to, and it feels fresh and new each time. It relates to everyone at some point in their life and it reminds you that He's always present no matter what. There's one certain part at the end that moves me to tears no matter if it's the 5th or 50th time I've listened to it that day. I put the lyrics of that certain part below the song. Enjoy!

Tenth Avenue North- Times
Explanation of the Song

I hear You say,
"My love is over. It's underneath.
It's inside. It's in between.
The times you doubt Me, when you can't feel.
The times that you question, 'Is this for real? '
The times you're broken.
The times that you mend.
The times that you hate Me, and the times that you bend.
Well, My love is over, it's underneath.
It's inside, it's in between.
These times you're healing, and when your heart breaks.
The times that you feel like you're falling from grace.
The times you're hurting.
The times that you heal.
The times you go hungry, and are tempted to steal.
The times of confusion, in chaos and pain.
I'm there in your sorrow, under the weight of your shame.
I'm there through your heartache.
I'm there in the storm.
My love I will keep you, by My pow'r alone.
I don't care where you fall, where you have been.
I'll never forsake you, My love never ends.
It never ends."

Simple Joys

Today was a day full of reflecting and thought! Today was also a day of running! Alot of times the two go hand in hand for me and especially today because my training called for a 9 mile run. Yikes!
I decided I wanted to do a marathon about 2 months ago and I've been training for 5 weeks. The most I'd ever run at one time was 6 miles before I started training and that was when I was in a little better shape than I am now... haha. It's been an incredible experience already because I have tons of alone time to run and think. My thoughts today were full of blessings. I found myself looking around more than I usually do (mainly because I needed to take my mind off of "left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot"). I've been reading a book called, "Praise Habit" by David Crowder where he reflects on the things in his day that seem simple and ordinary and transforms them into a form of worship and appreciation for the blessing they really are. I listened to some good worship music and started to reflect on the things in my life that truly bring me joy and make me the happiest. Here are just a few:
-Sunsets and Sunrises
-Children
-Adults with childlike hearts
-Deep conversations
-Talking with my mom about life for hours on end
-Sitting in my dad's lap and acting like I'm still a little girl :-)
-Skype-Bible Studies with Josh
-Fellowship without masks
-Reading the words of God that fit my situation perfectly
-Quotes
-Driving by meadows and just taking in the country... feels so freeing!
-Baking desserts
-Art projects on my back porch
-Being outside
-Kayaking/ having "Barbarian Days" with Julie
-Roomie Hangouts
-Writing letters to the people I love
-Taking pictures of memories I never want to forget
-Reflecting on old moments (especially Wichita Falls ones)
-Playing competitive sports, adrenaline rushes!!!
-Journaling to Jesus
-Singing alone in my car
-Reading my favorite chapter, Psalm 51, and realizing that brokenness before the Lord is exactly where I need to be
-Music that brings me to joyful tears
-Movies that can get me so wrapped up in them that I feel like it's real life (basically, all movies) haha
-Seeing good in people that may seem unlovable at times
-Being with my extended family
-Watching a parent with their child and taking a mental note of how I'll teach my kids life lessons :-)
-Lunch dates
-Any water that I can sit by, listen to, watch...
-Running
-Watching the stars
-A nice, cold Diet Coke... duh.

That's all for now... these are some things that bring me joy and make me turn my face back to the Lord. My hope for this year is that I start turning my face back to the Lord more often. When my days get scattered with tons of homework or errands, I want every little thing I do to remind me of His love for me.