I MUST UPDATE MORE!!!!!!

No one will read my blog if I continue updating at the current rate. Nicole just unlinked me from her site :(....hahaha. That did make me sad though. Nicole, LINK ME BACK!! I am feeling so insecure!

Blogging friends...what can I say, I'm not good at retelling events in my life.

There are two other girls living with me in my little room right now and I think I like it! For three girls in a two-twin-bed-room, we are doing phenomenal. No cat fights, no fight, not even any arguments. God is good and He is helping us!

God is so good, always.


Hello, from me to you...and Panera:

The Sovereign Lord is my strength, he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights. Hab.3:19

My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. John 4:34

"freeness" and recipes

First of all, I am sad that I have no one staying with me in my room. This past week has been so great and relaxing. It's been an exciting vaycay that's really going to help me start of this school year as a minister (and a student now) off right. It's going to be a great year.

As of the past week, I feel like a completely new woman. I'm not going to get into it...if you wanna know, ask, but God has really been setting me free. This new found "freeness" has really broadened my horizons. "Praizem!"

Enough of that....I went to Barnes and Nobles tonight to look at some cookbooks and I found some cool recipes. I was specifically looking up quick and easy recipes to add to my collection (of which I owe the start of to Ms. Linda Graham). Here's one I want to make:

Easy Citrus Salmon Steaks
prep: 10 minutes
broil: 8 minutes
makes: 4 servings

ingredients...
-2 fresh or frozen salmon steaks cut 1 in. thick (about 1 pound)
-2 teaspoons finely shredded lemon or orange peel
-2 tablespoons black pepper
-1 teaspoon bottled minced garlic (2 cloves)
-2 tablespoons sliced green onion
-2 medium oranges, peeled and sliced crosswise

directions...
1.Thaw if frozen, rinse fish, pat dry with paper towel. Preheat boiler. In small bowl stir lemon peel, lemon juice, pepper, and garlic
2.Place fish on the greased, unheated rack of a broiler pan. Brush with half of juice mixture. Broil 4 in. from the heat for 8-12 minutes or until fish begins to flake when tested with a fork, turning once and brushing with remaining juice halfway through broiling.
3.To serve, cut each fish steak into two portions and transfer to dinner plates. Sprinkle with green onion. Serve with orange slices.

[menu ideas: french baguette slices, rice pilaf, roasted brussel sprouts]

Doesn't that sound yum? Now all I need is 3 other people to make it for! Any takers?!

2 things for you...

Good morning, all! I wanted to share a recent post from a blog I enjoy reading called 22 Words. Each post is only 22 words, so it's short, sweet, and to the point. Perfect. The comments following are not 22 words and is usually an interesting conversation. This post is about money and being judgemental. (Lord, help me.)

Here's a poem to remember summer that is passing in only one month on September 22...

-----

The Wild Honeysuckle
by Philip Freneau
Fair flower, that dost so comely grow, Hid in this silent, dull retreat, Untouched thy honied blossoms blow, Unseen thy little branches greet: No roving foot shall crush thee here, No busy hand provoke a tear. By Nature’s self in white arrayed, She bade thee shun the vulgar eye, And planted here the guardian shade, And sent soft waters murmuring by; Thus quietly thy summer goes, Thy days declining to repose. Smit with those charms, that must decay, I grieve to see your future doom; They died—nor were those flowers more gay, The flowers that did in Eden bloom; Unpitying frosts and Autumn’s power Shall leave no vestige of this flower. From morning suns and evening dews At first thy little being came; If nothing once, you nothing lose, For when you die you are the same; The space between is but an hour, The frail duration of flower.

hey boos... "boo" is my term of endearment for all...

so i'm laying in my twin bed with one of my BFFs, Tiffany Untch. i'm enjoying a much appreciated and much needed few days off. YAY! tonight we went out to eat with Tiff's friend John from the Outer Banks who wined and dined us. What a guy. Thank you John!

Now we're staying up real late (as usual when we're together) on the world wide web.

I started my class at Durham Tech this week. It was excrusiatingly boring, but I'll live. Maybe I want to be a nurse one day. I want to love people and help them.

have you noticed in this blog entry how i have swapped from good typing to lazy typing at least three times?

that's all for now.

what is my "bloggone" problem?

i know this is not something you're supposed to admit, but...

don't you just love those times when you're calling someone and you are just hoping, hoping, hopppiiiinnng that it will go to voice mail...and it does?

8 ) my new favorite smiley.

in other news i am going to take a couple of classes part time this semester at Durham Tech...whoop whoop... i was so excited because today i made a 95/100 on my reading placement test and a 99/100 on my writing placement test! my math score will remain undisclosed ;)

this week will be semi busy as i am preparing to leave for the Dominican Republic on August 1st. i've been planning a trip for about 25 people for the last few months now. i am so surprised at where the Lord has taken my life. are you where you thought you would be a year ago? 5 years ago? 10 years ago? i know i'm not. no, i'm not disappointed...my life is in the Lord's hands, i am His handmaiden, He can take me where he wants to take me. 5 years ago i was convinced that i'd be in some 3rd world foreign nation as a missionary. my heart still longs for that, although i'm not sure that's where God will send me long-term anywhere in the next couple of years. my heart still longs for it though. oh, just to be with the poorest or the poor, the brokenest of the broken. so what if i have only a couple of outfits to wear? so what if they're ordinary? so what if i only eat rice everyday? so what if i'm hot? so what if i'm cold? so what if i have no bed? so what if no one knows about it? Lord, please help me to give my life away even now. to the poorest of the poor here. to the brokenest of the broken here. the orphaned teenagers...left to let society and MTV raise them. God, help me to love my own fatherless generation. help me to give my life for my own fatherless generation. wherever you will have me be, i'll be, i'll give my life for the glory of Christ.

---


well that got a little more emotional than intended. but, i'll keep it. it's raw. and yes i realized my grammatical error in "brokenest". that will stay too.

please leave me a comment and say "hi"....
l o v e *

PS- I LOVE WAFFLE HOUSE AND I'M NOT ASHAMED TO SAY IT :)

PPS-have you read The Shack? what did you think? i actually liked it for what it was. it definitely ministered to me in some ways. i would have to say one of my favorite quotes is, "I am especially fond of you," said by Papa. i could cry thinking about it. God says to us... "I am especially fond of you." wow

psalm 91, nyc

currently listening to: The (IHOP) Prayer Room [ihop.org]
currently drinking: vanilla honey chamomile tea with an Airborne tablet (which ruined it)
currently reading: Psalm 91

Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him.


I'm still waiting on my NYC mission trip photos, but here's a few to wet your appetite. It was a remarkable trip. Thank you God for blessing it and using us.
1.a kitten I convinced a guy to name "Lindsay"...muahaha
2.one of the kids we were reaching out to was baptized! we prayed for him... i'm guessing he felt a little awkward laying in the tub of water, soaking wet with a bunch of hands on him, but who knows?
more to come sooner than later, hopefully

Hiya! I'm in New York...please feel free to check realitynyc.blogspot.com for our team updates. :)

caring for "orphans"

Tuesday changed my perspective of what an orphan is--and what caring for them means. I used to think caring for orphans meant holding babies at an orphanage, or poor street kids in Africa taking care of their younger siblings. Yes, these are orphans and we must care for them--but God showed me Tuesday that there are orphans here, within miles, that are deprived of their parent's love, hugs, stability, security. A man named Scott showed me that. Let me explain...

A precious girl from the youth group called me the other night, afraid and in need of help. She was in a bad situation and with people she was really butting heads with. She pleaded for me to pick her up, before she did something she regretted, so I went over there as soon as I could. She was staying with a group of people, all over 20, in a small apartment. When I went to pick her up she was standing outside with all of her stuff. Another guy was standing and waiting with her. As we got ready to go, I started talking to the other guy, Scott, asking him if he was okay and if he needed anything. Eventually I just asked if I could pray with him, there wasn't much I could do at that point to help his situation. I crouched down beside him and began to pray. As I was praying, I sensed God's love and compassion for him--the tangible Father's love...that comforts, brings peace, direction, security... I realized he had none of that. He was broken, rejected, hurt, uncared for and because of it he was like a lost puppy-no direction, no love, alone.

God gave me the revelation that when he says, "...[D]efend the cause of the fatherless..." in Isaiah 1:17 he meant Scott. And others like him. To yes, care for babies who are left abandoned, and also the "grown ups" with no love. The ones separated from their own fathers (maybe even by their own doing) who are wounded and unloved.

I was adopted by Christ. Christ chose to adopt me and love me in my sin. May that reality compel me to love the orphans, however old or young, big or small, nice or mean they may be.

I will not leave you as orphans. I will come to you.
-John 14:18

a walk by the lake with my grandma and her dog, molly

update!

Here's a wee update on mostly missions related things:
1.I will not be going to DC with Teen Mania...another gal got her deposit in before me and secured the spot I was hoping for...I believe it is God's will. The funny thing is that I may have another opportunity to take some of our teenagers to DC during the same time for a youth conference that would involve a text messaging scavenger hunt in downtown DC, how awesome is that? God is sovereign and God is good.
2.I am leaving for NYC in 5 days. Thank you for your prayers and support. God is still bringing in the money. I still have a little ways to go, but it is coming in! On another note, we have a training day sometime Friday and we leave Sunday morning. Please be in prayer for our team and for myself as a leader.
3.I had to get a replacement phone tonight. Mine wasn't charging. I wasn't able to backup my data and now it's gone...I have no numbers except those who I talked to tonight. Bummer!! Actually, after syncing my phone with iTunes, I actually have all numbers I put in since my last back up sometime in March...yay!
4.My mom turns 51 Thursday and Sunday is Father's Day.


Goodnight for now...

PRAYER

Hi everyone. This post is to ask you for your prayers. I'm leaving in 10 days for NYC to help lead our youth on a mission trip for two weeks. We are prayerfully hoping to start a youth group at our sister church there [msny.org]. The two weeks are going to be jam-packed with evangelism and outreach to high school students. We are really excited!

Please lift up my financial need in prayer. I need exactly $1,420 by this Sunday night. God is so going to provide. I will probably be making some phone calls this evening and praying for God's provision. I'm not really sure where it is going to come from [God through people, I suppose], but I am looking forward to seeing God do it. If you've got any suggestions, let me know!

PS- realitynyc.blogspot.com

me right now...

[for me, this is bliss!]

sushi with Jess and a quote...

I'm really excited to say that last night I expanded my not-very-expansive cooking skills and made SUSHI! Matt and Jess, my engaged friends and fellow youth workers got me a Sushi kit and recipe book for my birthday. Last night Jess and I tried it out. Our ingredients were:
-seaweed to roll the sushi
-sticky, sushi rice
-chopped carrots
-[chopped] cream cheese
-chopped cucumber
-chopped avocado
-chopped imitation crab meat
-dumplings on the size
-soy sauce!

I learned that 1. making sushi is fun 2. especially with a friend and 3. soy sauce makes anything taste GOOD!

Have you ever made sushi?

I'll leave you with a quote:

"The way to love anything is to realize that it might be lost." -G.K. Chesterton

lindsaywhat.com and a ministry update

So, why did I get lindsaywhat.com?

The first reason is because I just tend to do things like that...I get an idea...and I do it. But, secondly, and most importantly because I want to begin using my blog more for ministry update purposes and how easy is it to tell someone to just go to "lindsaywhat.com". In my mind it is ideal.

...

Last Saturday at youth group we had so many new people. At least 5, I think. That was so encouraging. I remember when I was in high school how hard it was to get people to come and our students are doing such a great job. The exciting thing is that students come from many different walks of life...different ethnicities, different ages, different socioeconomic situations, different religions, and most of all, different personalities. That is encouraging to me.

The picture to the left is a glimpse at ministry we do at a school in Hillsborough. That's Rollan and a couple student leaders sharing the Gospel with a classmate. As this picture was being taken he told them he wanted to follow Jesus! We were very excited and have made plans to follow up with him to help him walk that out.

The picture to the right is Bridgette and Lisa. Bridgette went to NCSU and we've been meeting together for many months now talking about discipleship and praying for one another. Just today, Bridgette and I talked about her call to youth ministry. She has started helping once a week with the youth group at her church and will be going on a upcoming youth retreat to be a mentor and chaperon. Bridgette is stepping out into her destiny! As for Lisa, I have known her for almost 8 years! She is a year younger than me and is a student at UNC-Chapel Hill. She was a part of the youth ministry in high school and just in the past year we have started meeting, talking, praying, and studying the Bible. Just two weeks ago, she decided to come with me this summer on her first mission trip to Dominican Republic! Aren't these two girls beautiful?!

God is moving in the earth. I'm excited we're a part of it!

I'll leave you with a picture I took a few hours ago at my grandma's house of some beautiful magnolia blooms...wish I could import the smell for you too!

Big News...

This afternoon, for only $7 and some change, I bought lindsaywhat.com.

What was I thinking?!

I will explain later, but for now...laugh with me.

:)

blogging for dummies!!!

Sooooooooo....one of my good friends got me this fantastic book for my birthday. I am pumped! Believe it or not, I seriously love blogging and [sometimes] reading other people's blogs. Yes, I did say [sometimes]. Mainly because some people's posts are just way too long. At the same time though, I will say that there are some people who I enjoy reading lengthy posts from and wish would write more. Not too many of them though. Most of my blogging friends do a great job at making an entertaining post. Unfortunately, I don't have as many friends who blog as I would like. Maybe I can change that. Especially with my new book. ;)

In other news, I am apparently a night owl. It is 4am and I am going strong. Is this normal? Maybe for a New Yorker with a booming social life. I live in North Carolina and I don't know how to describe my social life...

I'll let you know how the book goes...hopefully it'll transform me into the blogger of all bloggers...hopefully. Until then...

A poet, too

My computer battery is going to die in about two minutes. I wanted to post a link here that has really been a blessing to me. Pastor John Piper has really been a blessing to me as a minister and author. Most recently, I've discovered that he is a brilliant poet. My favorite are the ones he writes for his family members. I don't know him personally, but I do enjoy reading his blog and website. It is desiringgod.com

Here is a link to some of his poetry: http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Poems/ByDate/

How does one learn to be a poet?

Boston and the death of SKYBUS (RIP)

The strangest thing happened to me this weekend. I got up at 3am on Friday morning to head to the airport in Greensboro and flew on a nice little airline called (or formally known as, like Prince) Skybus. It is known for having a few seats on each flight for only $10. They were really friendly and clean, but if you wanted anything you had to buy it. Water, food, etc. To check a bag was $10. We made a few jokes about it, but appreciated the airline because we got to go to Boston for so cheap. (Well an HOUR outside of Boston...) Anyway, the point of the story is that on the way to the place we were staying that night I got an email from Skybus that said,

"We regret to inform you that Skybus Airlines will cease all ope
rations effective 12:00 a.m. Saturday, April 5. As a result, your Skybus flight has been cancelled."

That was one of the strangest things that has ever happened to me. I think the email makes it even more dramatic. Imagine traveling somewhere and your method home just disappears... haha...a bit eerie. I've flown many times, even a few times on smaller-ish airlines such as AIRTRAN!! and I have never had an airline bail on me while I was en route.

Obviously, we still had to get home, somehow. So, four of us (Matt, Rahshun, Whitney, and I) had to either buy a really expensive ticket home or find another way to get home. So... after debating trains, Hummers, and buses, we decided to rent a car and drive. Justin Phillips canceled his flight and drove home with us. (Making it 3 people in the back seat!! Thank you, Justin.) I think the drive home ended up being a total of 18 hours including a few hour stop in NYC. The sad thing was that Matt was the only one who could legally drive because of the age restrictions on rental cars. So he drove the whole time.

It was a fun ride though, for the most part (hummm, or at least for some of it). We got to stop in NYC and we saw Lindsay, Lydia, Suzie, and fam as well as Josh and his friend. It was pretty cool just "stopping by" Manhattan. What a cool city. We left Manhattan around midnight and started our journey. I think we paid around $30 in tolls! The ride to NYC was bearable and even a little fun, maybe because it was during my peak hours of 6pm-12am, but the rest of the trip was difficult. During my tiredest moments, it seemed impossible to get comfortable and it also seemed like the
person beside me wasn't interested in going to sleep. ;) (I love you Whit.) She did make an excellent and most complying pillow, though, and for that I am thankful!

You may (or may not) be wondering what each of these pictures is all about, so I will explain, numbering them 1-8.
1.Whitney and I taking pictures with a rubber fish in Boston.
2.Eric and Ashley from NYC. They came for a day of the outreach. They are precious, I love them!
3.The best picture of "Boston" I got. Sad, I know. Funny story behind that, but I will spare you.
4.One of the campus ministers in Boston and our most gracious host, Jennie, and I.

5.Eric, Ashley, and I at a Luau at Princeton?... We ended up deciding to go there for dinner Saturday night to meet people and make friends. The food was genuinely Hawaiian--Spam included. It was DELICIOUS. When do I really get to go to Hawaii?
6.On the drive home. I called front seat to NY. The rest of the ride I was in the back. At least in the back seat you don't have to stay awake!!
7.At a pizza shop in NYC, I decided to drink out of the pitcher of water after I looked in my own water cup and saw an array of food particles. Maybe they were mine? maybe not. But even if they were, this seemed like the better option.
8.The tablecloth at the Luau was paper and the center pieces were pineapples with crayons in the green part. This was my picture.

My next post will have to be about my birthday or something.. it is worth a story since I spent it with 3 other adults and FIVE children under the age of 5. :)

Before my I go, I really enjoyed reading everyones responses to my last post. I think you all had fun too ;)...this post's question is this: What's the longest road trip you've ever been on?


Until we meet again...
Lindsay

Jung and Super Mario

*check out my devotional blog @ likealily22.blogspot.com*

Greetings. Sa wa de ka. Zdrastfotsye. Namaste. Ne how. Guten Tag. G'day. Hola. Ciao. How de bodi. Bonjour.

That was pretty good---it was the best I could do. Let me know if you think of more.

I felt so compelled to blog. I don't know what to blog about. My birthday is in 2 weeks...I think I want to ask for a book on how to blog...and blog good. Who doesn't want to be good at what they do...even if it is blogging?

---

What's on my mind...I guess I'll talk about Myers-Briggs...
I think for the past year or so now I have been completely obsessed with Myers-Briggs or Jung personally types. I am an "ENFP"...

How to parent an ENFP:
-be patient with their endless questions; encourage their curiosity and fantasies
...
How to love an ENFP: (take notes!!!! --- totally JK!!)
-appreciate my creativity, curiosity, and uniqueness
-tell me how much I mean to you and be patient with my need to process how I feel privately before sharing it with you
-Re-establish harmony quickly
-support my need to try new experiences and maintain my many friendships
-try not to force decisions too quickly, or bug me about being messy.
...
Carreers for ENFPs...
career counselor, actor, inventor, child welfare counselor, etc.

It's so interesting to see the results of my family and friends that have taken this. My mom and two of my friends are all INFPs...my mom's mom is my exact opposite...Tiffany is exactly the same as me. I don't know why I even like this stuff, but I do. Maybe it's because I'm an ENFP, I like to figure you out and this is one way. Take the quiz, take your four letter results and find them here. I bet it describes you so well! If you end up taking it, leave me a comment and let me know what you are. ;)

In other news... I am headed to Boston Friday morning (waking up around 2:30am!!!!!!!!!!!!) to bring the Gospel to Boston University. I'm pretty excited about that. God has also been providing the money... $10 here, $15 there, $25 here, and then another $100! Praise the Lord! It doesn't cover it all yet, but it is so neat to see how God works. :) Also that He would take little ol me and send me to Intellectual University.

I just spent the last few hours in my room with my brother. He brought his laptop and Gameboy and got on my top bunk and I was on the bottom. They are in an "L" shape, so it's easy to communicate. We had a nice time. My two dogs like to get up there and snuggle and sleep so there's a picture of Opie and Scott. He is becoming more and more of a close friend and not just someone I fight with and throw things at... ;) I am grateful for that!

We watched the youtube video of the guy playing the Super Mario Brothers songs on the piano. We used to love to play that game and during the holidays at my mom's house, we still play it. GOOD TIMES!

These pictures are all from tonight, before my brother's laptop battery died and we were entertaining ourselves with youtube. Has anyone ever been to Godtube?? I haven't...

I turn 21 in two weeks! Woohoo!!! I had the coolest idea for a party, but I don't know if I can pull it off. My connections aren't working out as planned. That's another blog for another day ;).

I'm going to go to bed now, since it's 3am. I don't know what time I will post this since my internet is not working, but yes...it is 3am. Why am I a night owl? Goodnight...<3

predestination and away i go

As I leave I am listening to Mark Driscoll talk to me about predestination. It is good. Mark just said, "the doctrine of election is very conforting." I would have to agree. How very vague of me.

Guess what? I am getting on a plane in about 12 hours that will take me first to NYC, then right on to Kiev, Ukraine where I will be until Friday. And on Friday I am getting on another plane that will take me first to Paris, then right on to Edinburgh, Scotland where I will be until February 6th. Wow!

I am totally thrilled to go. Always a little bittersweet, leaving home, but I really am excited.

Please pray for me. In Ukraine I'll be working with some other people to plan an outreach we are offering to college students/anyone during spring break. My heart is already breaking for these people. In Scotland, I'll be reconnecting with some friends I've known for years and my heart's prayer is to in a way, be like Paul...to encourage and strengthen them. To minister and to pray for them. To bear their load for just a little while.

Okay I really don't have time to blog. I gotta pack!

Bread and Water

I feel different. i feel awakened. i feel brought back.

days can pass and weeks can pass and i try to reach out for something earth-shattering or amazing to fill the void. i think i need words or prophesies to make me feel alive. JESUS...i know that was made for you!! the emptiness that i ignore when i lay my head on my pillow at night, another night of deciding that sleep is more vital than Bread and Water, i know You fill the emptyness. i hunger and i thirst. i don't eat i don't drink.

tonight i tasted. tonight i tasted again. tonight i drank. i had a sip of the Water i've been forgetting about.

tonight i remembered where my help comes from. tonight i remembered that i need Bread to live. tonight i remembered the sweet taste of the Water of Life.

tonight i remembered there is a hunger and a thirst that i have, that you have, that only One Man can satisfy. Jesus, you are so precious.

Jesus, you are so worthy. you are so merciful. you are so kind and gentle.

tonight Jesus is gentle with me. he waits for me, speaks to me, comforts me.

there is so much more.


God make my life great for you. if it means i am hated by most, but following You, let it be. if it means a life of solitude, let it be. if it means martyrdom, by All MEANS LET IT BE.

My life is Yours. My heart is Yours. My dreams are Yours. Again.