♥ Happy Birthday Trent! ♥

You are my best friend and the love of my life, there is no one else I'd rather be with.

I love spending time with you, you are so much fun and you make me laugh.

My favorite part of every day is waking up next to you and then having coffee time together.

You are everything to me and I appreciate the life you've made for us.

I love you very much and hope that we have another 50 exciting years together (that would make us pretty old).

Starbuck's Wisdom

They told you that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

What they failed to tell you is that it is best seen with the eyes closed.

What you look like isn't important.

What is important is who you are inside and the choices you are making in your life.

-- Tiana Tozer

Starfish

One night, on a sandy beach, a terrible storm started. It rained. The wind blew so hard that it shook the houses along the beach.

The next morning was foggy and gloomy. Many starfish had washed up on the beach. A man named Buck walked out on the beach to look around. Peering into the mist he saw a young man walking along the beach. He was tall and slender. Buck saw him throwing starfish back into the ocean

Buck walked up to the young man and said, "Why are you throwing those starfish back into the ocean? They'll just wash back up on the beach again. It doesn't matter."

Without a word the young man bent over, picked up a starfish, and threw it with all his might. It went way out in the ocean. The young man turned to Buck and said, "It mattered to that one."

I know this poem is kind of corny, but working in youth ministry I HAVE to come back to it often. Sometimes there is SO MUCH going on with my students that it seems IMPOSSIBLE to help them. That's when I remember this corny story about the starfish and it motivates me to keep plugging along and keep making a difference.

You would be shocked at what Corey, John and I deal with every week with our Lifeline kids. Whatever you can imagine, just multiply it by about 100 and that might give you an idea what our kids here in our church (not in some big city like Chicago) are dealing with. The job is too big for just a full time youth director and 2 part time people. It is impossible.

But I know that my God is bigger than all that.

So when I'm knee deep in the "water" trying to pick up just one or two little starfish and get them back to safety - I know that God is telling me "it mattered to that one, and it matters to me".

5 days and counting . . .

In 5 days we leave for Spring Break and I can't wait! We will be leaving on Thursday and going to visit Trent's Mom in Naples, FL. We ALWAYS have such a great time with her and Hank and their friends. Plus, I get to play tennis just about every day!

On Monday a.m., Trent and I are driving over to Ft. Lauderdale to hop a plane for a romantic get away to the Bahamas for 2 nights. At first I really wanted to stay at the Atlantis (the SUPER HUGE hotel on Paradise Island), but while waiting to see if I could get any deals at the last minute to stay there, I found this place. It's a little 10 room bed and breakfast on the quiet side of the island and it is perfect!

It's called "A Stone's Throw Away" and it's up on a cliff overlooking the ocean. It has it's own private beach and a beautiful small pool with a waterfall. In the morning when you get up there's a chef stationed out on the porch who will cook anything you want for breakfast. You can check it out HERE. Three whole days of romance with my hubby and best friend Trent - I CAN'T WAIT!

Holy Cow . . . I'M GOING TO INDIA!

Yes - you read that right - I'm going to India (not Indiana). I am scared to death, but really, really excited at the same time!

I will be going with a team of around 30 people from GCC at the end of October to spend 10 days in Chennai, Southern India to help rebuild homes in the tsunami-affected communities throughout the area. (We'll be doing this in conjunction with Habitat for Humanity)!

I remember a year and a half ago when the tsunami hit and I felt so sad and helpless - my heart just broke for the people there. I can't believe that God has opened this door and that I actually get a chance to go over there and help them - to have my fingerprint in a part of history while at the same time taking Jesus with me and helping to advance his kingdom! WOW - God is sooooo good!!

There is a team that just got to India yesterday that is there doing training so that our team in October will be extra effective. Go check it out HERE.

Heart 2 Heart

We started a new girl's group at Lifeline last week called "Heart 2 Heart" and I'm so excited about it. My friends Colleen Sweeney and Stephanie Weber are helping me lead it and a bunch of my other awesome female leaders are helping too.

It is a 7 week journey through "Captivating" along with a really cool journal the girls fill out to help them learn more about themselves. It's not a book study - I give them an interactive lesson every week about what the book talks about (they can read the book if they want, which I recommend). We had a great turn out last week , and we played some fun games to get to know each other. I'm really excited to see them again and learn more about them this Sunday.

This week we're talking about some great stuff - how we (women) were created in God's image and through our hearts He shows a part of himself. Also that God is an amazing artist - while He was putting creation into being it kept getting more intricate and more beautiful - and what did he choose to save for last - what is his final, most beautiful and intricate work? It's WOMAN - WE ARE THE CROWN OF CREATION! Us girls need to hear and know how truly beautiful we are - because mostly we are told we are either "too much" or "not enough" by the media, the men in our lives, our loved ones, etc.

I know that God has big plans for every one of these beautiful girls and women that have joined this journey and I can't wait to see what happens. If you're reading this and you are a high school student, you can still jump in with us - you can even bring a friend or an adult woman to join you. Just show up at 4:00 at GCC - we'll be downstairs in the Great Room! We have a great surprise at the end of the class on Sunday - so don't miss it!

Wow - I've been so busy blossoming I haven't had time to do any blogging! It's been a crazy few days. Here's random stuff that's been going on:

• I had the flu Saturday and Sunday - yuck! But thanks to my Seaweed Essentials, Vitamin C and the avocado that I eat religiously, I was able to kick it in less than 24 hours.
• My cat Teddy was missing for 2 days and I was pretty sad. Sunday night we got a phone call around 10:00 p.m. (during the thunderstorm) that he was over in the next neighborhood. We told them not to worry, as soon as it stopped raining he would come home. Well, he never came home and luckily on Tuesday a.m. a lady called and said she put him in her screen porch, so I went and rescued him. I was really, really happy to have him back and I felt so bad that I didn't go get him Sunday night.
• Cody got to go on a 6th grade trip to Medeival Times in Chicago today - he was really excited about the food they serve - he told me "Mom - they give you a whole chicken to eat". Can you tell that he really loves food?
• Trent and I got to get away to the GCC overnight marriage retreat and we had a great time. We got to hang out with some of our old friends from small group that we never get to see, and we got to spend some quality time with Debbie and Corey. It was a lot different than the retreat we went to 7 years ago that we escaped in the middle of the night from (not a GCC retreat). Dr. Bob was awesome and we learned a lot of great tips to make our marriage better.
• I have a list at work of about 35 things that need to be done and I don't know exactly how I'm going to pull that off - But they are all really great things and I'm so excited to have so many opportunities. This time of year always speeds up because we are going into our final weeks of Lifeline for the school year. We've been running the race hard all year, but now it's time to kick it in the butt and finish strong!
• Cody amazed me last night by showing me a 2 page poem that he wrote. It's beautiful and profound (and no I'm not saying that because I'm his Mom) - you would never know that a 12 year old boy wrote it. Maybe he'll let me post it sometime.
• I've been very "relational" and "verbal" lately and I'm probably driving my boss Corey crazy, but it helps me work so much better.
• My dog is sitting here staring at me with drool running out of his chops watching me eat pretzels and dip.
• Trent and I are getting ready to go out on date night - we're going to go to Lowe's and pick out our new kitchen. Isn't that romantic?
• I was at the post office today and witnessed one of the rudest postal workers ever. Enough about that.
• We have been drinking Tim Horton's coffee every a.m. this week (like Starbucks but from Canada) thanks to our good friends Tristan and Amelia - thanks guys! We love it!
• My niece Ariana came over on Monday and we had a blast together. I love being the "fun" auntie and then sending her home all wound up! I convinced her there was a monkey living in my shower so she's been running around saying "monkey, get out"!
• We had a really great SWAT today (staff meeting at GCC). Mark Beeson was back from family vacation and we listed to each other tell stories about how they met Christ and how they've been changed. It was very inspiring to hear how so many lives have been totally transformed by Christ. I LOVE being part of a church that is helping people doing that!

Well, I could go on and on, but that's probably more than you really wanted to know!

I'm Blossoming Baby!

And the day came when the risk it took to remain tight inside the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom. Anais Nin

This quote is EXACTLY where I am right now. After going to the student conference at Willow and then going to my new school this week, something intense and extraordinary has begun to be uncovered in me. I've known for a long time that I've been being pulled to change and risk, but it was more comfortable for me to stay in the "bud" where it feels safe than to believe in myself and risk the pain of failing, being rejected or being criticized for who I am. I really know now that being in the bud is much more painful than blossoming and it is truly killing me inside. I'm ready to take the risk and LIVE - really live!

I know that I'm at a crossroads right now and HUGE change is going to begin to take place in my life - God has designed so much more for my life and there's so much more He has out there for me. I am not truly being myself - I'm being what everyone else wants me to be and as of this moment, right now, I'm done - I'm truly done. I'M CHOOSING TO BLOSSOM BABY!

I'm choosing to embrace and uncover who God created me to be and I am going to honor him not by DOING, but by BEING . . . just being . . . being myself, being true, being honest, being aware, being in touch with my feelings, and being the beautiful human BEING that he created me to be.

I challenge anyone who is reading this to really think and ponder on these questions:

What areas of your life are you a "HUMAN DOING" instead of a "HUMAN BEING"?

Where are you staying in the "bud" when you know that you can blossom?

I'm back . . . and now I'm leaving again

I just got back from the Willow Creek Student Ministry Conference and it was incredible! I don't know why, but I didn't have really high expectations, but it ended up blowing me away. I went with my friend Lisa Baugher and we had a blast together. My favorite part of spending time with Lisa was when we kicked back and watched a chick flick together on Monday night (Just Like Heaven - it was a great movie and you gotta see it). Lisa has the BEST laugh and she's so much fun.

We also went with Corey and John Keim - and we had a lot of fun with them as well. Johnny got the flu on Monday and I felt really bad for him. Luckily he has age on his side and he recovered quickly and only missed the a.m. sessions on Tuesday. We got LOTS of great ideas, encouragement and we also got to worship with The David Crowder Band - AWESOME!

Now I'm off to Chicago to start my new school and my new career path. I think I'm still going to wait until I get back to make the formal announcement, just to make sure that this is where God is leading me. Don't worry (Lindsay), I'm not planning on leaving Lifeline yet - this new career can go hand in hand with what I am doing in youth ministry now, so the dream is to use my schooling to advance in my ministry at GCC.

Have a great weekend friends!