An afternoon stroll...

Oh, Happiness!

There's a new song out by the David Crowder band called Oh, Happiness and I love it! The main phrase is "oh happiness, there's grace enough for us and the whole human race." Hearing the song, you just can't help but be happy. It's upbeat and just so....happy... =P You can listen to it here!

Well, I was thinking about that song just now, because lately I've just been feeling so happy. Sure, I've had my stressful moments and my frustrations, and I've been angry and upset; but as a lifestyle...I'm HAPPY! It's so amazing to feel such happiness. I don't remember ever being so happy. Whenever I think about my life here in the windy city,  I just get this bubbly happy feeling. I am where I'm supposed to be, there's not one doubt about that. That makes me think of another song, of course. This one is a kids song done by Psalty, and unfortunately I don't remember all the words. This is the part that is stuck in my head right now:

First you take a cup of faith and stir it all around
Add some joy and happiness 'til it makes a bubbly sound
Mix in some Agape love 'til it begins to ring!
Dah dah dah dah...(I don't remember)
And serve it to the King!

Ah, that song makes me happy. You know, I have some things in my life right now that could truly be stressing me out (and sometimes do), but I feel too happy to be stressed. Really, it's so bizarre how happy I feel. It's great! Man, I'm so happy that I'm happy. =P

Thankful Thursday

I've kept all of you very busy this week with a post a day!! I don't expect that to continue on, so don't get your hopes up. =) This week has been so fabulous in so many ways, it's hard to know where to begin.

I was finally able to go to the Swing Dance Club at MSUM on Friday and it was so much fun! I learned a lot about lindy and how to make mine better.

Saturday was a lovely day...truly lovely. We had company from our hometown, so we all went out to lunch together and that was fun. I went shopping for flats to dance in, and it was surprisingly fun! I never enjoyed dancing before, but slowly, it's growing on me. :P I did have luck in finding flats and I also found some cute boots for winter. =D Saturday night was really fun because I got to go out for pizza and a movie with a good friend. It was much nicer than being home all night.

Sunday was also a great day. Church went really well, even though I made some mistakes on powerpoint. =P I did have to leave a bit early because Josie's was open and I had to work. We're not usually open on Sundays, so my whole group of friends from church came there for lunch! It was so nice to have them, especially since I hadn't had a chance to talk with them before church. And I even got a ride home, which was sweet.

I had salsa on Monday, and that (of course) was a blast!

Tuesday was a blessed day indeed!! My birthday was splendid, and I couldn't ask for more. I am so thankful for all the well wishes and for the friends who just made my night so wonderful. It's so nice to have good friends up here in Fargo. And dancing was...incredible. Wowza. Yup! It was great!!

Yesterday I had a really fun time at work with all my customers. I love to joke around with everyone; it's so much fun. I even had one guy who is from Iowa, so that's what we talked about. Sweet! =D I also had some amazing conversations yesterday with NML, BRH, and CNH. Yay for talking on the phone!

Today ended up being very nice as well. I got a lot more school done today than I did yesterday, so that was encouraging. I was able to eat supper with a new friend, and then we had salsa again!! Salsa was really nice tonight because I got a lot of compliments on my spinning. I'm really trying to do better, and the teachers are always giving me tips, so it's nice to know that it's making a difference.

I seriously cannot stop being happy nowadays. Yeah, sometimes I'm frustrated and not happy..but as soon as I start thinking about what's been going on, I'm instantly happy again. I have been so fabulously blessed, and I'm so grateful.

My birthday!

My birthday was such a wonderful day! I chose to sleep in a bit (which I needed), and then I went down to Josie's to take care of some business then just stayed to chat with my co-workers! That was great fun indeed! Then I went shopping and bought myself a super cute black hat and a brown jacket. Awesome! The only not so great thing was how little studying I achieved, but come on...it was my birthday. =P I was able to have a long chat with Emily and that was amazing, as always. I got myself ready to go and met everyone down at the Drunken Noodle. It was a cool place! I hadn't been there before, but I liked it. It has Asian, Italian, and American noodle dishes.

L-R: Edwin, Mark, Lee, Michelle, Abram, "Rizzo", and me. Not pictured : Laura

It was a really fun time just chatting with everyone. Then we all went to Swing night at the Avalon..Woot! :D Seriously guys, dancing is amazing! I had a birthday dance where I stood in the middle and for one song all the guys took turns leading me. It was so awesome! It was a very energetic song, and I even did some really fast lindy, which was a bit scary. =P All the guys that danced are friends of mine, so that was really nice. Unfortunately, we didn't get it recorded because of technical difficulties, but I've realized that's probably a good thing! I felt like I was doing a really good job, and if I was able to watch it back later, I probably would have been disappointed. =P So this way, I can just keep my awesome opinion of myself. Haha. One of my good friends did my other birthday dance with me. I love this song, so I've been planning on doing it for my birthday ever since I moved up here. I totally made a lot of mistakes, but it was so much fun anyway. And this was the first time that I was recorded doing lindy hop, so now I can analyze how many things I'm doing wrong, and fix them!

It was such a lovely day and I couldn't have asked for anything more.

Contemplations - Part Two

Now it is only a matter of hours until I am no longer a teenager. That is a crazy thought indeed! :P But, to continue from last night...

When I arrived back home I faced a challenge that I never expected: fitting into life at home. I had to realize that things could be normal again, but it would be a new normal. During my year in Germany, my host family and I changed each other, but my family back at home didn't have the same change as I had. So, I needed to find out where this new changed Lindsay fit it. Though it wasn't easy, I definitely feel like I found my own little spot while still living at home.

One of the best decisions I made as a 19 year old, was moving to the north. I was a bit nervous at the start, because it was such an indefinite thing. When I went to Germany, I knew I would be coming home in one year, but if I moved to the Windy City, I didn't know when or if I would ever live at home again. Still, I felt a peace about it, and here I am! My life has been so extraordinarily blessed since arriving here.

My very first night we went swing dancing at the Avalon. It was the beginning of a wonderful new passion. I cannot express how much fun dancing is! If you're ever able to sneak up on me, you'll probably find me dancing and trying to remember the right steps. I want so badly to improve so that my leads (who are mostly seasoned dancers) can have as much fun dancing with me as I am with them! :P Now, not only do I swing dance, but I also salsa, and both are simply amazing.

Within two weeks of my move, I had a wonderful new job. Never have I worked with people more encouraging and positive than when I started at Josie's Corner. I have just been blessed over and over by their patience, forgiveness, and acceptance. After the year I had in Germany, where nothing I did was ever right, I needed these people to remind me how much I really am worth. God provided for me so perfectly.

Moving here meant I had to find a home church all over again, and it was not something I really looked forward to. Again, God knew what I needed, and provided the path to get there. It didn't take long to find out that one of my main leads at the Avalon went to church here in the city. It was arranged for Laura, Edwin, and myself to attend there the next week. I knew that I loved the people from the very first day, but I still took a few weeks to decide if that was where I was going to regularly attend. I have been attending Harvest Community Church since the second week of June, and I'm so happy to be there.

And you know, it took a while, but I actually have some friends that I can go out and do things with. Even in Germany, that wasn't really the case! It's truly a nice feeling. Yet at the same time, being distant has tested and proven my relationship with Emily back in Germany, so I'm really thankful for her!

Another thing of note was that both of my grandma's got remarried this year! My whole family was just down in Arizona earlier this month for a wedding, and it was incredible! What a blessing!

You see, I can't say that this year has been the easiest, or even the best one ever; but I know that I am better because of it. I know as this new age approaches (about 1 1/2 hours now), I will continue to be stretched and tried, and God will continue to provide and restore. There were so many things, good and bad, that happened over this past year and it would take months to express it completely.

I have always tried to stay up until my "true" birthday (1:24am), but I don't know if I'm going to make it tonight. I'm already falling asleep as I type this! :P So, I think this is all it's gonna be for tonight. What will being 20 be like? I'll soon find out.

Contemplations - Part One

   I was just sitting on my couch, contemplating how I will be turning twenty in two days. Time is such a strange phenomenon. I feel like my year being 19 has been one of the most important, life-changing years I've ever had. At this time two years ago, I would have laughed if it was suggested that I would live in Germany for a year. I never thought I could do it, but I did.
    I was still 18 when I first arrived in Germany, and in many ways, I had never felt so young before. I don't even want to think what I would have been like if my good friend, Kellyn, hadn't gone with me, but even with her there, I was put in a state of complete reliance on strangers. I was so scared of offending my host family, getting lost, being misunderstood, being disliked, and failing miserably in my job.
   It was in the first two months that I really questioned if I had made the right decision to go overseas. Despite this, I was truly learning more each day of how to handle my new life in this new family culture, and this new country. In the beginning of June, I did something I had never done before: (1) take a train by myself, and (2) find a new church home. Those might seem quite unequal, but they were both the same day, so they just stick together in my mind.
     I went to the International Baptist Church of Hamburg (IBC) and truly felt at peace. I am generally not someone who would take a ride with someone I don't know. But this day, I sat next to a lady at church; a lady who had an American accent. I was pretty much starved for more Americans by this point. We got talking and really hit it off. Amazingly enough, she and her family offered me a ride home, and I felt totally comfortable accepting it. That was the beginning of a beautiful friendship with my dear, dear Emily.
       My life continued on, and I grew to love my church, and Kellyn loved it too. It was the majority of the time we actually got to spend together. I learned more German and taught more English. I learned how to enjoy my time with an eleven year old boy. I began to be comfortable in my situation and being able to fend for myself. I was able to be friends with my co-workers and be a support to them when they needed me. I truly learned to love people who did not deserve it.
    I turned 19 after being in Germany for 5 months. I still had 7 months to go! My job was not physically difficult, but it was so emotionally difficult and draining. People always ask how many kids I had to take care of and I always feel like a wimp when I say just one, and yet continue on to describe how difficult it was. But you see, I wasn't really taking care of one kid...I was taking care of a family. A family who needed so much help, and help that I truly was incapable of providing.
  Thankfully, God did provide the help that I needed. He gave me a church family who loved me, a friend who would do anything for me, a family who supported me, and most of all, He gave me a way of communicating with Him. I don't think my spiritual health has ever been so tried, or so fruitful, as my time in Germany. It is so much easier to rely on God when there is nothing else even close to rely upon.
 I'm getting really long winded, so I'll try to wrap it up here. Christmas came and Kellyn and I both made our way home; her to stay, and I to visit. Our travel didn't go according to plan, especially having a 4 day layover in London. Our grand total of 7 days and 9 airports made for a very VERY stressful trip, but we both grew. We survived, and we both made it home for Christmas.
  Going back to Germany without Kellyn was not easy, but I think it was one of the best things for me. As someone from church mentioned this morning, I had to "get rid of my crutch". Kellyn was always there to make me laugh, or feel my frustration, protect me, or what have you...she always had my back, and she was and is the only person who can truly understand what my job was like. But without her, I had to learn how to stick up for myself, to express what I felt was important, and I did! I also became so much more comfortable with my German communication.
  My last week in Germany was probably one of the most important of the entire year. Though it was a bit of an anxious week for me, I know that I was stretched a lot, and God truly blessed my time there. I was given the opportunity to serve with one of my good friends in street ministry, and what I learned there was life changing for me. There are seriously no words that can fully express how much I grew in every way while I was in Germany, and guess what! That was only half of my 19th year!! I'll save "post-Germany" for tomorrow.
 

Thankful Thursday

The weeks go so quickly! Seriously, it was just yesterday that I wrote last week's post! Crazy! Anyway, here it is, time again to share what I'm thankful for.

My parents came up on Friday to meet up with a couple who were a huge influence in my dad's life as a teenager. It was so much fun to see them again and to hear old stories of what my dad did back then. It was a great time.

I had to work most of Saturday, so I wasn't able to spend a lot of time with my parents, but we did have a picnic in the park with a few of our dancing friends, and it was a lot of fun. We played quite a few rounds of Catch Phrase, and threw the frisbee around a bit.

Sunday was a beautiful day! I had a wonderful walk in the early morning and was joined by my mom about half way through. Church was really good, and I had a chance to talk with some newcomers, and it was great! Then after church, a bunch of us met up for lunch. Who can say no to food and fellowship? Seriously, it was a fun time!

I'm thankful for a smart chiropractor who can put everything back into place.

I am so thankful for my wonderful job. I just hope I won't lose my excitement about it. :P

I made it past my first school exam, and I didn't die, so we're good.

I've been getting caught up on sleep, which is always good.

Swing and Salsa dancing were fabulous as always. I even got some compliments on my improvement! Yay!

The Lord is good, and His love endures forever..what more could I be thankful for?

The King of Glory and His Kingdom

Tonight, as I was spending some time in the Word, I went through the beginning of Psalms and re-read the passages that I have already underlined. Little nuggets of truth and encouragement to lift up my spirit. My heart skipped a beat as I came to Psalm 24 and I realized that I've never written about it, so here it is, my blog about Psalm 24.

1. The earth is the LORD's and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein.

This world belongs to God. It is His, His, His. Everything we see is HIS!

2. For He has founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the waters.

It is His, because He made it! He was all there was before the beginning, and He created this amazing earth. 

3. Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? Or who may stand in His holy place?

Throughout my life, I've always been able to think of questions that I'd like to ask God when I get to heaven, but then I realized that I won't even be able to speak a word in my own defense at His judgment throne, much less be asking irrelevant questions! I think that we all will be knocked to the floor in complete awe of who He is, and how holy He is.

4. He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to an idol.

Have you known anyone who has clean hands and a pure heart? I certainly don't. And since that's the only one who can stand in God's holy place, well, we haven't got a shot.

5. He shall receive blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.

6. This is Jacob, the generation of those who seek Him, who seek Your face.

 

The one who can stand in the holy place of God will receive blessing and righteousness from God.

7. Lift up your heads, O you gates! And be lifted up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in.

 8. Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty. The LORD mighty in battle.

Never has a human been able to go to the gates of heaven and demand that they open. We have no authority over such things! There was never a human, that is, until the KING of GLORY, our own Savior, JESUS CHRIST, came up to those gates. Christ, being human and God completely, paid the price for sins and the cross and rose from the grave thanks to the divine power of our God. He rose in victory over death and sin. HE is strong and mighty. HE was and is mighty in battle. 

9. Lift up your heads, O you gates! Lift up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in. 10. Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, He is the King of glory.

I have chills every time I read this Psalm. Our Lord, Jesus Christ has the unbounded power to command the gates of Heaven to open up to Him. He, in His mercy and kindness has given us the same power through Him. He has imputed His righteousness on us, that we might be seen as justified. God has declared us righteous! I cannot even fathom what that truly means. 

Oh, Lord, You are more than I could ever deserve. You are holy, and mighty, and GOOD, and kind. Lord, You are KING. Thank You!

 

What could be better than...

An early morning walk next to a river...

Where they have a replica of a Norwegian church...

And lovely pathways for people like me...

And walking with your mom while seeing the sun rise?

Not much.

Thankful Thursday

I've realized how nice it is to have this scheduled post each week! Without it, I might go weeks without posting anything purely because I feel like I don't have anything interesting to say! I've also noticed what a positive difference it has made in my life. Now instead of Thursdays being my 'wallow in self pity" day, I am constantly thinking throughout the day about what my post will look like. It is impossible to be in a bad mood when you're thinking about your blessings!

Here's what I came up with today:

My weekend with my whole family was spectacular! It was so much fun to spend time with everyone again, and seeing my grandma get married was an experience I'll never forget. Singing with my sisters again was truly a highlight. That was something I missed dearly while I was in Germany. No one can take the place of sisters.

Though things didn't go as planned, I am thankful for travel mercies and for friends who have flexible schedules.

Having Monday off from work was a blessing to be sure. It enabled me to get caught up in my classes, including all the reading for my psychology class since I just received the textbook on Sunday.

Salsa on Monday was fabulous as usual. It is so nice to know that I really am improving. Dancing is so much fun, and such great exercise. I don't know how I lived without it! :D It is also a great way to make new friends.

Tuesday was used for another day of studying, and ended up being quite productive.

Dancing at the Avalon (Swing night) was seriously amazing! Again, I know I have improved, and that makes everything more fun. I had a few rough dances where I wasn't following very well, but my leads are always very patient and forgiving. It was also a nice time for hanging out with friends.

I'm thankful for FRIENDS!! =D

Work yesterday was somewhat slow, but still good. I learned some new things by mistake, and was dealt with very gently. I cannot express my gratitude enough for the amazing job that God has provided for me. As I said last week, He knew what I needed and brought me to it. I love how His plan has unfolded before me.

I am especially grateful for the amazing conversations that I've had with EH, CH, and KW. I love you all dearly and would be lost without you guys!

A huge note of praise is that the mole on my elbow is benign according to the biopsy results. This means that it doesn't have to be removed (yay!) and that I just need to continue keeping an eye on it. It is an amazing relief to know that everything is alright.

I'm also thankful for really powerful teaching from my pastor that I've been able to put into practice this week and been able to see a difference. That is encouraging stuff! =D

I would recommend that each of you set aside a day to be thankful each week. It's not something you have to share in a blog, or with anyone for that matter, but I can tell you that it has changed my perception incredibly.

Thankful Thursday

I cannot imagine why on earth God would want to bless me as much as He has already. It is truly incredible. Every week as I write these posts I am reminded of His enduring faithfulness, mercy, kindness, and love.

This week I am thankful for so many things.

I received a note from my co-worker with some constructive criticism, and was able to hear a good report from her by the end of the week. It was truly nice that she let me know that everything was better, because she could have just not written me another note and left it alone. It's nice knowing that she isn't upset, and everything is back to normal.

I seriously have amazing bosses! Not only are they extraordinarily forgiving and merciful, but they are excellent at encouraging others too! It is not every day that your boss will tell you how much they appreciate you and how well you're doing. God knew that I needed that, and sent me exactly where I could get it.

He showed me again what a blessing it is to have spiritual gifts and to use them for His glory; and He made my Stressful Saturday into a Satisfied Saturday.

I am slowly becoming convinced that I've made the right decision regarding which church to attend regularly, and God is blessing me in that decision.

I was able to enjoy a lovely meal and long conversation with the pastor and his wife.

My classes began on Monday, and I learned that I'll only have papers to write for one class! What a relief!

I had an important meeting with dermatology on Tuesday, and received a successful biopsy and got one mole removed. Now we're just waiting on the results.

My weekly dancing schedule happened without any dizziness! I know it's been a while since I have been dizzy, and I keep mentioning it all the time; but you do not realize what a difference it has made to my life to feel in control of my head again!

Dancing at the Avalon was especially full and exciting.

I was able to help my boss out yesterday by staying late, and she really appreciated it.

We had some friends over last night to play a game, and though I didn't get a chance to play, it was still fun to watch.

I was able to fly to Tucson this morning without any issue, and met up with my parents and sister.

We were able to visit with my grandma and her fiance'.

And I saw a shooting star while I was considering the heavens. It was truly remarkable.

God's glory is so much greater than we could ever hope to imagine.