Happiness or Joy?

Is it seriously half-way through March already?!? Whew!! We've been super busy, I will try to write a catch up post sometime soon. I just had to post this thought for the day.

A very wise woman was recently asked of life... is happiness the goal??

Well I knew that obviously there must be some higher goal than happiness because happiness is simply an emotion that comes and goes depending on our ever changing life situations. I think this woman said it perfectly. Simple but true.

The goal is deep, genuine joy which gives you hope even when happiness is elusive.

I like it. I know I have found that joy, I hope you can too.

I'm weird...

I'm not really sure why I'm writing this post, I guess I'm hoping that someone out there can relate to me here. I've never really sat down and analyzed this, but I hate grocery shopping. Like seriously, I'd rather scrub toilets. No lie. I truly despise the task of grocery shopping. I don't know why, it's really not that hard, but I hate it. I'm in heaven when I can convince Kyle to do it for me. But let's be serious, I'm way too anal not to worry the whole time that he's not getting the exact right thing that I would get. oh well. Anyway... does anyone else hate grocery shopping as much as I do?? This is the main reason why I can't save any money on food and why I can't stick to couponing. I have about a 20 minute window that I need to have all the food in my buggy or I will break down. I can't explain it, but I have usually made it about 3/4 of the way through the store and all of the sudden out of no where I go into panic mode. It really scared Kyle the first few times he was with me. In a matter of seconds, my heart starts racing and I can feel my blood pressure rising, I start to sweat and I have got to get the heck out of that store or there is going to be a meltdown. I love Harris Teeter, it's pretty much the only place I shop now and it's almost an enjoyable experience. But the whole thing is just too much pressure or something. It's really ridiculous, I know. It's kind of embarrassing too. But I have learned to pick up the pace in the first half of the store and just grab stuff off the shelf so I can actually focus on the last half of the store every once in a while. I have tried the coupon thing but it really just annoys me more than anything and takes way too long. I'm weird.

Is it just me or is there anyone else out there who suffers with this ridiculousness??

Exciting times!

There have been lots of exciting things going on around here lately.

Of course we got a beautiful snow that kept us home for 3 days straight. It was the first big snow in our new house so it was very exciting. I think we got about 5 inches around our area which was enough for the public schools to be out most of the week. It was awesome and super relaxing. Kyle and I decided it was a perfect time for an Indiana Jones marathon and we ate tons of junk food. After 3 days we were definitely ready to get out of the house though!




I started training for my new job last week. I am loving Rex Hospital so far, it's a great place. Of course I'm a little sentimental about the place since I was born there and all, hehe. It is a totally different environment then where I work in Durham plus it's a lot closer to home. It's a lot more professional and organized and there are policies and procedures for everything. Being Type A and super organized, I'm in heaven right now. I can not stand the place I work in Durham, it's chaos as far as I'm concerned and every day gets more and more ridiculous. To make it even better, I am only doing MRI at Rex, my other job requires me to work in CT as well. The other techs have really accepted me and brought me in as their equal and are totally wonderful with training and helping me. I am very satisfied with this decision so far. I will only be working at Rex part time and a lot on the weekends so I think it's going to work out great.

Also, Kyle and I are in our third week of Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University class. It is awesome so far, we are learning a LOT! I highly recommend his class to anyone. And no, it's not a Bible study but he is a Christian and comes from that perspective. However, his advice and teachings are common sense and will work for everyone who wants to get out of debt. What makes Dave even more authentic is that he has been there and done that. He went totally broke and had to file bankruptcy. He teaches what he has learned from his experiences and how he and his wife are now totally debt free!! His stuff works and Kyle and I are determined to stick it out and we will get there eventually. It just requires a lot of self-disciple and patience, but we will get there!!

I am also super excited right now about one of my bestest friends who is going to Haiti!! She is a nurse and will be going down there for 10 days on a medical team. She thinks they are going to be at a burn clinic or a pediatric clinic. She leaves in two weeks and she is really nervous and scared about it but I know she is going to be such a blessing to the Haitian people. I wish I could go!! Please keep her and the team in your prayers, her name is Kristina. There is still much work to be done down there, may the light of Christ shine through these teams who are sacrificing their time and money to go down and use their talents to serve.

Happy Monday!!

Balancing passion with patience

It is so very hard for me to say no to any missions trip that I have the opportunity to go on. God has given me such a passion for the peoples of this world. I love learning about different cultures and have such a huge desire to go overseas. From the time I was very young I always wanted to be a missionary, especially somewhere in Africa. I love to read about missionaries and hear their stories, good and bad. BUT, I have never felt God calling me to go full-time. I love going on short term missions trips though, and I have been on several.

Recently I had the opportunity to be a part of a trip to the Ukraine and working with Gypsy children. They are a group of people that are so despised by this world yet so loved by God. I watched the video presentation and immediately felt a huge tug on my heart. How could I say NO to those precious little faces. I wanted to go and love on them and play with them and teach them about Jesus. How could that not be God's will?!? Surely He would want me to go. Or so I tried to convince God, myself and Kyle.

To make it even more convincing, I found out that one of my friends was also going on the trip. Then, I found out that the guy who had led the trip to Cuba that I had been on a few years ago was also going. He is a wonderful man of God who has been a missionary for years and years and is the Grandpa of some of our really good friends. I grew very found of Mr. Jones on the Cuba trip and have learned a lot from him. I totally love being around him and he has so many stories, I could listen to him share all day. Surely that was God telling me I should go, right...??

It was a very long week while God finally had to pry my hands off of that trip. I found out that one of the days I would be gone would be my little sister's high school graduation. There is no way in the world I could give up being there on that BIG day for her. Family comes first, or at least it should. I haven't always put family first and I have regretted it every time. I never want to have that regret, ever again.

As much as I knew I couldn't go on that trip, I still felt my heart breaking and longing to go. I needed a confirmation. I prayed that God would show me why, show me something, confirm this in my heart so that I could move on. So not by coincidence, I opened up my "Esther" Bible study book that I had been through last fall. Out of the 11 weeks, I happened to turn to the week on timing. I was reminded of what we had learned about God's timing. In order for us to fulfill our destiny in Christ, we have to know when it's our time, when it's time to wait and when it's time to wait on someone else's time. In the mean-time, it's God time. We had learned that it's tough learning to balance passion with patience. That was it. That was my confirmation. I could almost audibly hear God saying to me "Lindsey, I have given you this passion for missions and for these people, but I need you to wait." I can honestly say, that in all my years of being a Christian, I have never been so sure of anything, besides marrying Kyle. But I have never had that kind of encounter with the Most High. It was all I needed. I knew I needed to have patience and wait. There would be many other opportunities for me to go overseas and serve, but this wasn't my time go. It was however, my time to stay and support my sister. This trip is a good thing, but I wanted it to be a God thing.

Kyle got home from work that day and I shared with him what I felt God had told me. That I was now confident in my decision. He told me that he had prayed that very day that God would give me a confirmation and that I would know. WOW. Is God good or what?!?!

So after all that and a slight meltdown, I'm not going and I'm totally OK with it. I'm still a little sad but I know that in the mean-time, I can do God's work right here. I don't have to go overseas to love on little children and share God's love with them. I pray that God will allow me to go overseas again at some point, but in His timing, and that's the way I want it.

Lindsey's Top 10

Here's my Top 10 for the week!

1. Having the privilege of scanning a Vietnam Vet the other day at work and having the time to sit with him and hear his story. He was telling me why he had to take 3 Valium to make it through the MRI because he was so claustrophobic because he had been trapped in fox holes during the war and he was traumatized. He told me a bunch of other really sad stuff too and I let him talk. So what if it took me an hour and a half to do his scan ;) And yes of course I had a good cry afterwards, he was messing with my flow man! But it really is patients like that that remind me why I am in this career.

2. Kyle got a computer desk from a guy he does some computer work for. Not exactly what we want but it works for now and it was free!! Now the home "office" is all cleaned out and looks much better!

3. I had a wonderful lunch and shopping with a very dear friend this week. It made my day! Good friends are hard to find so when you do find them, you don't let them go! Except she is about to move away for at least a year while her hubby does a residency. Boo!

4. I had the joy of watching the UNC basketball team LOSE TWO games this week. I'm not going to lie, it was delightful. Yes, I watched both games and prayed the whole time they would lose. I was born with a natural hatred for this team. I celebrate when they lose just as much as I do when NC State wins, hehe.

5. It was a gorgeous day on Friday! Absolutely perfect weather, it was so refreshing!

6. I walked out of my house today and heard the church bells ringing from a church down the road. I love living in the country so close to everything in downtown and I love church bells. It was a beautiful sound, I had to smile :)

7. It was Fun Food Friday at work yesterday and the ladies made some of the best food ever! I got two new recipes and I tried the cheese biscuit one tonight. YUM!!

8. I blogged about a book a couple of posts ago, somebody from the publisher saw it and I got a free book because of it! How cool is that?!?! :-)

9. I found an unused Bed, Bath and Beyond gift card when I cleaned out my wallet! Score!



...and, are you ready for this??



10. JACK IS BACK!!!!!!!!!! OK it hasn't officially happened yet but it will tomorrow. Two hours of "24" baby!! Oh come on, it's only the best show ever!!! I am beyond excited, and so is Kyle, he's just a tad more reserved about it that I am ;)



So basically it was a great week!! Hope yours was great too :)

Haiti

Many of us are already praying for Haiti, please keep praying!! They need it so badly!

But if you would like to financially give, you can go through Compassion which is already actively helping Haiti or World Vision. You can also give online through the Red Cross website. Go to Redcross.org "donate" and choose "International Response Fund," where Haiti is specified OR text "HAITI" to 90999 to donate $10 to Red Cross relief efforts. They'll just charge it to your next cell phone bill. Super easy!

My cup runeth over...

I just love how God goes out of His way to not only meet our needs, but to bless us beyond what we could ask or expect. He doesn't just fill our cup, he fills it to overflowing! This week God has just poured on the blessings... a free book, a completely unexpected check in the mail, encouragement from a dear friend, on and on! Thank you Lord!

"You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows."
- Psalm 23:5


May you all experience the same kind of blessings!