Time Flies When You're Having Fun....

That saying could not be more true, and how humbled I am to be able to say that phrase. Since my last post here are a few things that have happened in His story He's written for me....

1. Graduated college(with a GoPro on my forehead! I think I was the first student in A&M history to do so...still can't believe I followed through with it).

2.  Served at Pine Cove Christian Camps for the summer....jeez louise I wish I could put into words our Lord's work over this summer. Ha! But I guess that's it- He is indescribable. I'm so thankful for the friendships that I made with the leadership team and staff and the opportunities He gave to live and breathe His word daily, all the while showing me His JOY and humor at camp. For example, on July 25th we have this HUGE "Christmas in July" day where we deck out the dining hall! Our God is BIG, bigger than we can imagine, and while He does not need you or me to do anything, He has chosen us to be ambassadors of Christ to represent our Savior to the world.

3. Although I didn't get to see many college friends over the summer, I did get to see two get hitched! Carson married his beautiful bride, Kelsey, and Julie married Kerr! 

4. After the summer ended I spent a week at home. Most of my friends began the trek to their new cities. Knowing where God has placed all of them is surreal, and humbling to know where He has placed them to be lights. Let's see...my friends moved everywhere including: Dallas, Austin, Houston, Galveston, Nashville, New York, Idaho, Denver, North Carolina, Lafayette, Alaska, Paris, and even Lancer(below) moved to India for the year!

5. At the end of it, here I am living in a new city, with a new job...completely out of my element. Yet He is good. Where did I end up you say? Well, God placed me in good ol' Houston, TX. Home of the not so good Astros, but surprisingly good Texans! P.S.- I live next to an old quarterback for the Houston Oilers...??? Life after college is just so different, but He is ever present. Immanuel.

 This picture doesn't capture the beauty of the sunset, but it was serene and majestic on that run that day. I still can't believe that I am a "working woman", yet alone working for a natural gas company, but I'm so thankful for every bit of it. 

The transition hasn't been paradise, and by no means has it been completely easy, but every day God continues to show me how He is enough. He's already blessed me with wonderful friends in Houston and fun memories of getting to know a new city. I miss my fam and college friends, but even though the relationships look different, they are just as sweet. Who would have known after going to the rodeo for the first time with the roomies last year I would be living here. I'm so excited to see what He has in store :)

Guys and Dolls with some Houston girls

My girls and roomies, at the rodeo last year- who would have known I would be here now?

A Potential Beginning

I'm sitting here in Blue Baker trying to start my last day of reading and studying, and God just keeps stirring my heart for missions. I have no idea what He is beginning, but I know I need to share this to you. One of my role models in life, Mandy Sisco, keeps a blog and has recently talked about the PCM ministries. I only looked at the website today and found myself opening their blog. As I read and looked through the pictures, I found myself glued to this ministry and this man in particular, Emmy. Out of joy and who knows what else, I began to cry. What? Cry!? I'm asking myself the same question haha. Maybe the Lord is planting a seed for this ministry in my heart, or just missions in general, but I know I need to share this. Maybe this will simply challenge us to be in prayer for them, to consider to sponsor a child like Blessing, or just to open your eyes to look outside of our comfortable lives. I'm not sure, but here is Parental Control Ministries...

p.s.- apparently some Aggie students are already helping with the agriculture side of the ministry, and Emmy recently came to A&M! Who would have known?!

Penne and Me

I was recently reminded of one of my utmost favorite songs! Classic Hanson, Penny and me. My mother spells her name like the pasta and I always think about how much my dad loves my mom when I listen to this song, so instead of Hanson's "Penny", I think of my mom, Penne.  I love my mother so much, and I have genuinely never met anyone as selfless are her. She is a silent-strong warrior, and such a prayerful person. She is faithful to her family, husband, church, friends, and students. She cries for others. Mom would drop anything to help you out. She would cancel important meetings and appointments just to come down to College Station a day earlier than scheduled to help me out. She would take in an Army into her home if asked, and she would give her life for her children. She has. My mother is one of my heroes, and if I can give just a percent of what she has given me to my children, I would be thankful.  I am so thankful for how she loves me, puts up with me, and comforts me. It is so sweet to see how our relationship is becoming more like a friendship than parent and child. Love you Mommy.

Enjoy this song, it's so good!

 

Joyfully His, 

Lex

Lespwa means Hope

 

"The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
   a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. "

Psalm 51:7

Lespwa means Hope. Ssekos. Della. Be the Joy.  Seeds for Help.

Prelude: Tonight at dinner, my dearest friend Elizabeth and I were discussing about the phrase "break my heart for what breaks Yours", and how we interpret it. Elizabeth's story alone is an inspiration, and she constantly challenges me. She mentioned how when she prays that phrase or dwells upon it, she's asking God to break her heart for those around her. How could she be used in the lives of those in her realm. I discussed how I think about that phrase in reference to my own sin and those lost around the world. Either way the Lord stirs your heart when He mentions it, I often forget how apathetic I can be sometimes when He calls me to have a heart like Him.

Last night at our sorority meeting we had three men come and share their story of how they decided to make a difference in doing something bigger than themselves...

As an inspiration, here are these men and other neat organizations/movements of people taking advantage of opportunities God gives them to spread His gospel and bless others, including some that my dear friends are a part of. My prayer is that we would daily ask God to break our hearts for what breaks His so that we would naturally yearn to fulfill our calling for the poor, lost, and broken. Maybe will see areas within our selves that God is broken over or areas within others.



Here is a video of the guys we met at our meeting...funny and passionate men, follow them on facebook and twitter! They could potentially come to your University!

 lespwameanshope.org

Here's an incredible video from InvisibleChildren on one of their campaigns called MEND
    A MUST WATCH

My big in my sorority works for this company!
Ssekos

Another girl in my sorority started this Non-profit called Be The Joy.

Be The Joy, Inc. is a non-profit organization designed to help send girls to school in Uganda, East Africa. By educating young women in this developing country, we can provide a better life for them and generations to follow. All profits earned from heartbeads, JoyNotes, Tees, or other merchandise help pay for girls school fees. Join the movement in educating the youth of Uganda today! Watch this video for more information

 Seeds of Help  

-non-profit helping children in Guatemala 

Other organizations making a difference:

Della-an organization helping women in Ghana

http://www.onemangotree.com/  - Bags helping women in Northern Uganda

http://www.keza.com - a more "upscale" company helping women in Rwanda

My purpose of this post is to not convict you to spend money or feel compelled to purchase from these organizations. Rather to hopefully encourage you to see peers and older men and women committing their lives to give back to those in need. Sometimes I get so cooped up in my bubble of what my day -to-day tasks are that I forget how much of the world I can be in prayer for when no tangible means of helping them are possible. May He break our hearts for what breaks His.

Joyfully His, 

Lex

Snowboards, Wipeouts, and Everything in between

So that is definitely not me, but we just finished our first day of boarding! I forget how much I love the snow, mountains, and snowboarding. This is also our first full day of spring break in Steamboat and it has been filled with great memories as well...

This morning we all woke up on our own, and went down stairs to have coffee and time with the Lord. I am incredibly blessed to be surrounded my Godly women that spur me on to want to pursue Him harder. (I think that its great to have friends encourage us to spend time with the Lord, but please check your motives in that you're not wanting to just read the bible in front of others, just so they know you are reading the bible. I have definitely been guilty of that before).

We hit the slopes, and had so much fun with everyone. One thing I love about snowboarding and skiing is that you get to be with all your friends, yet it's such a time to yourself as well. Another thing I love are the ski lifts. Well sometimes I dread them because I ALWAYS fall! It's genuinely so funny, haha, but I also love them because they allow you to just take in God's creation(never forget to look back when you're going up and see the view!) and potentially get to meet new friends from around the country. While on some lifts today, we met Mary Beth from Colorado, Betsy from Nashville, and a father and son from New Jersey. I just want to encourage you to take advantage of those 15 minutes you have to meet someone.

 The first part of the day was filled with falls and wipeouts, some scary ones and hilarious ones too, but you just got to keep a smile on your face :) After a fun lunch with all our friends we hit the slopes again, only this time I realized I forgot to put sunscreen on(don't tell my parents)...oops! Tomorrow I will have to lather it to make-up from today. I also decided to listen to music while boarding and it was the neatest thing to be able to praise God through worship while boarding. I only wore one headphone in so that I could hear what else was going on.

Now I am sitting in our room, Julie's napping, some girls are reading, and all of us our resting our bodies. Let's just say I won't be surprised if I can't move in the morning. All the girls are about to go to dinner in an hour, hopefully I'll keep you updated more often :) Here's some scripture I read this morning, and even in a small way it applies to all of us here because it's so easy for us to feel dehydrated and want some water while in the mountains, yet He is our wellspring of life.

 ⁷ When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” ⁸ (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)

 ⁹ The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)

 ¹⁰ Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”

 ¹¹ “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? ¹² Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”

 ¹³ Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, ¹⁴ but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

John 4:7-13

Sunrises

Well I am currently on my senior spring break trip!!! Wahoo! Go crazy!!!....just kidding. ha!

Since freshman year, I've learned that spring break trips can be incredibly glorifying to God, and I can't say if this trip so far has been glorifying to Him(I hope so), but I do know He has used it already for some great reflection and reading time with His word. Please allow me to inform you on some other things that have happened.

So currently, I am writing you from the La Quinta in Pueblo, Colorado. Home of the fighting Mountain Lizards. Okay, I made up the mascot, but I'm just trying to get in the "Mountain mood" :) It is currently 7:25 a.m. and the past 145 minutes have already been emotionally up and down.

First off, yes, I woke up at 5. Naturally. You may ask our Lord, "why did she do that?", well, I'm still pondering that myself, but over the morning I think it's just God graciously giving me the opportunity to watch one of my Simple Joys... a sunrise from beginning to end.

How can you not see God in sunrises or sunsets? Peaceful, majestic, calming, powerful, gentle, refreshing...all are adjectives I would use to describe sunrises.

This morning I was also informed that a friend of a friend, Kiefer Holman, was confirmed to have passed away from a canoeing accident. Be joyful for he knew Christ as His savior, so we can rejoice that Kiefer is in a far better place right now, but please be in prayer for his family and friends.

This morning, I read John and for some reason the story of Jesus clearing the temple just hit me. His frustration of the market sellers was so easy to understand.

 Imagine wanting to worship our Father in a church and finding it used for worldly things. How would you feel?

 We were uniquely created to worship our Father, and He designed this earth so accommodating to our needs, in order for us to praise Him, and yet here we are like the market sellers. We have polluted His creation with adult lounges, places lifting up false Gods, and developing industries/lifestyles so engrossed in promoting ourselves that we forget to keep the main thing, the main thing- which is the Gospel. A story of how life is given through the overcoming of death. From the rising of a sunset(reminder of life) to Kiefer's death, I can't help to think about the cross.

Our God who sent His only son. A son who lived a perfect life, and yet was sentenced to die because He is "the King of Jews." Because He is our King, He died a painful death for me and you, and yet overcame and resurrected!  No gift can we get to repay Him or that equates to a thank-you. He died so that we may find life in Him! What?!?  I'm speechless. Why?

"Jesus answered, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'" -John 14:6

Crazy morning. Great morning. Stirring thoughts. Maybe next time you get to watch a sunrise you'll be reminded of His grace, power, and love for you.

Back on the road to Steamboat, Colorado!

Book Sculptures

I would like to introduce you to Sir Nicholas Jones. Well, I'm sure he goes by just Nicholas, but I think he is deserving of the title. Sir Nicholas is a book sculptor. Yes, a book sculptor. Take a look. Be inspired. p.s.- This is getting me really excited about Tell Your Story, which is less than two weeks away!!! Please pray for hearts and lives to be moved and encouraged through the forum! Now I present to you the work of Sir Nicholas Jones...