Abundant

So many blessings in this life. So, so many.  

Sure, life isn't just a walk in the park without trials. There's hard, hard, hard stuff. You might think something's unfair. There's hard stuff, man! Sad stuff, gross stuff, frustrating, tiring stuff, I-don't-know-how-I'll-make-it-through stuff.  All of us have some of these things. I just might not know what you're going through, and you might not know what I'm going through.

All of us have our battles to fight. 

But...

Why focus on those? We deal with them on a daily basis, but they don't have to (and shouldn't) consume us. Fight your battles, but leave them on the battlefield, so to speak. 

Everyday do your best to walk away from pity-poor-me, sadness, anger...whatever you're dealing with. Our problems don't disappear, but to a great degree we can choose our outlook. So come with me - today I'm going to choose a bright one!

~

it's a blessing to make breakfast in the morning for my Ox, and kiss him goodbye. 

it's a blessing to sing and do the laundry

it's a blessing to look at the pretty flower in a vase on the kitchen table

it's a blessing to plan out weekly menus so we can have nourishing food 

it's a blessing to have my hands in warm, soapy water washing the breakfast dishes and saying prayers of thanks

it's a blessing to teach Bible class, and after giving hugs and kisses have a cutie say, "I need them again!"

it's a blessing to run around the house with the husband, just being crazy

it's a blessing to sweat and feel those muscles burn

it's a blessing to sit and study the Bible together at night with my best friend

it's a blessing just to talk. It's funny how conversations become so different...what do we want to accomplish? How can we better ourselves? What kind of parents do we want to be? What are our goals? When should we have babies? How many babies should we have? How much do we have in our budget?...

So many blessings. Those are just a few of mine. 

What are some of yours?

Life is a treasure. 

Moving

We're moving! 

Alex got a preaching job in Denison, TX.  We went down twice to try out, and we got the job.  I appreciate everyone who has been keeping us in their prayers!

This is the church building, and our house next door. So thankful that we have a home to move into right away.

The house is cute. :)

We're moving in two weeks, so we'll be running around like chickens with their head cut off.  More pictures to come!

Happy weekend!

To meet a husband, pt. 2

(read pt. 1 here)

My family and I were driving to the Samford's house for supper, where we would meet the guests. I'd taken time to freshen up and try to look somewhat cute, because seriously peoples, let me tell you that having any visitors was a huge deal. These were our first to have in our time in Iringa, so I was excited.  Were they going to be fun, uptight, friendly?

We walked in, and everyone started meeting each other.  To make sure I didn't appear too eager, I set down the food we brought, then made my way over. Everyone shuffled around, taking turns shaking hands; they were polite and nice, and you could tell immediately that they were just great people.  Alex and I reached across and shook hands - "Hi, I'm Alex", "...Lindsey, hi!".  Everyone makes a first impression; Our brain gathers bits of info while we're not even realizing it. Mine went "boop beep boop boop. hands that are used to work. beep boop. eyes: brown. beep beep. eyes: brown. beep. eyes:brown. beep boop."

Even though I wasn't going to be at all dumb about Alex, since people thought that we'd go well together, I couldn't help but watch him some and see what the person was like.  Out of curiosity!

He kept mostly to himself, and hardly said a word.  He seemed to be more interested in his food than in the conversation around him.  Occasionally he'd look up and glance around,  then return back to quietly munching his food.  His two brothers were talkative and hilarious, and it was easy to talk to them.  Somehow though, Alex's silence didn't come across as rude or stuck up, but just what it was - silence.  He did make a short comment or two throughout the evening, and when he did, "boop beep boop. voice much is deeper than expected. beep beep."

The next morning, my brothers and I walked over to the Samfords to see what was up, and we all headed out for a walk around our neighborhood.  Jake grabbed a soccer ball because the kids wanted to play at a nearby field.  Alex and I ended up walking sortof by each other, though we were on opposite sides of the road.  Within a few minutes of this picture being taken, an old lady walked by us, and she and I greeted each other. Aubrie Samford loved riding on Alex's shoulders, and you can see her riding there in the picture. After the old woman passed by Aubrie said, "Aunt Linz! She probably thinks you and Alex are married!".  "Aaaargh, Aubrie! He's already not talking to me, don't say that!!!" I thought.  Instead, I awkwardly said, "Heh heh, you're siiiiilly." 

I did quite a bit of the talking, because it felt awkward to just walk along in silence.  I thought he didn't like me.  Not just "like like" me, but I thought he just plain ol' didn't like me.  Ya see, by this time I'd seen enough of him through facebook and such to know that he was normally be perkier.  Do you know how a guy acts when he's making it clear he doesn't like you, but at the same time is being the perfect gentleman? I don't want to make it out to sound like he was being awful and rude, because he wasn't.  Ox was always polite and gentlemanly! 

And I liked this guy. He was most concerned about being prepared for the classes he was teaching than anything else. We would be playing games and he would be preparing for his lessons. As the days went on, when he would open up just a bit, I saw that he was hilarious. And in comes the trying not to laugh too much at his hilarity so he wouldn't be able to tell that I liked him. I was still determined that I would not be dumb about the whole thing.

Apparently, about this time Alex's resolve was crumbling. :)

One night we went to play football, and I went along to play, because that's what I would've done normally.  It was fun, and we decided to play again the next night.  My Dad, our translator, and Alex were on a study, so were going to be there a little late.  They pulled up, and ran over to where we were, except no Alex.  I brain started whirring at high speed. "Huh? I know he doesn't like me, but he doesn't have to not come just because I'm here! I know how much he likes sports, and he would be here. I can't believe that! I've been staying out of the way! Is he so offended by my presence??"...right at that moment he steps out from behind the car - he had been changing his shoes! "Oh....okay."

What I didn't know at this time, was that Anthony and Andrew were trying to convince Alex to just talking to me some. "Just talk to her some, you never know!"...

I guess it worked, because a few days before they left we'd talk some. A success! We spoke! Heh heh.

The day before they left, we took them on a safari, and we happened to sit by each other.

I had never met a guy like him and thought he was awesome in every way.  That feeling is a million times stronger now; I thank God every day for Alex.  I believe with all my heart that God worked to put us together, and I am so humbled and thankful for that. 

To meet a husband, pt. 1

Oh February, the month of looove.  It can be the month to love anybody! (or everybody) - a husband, a sister, a friend, family...  But in honor of this month, and the new changes around here, I thought it would be a good idea to go ahead and tell the story of how Ox and I met.

[Rewind to approx. 2010]

My mom and Laura Warnes had a connection through a homeschool emailing list. Our families had both gone to Roundhouse, but had missed each other the years we went. Since both of our families lived far away from where the camp was, we went every other year. What they realized was that the years the Jensens went, the Warnes had their "off year".  To make a long story short, they started writing back and forth and became good friends. They would even skype every so often. 

Somewhere around this time, I grajeeated from highschool, and Laura saw my senior pictures. She was looking through them and thought, "I really like her...I think this girl would be good for Alex. I mean, she even makes his faces!"...

...and I loved Mrs. Laura! I would sit and listen to her and my mom skype, and couldn't help but talk to her.  At this point, I didn't even know my husband to be existed...I'd never even heard his name.  Also, what I didn't know was that the whole family (besides him) were keeping their eye on me!  His little sister Abby and I started talking some on facebook, and then eventually skyping. She was the sweetest thing, and I loved her to death. I heard about her brothers Andrew, Aaron, Ashton and Adam, and even met her little sister Anna on skype, but still never heard about a brother named Alex. 

Uuuuuuntil......some of the Warnes brothers were going to come to Tanzania for a mission trip. *Drum roll* then I got a friend request on facebook from an Alex. "Huh, I've never heard of this one before", I thought to myself.  Like always when I confirm a friend, I started looking through his pictures and info.  Suddenly, I realized that I was going through way too many of his pictures than my normal confirm-a-facebook-friend-protocol called for, and got off. I was being ridiculous, and I vowed not to think about it again. And it worked! 

Uuuuuuntil.....about 8 months until they were due to arrive, word somehow reached my ears that I was being thought of as a hopeful possibility for Alex.  I *happened* (hey, maybe I just passed by!) to come across his profile again.  I'm pretty sure my thoughts went something like this, "Hmmmm...*snort* Nah, like that would ever happen! I've never even met him. He wouldn't even be interested in me. I wouldn't even be interested in him. I'm going to forget about it."...

...and I did. I really did.  Whenever it came up, I'd shrug my shoulders and say "nah".  And I meant it.  My family and I were due to move back to the States just a few short weeks after the Warnes boys' visit, and I even was going to leave early to go visit my grandparents until the rest of my family moved back. It was almost a done deal when it fell through.  You see, the airport was about 10 hours away from our house, so we couldn't just pop up there to drop me off. Our plan was for me to ride up there and fly out when the guys flew in. That way, we'd only have to make that same, one trip to the airport! It was perfect!  I was truly disappointed when it didn't work out for me to go back early.  We found out that a friend of the Warnes was coming along with them, and that meant that my spot for the trip was taken.  I had to be bumped.  You know, the one that fell out when they all rolled over?  I wasn't too terribly bummed, though, because it was still always exciting to have visitors come. 

So they came, but there was still that one thing.  I was determined.  Determined that I would not think of any of them in any funny or even wondering way.  I was going to treat them all the exact same - even in my head - and I was not going to do something dumb like think of this Alex as a possibility.  The funny thing was, word had gotten to back to him about people thinking we'd go well together, and boy that did not go over well!  He wasn't going to Africa to get a girl, he was going on a mission trip and that was all. That was ALL.  So in his mind, this Alex-person was determined that he would not not NOT like or think about this Lindsey-person, and that's just all there would be to it. 

We had no idea that we'd be making our faces together!

Be ready for Part 11, the part where I thought he despised me!

happy weekend, everyone!

Changes

Well hello, friends! 

There have been alot of changes going on around here, and I'd like to get back to blogging a bit. (It might make y'all smile to know that I just accidentally typed, "pit".  Blogging about a pit isn't what I'm planning on doing, but hey- you never know, right?)

The blog desperately needed updating...the look, the names, and the family members, too! I've been messing with it as I have time, so it's still a work in progress. 

Hopefully I can get a wedding post up before too long *warm fuzzies*