last thoughts

i've spent my last day in America in a flurry of coffee dates with friends (we only have one coffee shop in the area, so it made for a long day) and i'm topping off the evening with a movie with my mom and perhaps "The Colbert Report." i'll save the packing for late night/early morning.

i was reflecting on my summer and the only word that can possibly describe it is... redemptive. i went through this horribly depressed time in college that made me seriously doubt how anyone could ever want to actually choose to be around me. but the quality friends i had then are my friends even now. this summer i was able to spend time with friends i haven't been able to really talk to in years. God has redeemed me - with His plan for my life, my friends, overall stability, my family. and it's consoling to know that i can be me now, that i'm no longer afraid to share me and all that comes with that. and it's somewhat reassuring that i'm wasn't the only person who felt lost during those formidable years and that yes, it can all be redeemed.

to sum it up: it was a mighty fine summer.

the only penguin celebrating the 113 degree temp (45C)

view in kansas city

summer flowers

my front yard

prison and gray hair

two weeks left in the states and time has flown. i have literally done next to nothing the past four weeks and it's been great. this past week has been a bit busier as i've read lots, laid out, had lunch with a supporter, went to a women's prison for a bible study, and the past couple days i have been in joplin (where i went to college) to meet up with old friends. i began going to the women's prison last summer when i was here and i look forward to it so much. as we got there i was asked to share. i was quite unprepared, but felt i should share from Ps. 91 and 120 -chapters that sustained me in Botswana. after i finished, a woman who had just been transferred to this particular facility that day said that she had re-dedicated her life a few weeks before when a pastor preached from those exact chapters and she really needed to hear them again. God is so faithful!

here's a story. when i went to joplin, i had my hair cut and highlighted. it had been several months, so i was due. i went to this crazy little salon that was painted purple and had a zebra striped claw bathtub on a shelf. it was great. i told stacey, my stylist, that i was really just getting highlights to cover up a few gray hairs (i'm only 26! thanks for those genes, mom.). she said she couldn't even notice them, but when she got to a spot right on the top of my head, she stopped and said, "oh my gosh! you're right! i can't believe all this gray hair! i'm 10 years older than you and this is way more than i have!" (all these exclamation points are needed). thanks, lady. i'm paying you to cut my hair, not comment on it.
here's to growing old with grace (and hair color)...

clarity rarely found

more talk, less pictures is the motto of the day. july 4th was this week - happy birthday, america. i celebrated by going to the lake with friends. i haven't been to the lake in 5 years, so i took every opportunity presented. i tried kneeboarding and got into a fight with the kneeboard that resulted in a nice shiner. at this point the swelling has gone down and the eye can't make up it's mind if it wants to be green or yellow. green is winning at this point. yesterday i catered a wedding with my mom. i've never seen so many hungry people in one place. you'd think that people only go to weddings to eat (wait... that's the only reason i go to weddings!). i saw people i went to college with - they all had at least 2 kids and had no idea who i was. more and more i'm realizing the recluse i was during those four years. the other day i was thinking of something that happened during college that was quite upsetting (actually, it was an r.a. but a friend and i got her back by taking a couple hundred helium balloons from a sport's banquet and letting them go in her room. she realized it was me though since i was the only girl on the floor who played sports. oops.) and then it hit me -"lyndee, get over it! that was 5 years ago!!" i'm over it now.
my sister and her husband came back to the house after the wedding. it was the first time i'd seen them since Christmas. they are planning to move to norway in a year to take a creative dts in aalesund, which is pretty exciting if you ask me.
i unexpectedly led a sunday school class today - sharing about norway, my experiences, what God has been teaching me. i never seem to make it through a teaching without crying. in some ways it bothers me, but in others... it's me. tears are only honest. you can't change them and rarely can you control them. it's amazing the power they possess - tears are freeing, comforting, healing, human. i think they possess a clarity that is hardly found in other means of communication. like a good rain shower, everything seems a bit more fresh after a good cry. here's to a good cry.
cheers.

bethany and i in bloomington

the cats that have taken over our home

where am i?!

i just returned from my weekly trek to wal-mart, every american's second home. seriously, i don't even like the place but it just lures me in. it doesn't matter how many times i can go, i always find something that captures my attention. today it was make-up and peanut butter. i went to find facial powder, but there was just too much from which to choose. as for peanut butter... you have your jif, peter pan, great value brands (three main ones). but the selection doesn't end there. you have creamy, crunchy, sugar, no sugar, low carb, low sodium, low sugar, low fat, organic, natural, with chocolate spread, snickers, and to my dismay - jelly. thinking of brian regan, what kind of lazy person needs their peanut butter AND jelly to come in the same jar? i don't understand any of it.
i spent last week in indiana, visiting family and friends. i had the chance to spend a day with a very good friend from college - also single, 26, and a missionary. we haven't seen each other in 3 years because of our schedules and i can't explain how nice it was to sit down - no time restraints - and talk with a friend who is in the same place as life as i. after the day was over (coffee, shopping, thai food, coldstone, barnes and noble, and movie included), i got in my car and just sighed. how refreshing.
i feel i write this quite often - that coming back to the states feels more and more strange each time i return. but i can't tell you how nice it is to just do "normal" stuff. i can mow the lawn, go to sonic and buy a chocolate/banana shake, go to the library, drive my car, watch rerun after rerun of "gilmore girls" and "what not to wear." those simple, mindless things keep me sane at times. i have found myself bamboozled (there's a word for you) when trying to do other simple things like greet people or go to the post. i can't remember which coins have which value or how to sign a check. i'm sure as soon as i remember all these things, i'll be on a plane back to norway.