A Note From Lindsey

 This picture was taken when my family and I had the unreal opportunity to spend two weeks in Jackson, Wyoming. It was one of the most magical trips I’ve ever been on and was filled with memories to last a lifetime. I left there dreaming of when we will return. Only next time I want to travel in an Air Stream with my hubs and our three kiddos (crazy but amazing!).

I love this picture for a few sacred reasons. But before I go there I want you to know that here I hope you find that you can be who you are, and know that with all your quirks, strengths, weaknesses, faults, talents, you are truly a gift to this world. All the parts of you are welcome here. And welcome to come as you are.

I heard Rebekah Lyons once say, “When you are vulnerable and alone, you are afraid. When you are vulnerable and together, you are brave.” I want this to be a place that adds to your bravery and helps make you a more courageous version of yourself. My hope is to share parts of my story and the life lessons I have learned and continue to learn to help foster such an environment. Over the years the most incredible gift I received from many women in my life is simply knowing I am not alone and not the only person to have all the thoughts and feels around all the things. So many times I have just needed to know I am not alone nor am I crazy. We are all faking it until we make it, and that brings me comfort. Maybe it does you too.

Years ago, more than 10 now, my heart was crushed and I had never felt so alone. I was hurting, embarrassed, and ashamed. I began a faith journey like none I had experienced before and in it, I found the woman I believe God intended me to be. I’m still finding different parts of her as seasons of life change, but one of the biggest lessons learned in that season that I have never turned back from is this: there is no mold designed to hold us if we are created in the image of Creator God.

This truth became tangible to me in that season as I finally stepped out and took up a hobby I had written off as not for me since I didn’t fit the mold—rock climbing. After all, I like to wear pearls. Have you ever seen a pearl-wearing rock climber? I hadn’t and I don’t think I have since then. It might seem silly, but it’s such a perfect illustration of where I was and where God brought me. I had shied away from certain things in my life because somewhere I believed they just “weren’t me” despite a deep desire to pursue them. How much had I missed out on out of fear I wouldn’t fit the right mold? In that season God showed me, pearls and climbing shoes can make great accessories TOGETHER. The point being, there is no mold I must fit, He made me, and that is my mold.

So this picture, of me painting my youngest’s little itty bitty toe nails with the majestic Tetons in the background is another reminder of that. Manicures in the midst of nature sounds a lot like pearls and rock-climbing shoes to me.

My hope is my kids grow-up knowing they don’t need to fit any mold and that’s my hope for you too. Pursue God with all your heart, let Him reveal to you the amazing person He made you to be, and walk confidently into what He has for you because you are you—and He made you that way!

You are welcome here.