last day. :-(

last full day.

more pics.

orlando continued.

so much to say, so little time. enjoy these pics!

more fun in orlando.

today proved to be quite the day. so, so many laughs. :-) here are a few pics.

we decided that we were tired of hanging out in the lobby so we decided to hang out by the pool. it was pretty good. aside from, "hi my name is kristof." and random foreign boys continuosly looking in our direction. ha ha. only a slight sunburn. pretty good for me for 2 hours of sun. :-)

we decided that renting a car for the entire week was definitely the way to go. a little pricey, but the freedom from having access to transportation 24/7 is well worth it.

we went flying. definitely an experience worth having. we couldn't really stop laughing. gotta love 145 mph wind tunnels. :-)

we then experienced our first torrential downpour and decided to buy ourselves some ponchos--pretty pink princess ponchos to be exact. i have modeled this designer wear below for your viewing pleasure. ha. :-) that walgreens run itself was quite the experience as well. "keemberlee." ha. :-)

we then proceeded to make a classic lisa and kimberly chipotle run after stocking up on junk food. we also grabbed a few movies for good measure. kinda feels like the college days again. ha.

a good beginning to a week of adventures. i am excited to see what else is in store!

adventures in orlando...

day 1

we started off in l.a. around 7 p.m. at the fly away on our way to lax.

here we are. ready for our originally 10:18 p.m., delayed to 10:50 p.m., flight. the delay provided us with the opportunity for conversation with brian, fellow passenger of our flight to orlando. i decided that my job has made me more able to talk with people from a variety of backgrounds. very interesting.

here we are in the air, almost ready to land.

finally, in the hotel lobby. just a little tired. oh, and my hair is already starting to freak out because of the humidity. fun times. ha ha.

we will be going flying later on today. peter pan style, not on a plane. pictures will follow. :-)

who do i want to be?

this is the question of the day. what sort of a person do i want to be? what message do i want my life to speak? what are my goals, hopes, dreams, future? big questions, but no so many answers. i do, however, know a few things...

-i want to live a life that points back to god as good and gracious, a life that brings him glory and leads others into relationship with him.
-i want to be a blessing and a source of encouragement to others.
-i want to love others deeply and to allow others to love me.
-i want to be different, not status quo.
-i want to have an impact on the world around me.
-i want to live a life with an eternal perspective in mind.
-i want to be who god made me to be and to follow him wherever he leads. he truly does know best.

lord, you know it's hard to do these things. life is not easy, especially the sort of life that you call us to live. praise you that you are always by our side and are desiring to provide us with all that we need to be who you made us to be. thank you that you have a plan and a purpose for each one of us. please lead us and guide us, and draw us nearer to you.

"'not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit,' says the lord." (zechariah 4:6)

thank you that we don't do this alone but according to your strength. you are good, lord. amen.

truth and freedom.

john 8:32 “’then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’”

2 corinthians 3:16-18
“but whenever anyone turns to the lord, the veil is taken away. now the lord is the spirit, and where the spirit of the lord is, there is freedom. and we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the lord, who is the spirit.”

galatians 5:1,4-5
“it is for freedom that christ has set us free. stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery…you who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from christ; you have fallen away from grace. but by faith we eagerly await through the spirit the righteousness for which we hope.”

john 10:10
“‘the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; i have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.’”

freedom. life. truth.

let's do it!

what does my life point to?

this has been the question of my life lately: what exactly does my life say?

if someone were to look at me, my countenance, my facebook profile, my myspace page, my relationships, my attitude at work, etc. what would they think? what does my life point to? what is it accomplishing? what am i investing my life in? and does it matter?

such good questions. such important questions. such easy questions to ponder for two seconds and then move on. however, that is not the point.

if we let them, these questions can be life-altering. that is what i want.

i don't want to live my life mindlessly. i do NOT want to go through the motions, live my life selfishly, etc. i want my life to count.

truth and love. this is what i want.

jesus + the beach = good times.

lisa, it's NOT about you being strong enough. it's about allowing my power to be made perfect in your weakness. "when i am weak, then i am strong." (2 corinthians 12:10) "'not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit,' says the lord." (zechariah 4:6)

trust me. i have not forgotten. i've got you, girl. you're in my arms. i love you with an everlasting, unchanging, perfect, unconditional love. you are mine. i will NOT let you go. i've got you--now and forever.

--jesus to lisa

dwelling in the truth is SO much better than the alternatives. we have a good god!

verse of the day.

2 corinthians 4:8-9, 17-18
"we are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed...therefore we do not lose heart. though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. for our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. so we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. for what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."

i hate satan.

question of the day: jesus came so we might have life and life abundantly so what are we waiting for? check out joshua's question to the israelites: “so joshua said to the sons of israel, ‘how long will you put off entering to take possession of the land which the lord, the god of your fathers, has given you?’” (josh. 18:3)

so i have decided that i absolutetly hate satan and am done letting him have space in my life. so done. he has absolutely no right to have any occupancy so why have i been letting him? he is a defeated foe, and it is high time that i start acting like that is the case. life could be so much better, so much more worth living if i walked in the victory that belongs to me courtesy of jesus' death and resurrection. what is stopping me? lack of faith? fear? lack of perseverance? whatever the case may be, it's time to be done with that. done! today is a new day. his mercies are new EVERY morning. time to start living like the warrior princess i am in jesus. :-)

check out these verses:
romans 8:37
"in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us."

2 corinthians 10:3-5
“for though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. we are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of god, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of christ.”

james 4:7-8
“submit therefore to god, resist the devil and he will flee from you. draw near to god and he will draw near to you. cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”

oh man. lord god, you are so good. so good. thank you for who you are and what you have done. thank you that you have given us everything that we need for life and godliness. praise you for your patience and endurance. thank you that you don't give up on us. you are good, god. please help me to persevere and not give up. i need endurance. you are able, lord. your will...

observation of the day.

observation: life is really hard, and i don't think it gets any easier. the only thing that makes it worthwhile is involving jesus.

weakness.

"he said to me, 'my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' therefore i will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that christ's power may rest on me. that is why, for christ's sake, i delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. for when i am weak, then i am strong."--2 corinthians 12:9-10

the journey.

deuteronomy 31:6,8 "'be strong and courageous. do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the lord your god goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you...the lord himself goes before you and will be with you...do not be discouraged.'"

lately, i feel like i am on a "journey" of sorts. i suppose all of life is this way, but i kind of feel that i'm currently at an in between stage. i'm not sure how exactly to describe it, but i was reminded of the israelites this morning and their exodus from egypt.

that was certainly a journey as well. it had its ups and downs, its challenging points and times where the promised future seemed bleak or uncertain. there were even times where the israelites wanted to go back to being enslaved in egypt because, although unpleasant and even downright terrible, it was known, and known feels "safer." however, in spite of the israelites' questions, concerns, doubts, and accusations, there was never a moment where god was not in absolute control. no matter how complainy and disobedient they were, god never removed his presence from their midst. he gave them the cloud to lead them by day and the pillar of fire to lead them by night. he didn't abandon them to their own devices no matter how unpleasant they were. praise god for his abounding love and inexhaustable grace. i seriously don't know what i would do without it. i don't think i could exist.

after pondering all this for a moment, i kind of felt like the lord was saying, "lisa, i haven't brought you this far to abandon you." in my heart, i know that this is true, but sometimes temporal circumstances cloud this reality. this is where faith comes into play. faith is so hard at times but so crucial. god truly does have a plan, and he is faithful to complete the works that he begins. this is something i can bank on.

lord, thank you for your faithfulness to me, especially in times of difficulty or uncertainty. praise you that you are faithful to the uttermost and that you will never, ever, under any circumstance leave nor forsake me. praise you that you have a plan and your plan is good. thank you that even though you don't remove all obstacles, you provide the strength and ability to overcome them. you, lord, are good. with you, all things are possible. give me the strength to move forward in you. in your name, amen.

those days...

psalm 27:13-14 "i am still confident of this: i will see the goodness of the lord in the land of the living. wait for the lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the lord."

this verse is one of my favorites because it is a good reminder that even when life is not going my way and things seem to be falling apart all around me, i am not alone. god has not forsaken me. he still has a plan. often times, what exactly this plan entails is a mystery to me, but the god who made it is faithful. he loves me more than i love myself, and he knows me better than i know myself. sometimes these truths are so hard to grasp as my feelings do not match, but this is where faith comes into play.

i know that god is good, and he is faithful, whether i "feel" that is the case or not. i have to base my life on something more firm than my feelings. can anybody say amen to that? ha. feelings come and go. they change from circumstance to circumstance. through it all, god remains the same. that has to be one of my all-time favorite characteristics of the lord: his unchanging nature. he doesn't change, his availability doesn't change, and his love for me doesn't change. how can it get any better than that?

the holidays.

oh, the holidays...so many mixed emotions surrounding this "joyous" time of year.

often times it seems that rather than bringing joy and peace, i end up stressed, anxious, and generally not so happy. :-( why does that happen? essentially, it seems that this is caused by me taking my eyes off of jesus and putting them onto myself and my immediate circumstances. i am definitely one to want an immediate resolution to any minor challenge in my personal life, and i generally try to figure out these solutions on my own.

unfortunately, this is not the way life works. god is faithful and has a plan, but his plan may not match mine. and often times his timeline is not mine either. i am reminded of isaiah 55:8-9: "'for my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,' declares the lord. 'as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.'"

apparently god has his own way of doing things. that does not mean i just sit on the sidelines, take a back seat, and wait for him to miraculously intervene. but perhaps it does mean trying to avoid going in circles trying to figure things out and instead to do what i can to do as 1 peter 5:7 suggests: "cast your cares on the lord because he cares for you."

so simple, so true, yet so challenging.

realistic expectations.

don't expect life to get easier.
do expect god to be faithful.

don't expect this world to satisfy.
do expect god to be more than enough.

don't expect to know all the answers or to understand completely.
do expect that god has a plan, and his plan is good.

so often i am looking for answers or solutions. i want a "happily ever after" on my timeline, but that is not the real world, and, often times, that is not how god works. he has a plan, and his plan is good, but much of the time, it requires patience and perseverance. that is where jesus comes into the picture.

psalm 84:11-12 "for the lord god is sun and shield; the lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless. o lord almighty, blessed is the man who trusts in you."