totally obsessed..

It's almost a new year!? Where did this year go.. seriously. Twenty-ten.. will go down in history as quite an eventful one in the book of Lindsay. SO many adventures, blessings, & overwhelming-ness {that's a word now}. I wish I could put into words how great my God is & how much He's done & is doing in my life through such an eventful year.

I'm speechless, but SO thankful.

{I haven't read this book, but I came across this quote from "Crazy Love", I think I need to add it to my list of books to read..}

"God has given you this good stuff so that you can show the world a person who enjoys blessings, but who is still totally obsessed with God." --francis chan

overwhelmed..

For our third-annual Christmas get-together with my girls {babes, sisters...}, we got all dolled up & had a huge, delicious dinner together.

I love dressing up, I love dresses, I love wearing heels, I love putting make-up on, I love curling my hair, I love it. So its always exciting to get all dolled-up for dinner with some of my favorite girls. In years past we've gone out to eat all dressed up, but this year it was kind of sweet just dressing up to go over to Angela's.

After we ate & took pictures {of course}, we put our "cozy clothes" on, ate dessert, & started what turned into an almost four hour period of time of just sharing what God has been doing in our lives since the last time we all met {in this setting, last spring}

It was one of the best experiences I've ever had & will always remember. One by one, we all talked about God, our families, school, work, guys, friends, & everything else in-between, struggles, highs, lows, & weaknesses, but there was so much openness, honesty, & rawness. And there was a lot of tears & tissues, but also a lot of laughs. It was so great!!
Once more & more of us started talking about our lives over the past few months, we started to see a trend or thread throughout each of our stories/updates that all kind of related to each other. It was so encouraging!

It's also just sweet to think back over the last few years that this group of girls have been together. We've all grown & matured SO much, its awesome. It's awesome that we have each other to share about what Gods doing in our lives with!
There was one point when we gathered around Angela & prayed over her. It was so great, she has prayed over us & for us so many times, it was so sweet to be able to come around her & pray over her!

When I left {at 2:30am} I felt so filled, so overwhelmed, and just feeling overly blessed once again by God's greatness in my life.

How did I get so blessed with such a rich sisterhood that I know I'll have around me for years to come!? I wish every girl could experience times like these & have a group of sisters like mine...

It was definitely a sweet early Christmas gift..

simple.

Here's what I want you to do: find a quiet, secluded place so you won't be tempted to role-play before God. {Just be there...as simply and honestly as you can manage.} The focus will shift from you to God & you will begin to sense his grace.
{matthew six:six, the message}

{I wish the word(s) 'simply' or 'honestly' were in this picture...}

christmasy faves..

I love Christmas! I love autumn time, but I think I love Christmas more.. so here are just some of the things I love about the season!


1. Christmas cookies.. I think I like baking them more than eating them though, which is good right!?
2. Giving Christmas gifts, especially if it's something someone really wanted!
3. Advent Songs by Sojourn.
4. Santa. I still & always will get gifts from "Santa" on Christmas morning.
5. It's A Wonderful Life.
6. Christmas lights.
7. Peppermint Mocha's.
8. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.
9. Being with the whole Fillmore clan.
10. Snowmen.

+ I love that the last two Christmas' I've had a get-together with all these lovelies...and the tradition continues net week!!

journals..

journal: (noun) a daily record of news and events of a personal nature; a diary.

I love them. I've been faithfully writing in a journal since I was in middle school(ish).. from time to time I dig them all out of this box I keep them in & read what ever I wrote on the day I'm reading it or the closest to it, always a good time..."Hmm what was Lindsay Fillmore doing on December 7th, 2004..."

It's embarrassing to read some of my really old journals because what I wrote & had to say when I was 12-15. A lot of it was quite insignificant & pointless, but always fun to read & try to remember what or why I was writing what I wrote..

Obviously over the years they've matured a little bit & have steered from what I did on a given day while I was in eighth grade to more of a place I can write out what is on my heart as a dialogue between God & I, that I don't talk about with even my closest friends.

My journals are kind of like a part of me, I typically always have it with me, & I get excited when I start a new one, but kind of sad when I end one! I've noticed lately that a lot of my journals reflect different seasons of my life, which I love, because it's kind of like a chapter book.
{I also like that I'm the only one who can read it.. how do I know this? Because I always have it with me!}

I write it more of a prayer journal, where it's mostly "God, this is what's going on in my life right now..." not just a "Dear Diary..." I like the exclusiveness of a conversation between just God & I, but since it's written down, I can always go back & read it!

It's been sweet to read the journals I've kept since high school, just seeing all God has done in my life, prayers He's answered, things He's taught me, & things He's showed me through highs, lows, pits, blessings, & every other season of my life I've experienced & written about.{on a side note, this week my two favorite songs this week are Rocketeer by Far East Movement + Strip Me by Natasha Bedingfeild.. I think God is telling me I need to run more because they both make me want to go running.}