Wedding Top 10.

It's finally here... the weekend that I feel like I have spent years planning, ever since I was a little girl and was allowed to play dress up in Kay's wedding dress. The packing, organizing and planning is coming to an end. I am about to spend my last night in my parents house as Lindsay HAMILTON. Thinking back over the last 11 months, I have quickly gathered a top 10... things I would pass along to someone planning their own wedding, things I might have done differently, or things that I really liked during the whole process. In no particular order...

1) Wedding planning screams color coded, organized, labels, folders, tabs... for my OCD/planning personality, this aspect of wedding planning was PERFECT.

2) Wedding planning is hard. Yes, its fun... but its also hard. You have families to juggle. Decisions to make. Opinions to consider. Don't lose the excitement that you feel in those first few days because it will carry you and remind you of what's most important.

3) No matter how many times you check the Weather Channel app. the week of your wedding, the weather is still going to be HOT. It's June. Come on now. So save yourself the trouble and just delete the app.

4) Creating your gift registry allows your future hubby to run around the mall, scan everything in sight, throw in some James Bond moves and pretend like he understands the difference in sheet thread count. But you only get to do this once... so let him scan the ridiculous soap dispenser, make crazy sounds as he "shoots" your china pattern, and just laugh.

5) Getting your RSVP cards in the mail is like Christmas every day, times like 10 if you get a whole bunch of them in your mailbox.

6) Weddings don't just bring two families together, but also groups of friends from all stages of your life. Seeing these people hang out, get along, and build new memories has been one of my most favorite parts.

7) Choose a dress that makes you feel like a princess.

8) Enjoy the little things... like putting the stamps on your save the dates. Gathering addresses. Creating a wedding website. Calling you fiance for advice or his opinion. You get this one moment... enjoy it.

9) Remember what is important. Flowers die. Cake goes bad. Your dress will be boxed up one day. But your marriage is lasting.

10) Revel in the fact that for one year or eleven months, you get to celebrate everything you love about your fiance. You get to plan the day you have dreamed of and in the end, you get to marry your best friend. There is nothing sweeter.

Worry.

Hi blog world... it's been a while. Between showers, moving, wedding crafting, and just life, I now have about 5 posts waiting to be written... but this one just couldn't wait.

With 16 days left until our big day, the list of to-do's is constantly growing, the anxious feeling is continuing to grow and little worries are starting to creep in... is it going to be insanely hot? Will it rain? Is the cake going to taste like I remember? Will our guests have as much fun as we hope they do?

This morning when I checked my "Jesus Calling" app, the words didn't sink in until after a conversation Travis and I had this afternoon. Funny how that always happens. The words were such a profound reminder that I had to share... hoping you find comfort or assurance in God's promise.

God's presence is with us a promise... many things can block that awareness, but the major culprit is worry. We as God's children tend to accept worry as an inescapable fact of life. However, worry is a form of unbelief. Who is in charge of our life? If it is us, then we have reason to worry. But if it is God, then worry is both unnecessary and unproductive. When we start to feel anxious about something, we need to relinquish the situation to God. We need to back off and redirect our focus to Him. He will either take care of our problems or show us how to handle them. In this world, we will have problems, but we need not lose sight of Him. 

Luke 12:22-31

Moving Day.

I have a love/hate relationship with moving boxes. I LOVE moving boxes because they are sign of something new... a new address, a new home, a new adventure. I HATE moving boxes because I feel like they are never ending and they are currently haunting me from the living room in our new place. 

At the end of April, we loaded up three trucks, a trailer, my car and made the move. Group effort does not even begin to describe this weekend. My parents, Travis's parents and his brother all made this move probably the easiest yet (counting the moves in college, this made #9 for me). My dad says he is done after this one. We'll just have to see about that.

While Travis is currently calling our condo home... it is definitely starting to feel like our place. Pictures still need to be hung... curtains put in their place... boxes COMPLETELY unpacked... but the excitement around this new adventure continues to build. 

 And as my clothes are slowly starting to find their place in the closets, the reality is quickly setting in... this is almost my place too!! Travis and I can't wait to call Vinings home... explore all of the side streets and cute neighborhoods... find new favorite restaurants... spend Saturdays by the river... enjoy having some of my bestest friends within walking distance... and settle in to our first place. (cue squeal of excitement)

Happy Wedding Day. Matt and Sarah.

Can I just say that I LOVE weddings? If I wasn't a teacher, I think wedding planning would be my choice career. The cake, the flowers, the details... I love it all. What is even more fun is seeing some of your closest friends tie the knot... this weekend, we celebrated Matt and Sarah. The look on Matt's face when Sarah walked down the aisle was absolutely priceless. The giddiness and joy that radiated from Sarah was contagious. From their photo booth and crazy props, to their yummy cake, amazing band and fraternity traditions, it was a fabulous night. Wishing you lots of love... Happy wedding sweet friends!

Twinnies.

While the boys took care of wedding suits and tried to improve their golf game, I got to play photographer and take pictures of my favorite twinnies and their sweet mommy. I can't believe how BIG these little ones are getting... their personalities are really starting to shine through which makes taking their picture even more fun. I got to capture Oliver and Olivia's first experience on a swing and then a trip down to Park Tavern and Piedmont Park for Kevin's surprise birthday... they were rockstars.

My God's Not Dead.

This year, Easter took on a whole new meaning. Saturday morning, Travis and I headed to downtown Atlanta with my mom and one of her students from Cornerstone. We spent the day 7 Bridges to Recovery - an organization that works to rescue the last, the lost and the least from the streets of Atlanta. Every day of the week, a group from 7 Bridges can be found in some of the darkest and most avoided corners of downtown Atlanta, and even up under the bridges reaching the people that call those ledges "home." On Saturday, our "plan" was to head out with 7 Bridges and about 100 other volunteers, pass out some lunches, and then head home for church and dinner. But I should have known that God had a much better plan in mind. Before we headed out, we were reminded of God's great love and how it was so perfectly illustrated in the crucifixion, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. The powerful words were a great kick-start to what we were about to walk in to... our first stop was in a parking lot where a few people stopped by to receive a free meal. 7 Bridges gives more than just nutritional food, but "spiritual food" as well. After handing out a lunch to someone, we ask to pray with them or for them. In that parking lot,
I got to watch my                                                      

mom pour out love over a total stranger, who probably hadn't bathed in weeks, or hadn't changed clothes in days, weeks or even months, or maybe was a victim of drug or alcohol abuse. The story didn't matter... what mattered is that this person walked away knowing that for that moment, someone had their best interests in mind and that they were reminded there is a God that loves them, no matter what they have been through.  Our next stop was on a street corner, in front of a church that burned to the ground... across the street was a hot-spot for drug deals. I wish I could have had an outsider's view to the scene that we were creating... praising and worshiping our God despite our surroundings. In the 20 minutes we spent on this street corner, we drew a fairly large crowd. As Travis and I made our way down the sidewalk, he quickly approached a lady who had not yet received a lunch. In an instant, he asked this woman if he could pray for her. As I listened to him pray over this total stranger, my heart overflowed with joy... it is such an amazing feeling to see the person you love take such a stand of faith. After we said our goodbyes and got back to our car, Travis and I both knew we were going to leave this day completely changed.  Our time was quickly coming to an end, we were supposed to be at church by 6:00 pm... but with at least two more stops, our hearts were torn. 
After our third stop, where we met a little boy with a love for baseball and cowboys vs. aliens and listened to a woman rap her faith and challenge us to always live ours out, our priorities quickly shifted... our "Easter" service was going to be spent in the streets of Atlanta.
The fourth and final stop, brought to Travis the realization of why I loved my time in Jamaica and I got to sing, dance love on and pray over a precious little one. If you ever have a free Saturday, think about taking a trip down to the K-Mart off Cleveland Avenue (where 7 Bridges meets) and spend the day with the people of 7 Bridges... I promise you will come home with a heart on fire.

Once home, we finally made our way to dinner - but most of our conversations revolved around what we saw that morning and the people we met. It definitely was an amazing start to our Easter weekend. 

 Easter Sunday was spent up in The Attic at NorthStar... where we had some special guests. I love Sundays in The Attic - mostly because hearing the Bible in kid friendly terms and seeing their faces light up when connections are made is such a renewing experience. This past Sunday has been by far my most favorite... sharing the Easter story with a room full of K-2nd graders and hearing their enthusiasm for God's great love made my heart more than happy. That afternoon, The Meyers and Sickels got together for dinner where conversations covered all things football, wedding, and Garrett's dinner selection.  Overall, it was a fabulous weekend with even better reminders of God's love.

 "Let love explode and bring the dead to life... A love so bold to see a revolution somehow... My God's not dead... He's surely alive."