Beautiful

I'm sitting on the front porch of our beautiful new home, (rather the home of the wonderful family who has taken us in) in the beautiful, sunny, hot, humidity and bug free Colorado.  It's quiet, breezy, and you guessed it . . . just plain beautiful! We arrived Monday evening after a two day trek across the country and since then our days have been filled with two awesome little kids, a precious golden-doodle, lots of frisbee, football, back yard soccer, meals on the front porch, good conversation and lots of laughter. I could get used to this, but I'm a little afraid to because I know we are getting spoiled big time and someday soon we're going to come face to face with reality and realize that we need to get jobs, find financial aid for Seminary, pay off student loans and save up for a second car and maybe a down payment on a house somewhere down the road. Am I getting ahead of myself? Yes, I always do. But, this is just me thinking out loud so prepare yourself for a lot of Lexi getting ahead of herself...way, way ahead of herself.  

So here are my options, I could . . .

A. find a nanny position near our neighborhood.

B. enroll in a CNA program, get certified, find work, work for a year, become a resident, go to nursing school, spend lots of money, get a BSN, find work, have a stable job, have good insurance, make good money and support my full-time ministry zero income husband.

C. find a receptionist/secretary position.

D. be a complete overachiever and work at Starbucks...just like the good old days.

E. none of the above. 

F. win the lottery, or hope that someone who actually plays it wins and gives us 1/16 of it, then have children, start a photography business and live happily ever after. 

I choose F! 

Ok, back to reality. And reality is that I am equally not enthused by any of the above options. So, I'm just praying for direction and wisdom, because I know that this is only a season in our lives and the Lord has a plan for it. Right now, I'm just trying to figure out what it is, and do it. But don't get me wrong, I would be thrilled to find a solid temporary job opportunity, and any of the said options would be fine. It's just that I don't want to spend the rest of my life doing any of them. Actually, I don't want to spend the rest of my life doing anything other than being a wife and mother, playing around with photography, working alongside my husband in the church, and making a difference in the lives of those around me. As far as I know, there's no degree for that. So for now, I'll just follow where He leads and rest in His sovereignty. 

Matthew 6:32-34 ...For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Daddy's Girl

It's true, I'm a daddy's girl. And I know it's a little late for a Father's Day post, but better late than never right? (story of my life...) We celebrated Father's Day as a family on Monday by going to Pine Hills for a 95 degree extra humid hiking adventure. We got a little whiny as the hike went on (girls, bugs and heat don't mesh well) but, as always, dad lightened the mood when we got to a little creek that ran along side the trail. We were crossing through the ankle-deep water when he handed me his phone, keys and wallet and announced that he was going to lay down in the water. Eyebrows raised, I watched as he proceeded to lower himself into the stream and scream as he submerged himself in the freezing water. Needless to say, we all laughed our heads off and the rest of the hike was packed with lots of fun, pictures and clay face paint.

  So it begins...

...

 Just one of the many reasons I love my daddy. All my life he has supported me and encouraged me to be whatever I wanted to be. He made me feel beautiful and special, and loved me in a way that made it easy for me to believe in God's love. Between my mom and dad, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, I have been loved well. I know how blessed I am to have experienced such love, and I am so thankful for the love of the two greatest father's of all.

This weekend I went through tons of pictures and found these gems to share with you from the good ole' days... (plus a few recent ones)

Love.

I never liked getting dressed up.

Itty bitty.

My favorite shoulder.

Very classy.

Best big sister ever, folks.

Then... (so photogenic)

Now.

Daddy's girls.

Momma's girls.

Sisters.

Best picture ever. (Click to enlarge)

Monkey see...

Family.

Face paint.

Dad wanted to help too.

Best pic of the day.

Second best.

Forgive my photo heavy post, but I had to cover a lot of ground. Hope you enjoyed! I'll be back soon for a sad, nostalgic post on leaving Indiana...

Russell Reunion

Michael and I spent Father's Day weekend in Grand Rapids, Michigan for the annual Russell family reunion. They are such a beautiful family, and it was really wonderful to see everyone. Although, I did wish I could have spent some time with my own daddy on Father's Day, but no worries, we made up for lost time today...post on today's events coming soon. For now, here are a few of my favorite photos from the weekend.

Our beautiful cousin, Gabrielle. 

 

Who knew so much energy could be concentrated in one little body...

Moving On

Hard to believe it’s only been eleven months since we moved into our tiny one bedroom apartment at Olivet…it feels like it’s been five years! Ok I’m exaggerating, but seriously, I feel like we’ve been here FOREVER and it hasn’t even been a year! Let’s just say it has been one very extra long year. I know what you’re thinking, and no it has nothing to do with our first year of marriage, not at all. In fact, if we hadn’t gotten married, I’m sure I would have lost my mind about nine months ago. Between basketball, school, basketball, basketball, and basketball I’d say it was enough to make anyone go crazy. I’ll spare you all the nasty details, but let’s just say I still have nightmares, literally. It was horrible. Ok Lexi, move on before you turn this into a hate post. By the way, I really am so thankful to have had the opportunity to go to school for free, meet a few really awesome friends, and have the “college experience” (can we say, overrated?) So really, I am grateful. Anyways.

Needless to say, we’re welcoming this new season in our lives, and the chance to get out of this rotten state and off to Colorado no less. Amazing (and still quite surreal honestly). I really can’t believe that we are packing up and moving our lives a thousand miles across the country. That’s a pretty big deal right? And if you know me, you know I am a pretty huge control freak; I like to have every detail figured out, every possibility accounted for. But this time, nothing is set in stone. We don’t have a really great plan. We don’t have jobs lined up. We’re not enrolled in schools. There are many more unknowns than known’s, but there is one really huge “known” that makes all of the unknowns seem pretty insignificant -- And that’s the undeniable truth that God’s hand has been SO evident throughout this entire journey, orchestrating it all from the very beginning. He has so clearly laid out this path for us that we are completely at peace with our decision and totally resting in His sovereignty, which as it turns out is a really wonderful place to be.

However, with every big decision it seems like there are always a thousand people to answer to, each with their own opinions on what is best for your life. And it’s hard, really, really hard to be content to walk by faith when you’re expected to have everything lined up with no room for error. But we are learning that the Lord just wants us to follow Him. It seems that God loves to put us in situations where we will be in big trouble if He doesn’t come through; because those are the times when He gets to give us a taste of His power and sovereignty, ultimately bringing glory to Himself.

We have been nothing but blessed when we choose to walk by faith, so we will continue on with confidence; because we serve a God who loves us and leads us by the hand, walking beside us with every step.


Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him diligently

Eight-Hundredth Time's a Charm

Confession: My name is Lexi Russell, and I am a perfectionist.

No joke, I've started at least eight-hundred (ok, maybe three, but still...) different blogs in the past two months, and ashamedly this is the very first time that I've actually written a post...and then posted it! Two snaps for me everyone!

As mentioned previously, I am a perfectionist, and a big one...times two if it is something completely unimportant. I just can't do things half way. Anyone relate?

So naturally, I had this dream of birthing a beautifully formatted, eloquently written first post complete with a pretty layout, witty headings, fun hyperlinks, pictures galore, a million sponsors and 8,000 followers anxiously anticipating my first post (kidding about that last part, but hey, a girl can dream can't she?) It took me a while before reality set in and I remembered that I know nothing, repeat NOTHING, about making a website, posting pictures, or adding widgets? gadgets? midgets? Which even is it? What even are they? And can we please find a new name for them?

Long story short, I don't speak "Blogger" (however, I am quite fluent in Facebook, so hopefully some of that will transfer over). All that to say, I have finally realized that I will never have a blog if I keep getting hung up on all the details, and I've decided that I need to establish a purpose, and stick to it.

So here goes nothing. My purpose (insert drum role here) . . .

To tell my story. To write about life. Big things, little things, hard things, fun things. What God has done. What He does from day to day. And what He teaches along the way. Basically, anything. I love to write. I'm not a great speaker, and I'm frequently misunderstood. But somehow writing brings clarity, it gives me time to think about what I believe and then say it exactly how I mean it, no room for misunderstandings. It's a beautiful thing.

So that's why I'm here. To write. To sort things out. And if I can bring glory to God and inspire thousands of women along the way, even better. It's up to the Lord to use this however He wishes, and as for me, I'm just going to write.

So please bear with my ugly boring blog for now, someday I will learn how to make it pretty and add fun stuff (or pay someone else to do it for me...) Until then, I'm sorry! Any helpful tips for this rookie are welcomed!