Lilly Cristy

Category: Faith

  • Coming Soon….

    Coming Soon….

    Now that we’re almost halfway through this little babe cookin’ (seriously, how the heck has it already been 19 weeks?!) I figured it might just be time to hop back on the blogging game and give a little life update. So in case you didn’t know, the hubs & I are having a BABY. Yep, sweet little Baby Cristy will be here in the beginning of March and we are just simply overjoyed by this little miracle that is quickly taking over our hearts.

    Before even getting married, we’d really prayed that the Lord would give us just at least a year to become established in our marriage as just the two of us before we brought a baby into the mix. It was a trying but sweet, sweet year full of so much growth, love and joy to finally be together, in the same place after years of long distance. Well a year in, we decided to take the leap and see if it was the right time. Which, realistically, the right time never really exists, but God was so good to us and has blessed us abundantly with this pregnancy and the timing of it all is really just a representation of God’s goodness and sweetness through it all. Sure, I could’ve done without the all day nausea I experienced (and sometimes still experience from time to time) but if that’s about the worst we’ve had to deal with so far, I’d say we’re in good shape.

    Baby C has been healthy with a strong, little heartbeat at every doctors appointment and this soon-to-be mama is feeling pretty darn good as well. Though some days it still just doesn’t feel real yet! Besides my expanding waistline and the occasional backache, I’d say life seems pretty normal most days…other than the fact that the countdown to meeting this little babe is ticking away way faster than I ever could have imagined.

    I always knew I wanted to be a mom. It’s something I’ve realized over the past few years with even more intensity as I’ve often found it hard to find passion in my work and found so much more joy in serving and loving my family….(I mean who doesn’t?!) But really, you can’t quite tell people at job interviews that your dream job is to be a mom, not that there is ANYTHING wrong with that, but I’ve just gotten some funny looks in the past. But really, I can’t think of a better title out there (besides Mrs. Cristy — because that’s a pretty awesome one, too.)

    So as I sit here making to-do lists, adding the cutest little baby things to our registry and counting down the days until we meet our little one, I’m just overwhelmed with a deep sense of gratitude that Josh and I get this opportunity to experience this miracle of growing a baby. And seriously y’all, it is nothing short of a miracle….I mean growing a baby is no joke. The fact that this tiny little person grows from the size of something nearly microscopic to a full on baby in only nine months is CRAZY. God really designed this whole thing in such an awe-inspiring way and I’m purely amazed by it all every time I find myself thinking about it.

    Week 19

    Due Date: March 10th

    Baby C is as big as a: Mango

    The Bump: Pretty sure it’s at least 80% food baby in most pictures, but it’s starting to pop a little!

    Feeling: Really good! My new pregnancy pillow is proving to be a lifesaver for my sleep. (File this under….things I never though’t I’d say…ha!)

    Craving: Hot Barbecue Wings from BW’s (seriously, ask Josh….)

    Food Aversions: Still so grossed out by broccoli.

    Wearing: Anything and everything loose & flowy and officially not wearing any pre-pregnancy jeans. (Thank you Jesus for Madewell maternity jeans. Amen.)

    Buying: A new mattress — HALLELUJAH.

    Working on: Baby C’s registry! And holy moly…..there are waaaaay too many choices out there.

    Looking forward to: Nursery shopping in a few weeks & finding out if Baby C is a boy or a girl on November 8th!

    That’s all for now sweet friends! Sending love from up North,

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  • Never Say Never

    Never Say Never

    [No, this is not an ode to the Justin Bieber. (But really….what happened to the Biebs?) Anyway, honestly, when I first started writing this post….I thought I was going to be writing about all of the joys of the first year of marriage and life in North Dakota. Heck, I don’t even know if any of this makes sense or if my title is even relevant….#wordvomit. But it’s funny how sometimes God just takes over and pushes our hearts and words in a different, but better direction. Plus….it was time I shared a little bit more about why I’ve been basically MIA from this blog for so long. So here’s to hoping you find a little sliver of hope & encouragement here.]It’s pretty amazing all that can happen in a year.  A little over a year ago,  I was packing up my little apartment in Seattle, planning the last-minute details of a wedding, finalizing dress fittings and preparing for my world to be completely overturned (in the best way) by all of the things that were about to change; my last name, my zip code & my heart. Now, as I sit at home in my cozy apartment just outside Fargo, North Dakota….I can’t help but realize that really nothing about my life looks the same as it used to. And y’all, that’s a great thing. Some days, it’s a hard thing, but really most days, it’s a wonderful, incredible, amazing thing.

    If you would’ve told me four years ago that I’d be living in North Dakota, married, with a husband in grad school, I would have likely had a big ‘ol laugh in your face. As a West Coast girl through and through the thought of living in the Midwest would have just seemed straight up laughable. But if you’ve followed along this crazy journey I’ve been on over the last few years, you might remember that so far, I’ve lived in every single place I ever said I wouldn’t ever live in. Yep. Back to Washington? Check. Montana? Check. North Dakota? Check and check. I’ve started to really realize that it’s a pretty dangerous thing for me to use the word “never.”

    But that’s the BEST part…God has used all of my “no’s  and turned them into “yes’s” and used them in a profound way to deeply impact my life and grow me as a person. Has it always felt good? Nope, nope & nope. But has it been worth it? Yes, always yes.

    But that’s the thing about being obedient to the calling on our lives, sometimes it just hurts. And friends, I’m here to tell you that is so okay. In fact it’s more than okay. In the past year, I’ve learned so much about sacrifice, commitment and walking into, and through moments that were uncomfortable just by being obedient (sometimes begrudgingly) with my actions. It can be so easy to walk away when things get hard, or pack up your bags and move along when life gets boring. I’ve been there. I’ve been that girl that craved change and movement. Luckily, God used my missteps to write a beautiful story, but not without struggle. This year, though life was like one big tidal wave of change, in the middle of it all, it wasn’t always the change that I desired. But God kept me, He guided me, He rooted me in something greater than circumstances, people, places or things.I’ll be honest with you, this year has been no walk in the park. It’s been trying, humbling, frustrating and just plain hard at times. It’s been sleepless nights, buckets of tears, loneliness & hard times. (Stick with me….the light is coming.) So why do I share this? Because friends, it is so, so, so easy to think that everyone else has it all together when we feel like we’re crumbling inside. It’s so easy to look at other people’s lives and spin up a story about how much better things are for them. (Been there, done that.) But most of the time, this is never the reality of it all.

    I spent a lot of this year feeling so stupid for struggling. This was supposed to be the best year of my life! Newlywed! Finally in the same place as the one I love! Don’t get me wrong, it was an amazing year full of such sweet moments, but dangit, it was wayyyyy harder than I ever could have anticipated.

    I like to think that I’m a strong person, but this year, I never felt weaker. And honestly, part of this was marriage. It humbled me to a place of realizing that I couldn’t be so independent anymore and it brought me to my knees after realizing just how imperfect and weak I truly am. Whewwww, they sure don’t mention all that stuff in premarital counseling. Or maybe they did? (I’m working on that whole”listening better” thing….just ask my very sweet & very patient husband.Friends, I share all of this and I hope it doesn’t make me sound like a Debby Downer. That is so far from what I’m after here. I love my husband deeply, I cherish this life that I am blessed with and I am so, so grateful for everything I have. But I’ve just gotta be real with y’all….life is tough! And I hope if nothing else, this encourages you that it’s okay to sometimes feel stuck in the difficult, trying and hard moments. It’s okay to struggle through life and feel just so imperfect. Because ya know what?

    You are perfectly imperfect and that is just the way God intended us all to be.

    Without these difficult moments, I think we’d all be walking around completely self-sufficient, totally self-reliant and without even the slightest understanding of our need for Jesus. I think it can be so easy to coast through life feeling like we don’t desperately need Jesus, but it’s reality that slaps us into shape and makes us remember “oh hey, I need a savior like big time.” It’s those low moments that go undocumented on social media that push us into the arms of a good and loving Father.

    I think that all of these changes in life over the last year pushed me out of a place of what had become self-sufficiency and into a place of realizing my major need for Jesus. Because without realizing that need, acknowledging it & walking into it with faith….life is kind of meaningless. (Disagree?? Check out Ecclesiastes & that might just change your mind. Solomon drops some serious truth bombs in there. Just make sure you read the whole book less you feel a bit discouraged after.)

    Sweet, sweet friends. I pray that you would walk into whatever road is ahead of you, be it a road of deep suffering and struggle, or a road of great joy, a road of change and uncertainty, or a road of complete and utter surrender because God knows what He is doing.

    So stay in your lane and walk into the calling you have received! I know it’s hard sometimes, but I promise, it is so, so worth it.Sending love from up North,

    All photos by Cottonwood Road Photography

    Dress is from American Eagle

  • A Different Kind of Adventure

    A Different Kind of Adventure

    I’m starting to feel like this blog is just one long episode of “where in the world is Lilly?” It seems like each time I get a chance to sit down and write, I’m in a new state. Well, this time is no exception…

    If you would have told me a year ago that today I would be living in North Dakota with my husband, jobless and obsessing over cornfields and sunflowers, I would have rolled my eyes SO hard at you.

    You see, at this time last year, I was establishing quite the home base in Seattle. I had my church, I had my people, I had just landed an awesome job, I moved into a gorgeous house with some girlfriends, I was climbing mountains every weekend, spending afternoons on the lake, planning exciting trips left and right; y’all things were good.

    Ok hit the brakes — the love of my life was in North Dakota. So why the heck was I in Seattle!? Well that my friends, is a story for another time. But what I’m trying to tell you is that in that moment I would have scoffed at the idea of living anywhere other than a place surrounded by mountains. Funny thing I’ve come to learn though is that God likes to take those “I will go anywhere but….” and give us a gentle little reminder of who is really in the drivers seat.

    So even though I left North Dakota in quite the hurry a year and a half ago, it has welcomed me back with open arms, plenty of sunshine, endless fields of sunflowers and the sweetest place to call home. You see, I really never thought I’d be back here, surely this wasn’t in the plan, right God? But, the Lord, being rich in grace and mercy gave me a new set of eyes. Where I once saw nothing, I now see beauty. I see a promise. I see a future. I see a home.

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    The adventure sure does look different and I’m definitely re-reading my own “10 Lessons Learned from North Dakota” because y’all, it is windy as heck 98% of the time here, I may never wear a dress again due to said wind, my hair is a mess pretty much every day also due to said wind, the bugs are UNREAL, I’ve already heard a person say “oofda” twice this week and I legitimately saw a camouflage recliner in the furniture store last weekend. We are definitely not in Seattle anymore.

    But despite the oddities of this new place we get to call home, I know this is exactly where we are supposed to be. Maybe just for now or maybe forever, for that we’ll just have to wait and see.

    But if I have learned anything over this last year, it’s that the adventure will look different throughout our lives. It changes and evolves and grows. And for me right now, the adventure is establishing a new home, experiencing the joy of marriage, learning what it looks like to be a wife and trying to find a good bug spray. And though this adventure is different and likely won’t offer many snowcapped mountains or perfect Pacific Northwest sunsets, I really, really hope you’ll stick around and be a part of this journey as I learn to live and thrive in this new home.

    “Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” Isaiah 43:19

    Lil

     

     

  • Wandering with Purpose

    Wandering with Purpose

    Well, it’s been a while.

    My whole life looks completely different than it did only a few short weeks ago. Because, well, I moved…yep, again.

    This time, I’ve landed back to where it all began, well sort of. About a month ago, I packed up my car with as much as I could cram into it and hit the open road. About 18 hours and a thousand or so miles later, I found myself back in the great state of Washington surrounded by tall trees, snow-capped mountains and a forecast full of a whole lot of liquid sunshine.

    So what turned this surf seeking, beach loving, California girl into an umbrella toting (just kidding, I refuse to carry an umbrella) puddle hopping, mountain climbing, Washingtonian? Well, after a few months of wandering, I decided it was time to plant my feet somewhere for a while.

    If you’ve followed along with my zig-zag of a journey over the past year, you’ll know that I’ve done a whole lot of traveling, searching, exploring, back and forth, here and there….California to Montana to North Dakota, back to California and then on to Washington.

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    The adventure was amazing but after the excitement wore off, I was left plain dizzy from it all. Trying to remember what zip code I lived in or what time zone I was actually in was hard. You may laugh, but I’m not even kidding. To not feel at home wherever you go was a very hard thing to deal with, especially considering it was 100% by my own doing.

    Now, I’ve been called a lot of things throughout this whole process; a vagabond, a gypsy (thanks Mom?), an adventurer, a wanderer, a brave soul, and sometimes, just plain stupid. And to each their own, but one thing I realized recently is that though I may have seemed to wander aimlessly over the last year, I  know in my heart of hearts that I was wandering with a purpose. I know that the Lord did not send me on this broken path full of uphill battles and tears for nothing. Things may have gone differently than I could have ever expected but I know that I live for a God who is always good and knows what I need better than I ever could. In this season of life, He has made a way for me through mountains and deserts and valleys (quite literally) to bring me to a place where I can fully realize my dreams and walk towards the plans He has for my life, because I know they have got to be something simply, amazing.

    Now, I’m not saying that I have “arrived” because believe me, I know there is a lot of journeying left, but something about the here and now just feels right. And for a girl who has lived in four different states in the last year, that’s saying something. So cheers to this moment, to finding joy in this roller coaster adventure, to seeking new opportunities and to trusting in an all-knowing, ever powerful God.

    I dare you to realize that this journey you’re on is a path laid out before you by the one who loves you. I challenge you to see the wandering with a new set of eyes, to realize that we are all wandering with a greater purpose. I encourage you to trust the direction you are headed in and seek joy in each and every moment, big or small, because mountains and molehills matter.

    So, wander on ;)

  • My Journey

    My Journey

    I still can’t believe I’m here…in Montana. A place that I specifically told myself several years ago that I would NEVER live in, ever…under any circumstances. But, God changed my mind, He changed my heart & He changed all of my plans. The choice to move here was the biggest leap of faith I have ever taken in my whole 25 years of life. As I reflect on my last two weeks here, I am still piecing together the crazy way that God brought me here and I can’t help but be overjoyed as I share it with you all. So grab a comfy chair, a big cup of coffee and come on into my heart and into my life and prepare to have your mind BLOWN by the way that God knit this beautiful story together.

    To truly understand this story, let’s rewind a few years…I’m 21-years-old and feeling a desire for change, BIG change. I’ve just moved to California to finish my last two years of college in a suburb just north of LA and something is stirring inside of me, a desire to leave behind the familiar, put school on hold and move to Kona, Hawaii to become a missionary with an organization known as YWAM. I’ve researched, I’ve studied, I’ve spent hours reading everything from student testimonies, to packing lists, to curriculum, to staff blogs. But, there were a million little excuses stopping me from going, so naturally my priorities shifted and I returned to school, forgetting about YWAM for years.

    Fast forward to life post-college…I am restless, once again, desiring to GO. But, it’s not the right time, it never seems to be the “right” time. So, I stick around the suburbs for a few years, dabble a bit in grad school, work in a wide variety of different jobs, take up surfing, explore southern California & decide that I will most definitely be a California girl forever.  Little did I know, God had some really different plans for me.

    It’s now fall of 2013 and I’ve just wrapped up the most sun-filled, joyfully exhausting, Jesus filled summer I’ve ever had. But, something isn’t right…fall drags on with the buzz of the Holiday season on the horizon and out of nowhere,  the company I work for is forced to lay off 1/3 of their staff. I am devastated….I finally had a job with potential, a job with a hope of growth and a future, a job with my own desk and an OCEAN VIEW. Ocean view people! So, I did what any 24-year-old trying to pay off student loans would do, I panicked. That day I was on my computer sending off resumes to jobs all over the country; Texas, Colorado, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Florida…you name the state and they probably have one of my resumes gathering dust somewhere.

    But as I have seen in all seasons of my life; God is good. He is faithful. He provides. Only three weeks after being laid off, I was back in the saddle, starting my first day of work with a marketing company. I spent my first month really struggling at my new job…wondering God, really? Is this what you have for me? Working in such a fast paced, revenue driven industry was HARD. I knew this wasn’t what I was made for. So, I kept searching and searching…unaware of what God was doing in me and what He had just on the horizon.

    Through this time, I kept seeing a picture in my head. A daydream of sorts, a vision of a lake; beautifully crystal clear, surrounded by tall pine trees and the most majestic snow capped mountains reaching for the sky all around. It was a place I knew I’d never been before, something that only my imagination could dream up. Little did I know how much this picture would speak confirmation to me in the future.

    In January, I knew I had to give my restless heart a break. I knew that if this was where God would have, then I needed to find rest and joy in that. I threw every expectation I had out the window and took my eyes off the world around me and learned to truly look up. Funny how when we surrender our desires to the Lord, He can turn around and bless us in the most unexpected ways.

    Enter Josh. My very own country music loving, two-step twirling, mountain climbing, Jesus following, Texas boy man. We met at church and instantly bonded over our choice of footwear that day; cowboy boots. The first time we hung out, we ended up spending the entire day together…like literally 15 hours of non-stop chatter, butterflies, and adventures. I knew this guy was something special, so I admit, I pulled out all the stops and baked enough cookies to feed an army. Countless hangouts, dates, prayers, laughs, late nights and dreams later we knew that this weak in the knees feeling was the real deal so we decided to take the plunge into a relationship. These last few months have been such a JOY getting to know this amazing guy God brought into my life and I am SO thankful for who God has made Josh to be and how He has brought us together.

    Josh has taught me SO much since I met him. He’s challenged me, he’s pushed me, he’s encouraged me, he’s showed me how to test the limits of faith, life & love. He’s showed me how to live a life where the answer to adventure is Y-E-S, the solution is always JESUS, and the secret to joy is laughter. He’s held my hands through the hard days and has remained a true and faithful friend even on days when I don’t deserve it. He’s made me laugh until I cry, taught me how to climb the side of a mountain, talked my ear off with random facts, and listened to my hearts deepest desires day in and day out.

    When Josh and I first met, he had shared with me his dream to one day work for a non-profit Christian architecture firm in Montana called 100 Fold Studio. They operated on one of the largest YWAM bases in the US, in Lakeside, Montana…on the most beautifully blue lake, surrounded by tall pine trees with snow-capped mountains everywhere….Fast forward to March, Josh has applied for a summer program with 100 Fold and is waiting to hear back if he’s been accepted. We talk through the idea of him living in Montana for the summer and half jokingly dream big about how amazing it would be for God to one day put us in the same place at the same time, doing something similar to the work of 100 Fold. But, we knew it would be some sort of miracle for someone who knows nothing about architecture to get a job at an architecture firm.

    Fast forward…it’s a random Thursday in the end of March and I decide to take a closer look at 100 Fold…12 pages deep into a Google search (now that is dedication) I stumble on the most obscure website…only to find a job posting at 100 Fold, they’re looking for someone with my type of skill-set. Within a few hours, my resume, cover letter and portfolio are off to 100 Fold and Josh has been accepted to the program. What ensued over the next few weeks was a whirlwind of phone calls, emails and big prayers. Before I knew it, I was on a plane, headed to Montana for the first time ever…I spent four days soaking it in before I was on my way home to southern California, with a packing list and a job offer in hand.

    Three weeks later I was hopping in an over-packed car bound for Montana with Josh in the drivers seat. All the way from California to Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, Minnesota and North Dakota, we made it to Montana in one piece. From scorching hot temperatures and tepees in the desert to dust storms and small towns in the plains, from humidity and hospitality in Dallas to a tornado watch in Missouri, from the open spaces in Kansas and the rolling hills in South Dakota to two nearly blown-out tires in Fargo…we had quite the adventure. An adventure that had only been just a far off dream weeks prior. An adventure that meant an opportunity to begin the journey of lifetime.

    Life in Montana is a far cry from life in SoCal…I share a room with two other girls, a bathroom with 20 other girls, and I eat cafeteria food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I don’t have a car and I had to get rid of half of everything I owned just to get here. I’ve taken a cold shower more days than not and I’ve forgotten what “personal space” even means. I’ve been bitten by more mosquitoes and spiders than I’d really like to even admit and my shoes feel perpetually soggy from all the rain. But, for everything that seems hard, there are so many more things that make it all worth it. So, I’m here, doing it all joyfully. This is God’s good and perfect plan for me, sure I’ve had my moments of doubt, my moments of wavering faith, my times of frustration and fear, but God always comes through. I am amazed as I sit here and am reminded of how personally God chose ME for this. How faithfully He directed my footsteps to get me here, now, for this time, to do His work. My heart is full and I am thankful to see God fulfilling His promises, redeeming the broken pieces and walking beside me through it all. He planted the seed for this opportunity long before I even knew of 100 Fold, long before I knew Josh Cristy, and long before I would have ever agreed to live in Montana.

    God is bringing together the pieces of this story before my very eyes; YWAM, a lake, an opportunity to GO, to serve, to live life on mission. He is making whole all of these desires I have had and building something bigger than I could have ever dreamed of. I am in awe that we have a God that is capable of the most intricate designs such as this one I am living out. So, I have learned that God is our architect. He is our designer. He knows how all of the pieces fit together. He knows our strengths and our weaknesses and He knows exactly how they will work together to fulfill His good and perfect plan. He desires to shape our lives into something even better than we could ever hope for. He knows us through and through, just like an architect knows their designs through and through. So thank you God, for bringing me here…for being an architect, for designing this journey for me before I even knew who you were.

    States Tile

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