Lilly Cristy

Category: Faith

  • MONTANA!

    MONTANA!

    Nearly 4,000 miles, 13 states & 7 days later….we’ve made it to Montana. I have been here barely over a week and I’ve already fallen in love with the magnificent beauty that I wake up to each morning. Whether it’s the bright morning sun that peaks through my curtains in the early morning hours, the gentle pitter-patter of rain drops outside my window as I fall asleep, or the soft breeze that constantly blows through the pine trees, I am in awe of this place.

    California was my “home” for the last five years, but with each deep, long & slow breath of fresh Montana air I take, I feel more at home each day. But the glory of this place stretches far beyond the sparkling clear lake, the majestic snow capped Rockies & small town charm. I am learning that this is a place where relationships are built, strengthened and deepened. A place where people are free to live out their callings and passions. To see how personally God has called each person to be here in this community has been a true testimony of His love and faithfulness in this new season of my life.

    As my second week in the 100 Fold Studio office kicks off, I can’t help but be overwhelmed with excitement for the many great things to come. From a missions training center in Cambodia, to a rescue center for children in Thailand, to volunteer housing in Mexico, to a missions campus in Nepal, to a school in Palestine & even local projects right here in Lakeside, Montana….100 Fold has a full plate of projects all over the world. So far, it has been incredible to work alongside the highly skilled architects that I am now blessed to call my coworkers and get a glimpse of the work they do. (To see more information on the projects at 100 Fold, click here.)

    My role in the office has been a lot of learning…new systems, new people and new procedures. As I start learning the ropes, I’ve had the opportunity to work with our current Development Coordinator and Accountant to gain a better understanding of the inner-workings of a nonprofit. Eventually, I will have the chance to spearhead a social media campaign with our graphic designer as a way to keep donors, family & friends in the loop of everyday life at 100 Fold.

    Even though the day is a dark and dreary one here in Lakeside…I can’t help but find the sweetest light in the midst of the heavy raindrops and thick clouds. The work that is being done here at 100 Fold is the light & joy in places that would have otherwise remained dark and silent. The impact of this architecture firm goes far beyond a design or a building….the work 100 Fold has done touches the hearts of those in need of hope, in need of faith, in need of Jesus. What a blessing to be a part of a story that is being written by our loving and faithful God, a story that involves people all over the world, lost and broken souls like you and me, being touched by the love of Christ.

    Processed with VSCOcam with f2 preset

    To all my friends & family who have supported me in prayer or financially….THANK YOU. Your love and encouragement means the world to me, it is because of YOU that I am blessed with the opportunity to be here in Montana! To learn more about 100 Fold Studio or to become a financial partner or prayer partner, please visit 100foldstudio.org 

  • A New Adventure, Part Two

    A New Adventure, Part Two

    Today, I come to you all overjoyed as I pack my bags and get ready to move to Montana. Yes, I said Montana…and yes, this sunshine loving, California girl is pulling out her winter coats and heading north, way north.

    It has been my genuine and heartfelt desire over the past few years to live life on mission while demonstrating the love of Jesus through the talents He has blessed me with. Since receiving my Bachelor’s Degree in Communication from California Lutheran University in August of 2011, I have found myself blessed with opportunities to learn and grow in different work settings and I strongly believe that each of these experiences has prepared me for a role in a story much bigger than I could have ever imagined.

    And here is where the story gets really good…After deliberate prayer, mentorship and meditation, I have decided to faithfully pursue a new opportunity to combine my unique professional skill-set with missions. I recently discovered 100 Fold Studio, a non-profit architecture firm that provides innovative and affordable design services to charitable organizations around the world. They are committed to demonstrating the love of Jesus by designing safe, efficient, and inspiring structures for all, regardless of religion, ethnicity or tradition.  On June 1, I will be moving to Lakeside, Montana to serve with 100 Fold on the Youth with a Mission (YWAM) campus. (100 Fold Studio partners with YWAM and all their employees go through YWAM’s discipleship training school for cross-cultural missions training. The offices of 100 Fold are on the YWAM campus.)

    My Role: I will serve as the Office Administrator & Donor Relations Officer at 100 Fold Studio. It will be my job to share the story of 100 Fold Studio through digital media while representing their gospel centered mission and values. I will also be a liaison between 100 Fold and its donors while providing general office support and administration.The initial phase of my commitment is a three to six month internship. I will then participate in a six month Discipleship Training School (DTS) where I will spend four months studying the Bible while equipping myself with the necessary tools to better share the Gospel while on mission. The final two months of my DTS will be spent serving overseas in international missions. Upon my return, I will make a two-year commitment to 100 Fold Studio and YWAM and be welcomed on as a staff member.

    And here is the really exciting part…This story includes YOU. Would you consider partnering with me & 100 Fold? The operational costs and salaries of 100 Fold Studio are supported solely by donations. As the majority of 100 Fold projects serve the poorest nations in the world, they rely on financial partnerships from churches and individuals who have a desire to invest in what God is doing around the world. With faith in God as my provider, I am raising $2,000/month in support for the duration of my time with 100 Fold. It is my hope that you would partner with me as I embark on this new mission, whether financially or in prayer I truly value your support.

    So my dear family & friends…this is my new adventure. A complete and total faith walk, an act of obedience to the call on my life, a grand adventure with our loving & faithful God. Come alongside me and watch this adventure unfold. I am only one small piece in a much larger story that is taking place at 100 Fold…so please PRAY BOLDLY with me as I step into a new season of life. I believe God is forming a team of financial supporters, prayer warriors, sojourners, and friends who simply help to spread the word. Thank you for your prayers and words of encouragement!

    If you wish to donate please go to http://100foldstudio.org/donate.php

    **Please select “Staff & Intern Salaries” as your gift designation and “Lilly Price” as your staff contact**

     100foldstudio

  • A New Adventure, Part One

    A New Adventure, Part One

    For the last year, there has been a quiet rumbling in my life that I couldn’t quite get a grip on. Between different jobs, different relationships, different apartments, different churches, God has uprooted a lot of the certainty in my life this past year. He took me from a place of misaligned identity and brought me to a place where I could firmly stand on the shakiest ground and still know who I am in Him and Him alone.

    Last year was a trying year to say the least, one where life seemed anything but easy but led me to a place where I’ve realized my life is fuller than I could have ever dreamt of. Through this uprooting, I felt like God was pushing me to go….but where though? First I looked in Texas…thinking; I like country music, I have cowboy boots, I like barbecue, this must be the place for me. Then it was North Carolina, then South Carolina, then Virginia, then Tennessee, somewhere….anywhere but here, I kept thinking.

    I never would have thought that a die hard, beach babe like me could ever possible uproot and move away from the place I came to call home over the past 5 years. But the funny thing is that when God gets a hold of all the little parts of your life that you’ve been holding onto…He can really stir things up.

    After a while, I knew it wasn’t Texas, I knew it wasn’t any of the southern states I had dreamed about, it wasn’t Virginia, or Washington, or Colorado, or any of these places I had been looking. So I took a step back and recognized that I needed to wait. I knew that a grand adventure was on the horizon, but I didn’t know when, where, or really even why.

    Months later…here I sit, in an airport on the middle of nowhere. Surrounded by snow-capped mountains and about 40 degrees colder than my beloved beaches of California. I’ve just spent 4 days in the most amazing place. Praying, searching and deciding what God has next for me.

    Now, I’m saving the juicy details for part 2….but I’m about to embark on a journey that will take me far from home, far from the familiar, and plop me right smack dab in a place I told myself I would never live. But, God has a sense of humor like that, He delights in taking us to places that we never expected to be and showing up in our lives in the most fantastic ways. This decision will be the biggest leap of faith I have ever taken….and I pray through this time that God will show up in such miraculous ways that only He could claim the glory of it all. So friends & family, follow me on my journey and see what happens next…I promise this is gonna be a story you don’t want to miss.

     

  • Confessions of a Recovering Perfectionist

    Confessions of a Recovering Perfectionist

    There are so many problems with the word perfect, the standard of perfectionism, and the life of a perfectionist. To reach for perfectionism is one of the most unattainable, disappointing, and heart breaking standards out there. It leaves us empty handed and let down. You see, for a perfectionist, nothing, and I mean nothing will ever be good enough.

    I say these things only because I’ve been there. I’ve been in those painful moments where my best work just doesn’t seem to measure up to my own ridiculously high standards. Rather than appreciating hard work and stepping back to admire a job well done, we perfectionists nit-pick at all the little details that were wrong.

    It’s been on my heart lately to share this story of mine. I grew up in a household where my parents were always proud of my accomplishments and my brothers were always there to cheer me on, but for whatever reason, anything I did was never good enough for me. I was always pushing for more, always striving to do better, always reaching higher, craving a standard that was absolutely unreachable. To have this kind of attitude as a kid goes by mostly unnoticed as it is often mistaken as a strong work ethic and a humble heart. But internally, it destroys us. To never fully recognize our accomplishments or celebrate our successes is devastating.

    This attitude has spilled over into so many different areas of my life. Whether is be sports, school, jobs, or even relationships, the reach for perfectionism always left me feeling like I needed to try even harder because what I was doing just wasn’t working and definitely wasn’t good enough.

    A while back, my life changed drastically as the weight of striving for perfectionism became too heavy to bear anymore. I was tired of trying to live up to a standard that I knew I would never reach. I was tired of beating myself up over the smallest details. I was just tired of it all.

    So, that day, my message to perfectionism was this: I QUIT.

    I realized that day that my human attempt at perfectionism would always fall short because I was not meant to be perfect. I was meant to live a messy life full of mistakes and failures. And only by the grace and the sweetness of The Lord, I let this truth soak in to every part of my life. See, the truth is, Jesus Christ is the only one who has ever been perfect. And while I strive to be more like Jesus every single day, I now know and understand that I will fall short every day, but His patience and grace for me is unending.

    I can now confidently laugh in the face of my worldly attempts at perfectionism as I have learned to reach for something else worth grabbing onto, God. Sure, I have my days where I wish I would have worked harder on a project at work, or nights where I try on 7 different outfits before I settle on the right one, or moments where I feel like I need my hair to be perfectly coiffed…but I’ve come to learn that my happiest days are the days where my hair is wild, my makeup is imperfect, my outfit doesn’t match, but my heart is full because the chains of perfectionism no longer bind me and I can accept who I really am; a restless adventurer, a wild child at heart and an an imperfect and loved daughter of God.

    Photo Credit: Poiema Photography

     

  • My Summer Story

    After almost two months of no writing, I was kind of hoping for some kind of epic return to the blogging world. So I’ve waited and waited, hoping that words would come to me, or ideas would flood my mind, or maybe, just maybe my creative spark would be reignited….but no words magically came to me overnight, no ideas rushed into my head, and my creative spark seemed to resemble a wet match. In short, life has seemed flatter than last months surf in southern California.

    It’s been a hard few months. Major disappointment mid-summer left a pretty bitter taste in my mouth, one that I just couldn’t quite seem to get rid of. (Cue Lana Del Ray’s “Summertime Sadness”) And through this time of sadness, hurt, and confusion, I waited and waited, hoped and prayed that God would show up and change the outcome of this story, that He would bind up this worn and tattered heart.

    For me, there is always something about the change of seasons that brings about a new sense of hope. And as summer slowly fades to fall, I am reminded that sometimes God is quiet. And in these quiet moments, when life feels hard and God feels far away, we learn. We learn and we grow and sometimes we find out who we are really supposed to be.

    This summer was about losing myself to find something bigger, something better. It was a time to realize that my life doesn’t need to fit in a neat little box, I don’t have to color in the lines, and perfection is an unattainable standard that should be reserved for Heaven. This life has been entrusted to me and it is my job to shape it, mold it, live it, love it, appreciate it, and dream about it. I want my stories to be wild and free, full of love and light, packed with adventures and overflowing with joy.

    So here I stand. Summer slowly slipping away, but the weight of its lessons heavy on my heart and mind as new season begins. And now I realize I don’t need to write something beautifully poetic and moving, I don’t need to wait for the right words to fill up empty pages, I don’t need to wait for my story to start. My story is now.

    So, here’s my life, here’s my heart, put on display. I will struggle and I will triumph, I will have good days and bad days, I will hope and dream and wish on stars, I will drink too much coffee and eat too many sweets, I will forget to put sunscreen on and my hair will always be a salty, wild mess. I will run too many miles and take up new hobbies every week, I will laugh and I will laugh hard, I will smile at strangers, chase every sunset I can, and spend as much time on a surfboard as possible. It is my promise to the world and to myself, that I will always let these simple joys be a part of my story. This is who I am; a unique, creative, and beautiful child of God and that alone is what defines me and defines my story.