Lankford Love

I'm grateful. I keep trying to think of something clever or cute or sweet to start this post, but these are the words that come to mind. The Lord has continually provided me with sweet friendships throughout my life, and I am grateful. This season, the anniversary and birthday of my brother, always makes me reflect on friendships. I had a few sweet friends drive in from Dallas to be with my in Houston after Austen died. And I had many of my Houston friends, from growing up, show up to help and comfort and off condolences. Not to mention, many of Austen's friends were my friends, and my friends, his friends. Regardless, I was in awe at how the Lord prompted these sweet friends in their words, their actions, their showing up, when we needed them. In the months before Austen died, I had been in a season of desperation and loneliness. I was 25 years old and in my third and final year of graduate school. I had graduated from SMU three years prior and gotten married. Going into g...

We feel it's so so important for God's Word to be written on our hearts and to get our kids in the habit of memorizing it while they're young. AND to know memorizing God's Word is rewarding! The reward, of course, is eternal. To help Lilleigh grasp this though I did offer a tangible reward - getting to go see the Snoopy movie!

This video from baptism Sunday just aired at church yesterday. You can see Brendon getting dunked twice and me once. Check it out! Baptism 2013 Final from Watermark Community Church on Vimeo . And some photos from the video...

My sweet friend Randi was on CNN Headline News a couple weeks ago sharing about her Rock (Jesus!) and her experience as a young mom battling breast cancer. Just wanted to share in case you missed it! See her interview here . It's so fun to see how God uses these things to bring Himself glory!

Last night we started MoneyWise 2. MoneyWise is a ministry at our church, focusing on our finances and God's kingdom. It's not unlike Crown or Dave Ramsey, though from what I understand it delves deeper. MoneyWise 2 is more of a follow up to Crown, which we did years ago. One of the things we discussed our first session was trust. What does it mean to trust God? In future weeks we will discuss what it looks like practically to trust Him, but last night we really broke down the meaning of trust. Basically it boils down to: Do I believe He is good? Do I believe He is for us? Do I believe He is reliable? And do I believe He able? I should mention that this next week also happens to be the second anniversary of Austen's death and what would have been his 26th birthday. So it seems that I am seeing everything through that lens this week. And last night's teaching made me realize that three of those questions I can answer with a yes, absolutely. When Austen died, there w...

Well it was a wonderful birthday! Brendon was working on the Right Now conference all week, but Friday was the last day. So all of the Right Now conference staffers had a big breakfast. Lil and I went as his guests. :) Then my sweet daddi o came up and took us to The Cheesecake Factory Friday night and then also to Square Burger in downtown McKinney on Saturday. {Have I mentioned that I looove downtown McKinney? I'll have to save that for another post.} And of course, Lilleigh was a sweet little angel for both of our outings. Her good behavior tells me she likes eating out in restaurants. :) Then the next night my sweet friend Randi and her hubby and baby hosted us for another birthday dinner. Stellar best friend, right? And beforehand, we took family photos of them. That was actually part of McKinley's first birthday gift - first year photos - and we just now got around to it. It was just so hot in August... I think the photos turned out pretty great! And as you can...

I've been a little MIA in blog land. I guess I don't know how much to share or where to even begin. I'll say this - I wasn't prepared for the curve ball life has thrown this week. Sometimes life is just hard. I know it's through trials that God strengthens us the most. But it's really hard to be thankful for them in the midst of them. I'll share more in weeks to come.  For now, check out this video. The music video part is kinda lame, but the song is beautiful - too beautiful for me to just write out the lyrics. It needs to be heard. Close your eyes and listen to the truths in this song.

Just thought I'd give a little update on things around the Lankford house... Titi and Aunt Momo visit!   Lilleigh's "Titi" and Aunt Morgan ("Momo") visited early last week. It was a fun time for both all of us, but especially Lilleigh and Morgan! Sick again And while their visit was fun, Lilleigh caught Morgan's cold, which was actually thought to be allergies because of how long it had lingered. Major bummer! :( And not just the normal cold. Because kids rub their eyes so much, colds commonly spread to the eyes and turn into pink eye, which is what we are battling here. It's so sad! Last night in the middle of the night, Lil woke up, so I nursed her and laid her back in the her crib. (I'm big on nursing being a source of comfort, and I have no problem with that.) But a few minutes later she was crying again, so we cleaned her eyes of all the goop, gave her eye drops and baby Tylenol, changed her diaper, etc. We did all we could for...

Despite the fact that I am home all day, getting things done around the house doesn't seem to be as easy as one would think. Most of the time, I set up a play area for Lilleigh with all of her toys to entertain her, while I go turn off the stove or start a load of laundry. Despite all if the entertain options, every time it seems that I am interrupted with the same whining sound - ehhhhhhh - only to have that whine get louder and louder. She can only be silenced when I pick her up. In response to such whining, a common phrase around our house has become: I promise, I am not going to leave you, silly girl . But that's a promise that I know isn't mine to make. I am reminded of Isaiah 49:15, Can a woman forget her nursing child And have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you. How can that be? I feel as if I could never forget her. How powerful God's love for us must be. And another thought, Job 14:5 Since his days ...

As believers we are called to forgive others. This is an act of obedience. Not to mention, it'd be pretty hypocritical for us not to forgive others, considering He's forgiven us. But what about when someone hurts you or someone you love? Intentionally. How do you forgive someone who has acted maliciously?  With the anniversary of 9/11, I know many of those who lost loved ones are facing this same question. How can they forgive men who hijacked planes and flew them into buildings? How can you forgive men who killed so many innocent people? Who took fathers, mothers, husbands, wives, brothers, and sisters. And on purpose. All to serve a violent, vengeful god, whom they call Allah. (Why would they even want to serve such a god? Don't get me started on that.) How can you forgive such people? This issue has been heavy on my heart. And though the timing is fitting, I'm not talking about 9/11 . Forgiveness is a hard issue. If I'm honest with myself, I'm sure a ...

As I was cleaning up the kitchen this morning, I was reminded of an incident that happened over three years ago, when we were still living in our apartment. I'm not sure what even reminded me of this event, but I feel inclined to share it with you, which basically means I feel that the Lord wants me to share this story with you. Hopefully it'll will strike a cord with at least one of you out there. It was probably 8 o'clock one evening. And it was winter, so it was dark. Hubby and I were driving home from somewhere. There was a community of houses and town homes next to several apartment complexes, our complex being one of them. We often drove through a neighborhood to get to our apartment. This particular night as we were driving, we noticed an elderly woman (at least in her late 80's) sitting on the curb. It looked as if she had fallen. So we pulled over. My heart was pounding. Of course, it's the right thing to pull over to help this woman, but we are also ve...

Bittersweet: Thoughts on Change, Grace, and Learning the Hard Way I just started reading Bittersweet by Shauna Niequist. I read her first book Cold Tangerines last year. It was fabulous. Today I began this one. I think her prologue pretty much sums up my life these past six months and the way I have come to redefine my faith. "The idea of bittersweet is changing the way I live, unraveling and re-weaving the way I understand life. Bittersweet is the idea that in all things there is both something broken and something beautiful, that there is a sliver of lightness on even the darkest of nights, a shadow of hope in every heartbreak, and that rejoicing is no less rich when it contains a splinter of sadness. "Bittersweet is the practice of believing that we really do need both the bitter and the sweet, and that a life of nothing but sweetness rots both your teeth and your soul. Bitter is what makes us strong, what forces us to push through, what helps us earn the lines on...