Author: Lyndsay Taylor

So, I am really thankful for a fine group of ladies on Facebook that are taking a health challenge with me! Most of us are on slightly different paths, but the thing we have in common is that we are letting go of certain foods/ingredients that we know are bad for our health, but that we tend to over eat. We began our journey over New Years and all of us have different ideas of how long we’ll do it. I hope we learn so much from each other that we never go back to unwise eating!

I personally am going without sugar (except what occurs naturally in nutrient dense foods such as fruit) and white flour. I always have tried to stay away from this stuff anyway, because I was raised on a really healthy diet and also because when I found out I had adrenal fatigue almost three years ago, I made specific changes. But sugar, dear, dear, terrible wonderful sugar… I “knew” I couldn’t eliminate it so I tried to regulate it. That certainly works for many types of people; I don’t think everyone needs to totally cut out sweets. My grandmother eats one piece of chocolate every day. ONE! That gene did not make it’s way to me…

So why does it matter so much? I’m sure I’ll post more about this later, but sugar really is terrible for our bodies, for starters.  Also, I’m sad to say that I have had 34 1/2 years to eat cookies in moderation but have failed! To be perfectly honest, I’m fighting a battle, and it brings more freedom in my life to know I am not eating ANY of the bad stuff as opposed to struggling with myself about HOW MUCH of the bad stuff I can have. I feel like I’ve already won the battle because I’m no longer bargaining and battling with myself. The answer is “no, not any,” instead of having a taste of it and then dealing with the old routine.  I think I’m learning from my past tries at moderation that if you do have a problem with sugar, you’re only setting yourself up for failure by eating small amounts of it, say, on the weekend, because you’re never letting yourself be free of the addiction.  This is an issue of our minds and will power but it’s also an issue of what our bodies are expecting…If our bodies no longer expect it, then the battle is so much easier.

Silliest example ever, but I was watching The Holiday over Christmas Break and one of leading ladies finally realizes that this guy in her life was poison in disguise, so she writes to him: “Please don’t contact me. I know that I need to get over you, so please allow me the chance.” As nice as birthday cake and easter egg jellybeans are, I need the chance to get this out of my system and relieve myself of the burden of constantly trying (and failing) to regulate sweets.

I’m going to blog about our journey at least once a month, so stay in touch and feel free to join us.

Oh, Cain. Such a fun character to write about! The third human on the planet who is known for one thing: Killing the fourth. Yet as I read this story once again through the lenses of “how does God reveal His desire for closeness with people?”, I find some kindness and truth.

In Genesis 4:4 & 5, Cain and his brother Abel bring offerings to the Lord. God looks with favor on Abel’s, but He did not look with favor on Cain’s. We aren’t told why. I’ve heard different reasons, such as Abel’s offering was an animal so therefore there was blood shed for remission of sins and Cain’s offering was from the ground. But I think an offering of the first fruits of whatever line of work one was in was the sacrifice God was after. I don’t know, but I do know this: It was no secret to Cain what he had done wrong. In Genesis 4:7, God says to Cain: “If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?”

Sometimes intimacy with God can be downright uncomfortable because we know exactly what He asked for and we chose not to give it. Does it sometimes makes us angry that He sees? Does it sometimes make us jealous of others? What does this tell us about nearness between God and Cain?

*God saw the offerings personally and cared about the motives of their hearts.
*God made it no secret what would please Him and what would not. He wasn’t tricky.
*God spoke audibly to Cain after his heart was downcast, with an explanation and a warning.

After Cain killed Abel, a couple other touch points happened between Cain and God. God gives the punishment that Cain will be a restless wanderer, no longer having any luck with farming, and driven from the presence of the Lord. Cain’s response is of course despair and he specifically says in verse 13 & 14, “My punishment is more than I can bear. Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from Your presence.”  That was no small thing to Cain. He was heartbroken over it. Despite the first murderer in history’s actions, this man had a relationship with God! And the last thing God says to him is, “I will protect you.” He puts a mark on his head so no one would kill him. A Father showing discipline and mercy at the same time.

I am always saying when we come to a worship gathering, it’s not about the music…and it’s not. It’s about meeting with Almighty God and spending time with Him. When we come together to sing, or when we go alone in prayer, or just as we focus our minds on awareness of Him throughout the day, we are exercising the most awesome privileges in history because we are welcomed into the presence of God, where our hearts will be seen and personally known. He will speak, He will ask things of us, and we will have a chance to respond. He is a loving Father with a perfect balance of discipline and mercy, and because of Jesus, if we accept Him, we would never lose His friendship.

I am really excited about the year ahead of us as we seek God’s Word together! My hope is to have 52 living love stories from Genesis and beyond. One of my favorite scriptures is Ephesians 2:13, which declares that we who once were far away are now brought near through the blood of Jesus! Yes, our hearts should do a somersault! As a worshipper, there are a few things that really ignite my passion for the Lord, and being brought near to God through the precious blood of Jesus poured out for me is one of those things.

This first love story reminds us of why we need that precious blood, why we are so indebted to our Savior Jesus.  The story weaving throughout scripture begins here…

Just in the act of creation itself, God showed personal attention and desire for relationship, but I want to spend a moment on just two details. One, Genesis 2:7 tells us He breathed into Adam’s nostrils the breath of life. God could have commanded Adam’s life into existence, but did He? Did He just speak humankind into existence as He did the other masterpieces? No, He got His hands dirty…literally. And once the man was formed from the dust of the ground, He bent down and put His mouth to face of the first man and breathed. That is intimate. I’m thinking: How many faces do you get that close to, close enough to breathe on? He didn’t have to do that. God has always been about face to face encounters. God has always been about reaching us.

Two, after Adam and Eve had sinned, Genesis 3:8 says that God came walking in the garden looking for them. They were hiding because their sin had brought about an awareness…an awareness of evil, an awareness of how it feels to be ashamed and wish time could be rolled back–oh, how we all know that sickening feeling–and maybe even an awareness of how good they had had it. In having my own children, I’m flooded with sadness just thinking of the moment my girls find out about certain evils in the world…and worse yet, my heart breaks at the thought of when they are entrapped in their own sin someday. I wonder if that is just a tiny glimpse into the heart of God, how He felt that day when Adam and Eve lost their pure childlike innocence. And yet, He was still coming their way. Perhaps He came in the cool of the evening every day to talk with His friends. It doesn’t sound from this passage as if this little stroll was a rare occurrance. This time, did He come to hear the whole story out of their own mouths? Yes. To punish them and cast them out of Paradise? Yes. We can’t get out of that. God has never changed. He has never swayed on the standard of holiness and truth; He won’t do it. But as we know, God would make a way–crafted entirely before the creation of man–that His standard of purity could once again be met by man. God has always been about finding us.

I absolutely love New Year. It is so much fun to start new ideas, put new practices into place, have a bit of a challenge. There are several priorities on my heart on a continual basis (actually more than I can really handle yet I will persevere by God’s grace) but these are two extras for this year…

One of the things I’d like to do is a weekly blog entry that will go along with our worship set at church each Sunday. I blogged about this last week–I want to go through the whole Bible, pulling out the instances that God revealed He was all about intimacy between Himself and mankind. Characters, stories, passages, proof. I started it last Sunday, and I will blog this week about Week 1: Adam and Eve! My call to lead worship and sing/song write isn’t primarily about music; it is primarily about revealing the heart of God to the world and perhaps even more so to the Bride that He is jealous for. I really hope that this 52 Sundays idea will be Holy Spirit written!

Another thing for this year is going to be quite a challenge, but I have a fellowship of ladies who are doing it together and that is GO SUGAR & WHITE FLOUR FREE! I really want this. I want it because sweets are too important to me, because my weight and health isn’t good, and because I need to be free from the battle. Why total elimination instead of moderation? Because I’ve had 34 1/2 years to eat sugar moderately and I still haven’t gotten it under control, and because it’s just too serious and dangerous to play around with anymore. Blogs, interviews, and links to come on this!

I want to share this real quick…I ran across this little piece of paper in my Bible today. It was from when I went through the Bible Study “Believing God” at least 7 years ago. It said: “I’m believing God: 1) For victory in my every day life–schedule, balance, ministry, family, etc. 2)That He will accomplish in and through my life His perfect will, and my part in that plan, and that He would give me peace about it.”

At that time, I didn’t have peace or clarity about my life, but He really did answer that prayer! So my prayer for YOU and for all of us who are seeking a deeper walk with Jesus, is that we would have victory and peace in our every day lives, and have peace about our part in His plan.  May the things we set our minds and hearts to be acts of obedience, because if they are, there is success in the journey. Amen, and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

God is so good. This is one of those mornings I needed Him to break through my “self” and teach me something that would make a big difference in my heart…and He did.

It’s Christmas Eve and I do usually love the holidays, but with adrenal fatigue, not sleeping very well the past couple months, and also just being an introvert who needs significant times of quiet and alone time in between activities, over the past couple years I have more of a “hold on tight and get through it” kind of feeling about Christmas. This year I said no to several gatherings and opportunities. I’ve hardly done any baking or cooking. My shopping was done throughout the year so no marathon shopping days for me. But still, here in the home stretch of Christmastime, I am exhausted and not exactly feeling the love for this blessed season! I went to bed thinking last night that I might not make it to our big Mulhall Family Christmas Eve in Louisville.

This morning, Jack said, “You know, Lyndsay, the way we feel right now is like the way Mary and Joseph felt on the first Christmas. It’s kind of appropriate that we are tired and things are crazy and it’s just not entirely comfortable…”Then we did our family devotion from Ps. 118:1 — good news! His love endures forever-!- and we prayed.

And all this culminated in me having such a peace that my expectations of how I will feel on Christmas, both physically and emotionally, is absolutely not the point. My comfort level at people’s houses is not the point. For a few days, I surely can keep my eyes on the precious Reason for this season and turn my eyes away from how loud it is or how I don’t feel good or how I want to go home a little earlier than I can. It’s not about me.

I know of at least two families who have lost a loved one in the past day or two. This Christmas is not about them eating pie and being where they want to be. No one wants to be at a funeral home on Christmas. We’ll be going to the nursing home tomorrow–ironically, a place I’ve grown very comfortable in! But there will be people there without gifts and without family. They don’t want to be there. Tons of friends of mine and their kids are sick and probably won’t get to travel and see grandparents this Christmas because of the flu.

Christmas isn’t about us though. Whatever state we find ourselves in this Christmas, just like we are learning to do in our normal daily trials of life, let’s turn our faces and abide in Christ.

Ok…So I have an idea! I am really excited about it and hope I can keep with it. Sometimes I forget things I started. I have so many papers laying around to remind me what I’m supposed to be doing, but I eventually stop looking at them. But the idea…

I have had the privilege and challenge of leading songs at a church (Journey: A Community of Grace, in Louisville) for about nine months now. I’m seeing how my different gifts and experiences are being used now on a weekly basis; I’m seeing that leading worship is about way more than singing, playing, and keeping a band together. My strongest spiritual gifts are encouragement and teaching, and those naturally come out in the worship leader position. I have one task and it is from the Lord–I am to be a friend to the Bridegroom. As His friend, I am to hear His heart, declare His love, and urge the Bride into deeper fellowship until He returns. And that is why I call it a privilege and a challenge!

So the idea I have that I think the Lord has laid on my heart is to start at Genesis and go through the Bible looking for characters and stories that reveal God’s heart for intimacy with mankind. Who really knew Him? What did He say to them? How does He show in His Word how He feels about us? Sort of as a side note, when it comes up in Scripture, I also want to include this thought: How is music – worshipping through singing and playing instruments, dancing, clapping, raising hands, putting prayers to tunes – useful in this intimacy with God?

Each week, I want to highlight a different character and passage of Scripture in this blog and then share that main idea also on Sunday morning. We come to church sometimes a little out of it. We come to every day sometimes a little out of it, do we not? We need something to stir our hearts and remind us of what matters, or at least I know I do! And what matters is nearness, communion, with the Lover of our souls. My prayer is that in highlighting these passages about deep and genuine relationship with God we will see a seamless living love story…and that we will choose to go all in, making it our story, rearranging life until it is truly His living in us.

Today we had a precious family day. It started by going to church and worshipping the King…the baby in the manger who grew up to become the man of sorrows…the One who will return on a white horse, His robe dipped in the blood of the nations.

I am so grateful that I am able to stay home with my children and that we chose to homeschool. Not for the reason you might think, after what happened today in Connecticut…but because of this:

We live a slow life. We look each other in the eyes over and over, every day. We’re kind of crazy about each other, and we say so. We write down the things the kids say. We take pictures every day. There’s no way the girls and I couldn’t know that the man of the house loves us and thinks we are beautiful.

I know of no other way to breathe in the days than being home together…studying what we feel is important and on a higher grade level, too…eating (usually) meals together each night that I can feel good about…not feeling rushed to get to bed.

The slow life allows for top priorities to be met. It makes room for scripture and prayer time as a family. It makes room for personal quiet times to be developed. It makes room for exercise, art, music, and strategic relationships. And it allows for days where we don’t feel all that energetic and we just want to stay in our jammies. It allows for afternoons playing in the mud with the dog! It allows for TIME. A precious commodity.

I don’t know how my girls will choose to live their lives when they grow up. They may become fast paced driven business women, and that’s probably a fun option. Some people are made for that, and that feels like a life of no regrets to them! That’s cool! It takes us all to make this global community work. But I feel very blessed to get a CHOICE of how I’m going to live my life and run my household.

As I was walking today, I was just thinking what a wonderful, remarkable (thanks to the Lord and my family and friends) life I have had. Sometimes I get bummed that certain parts of my life are over, or at least feel over for the time being. Each season of my life I have been wholeheartedly present, but never more so than now. This season of family…it’s the most challenging but the most precious. It’s worth fighting for. It’s worth fighting the ways of this world for. I’m learning to love and persevere. I’m learning to pray and not just think and say that I pray. I’m teaching my girls some things in our calendar have to go so that more important things have space to expand…

Breathe in our lungs, Spirit of God, and let our lives truly be for You. I’m not saying I know how to do that…but I want to be still enough to see You move, quiet enough to hear You speak, slow enough to sense Your heart.

I love the story in the Bible about the Emmaus road (Luke 24). How Jesus was walking with these disciples, these disciples who were confused and grieved over the events that had just come to pass. They explained to him that this wonderful prophet had been killed and now his body is missing, and they just didn’t know what to make of it. Some believed He had been resurrected, some didn’t. These guys sensed that this was a dark time for which they had no explanation and they didn’t have any assurance it was going to get better.

So Jesus spent time with them…Just as He had always done with people, He hung out. Being the very Word of God, He spoke the same truth He always spoke. He told the love story from the beginning.

And after breaking bread with them, they realized who they had been with, and asked each other, “Were our hearts not burning within us?” Were our hearts…not…burning…within us?

Jesus’ Spirit dwells in us. He has moved in. He is who He says He is in His Word, and the story is beyond my fairy tale dreams! This is for real. He loves us and wants to walk this road with us, every step of the way. Are our hearts not burning within us in acknowledgement of this reality? Burning with thankfulness…joy…desire for greater depth?

Sometimes when something big happens to someone that we don’t know very well (but could have), don’t we wish we knew them better? If it’s a bad situation, we wish we were in their inner circle so we could minister to them in a meaningful way. If it’s a good situation, we can celebrate for them from afar but we’re not exactly invited to the party.  I think those Emmaus guys had hearts burning for relationship. They had been kind of on the outskirts, maybe onlookers to the whole Jesus story thing. Maybe they knew people who really knew Him though, and maybe they wished they had gotten in on it sooner.

When it comes to Jesus, there’s no reason why some of us can be close and others cannot. Is your heart burning for relationship? Whether you consider yourself a believer or not, does your heart burn to get closer, to really get in on this thing? We’re all in the same boat. We all need a Savior who will turn our face back to Him over and over again…who will lead us back to the fire of His love as our flames begin to flicker dimly out here…

I want to offer this last thought–Life is too short and people’s opinions are too fickle for you to hold back and resist offering Him your ALL! In praise and worship, in sharing His love story with others, in using your gifts, and more than any of those things, in connection with Him in the quiet of your heart and mind, BURN! Burn all day and all night. Get close to the fire and you’ll always have enough.

A few days ago, I had a little homeschoolin’ momma/house wife epiphany. What if I could do my days without time?

Some days there are things we have to go to at a certain time, but actually, that’s not the norm for me and my kids. We protect our days and evenings, because of my fatigue and sleep situation, but also because we want to not be running around busy. We want to be intentional in what we’re doing, who we’re with…

For me, this means that I get up when I get up (within reason, there is an alarm clock set at the latest possible waking time!) Then I have a little list of things I want to do, each taking between 5 and 15 minutes. It has been so awesome to actually do these first thing in the morning instead of wearing out and not having time for it later in the day. Here’s my personally muy importante steps: Open the Word and spend some time in reading, specific prayer, giving thanks. Make the bed. Grab the mini-vac and clean up a little dog hair! (So simple but it makes me really happy to not have to see it all day!) Hit the mat and do a few stretches and exercises. (Don’t be impressed, we’re talking 5 minutes here.) Put on clothes and shoes and coat and take the dog for a romp outside right in front of our house since the kids are home. AH. So many issues taken care of head on! All this time, the girls have a list of things they can be doing on their own to help their day run smoothly. For all you morning people who are thinking, “Lyn, where’s the epiphany? This is what normal people do…” I am telling you, I am not normal!

Then it’s some hot tea and breakfast, and school with Selah/Yemi however long it takes. Because we ate breakfast whenever, then lunch can be eaten when school is done (because we would never ever do schoolwork for longer than 3 hours). Lunch is simple and we get at least 3 of our F & V servings in. After lunch, I just want to play and spend time with my kids. I fail at this A LOT. When they’re playing or watching a show, I do work…but I want to change that. I remind myself there is time for that later. So when we’re tired of playing, a snack and then it’s what I like to call Soul Restoration time. We go to our rooms and do our thing…Sleep, chill, play quietly…For me, I might rest, blog, sing, spend more time in the Word, exercise. All good things for my little introvert soul. This is usually when Selah has her quiet time, but she might start having it first thing since she’ll have some free time then.

When we’re done with that, we need to focus on housework and cooking dinner. I think my kids should have things they can do to help. Working on that. We eat supper with a devotion, do game night or movie night or just hang out, and then it’s been dark for a little while already and it’s time to go to bed! After they go to bed, Jack and I are so blessed to have some time to chill…and not looking at the clock, when I feel tired and sleepy I am not fighting it. It’s fun to get in bed and see what time it is. 🙂