I Have a Tendency to Make Myself Laugh

A Little Lesson in Prosperity

Wow I have favor! I know that God has been working over time on my behalf this summer. When Pastor Julia declared it was going to be a supernatural summer I was happy. From a strictly logical stand point it’s a great slogan. However, once I deposited the word in my spirit I began to get excited.

God has blessed both Vincent and I incredibly in that past few months. I received my dream job, Vincent and I got a brand new car, our relationship with each other as well as our relationship with God has grown leaps and bounds. How come we have such favor? It’s simple we live to give.

This summer we took our giving to the next level. So we gave his sister his car (we didn’t give it to her discounted or with extra hidden expenses we GAVE her the car). So far we’ve given a Kenneth Cole watch, expensive Nordstrom jewelry, gift certificates ranging from $10-$50, build-a-bears, books, and tons of Starbucks teas and coffees.  

Why am I telling you this? Not to brag trust me, I could care less if you learned of any of this. This is more of a record of things we have given so when someone gives us a car, a nice watch, expensive jewelry, gift certificates, teddy bears, books and Starbucks I will be able to pull this up to prove a single point. You reap what you sow.

It’s a Biblical principal that I think so many people don’t take past their Sunday offering or behavior towards people. Yes it counts there but just wait and see what God is going to do for my almost husband and I. And what he will surely do for you if you grasp the concept of reaping and sowing. Linz

I'm Getting Married in 100 Days...

... weird. Are you freaking out? I'm actually quite content. I know I havent sent out any invitations or save the date stuff yet but oh well. I'm still getting married in 100 days; and I got my dress last week... I'm almost married and I am very excited! Linz

PS Dont hate

It's Long and Possibly Offensive... Enjoy!

In Christian Education Pastor Julia has been teaching on holiness. On top of that, I’ve been reading Matters of the Heart by Juanita Bynum again and God has been speaking to me. Pastor Julia gave us homework to study some scriptures on holiness and turning from the old man and embracing the new. While I’m rarely in class, I still wanted to be a part, so I wrote a paper. I don’t think we have to write a paper, but I did anyway. It’s kind of a paper/blog entry. Either way it rambles on a bit, which is exactly my style! Enjoy!

The more I go deeper into God this week the more He has been revealing to me the importance of holiness. If there is anything unclean in my heart, even something I may categorize as small and meaningless, God cannot dwell there. Without God my daily life, ministry and even my relationships are meaningless. Holiness isn’t a good idea, or extra credit points with God, it is a requirement. When people play around with holiness/unholiness they are going to fall. God requires 100% commitment. You can act holy all day and night; but if your mind/heart are perverse (in any sense of the word) it’s over. Then really did you commit yourself completely to holiness (or God for that matter)? So you didn’t have sex with her, did you want to so bad it distracted you? So you didn’t act rude to her, but did you say something disrespectful in your mind? What is in you is more powerful then what comes out if you. So if it’s in you it’s only a matter of time before it comes out.

For a month of so, Vincent had been irritating me. He’s been on this kick lately that has caused him to focus more on God than anything else (so annoying I know…). Anytime I have been frustrated about something or someone he has asked me if it is going to matter when I’m 80. For the first month or so, it drove me crazy. I wanted to be upset and possibly cry. I wanted my pity party and he wouldn’t let me have one. After the frustration wore off, I began to evaluate what he was saying. Really are the things I worry about, or the things I get upset about something that will really upset me in 60 years. Will I care that sister so and so is mad at me or that this event didn’t go the way I planned? Will I be upset that Vincent didn’t go out with me after rehearsal or that I didn’t make an extra $100 in my paycheck? Or will I wish I spent more time with God? Will I be mad that I didn’t go visit my parents more? Or that I didn’t discover an anointed CD earlier because I was too busy with secular music (it’s happened). For the past month or so, my focus has been on the things that truly matter to not only God but also to me in the long run.

Once I have experienced life, will I care that at one point Christina Aguilera had a song out called Dirrty and though it was vulgar had an amazing beat? Will it really matter that at one point I felt I needed to cuss to be cool? I doubt I will even think about those things. I’m sure I will look back over my life and be proud of the time I spent helping make life better for others and myself. The time I spent in my word, the time I spent worshiping God (without a mic in my hand). The hours I spent with kids who just needed love and attention. Those are the things I will care about.

It’s easy to care for the things of this world. However, that is not what pleases God. I’ve learned this month that if you focus on what matters in the long run your life will be happier. I cant be torn up for days because so and so is upset with me. I can’t be so driven to watch a scary movie that will only give me nightmares and leave me scared to be home alone. I cant listen to songs about sex and then expect to have a holy thoughts towards my fiancé. This may be a bit harsh for someone to read but it is what God requires of us: To leave the cares of the world behind is to truly focus on what matters.

You can call me religious, you can call me crazy, but I know what my God requires of me. Though I know I don’t/wont always get it right it is my life gold to strive for holiness and leave the cares of this world behind. Love me or leave me that’s who I now am!   

You All Dont Read But It's Cool... I've Moved on!

Hello readers… if you still are out there. I had been feeling as though I was writing to the air. It’s fine that very few people read this. That has, however, made my writing less entertaining and my entries few and far between. It’s all good though because your timing couldn’t be more perfect. I finally have my perfect job.

Now don’t freak out I’m not a mom yet! I am, however, the newest paid staff member at Seattle International Church. I was shocked when they offered me a job. I had just started a new job that paid more that I had ever made in my life. Then the church came along and made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.

I just feel blessed to be favored by the Lord. Hopefully I’ll be able to update you all every once in a while but don’t hold your breath. Thanks for reading! Linz

Curious? Here's the Update!

Okay so I know it’s been a while since I’ve written anything at all. I’ve been so busy it’s exhausting. I don’t think God created me to be this busy; but until the end of the month this is my life: Monday, Tuesday and Thursday I work for my Dad from 8:30-1:30. After that I hop in my car and drive 30 minutes to my second job, which I generally work (mon, tues, thurs) 2:00 till about 5:00 depending on if I have church or choir that night. On Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays I work 10-4 and then Sunday is church. It’s definitely been a challenge for me, but I’m making it work nonetheless. Hopefully that excuses my recent absence from the blog. Well I guess now I should do my best to bring you all up to speed at what’s been going on in my life.

Last Wednesday I turned 22. I don’t feel any different or older, not that I usually do. Most of my friends told me that they felt so much older after their 22 birthday. I guess I’m not like them in that manner though. I think that if you go out and drink and party on/after you turn 21 a year of that will make you feel older. Stuff like that grows you up quickly. Since I chose not to experience that I think that there is still a lot of innocence left in me; and I like it like that.

I’ve been dealing with a lot of emotions lately. It’s funny what getting married will do to you (or I guess I should say preparing to get married). Before Vincent I rarely cried and was hardly ever upset about things. However, once your life begins to drastically change it’s only natural to be a little emotional. To be honest though it’s madness. I haven’t been this sensitive since the 7^th grade… and those are some days I left behind for real! That’s what I’ve been working on lately. Yes getting married is a big change, so naturally some stress will result from all the mental, physically, spiritual and emotional changes. I am, however, determined to gain more control over my feels… wish me luck.

Really nearly everything in my life is different then it was the last time I posted… and it’s only been what… a few weeks? Minister Paul has moved to serve in a different ministry and now we have a new minister of music Pastor Charles Hill. It’s funny because I’ve grown up hearing about him since I was about 15. He’s anointed, talented and has experience running a ministry. I’m so excited because I know he’s going to be such an asset to the kingdom and I’m looking forward to working with him and his family.

Last Friday I had my first real TBN experience. Bishop had told me a few months ago that they were going to be hosting Praise the Lord on TBN and that I was needed to lead worship. To me that’s no problem, leading worship is leading worship, I am rarely intimidated by numbers or cameras so I was actually excited for the new experience. I made my way to Tacoma bright and early Friday morning. I was the first one there, which wasn’t a surprise. I actually go there early because I have a tendency to get lost and I didn’t want to be late (PS I still got lost). Once everyone got there we went to the green room to get all the information and to relax. It was there, 20 minutes before the show was to start, that I found out that I was one of the special guests. Bishop had said things a few times but never to me directly so I wasn’t really thinking I would be there to do anything but worship. Now like I said before leading worship is so easy for me, speaking on the other hand is one of my weaker points. Don’t get me wrong I can work it out, but my gifting is much more in the music realm then anywhere else. Regardless the program went well. My voice wasn’t in the best condition but really all that is vanity so I really did my best to avoid dwelling on it. It was definitely a new experience though and I’m sure I’ll do it again.

That’s about it. My Fourth of July was great. We almost set a tree on fire when a renegade firework crashed and exploded in it. Also I’ll have you know that Mr. Juice of Jamba Juice has brought back my favorite drink (Peanut Butter Mood). See it does help to write letters. Well that’s it. Like my mom said if you want funny posts then comment something you know I’ll get fired up about. Regardless keep checking. I’m going to do my best to at least post once a week… life is just life right now so what can you do really? Linz

Change Is Coming Over Me...

Things are so weird right now. With my work schedule all muddled and messed up I was sitting here trying to think about what I did this weekend so I could write a weekend update. It took me a few minutes to realize that it’s Thursday. Go figure.

Don't Freak Out... I'm Getting Married!

Hello everyone. I’ve been reflecting recently on the past year and how crazy it has been. With the whole Vincent part of my year aside it’s still been crazy. Being able to operate in my call, getting a new job, my brother graduating and moving to Northgate. It’s just been a busy year; and then you add all of the Vincent stuff to it and it goes to a whole new level of crazy. Really if someone told me that they were engaged after a few months of courting I’d be nervous too. I’ve come to the conclusion that pretty much nobody in the world is going to understand Vincent and me. Man… I don’t even understand Vincent and me. It’s just one of those God things… yeah, people have been talking about how they are just perplexed by us, how we got together, and how fast we are taking certain aspects of our relationship. Really all I have to say to that is trust us. And if you cant trust us trust God. And if you can’t trust God… then who can you trust really? So yeah that’s a little word from me on the relationship front. Do with it what you will.

Weekend Stuff...

Well I’m back to it. Back to work, back to job-hunting, back to the weekend updates… you know the usual stuff! This weekend was so busy it flew by. Unfortunately this was my last weekend with Vincent close by… it will now be about six months till I get to see him on a daily basis again. And I know, I know it’s good for us. People you don’t even need to say it… absence makes the heart grow fonder and so on and so forth… yeah I don’t care about that I just hope time flies and I’m glad he gets to spend this time with his family!

Friday: Friday we just packed. Pretty much for hours and hours we packed. Then it took us a few more hours (maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration) to move everything down to my truck (which was illegally parked in the garage). Let me just say that the UW on moving days is a mad house. People are all scrubby lookin’ and stinky. Yeah not Vincent but nearly every other man in the whole dormitory was nasty! When we finally moved all of Vincent’s stuff to my car he went to check how much money was on his card. He had about $14 left on there and the store was closed. So to save him the $14 we went to the nearest vending machine and cleaned it out! Yeah, I have licorice and jalapeno chips for days! Then we went off to Kent, moved everything into his new/temporary room, and relaxed for all of 10 minutes before hitting the road again! Since it was our Friday night/date night we decided we would just eat in so we went to Jones BBQ and got some ribs to go, grabbed a movie at Hollywood Video and went back to the empty dorm room. That was pretty much the extent of my Friday.

Saturday: Was really equally as busy. I cleaned my room and took care of some house cleaning things and then it was off to see Vincent for the last time at the U. It was fun and only sad when one of us would bring it up. It’s crazy that we are going from seeing each other everyday for hours to seeing each other three times a week and two of those times is church (and if you know us at church you know that doesn’t count for quality time). Anyway we hung out, took his TV to my place, worked on ministry stuff and then went for a walk around the UW for the last time with the RA perks. We went to this amazingly cool dormitory called Hansee Hall (I think). It’s all old school and brick with cool lights and a free game room. We played pool there and finally for the first time in a long time I beat Vincent at a game that requires skill! Go ahead and laugh but he beats me at nearly everything else so I am proud. After my victory we walked back to the empty dorm for the last time.

Sunday: I had the most frustrating Sunday morning I’ve had since I lived with my parents (nothing against them but waking up at 6am to go to church would frustrate anyone). I woke up to hear my roommate in the shower, which meant that I had to wait. It through off my whole morning but I bounced back leaving the house only about 5 minutes late. I go out to my car and hit the unlock button on my clicker thing and… my car does not unlock. So then I try to manually unlock it, which of course does not disable the alarm. So there I am in my Sunday sitting in my explorer with the alarm going off. Priceless. Since my car was unlocked improperly it refused to start. It took me about 5 minutes to get a hold of someone to take me to church. Once I finally got to church things went a whole lot smoother. Service was great and once it was over it was time to say goodbye to Vincent until Wednesday. We kept it from getting too sad and my brother took me to Radio Shack to fix my clicker. Once I got home I went to my room to change and saw that someone had been there. Vincent had left a card and some candy on my bed. It was really sweet and really made my day that much better. Then it was off to my parent’s house and to Wiley’s Baccalaureate (God knows I cant spell that word). It was great and Wiley did a great job. Then I went home, talked to Vincent and went to bed.  

So life is shifting for me right now. I have an interview tomorrow at 9:00am I already don’t think I want the job. What a waste of time. Well I should at least give it a shot! Until the next time I have something to write about… Linz

I've Learned To Live Holy, I've Learned How to Live Right, I've Learned to Suffer, For if I Suffer I Gain Eternal Life...

I feel like every week I grow so much that it’s hard to recognize who I am by the end of it. This is definitely a growth spurt season for me and I think a lot of times we view trails and changes as a negative when God only sees the positive finish line. For the past few weeks I’ve been searching for jobs (getting some and losing some but not feeling that any of them were right for me), reconnecting and disconnecting with people (that is one thing in life that I believe will be constant), and facing harsh realities about myself that has done nothing but force me to change.

I think it’s easy for us to live life on autopilot like we have everything together. Sometime, I think, we can’t help it. If we focused too much on our imperfections we would be in a constant state of worry, wondering if we would ever get life right. This Sunday God brought something to light in my life that I knew was there but never understood how much it was hindering me. God created us with a desire to please Him and sometimes, even in the church, we misplace the desire to please God with the desire to please man. I didn’t realize how strong that was on me until it broke me down to the point of tears all service this last Sunday morning.

Please understand that it is rare that I talk about things like this so early in my healing process; but I truly believe that this spirit is destroying Christians left and right and I need to get this testimony out.

Back to the Blogs

I Need Your Help!

Vincent wants to name one of our sons Flavio... we would call him Flav for short... It's funny, but is it practical? Let me know what you think. Flavio Humphrey??? Yes or No? Linz

Pictures!

Click on the link to see...

Me and the almost husband!

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a220/Julindsey/Cute.jpg

Dave and Jess and the baby to be!

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a220/Julindsey/DSC01892.jpg

Us and our famous logoed Dairy Queen ice cream cake!

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a220/Julindsey/DSC01864.jpg

Daddy, Grammies, Mrs. Humphrey and Me... a bit blurry but worth a post!

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a220/Julindsey/DSC01915.jpg

These boys are trouble!

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a220/Julindsey/DSC01902.jpg

My crazy family!

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a220/Julindsey/DSC01916.jpg

Back to the Tried and True Weekend Update!

I know it’s been a while since I have done a weekend update. Really it’s been a while since a weekend has been so fun that it has merited some recognition. This weekend however, has proven it’s self worthy to be updated!

Friday: Friday Vincent and I pretended to be parents! We went to David’s baseball game (a little boy at church) left after a few innings and then went to Asyia’s dance recital. Both were funny in their own ways. There was a little boy (#13) on the team David was playing who was a little overweight. In between the batters he would reach for a granola bar that he kept in his back pocket… he never did take a bite but it was hysterical to watch him attempt to! Then Asyia’s recital… really it all takes me back to Jr. High when these girls try to be really… well sexy. They dance with their hair in their face and I’m sure in their minds they looked like Britney Spears… I thought they looked like Cousin It! It was fun to watch though. Aysia did great! She was the tallest in her class (that girl is going to be huge!) and she danced really well! After the recital we went back to the dorm and attempted to watch a movie but instead fell asleep… yeah we are so fun! Then I went home…

Saturday: I slept in a bit and then went off to Adopt-a-Block where Holly and I met this really cool girl named Beezen. She’s 24 and lives in the area. I think she’s going to come to church on Sunday; one of use will make it happen! Then we went to the church and sang old school church songs; and by old school I mean Millennium style if that means anything to anybody. Then Pastor Julia came, we had an outreach meeting and pizza both of which were great! Afterwards Holly went to my house and I went to spend a bit of time with Vincent.

Sunday: Ohhhhhhhh Goooooooo Super Sunday! Sunday was just ridiculously busy! Church was great; we honored our mothers and especially Pastor Julia. It was a tearjerker as usual but I survived (only little mo mo’s solo made me cry). After church I rushed home to hang out with my mommy (thanks for, as Wiley says, pushing me out… even though you didn’t… thanks for going on drugs and getting cut open… yeah that’s about right). We made dinner and chilled for a bit. Then it was off to the downtown to get Vincent and head elsewhere. I got to Starbucks super early so I just chilled and waited for him to get off work. Then we went to the dorm, he changed, and we headed off to our friends Ray and Kim’s new house. Bottom line their house (which was absolutely beautiful) was ginormous, and by ginormous I mean gigantically enormous! It was cool to get to know new friends. I looked at their amazing wedding book and just relaxed and hung out. Even though we barely knew them they treated us like we were their best friends. It was just awesome to get to know some new people for a change.

So that was my weekend. I really did enjoy it, though I’m so exhausted now just writing about it. Thanks for reading… and let me know if you still do… cuz I never know anymore… Linz

Prom

SIC HAS GOD'S FAVOR!

Church last night was awesome! There are about a million and one things I could write about today but I want you all to get this! Bishop Calvin (Pastor Calvin’s father) preached and it changed my outlook on a lot of “Christian things”. When I heard on Sunday that he was going to be speaking on favor a part of me was like, “okay… how many times have I heard about favor…” but I still went out of obedience. The word blew my mind. There is no way that this blog will at all give you a taste of what happened last night but hopefully these points will spark something in you… if not you can always buy the tape!

• Genesis 6:8: “Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord
• Favor is: Grace, kindness, beauty
• Found: to catch ones attention

1. When you have God’s favor you are guaranteed present and future supernatural success!
1. Ps 84:11
2. God’s favor is given to all believers. However, everyone doesn’t get the same amount or type
1. Eph 4:7
2. Your anointing is pointless without favor
3. With the anointing has to come God’s favor
1. With favor comes correction
2. Romans 12:6
3. No favor; no productivity
4. God’s favor is not just for the man & woman of God, or the church, but for your family
1. You should have favor/grace/kindness/beauty in every room of the house!
2. Your favor is limited to salvation
3. Gen 31:55
4. Generational blessings begin with you!
5. The greatest gift you can have is the gift of giving
5. Because of God’s favor I am blessed and will be blessed for a lifetime & the lifetime of my children
1. Ps 1:1-3, 30:5
2. There is no need to ask for a season of favor. Favor is eternal
6. Because of God’s favor the full measure of God’s anointing/favor will be given to SIC!
7. If we fall out of relationship with God we can always come back and have His eternal favor.
1. 1 John 1:9

 For some of you this is absolutely boring, but for me and any member of SIC this was a prophesy over our house! If you are in leadership you need to buy the CD! And if you don’t go to SIC and just read my blog I hope God spoke to you through my mediocre notes! Linz

You Cant Go Back

A Random Story For Random People