Lyndseycornell’s Weblog

Today is a very special day (well I’m actually posting this on Monday, but I mean Tuesday!). And not just because it’s April Fool’s Day. It is my wonderful father’s birthday. And what better reason to do a “why I love post….” than this?

1. His sense of humor. My dad has always been able to find the humor in everything. Life is a joy for him, and that joy is contagious to everyone around him. He can make anyone feel comfortable because he can make anyone laugh. He never takes life too seriously and has fun no matter what situation he is in.

2. I have never met a more supportive person. My dad has always been my #1 fan, and it is hard for me to remember one sporting event, competition, speech or any special occasion in my life that my dad wasn’t at growing up. Every tennis match, basketball game, cross country race, academic achievement, speaking opportunity… you name it, he was there. This quality rings true throughout every relationship my dad has. He is such an encourager and can always find the positive aspects in a person’s life, and he is able to accentuate those positives unlike any other person I’ve met. Every one in my dad’s life knows that he’s got their back and that he truly believes in them.

3. His commitment to his family. My dad was the best father a kid could have growing up, especially a daughter. He was out in the backyard every night throwing baseballs, shooting hoops or riding bikes. Much of the confidence I have today, I attribute to my dad. And it wasn’t rocket science either; he just spent time with us. I always knew (and still do) that I am valuable and special because I knew my dad WANTED to spend time with me. I’ve seen so many girls give their hearts, bodies and emotions out way too easily because they’re seeking out the love from a man that their father never gave them. I can’t thank my dad enough for making me feel so valued and worthy of something special.

4. He is wise. Whenever I have a decision to make, I’m feeling exhausted or I just need someone to give me some guidance, I can always trust my dad to steer me in the right direction. He’s one of those people that just get it. He can put any situation into perspective and make it seem like it’s not as hard as I initially thought. There’s no sense in making a mountain out of a mole hill, right dad? And even when it comes to other people, my dad always has solid, Biblical advice that he is able to simply and clearly communicate to others.

5. He is the reason I have a wonderful, loving husband. With my dad as the standard, I always knew God had an amazing man in mind for me. I watched my dad work hard, serve my mom, keep his faith first and be consistently committed to his family. And now, guess what? I have a husband who works hard, loves and serves me, keeps the main thing the main thing and is deeply committed to his family. I am truly thankful my father set the bar high.

Dad, thanks for being such an amazing man and father. I’ve always known I’m loved, proud of and could do anything I put my mind to because of you. Thank you for taking time to invest in your faith and you family. I first knew that God was real and loving because of what He did in your and mom’s life. Thank you for always being transparent. I love you so much and I wish I could be there today. Keep lookin up! and oh yeah… Phillipians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

I’ve lived in Florida for almost 7 years now. Throughout these 7 years, I have attempted to surf only once.

Until today.

I was at the beach with my friend Amber and it was a gorgeous day. Blue sky, not a cloud in sight, turquoise water and medium sized waves that all of a sudden began to beckon us.

I think Amber thought of the idea first. She told me there was a place just down the road where we could rent boards for only $20. I’m always up for a challenge.

So we make our way to the surf shop. Hopes were high.I had visions of being up on the board within a couple of tries, Amber and I basking in our glory and soon becoming “surfer chicks.”  

So we’re now back at the beach, confidently making our way through the crowd on the sand to join the ranks of the few brave enough to conquer the water. We jump in, climb on the board and began to paddle. I soon find out I am not very good at paddling. At all.

Amber is yards ahead of me while I’m swallowing my second gallon of salt water, eyes closed flailing my arms as I take a hit from yet another wave.

When I finally catch up to Amber, she’s looking like she really knows what she’s doing. She’s sitting nicely on top of her board searching for the perfect wave to catch. So I follow her lead and hike myself up to my perch on the board. I get on the top of the board and within seconds lose my balance and fall straight on my side back into the water. I come back up only to find two guys beside us laughing at me and saying something about “providing entertainment.”

Great.

So attempt number two. Back in the water.

I decide to just lay on the board. I am exhausted already and have yet to try to catch a single wave. The next 30 minutes consisted of paddling, more paddling, recovering from crashing waves, and then more paddling. 

Then I realized the current took me far away from all the other surfers . I tried to paddle my way back but was certain I would never make it.

Reluctantly, head hung, ashamed to lock eyes with the beach people, I drug my board back to the sand and collapsed from exhaustion. Hopes dashed and reality sunk in. I am not a surfer chick. I am a bad surfer with no upper body strength. 

Amber was not very successful either. Which made me feel a bit better. Not long after my initial collapse onto the sand, she joined my side and we watched the “real” surfers from the shore. 

But we did get a great poser picture of us standing with our boards in front of the water. I think that picture will be a nice reminder for me that maybe I should just stick with land sports.  

Justin’s most recent comment on my blog was “more ‘why i love’ please…” So this post is dedicated to him, and this is why I love my brother. And I’m pretty sure he is the only one who will actually appreciate this post.

 1. He knows every answer to every question on Jeopardy

2. He can quote every Monty Python and Anchorman line

3. He has a deep appreciation for grapefruit juice 

4. He talks in many ridiculous voices

5. He’s notorious for leaving long, useless voice messages on my phone

6. He has a great passion for Kentucky sports

7. He is the best person to go to Alan’s car wash with

8. He encouraged me to step up my game from the Whopper Jr. to the real Whopper sandwich

9. He is a good person to go on road trips with. Except you have to make sure you go to the bathroom, eat and get gas all in one stop.

10. He always has good music

11. He is the best air drummer ever. Especially to a certain Boston song.

12. He likes to say “Melly Cleesmas” and Christmas morn

13. He will happily hunt for Easter eggs even when he is 25 years old and there are actually no eggs to find

14. He is the only person I have seen put napkin rings in his eye sockets, both ears and on his chin at the same time for longer than 5 seconds

15. He can convince me to do absolutely anything by using his “excited” voice.

*if you know Justin, feel free to add some more

1. I’ve learned that when you don’t think you can do something, if God calls you to do it, He always gives you the strength to go above and beyond what you could imagine. There are nights when Andrew and I are beyond exhausted. We rush around the house, probably don’t talk as kindly to one another as we should and feel completely unprepared to lead a group of people into a time of Bible study. But then we pray and we give it over to Him. And all we have to do is open up the doors to our house and He does all the rest. His grace truly is sufficient, for His power is always perfected in our weakness when we’re willing to humble ourselves and admit we can’t do it.
Ok that was a really long #1, they should get shorter from here

2.  I love watching people hunger for God’s Word. It amazes me that people in their early 20s want to give up a night of their week to come and learn more about the Bible. Every Tuesday there are so many honest and real questions. I love when people aren’t afraid to ask how to know God more.

3. We all need community. Everybody needs a place where they feel like they belong, where they know they’re loved and where they’ll be missed if they’re not there.

4. It’s great to meet people that I probably wouldn’t have built a relationship with otherwise. A small group brings together all different types of personalities and issues to the table. It makes me realize how important it is to befriend people who are different than me. You can learn so much from them.

 5. It’s rewarding to watch people grow in their faith. There are 3 new believers that I know of in this group, and this is their first experience of anything like this.  It’s always neat to watch someone who is a new Christian because they have such a hunger and a passion to know more. They challenge me to have that same kind of desire for God. It’s so cool to watch the light-bulbs go off and things begin to click. 

6. I’ve been able to witness the uniqueness of the body of Christ. Everybody has different gifts. There are the teachers in our group. When they open their mouths, everyone hangs on their words because they are truly anointed to explain the Word. Then, there are the encouragers. These are the people that bring out the best in others. They never shut anyone’s comments down and always have something to positive to say. There’s a couple in our group with the gifts of wisdom and discernment. They’re able to give Godly advice that could only come from the Spirit. I could go on, but it would get a little too long. But the cool thing is, I have specific people in my mind when I think about these gifts. I’m able to watch the body of Christ play out on a small scale and it always makes me praise God for being such a unique Creator.

Kentucky didn’t break the streak this year! We are going to the Big Dance as a #11 seed! We play #6 Marquette in our first game in Anaheim, CA. It’s far, but if anybody’s fans would make the trip, it would be the Wildcat fans. I just couldn’t imagine not being able to watch the Cats in March Madness, so I am very relieved. All is well.  

I started to panic.

There were 40 comments on my last blog post.

All trying to prove the better team: gators or wildcats. 

If we lost, what was I going to write? I thought I would have to humbly bow out of the blogging world.  

But we DIDN’T. We won. 

So I can continue on blogging freely.  

So in lieu of all the big game posting of Justin, Dad, Mike and April… I had to join in and post a nice little video to make sure the gators don’t forget what kind of place they’re walking into tomorrow.

So I decided to start a little “series” if you will. It’s the “Why I love…” posts. There are many things I love in life, and I just thought it would be fun to share a little bit about them.So here it goes…

Why I love SPORTS

1. Competition creates a desire to succeed. I mean, think about it, if there were no scoreboards in basketball, I don’t think Michael Jordan would have been as good of a player as he was. As soon as you attach a scoreboard to something, it creates a desire to do well. Sports, like nothing else, create this opportunity to feel a great sense of success. At the end of the game, you know exactly how well you did (or didn’t do), no question about it. The stats don’t lie.

2. Practice truly does make better. Even if you never become a professional or even a collegiate athlete, you can ALWAYS improve in sports and feel a great sense of accomplishment because of it. Since high school, I’ve kind of picked up golf (thanks Andrew!). Now I’m well aware that I will never be on the LPGA tour, but I feel amazing when I hit a straight drive over 100 yards. There is always room for improvement and this principle translates into every area of life.

3. Sports create confidence. I attribute a lot of the confidence I have to my years of sports. There’s nothing like draining a three while being guarded by a really loud, cocky guy. You can’t gain that kind of self-esteem through any manicure or facial. Sports make you feel strong and capable to take on anything.

4. Many of my best friends were made on sports teams. When you play together, you stay together. It comes natural. When you’re on the baseline, trying to finish your 10th suicide, it helps to look over and see others in the same exact situation as you. It creates a priceless motivation to push yourself even further. Sports are an amazing opportunity to encourage, push and confront friends and vice versa. And best of all there are plenty of times to just let loose and have fun. There are countless bus rides filled with singing, laughing, secrets and conversations I will remember for a lifetime. (Elisabeth, I know you’ll read this so here’s a little i.e. for you: “I would walk ten thousand miles!!!”)

5. It brings people together. As soon as I see someone down here with anything UK on, I’ve got an instant connection. All my guards are down and there is no hesitation to go up, introduce myself and end with a good ol’ “Go Cats!” I just love it. And even on a smaller level, I know my parents would agree that they made tons of friends by sitting in the stands with other parents. It’s a non-controversial, fun conversation piece. A big game is a great excuse to have a party and you’ve always got others to cheer on a big win or console you when there’s a loss.

There are a ton more reasons to love sports…. got any personal favorites?

Check out Emily Edward’s new blog. She’s only been in the blogging world for a week, and she has tons of post already! She is a great friend and has a lot of insight, fun stories and humor so show her some love!