Blueberries for the orphans

6 am Friday morning my mom woke me up with her cheerful singing about orphans and berries. Typical. "A-pickin' we will go, a-pickin' we will go! Raising money for orphans... a-pickin; we will GO!". 


I got up off the floor (I had fallen asleep there. Also typical..) and put my one-day-unwashed hair in ponytail and attempted to wand some mascara over my lashes. Only having time to grab my camera, I was rushed out the door. 


Now why did we have to leave so early? You see, I live in Georgia. And that should be explanation enough in itself but I'll elaborate for you. In Georgia in the summer it is miserable from around 12-3 o' clock. And it is always humid. And so, because my mother has absolutely no heat tolerance, we left at 6.


From our little town it takes about 40 minutes to get out to the country. But when you get lost because you keep going on about how beautiful the rural area is and how much you wish your dad would let your family move there, you will get lost. And it will take an hour. Being lost in the country isn't too bad though because it is so pretty :)


Finally we got there and picked our blueberries!

I probably actually picked twice as much as I brought home since I had one for the bucket, one for my tummy, one for the bucket, one for my tummy... 

A family in our church owns the little field and all the money goes to bringing home two little orphan boys from India to another family in our church. 

Hence, the orphan song. 


In all seriousness though, my family truly has a heart for orphans especially in India since the social system leaves so many on the streets, so this was a cause close to our hearts. I feel so called to India for missions.

Now what to do with two pounds of blueberries?


PIES!

We saw mini pie-jars on the Martha Stewart show a couple weeks back and have been looking for an excuse to make some ever since. Excuse found!






First day of summer= success!




Much love, Emma

The First Thesis

#1.  When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, "Repent" (Mt 4:17), he willed

the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.



Martin Luther's first thesis. Hmm... eternally relevant and gets ya' thinking.

Praise Playlist 5.22.12

Just some songs I am LOVING lately and a little nugget (teehee, I love that word.) about why:

Psalm 13 // Shane and Shane- 

On Sunday when I was sitting in church after the awkward "Get-up-and-say-hi-to-your-neighbor!" time waiting for the offering and heard the guitar at the beginning of this song, I had some kind of spasm/convulsive seizure thing, which made my youth pastor look at me like I was crazy to which I excitedly mouthed, "I LOVE THIS SONG!". Wow. That's embarrassing now. But anywho, it has been in the back of my mind for a while, but now the seed of this song has been planted in my brain (that was a creepy metaphor) and has been stuck in my head ever since. Plus, it's fun to harmonize with.

Unchanging // Awaken-

                                      

Yes. The still picture for that video is really awkward and I'm not sure how to change it. 

So, in thinking about colleges, Liberty University is my #1, I-have-got-to-go-there school. And I was looking on their website when I saw that they have a all-girl traveling worship team that plays mainly at events for young teen girls. Um, yes! For a girl who has been in chorus since like K4 and loves worship music, this super exciting! The first song on this video is originally by Chris Tomlin, but I like their version better because I can harmonize with it. And that makes me happy. 

We Were Made For You // Aaron Gillespie 

                                          

If I heard this song but didn't see the video, I might not love it as much. But any video that has dancing African children in it will make me love the song. I'm convinced it could be like some awkward 80's techno, but if you put this video to it, I would love it.  

And that is why I want to do missions. 

Well not just that, but you get what I mean. 

Forgiven // Sanctus Real-

On Thursday, I was having a really crappy day and I heard the bridge to this song and it made me fall in love with Christ even more. 

When I don't fit in and I don’t feel like I belong anywhere
When I don’t measure up to much in this life
Oh, I’m a treasure in the arms of Christ ‘cause

True story.

Healer // Kari Jobe-

                                       

The chorus of this song just gets me.

The Answer // Shane and Shane-

                                      

Fun fact about me: I really like John Mayer's music. However, he is a horrendously creepy guy and so I felt really weird listening to it after I got saved. So finding songs that have that same guitar sound (most of Shane and Shane's and also Jimmy Needham) makes me really happy. And I love the lyrics in the chorus.

That's all folks!

Love, Emma

Life Lately: Catch-up Edition

Yes. I am alive. I've just been a little bit (more like a lot a bit) busy . But NOW school is finally out so I can come back to the blogging world! 

Considering how long I've been gone, a lot has happened. I think the best way to communicate these events is through recent Instagrams:

The musical was a great experience but I am SO glad it's over because....

it's SO time consuming.

Seaside, Florida for Spring Break was absolutely beautiful.

Momma went thrifting and came home with 4 brand new Anthropologie tea cups for me. It's the little things.

I had the opportunity to paint faces for the lower schoolers at my school's  spring fair. I LOVE those little children :)

This nail was on our little windowsill in the kitchen and when I saw it I got shivers because it looks so painful. It now lives in my bedroom as a reminder of His love.

My new baby! We got a new puppy and named him Pip (from Charles Dicken's Great Expectations). He's an angel :)

Now this summer I intend to get the blog started up well so when school starts in August I'll be able to keep up. I'm always too busy :/

But the summer is always a big time growth for me, being able to slow down and seek the Lord. And I'm really excited to share little bits of that with my sweet blog friends.

Love, Emma

i am a hopeful romantic.

I absolutely love my name. Thanks to my mother for naming me after Jane Austen's Emma. She says that if she ever had another baby girl her name would be Elizabeth Jane. However she is far too old for that, so I will just have to use the name for my own child. Or perhaps, Marianne Charlotte. I don't really need to know right away anyway.


As my mother nursed me, BBC's Pride and Prejudice played in the background. As I begin toddle around the house, it played. Even now, it plays. It has been the soundtrack to my youth. 

Today, the rain fell down steadily all day. It awakened my imagination and continued to make it run wild with thoughts of long dresses and tea. Momma and I were supposed to go to the store but we got carried away. This happened:

So we never made it to the store. 

As the movie ended this happened:

And I cried. I asked my mother , "Momma, why am I crying? It isn't sad. I don't understand why I'm crying." "Emma," she leaned over and spoke softly, "She's being persued. She is being continuously, deliberately persued. You know who else does that?" "Jesus?", I ask shakily through my tears. "Yes, darling."


I am persued. I am continuously, deliberately persued. By the King and Creator of the whole world. 


As are you.


Love and Joy,
     Emma

what i'm lovin' right now.

I am currently on Winter Break which means I finally have time to just sit down and breathe and actually think for a minute. This morning I "slept in" until 7 a.m, {that's late for this girl!} ate my yummy breakfast and sat down to the Word. 6 pages on journaling later, I was left feeling refreshed and renewed. Do I need more breaks so I have time to do that more? YES. Does my school intend to give me those? No...


So anyway, when I have time actually have a life outside of school, I have time to develop love for new things like:


1. Leslie Ludy. 

She is the stinkin' bomb.com! Everyone who has talked to me in the past week can tell you about her too. I'm pretty sure my mom is tired of me responding to everything she says with "Well you know what Leslie Ludy says about that...". She is a author and speaker and I can't really explain her so just go visit her at http://www.setapartgirl.com/ 




2. Tom's flats.

Since winter, I have been looking forward to these babies. Ever since they first graced me with their presence on my Pinterest feed, I have looked forward to the moment they are mine. I was told that they would be in stores on February 15th. So yesterday I journeyed over to the store where I live that sells them and, alas, they were not there. Once again, today I journeyed to the store and THEY WEREN'T THERE. Apparently they won't be in until "the end of next week". I am disappointed. But I still love them.

3. The Martha Stewart Show

Yes, she went to jail. But we can overlook that little mess to see her true creative, crafty-ness. Right? Everyday I TiVo the show and when I get home from school I sit down to The Martha Stewart Show and an apple. Good times. Today was "The Cozy Show" *swoon*. Tomorrow is "The Baby Shower Show" *double swoon*. 

4. These earrings from Anthropologie.

 At the ladies' missions brunch last weekend, there was a girl with these on and I loved them. I looked everywhere for them but to no avail. But then one day out of no where they popped up on my Facebook feed. Thanks, Anthropologie. Now I know where I can get these lovelies. Given, they will most likely be freakishly expensive, as is everything at Anthropolgie. Decisions, decisions. 


5. Jesus.
Oh, wait. That's a all-the-time thing. But I do. And He deserves a place on the list.


Love and Joy, 
     Emma

oh-so-perfect love day!

Happy Love Day, friends! 

I had a lovely Valentine's Day full of tradition and joy. My momma and I hosted our 11th annual Valentine's Tea Party today- a tradition that we love.  I absolutely ADORE hosting those sweet girls and planning out all the details for the party every year. 

On Monday a flower truck pulled up to our house and delivered a dozen roses for me and two dozen roses for my momma, all from my daddy. So sweet! He's been doing this for us every year since I was born. I love him so much! 

My momma gave me an early gift: a Starbucks coffee cup! I love it!

 She made Christ's conversation hearts out of Dove chocolates and paper hearts with who we are in Christ written on each one. She also painted some wooden letters with chalkboard paint and hot glued them to a burlap strip to make a "LOVE" banner. She is so stinkin' creative!

I made a heart garland because I'm just super cool like that, stealing ideas off Pinterest and all.

I stayed up late last night making "sample crafts" for the girls to go off of for the party. They turned out really well! I'm not sure what I want to do with them yet though...

The soundtrack for the party consisted of Mr. Frank Sinatra and the (super handsome) Michael Buble :)

We made tons of finger sandwiches.

But eventually this mess...

 Turned into this...

The girls painted little birds and hearts and they all turned out adorably!

One girl painted the words of Mr. Darcy: "You have bewitched me body and soul" on her heart. I was so jealous that I didn't come up with that idea myself.

In their baby takeout boxes were: a pearl bracelet, some conversation hearts, and a little candle. I was so proud of how the stamping of their names turned out :)

So now, to end my oh-so-perfect Love Day, I'm wearing my new pajamas and writing this blog post to you, my dears.

 I hope you all had a marvleous day!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As a lily among brambles, 

   so is my love among the young women.

-Song of Solomon 2:2

{how God feels about you everyday!}

Love and Joy,

     Emma