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

{Missions Conference}

You're invited!

You're invited to Heaven. We should be living invites from God to the world---invites to Heaven. The world only has to accept the invite; the rest is already taken care of. Free one-way ticket to paradise. All expenses paid by Jesus' precious blood. 

I had the best weekend! So much so that last night I felt really down-in-the-dumps and I wasn't sure why. Then I realized it was because I've grown and been shown so much by God this weekend that I didn't want it to end. In the past 3 days, my church has been hosting a missions conference. Momma and I went to the Ladies' Brunch on Saturday morning, I went to the Youth lunch that afternoon, and then my friend and I went to the final banquet that night. 

God has totally challenged and convicted me. Yet, in His own way, He encouraged me more than ever. 

In order to grow deeper into a relationship with Him and serve Him more effectively:

• I need to change my prayer habits.

      I always am praying for myself and praising and thanking God in my prayers, which is good, but in order to be a true witness and take advantage of my mission field right now- school- I need to pray for all my friends, enemies, teachers, everyone I interact with. Prayer is so powerful and I have been taking that for granted.

• I need to read and study the Gospel straight through.

      How can I live like Jesus if I don't know how He lived? This is super important and I don't know how I have overlooked it up until now.

• I need to be expectant.

      When God works in peoples lives, sometimes we can't see it on the outside yet. That doesn't means He isn't working on their hearts. I always expect that people don't want to hear about Jesus from me, but people have a natural need and desire for their Maker and Savior. 

• I need to watch God work in my daily life.

     Pay attention to His weaving. He weaves our lives with other lives in a beautiful way. I need to look out for that more often because it gives me a sense of wonder of God when I do.

• I need to remember Heaven. 

     The main street of the City was pure gold, translucent as glass... The City doesn't need sun or moon for light. God's Glory is its light, the Lamb its lamp! The nations will walk in its light and earth's kings bring in their splendor. Its gates will never be shut by day, and there won't be any night. They'll bring the glory and honor of the nations into the City. Nothing dirty or defiled will get into the City, and no one who defiles or deceives. Only those whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life will get in.

~Revelation 21:21-27

Thinking about heaven make me more passionate about serving here on Earth so everyone can have that!

• I need to remember Hell.

     If I remember how horrible Hell is, I will be more passionate about showing God to others so they don't have to go there forever.

• I need to truly pay attention to people and see each person I meet as an individual soul.  

     Each person is an individual soul with their own story, that I should be involved in.

• I need to step out toward others, even if it feels awkward.

     So hard for me.

It was a beautiful experience! I've been taught so much and I can't wait until next year to do it all again :)

Love and Joy, 

      Emma

God is writing my love story.

It will be worth the wait. Waiting for God to bring me my future husband, instead of hunting him down myself, is the hardest but most important and rewarding thing I could ever do. 

This month, every commercial seems to be for Kay Jewelers or chocolate. Or wedding dresses. Or a dating site {I hate to say it, but I kinda crack up every time that Christian Mingle one comes one}. Anything to do with love. 

But instead of whining and complaining about how I don't have a boyfriend, I will wait and I will pray. I will pray for him. I don't know who he is or where he is right now but I'm excited meet him whenever God decides to introduce us. 

Yesterday I went on JCLU.com and bought this shirt to wear to school on Valentine's Day:

I know that when I wear it, I will get grief from people about it. But, nevertheless, I am going to wear it, because He is writing my love story.

Love and Joy,

     Emma

P.S.

I got to flip my calendar today! One of the small joys in life :) 

The calendar is called "Life is Sweet" with artwork by Jen Skelley. Check out her esty shop @ http://www.etsy.com/shop/jenskelley?ref=seller_info . February's picture is so sweet! Those who wish to sing always find a song.