Hey there, November

So now that November is here, I will admit that I am not overly optimistic about the weather. And the time-change has sure taken a whack at me :P I will admit that I do love waking up to the sun again, although I know that won't last for long!

This past week has been super crazy, prayers would be super appreciated for my grandfather, he has had some complications after his heart surgery this past Thursday!! 

Let's see how those October goals went:

October Goals:
-post {something} every day of October, except Sundays. I already decided I'm taking Sundays off and it won't be a large post every day {I will guarantee you that lol!} but I'm hoping there will be something. 
// yesss!! I did that! you can read them here
-run twice a week. once a week outside of my Wednesday runs with running-buddy :)
// well, um... I did run once a week, each week. but what with blogging every day, I didn't exactly have make time to run outside the weekly run with my running-buddy.
-make dinner at least once a week. this is something that I know helps my mom out a lot and it really gives me great practice :)
// I didn't exactly count, but I did make dinner quite a few times last month. yay!
-and uh, yes. keep working on that prayer thing. 
//well, yes I did, although not so much as I would've liked to.

And this month:

November Goals: 
-run/exercise 5 days/week. The sun keeps rising later and later leaving me with less and less time to run, so I may need to start doing my indoor workouts soon. My goal is to do it most mornings. 
-count blessings. I've been counting gifts for a couple of years now. I find that some times I count regularly, habitually and other times more sporadically. Right now it's sporadic but I hope to change that because I can really notice the difference.
-goal #3. of course I had thought of another goal that I planned to make but forgot to write it down, so I will update this when I think of it. :P

And I just wanted to share with you a passage that I've really been focusing on lately: Matthew 6:25-34, with the verse that has stuck out to me the most being Matthew 6:33:

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

 How about you? Have you set any goals this month? How did last month go for you?

blessings,
emma
    

31 Days :: {26} :: Today...

Hey there friends! thanks for stopping by! You've found us at Day 26 of my 31 Days series on Celebrating Life. If you'd like to see all the other posts so far, you'll find the introduction here {includes post-list at the bottom} or the posts all here :)


So today is the second-last "official" post of this 31 Days series. This topic is so important to me so look to see more coming on it in the future :) 

Another note, I don't think I'm going to have time to post tomorrow, so my wrap up will likely be this weekend. *gasp* ;)

Today, I celebrated my Papa's successful surgery!! Thanks to all of you who prayed :)

I also celebrated a walk in the beautiful fall weather we're having right now,

and squash {with brown sugar & cinnamon ;)} for dinner,

{that's what fall tastes like :)}

everyone pitching in, to do whatever needed to be done with minimal complaining,

 pumpkin spice tea :),

and oh so much more... I meant to take pictures but it's been a busy day and I didn't get a chance to...

don't forget to celebrate the little ordinary things in your every-day life! :)

blessings,

love Emma

31 Days :: {23} :: family {beautiful people}

Hey there friends! thanks for stopping by! You've found us at Day 23 of my 31 Days series on Celebrating Life. If you'd like to see all the other posts so far, you'll find the introduction here {includes post-list at the bottom} or the posts all here :)

We've talked about beautiful: hidden beauty, and tangible beauty. Today, we're talking about beautiful people.

You know, sometimes your family can seem like the ordinary. I mean, I guess they are, really. They're a big part of the daily fabric of your life. 

And along with so many parts of the ordinary, it's so easy to see only the ugly, or the common, when we look at them. 

But what about the beautiful of your family? The humour, the honesty, sacrifice, the loveliness of those people in your family? 

When was the last time you looked for that in the people you live life with - your family?

apparently we don't take family photos very often... this one is from February and it doesn't even have my mom in it...

So today, try. Look for the beautiful in each of your family members. Because they are beautiful people. 

blessings,
love Emma

linking up with Oak and Oats :)

31 Days :: {21} :: believing it

Hey there friends! thanks for stopping by! You've found us at Day 21 of my 31 Days series on Celebrating Life. If you'd like to see all the other posts so far, you'll find the introduction here {includes post-list at the bottom} or the posts all here :) 

So far, we've talked about beautiful: hidden beauty, and tangible beauty. Next week I want to talk about beautiful people, and beautiful moments, but for today I want to talk about believing that something is beautiful. 

Often, it's not even about discovering, or finding the beautiful within the the ordinary, it's about believing the ordinary to be beautiful in itself. 

Example, the other day I went for a run with a friend of mine. I probably should have, but I didn't actually look around for little beautiful things to celebrate as I ran by, but rather I simply believed what we were doing was beautiful. A gathering of friends, to run, is a beautiful thing. 

Sometimes we need to believe something is beautiful simply for the reason that we know God is working through it, using it to grow us. Otherwise it's just too ugly or painful. 

It's not always about looking for the little moments I spend with my sisters that are beautiful, or looking for hidden beauty, or tangible beauty in those times. Often it's just about believing that spending time with them is beautiful.

Service is beautiful. Therefore, cleaning the bathroom is a beautiful thing. So is washing the dishes. And yes, so are the soap suds {all filmy and shiny and rainbow-y}, but so is the act in itself. 

Next time you're doing something, think about why it is beautiful. And believe it. It is!  

What sorts of things is it hard for you to see as beautiful? Why?

blessings,
love Emma

31 Days :: {20} :: the root of celebration

Hey there friends! thanks for stopping by! You've found us at Day 20 of my 31 Days series on Celebrating Life. If you'd like to see all the other posts so far, you'll find the introduction here {includes post-list at the bottom} or the posts all here :) 

I will admit, that while this topic is certainly something that I feel passionately about, and try oh so very hard to practice, the first half of the month, I really struggled. I felt kinda fake about this. And it super-bothered me especially because I'm trying to write about it and felt kind of hypocritical.

I considered that maybe trying to write about it every day was the problem, but nooo, it wasn't. It was my reasons and my priorities. 

Even doing something right for the wrong reason turns it into something wrong. When I started this I was all gung-ho to learn lots and glorify God, but as I went along it kinda turned into something else. 

This is supposed to be a follow-after of what God is teaching me. A way to process and keep learning. But when you start to make this more important {of course, I would never say that but my actions showed otherwise} than Bible reading and prayer and learning from God? Well then it becomes words of my own mouth, not real and empty. That's what happened. 

And then on the 16th, I realized, my goal here - why I'm even celebrating life at all - is to seek and glorify God. I touched on this a little bit yesterday, talking about how to celebrate and enjoy life is a way of thanking and honouring God, and it's so true. 

He gave us this glorious gift, and the best way to say thank-you to Him is to use it so fully. If you gave your friend a dee-licious cake, and they said thank-you, maybe even wrote you a nice little card, that would be nice, wouldn't it? But would you still think they were thankful for it if they just set it on a shelf in their kitchen and didn't eat it? Would you really believe they were thankful for it? I wouldn't! 

But if they ate it up, maybe all in one sitting, maybe asked for the recipe, gave me back an empty pan, then yes, I would know they were thankful for it, and that they enjoyed it. The same is true of our Father in heaven. He gives us this gift of life, and all the little gifts within that. When we walk right by them, when we don't eat them up, bask in the luscious warmth of the sunshine, does that show Him we are thankful for them or not?  

But when we taste the flavour of the food, when we inhale the scent of the woods, and notice it, when we pause in the middle of the street because something is so beautiful, when we dance because music makes us need to move - then we are saying 'THANK-YOU GOD', with our lives!

The other reason we celebrate life, the gift from God, is to seek to know Him more. I love love love how Caroline put it. {<please go read her whole post!! :)}

"Look for the gifts and truly see them, and you’ll better see the Giver."

Amen!! This, this is what I need! I look for the gifts, so that I can see the Giver better. Last fall what God placed upon me to learn deeply was contentment, this fall I'm learning to seek Him first. {Matthew 6:33}

And the last thing, something very important to remember, is that we cannot do this all on our own. We need to take the initiative to do this celebrating and thanking, but if we try to do it on our own strength, we will fail. We will become weary and we will give up. But through the power of Jesus, we can indeed do this through Him! So make sure you're doing this with Him. :)
  

"Each one of our lives is shot through, threaded in and out with God's provision, his grace, his protection, but on the average day, we notice it about as much as we really notice gravity or the hole in the ozone. So what I'm trying to do is learn to see the way Sister Carmen sees. Because once you start seeing the faithfulness and the hope, you see it everywhere, like pennies. And little by little, here and there, you realize that all of life is littered with bright copper coins, that all of life is woven with bits and stories of God's goodness." ~Shaua Niequist, Cold Tangerines (pennies)

Don't celebrate for the wrong reason - do it to thank God for this beautiful gift of today!


On another note, my grandfather's surgery was postponed from today to next Thursday... and my great-grandmother is very weak, still in the hospital, but holding on... prayers are appreciated!


blessings friends!
love Emma

linking up with Chantel and Elizabeth :)

31 Days :: {17} :: Today...

 Hey there friends! thanks for stopping by! You've found us at Day 17 of my 31 Days series on Celebrating Life. If you'd like to see all the other posts so far, you'll find the introduction here {includes post-list at the bottom} or the posts all here :) 

Today, we're celebrating a last minute trip to our grandparents, to see our Papa who is having surgery this Thursday. {Please pray? :)}

We're celebrating family, and good food, and games and laughter.

And also? ...I'm celebrating God's timing, because as we headed over this direction it turns out my great-grandmother had a heart attack today and what a blessing that we were able to be here to help and support. Prayers for her and my grandfather would be appreciated as well!

blessings on your day friends!
love Emma

linking up with Chantel and Elizabeth :)