Tunes Tuesday :: to love you back

Sometimes {how 'bout a lot of times??} I take for granted, the amazing privilege that we have to know God, to be in His presence, and to love Him back. For me anyways, I tend to just kinda float through it, and not think about it that much. But come on - this is the Creator of the universe, before Jesus died and the curtain split, only one man once a year could enter the presence of God, and that was a pretty risky thing to do. Now, we have constant access to the LORD, and we live in His presence at all times - it is even within us! 

And also? We get to know Him and love Him back. He is the awe-some God, I AM, and we finite humans can know Him!! Not only love Him, but love Him. This song by Jamie Grace helps me to remember that when I forget, I love love love the part that goes:

'And I still can't believe,
That you've loved me for eternity,
And what's so marvelous to me,
Is that I finally get,
I finally get,
I get to love You, to love You back'

So today I want to share with you this song, and hopefully it will help remind you of the amazing privilege it is to love Him back. Cuz guys? this is something we need to do intentionally, with our whole hearts!

From the first sunrise You knew my name,
You knew I‘d fail You over and over,
But still You loved me all the same,
You still love me anyway,

The way You don't give up on me,
You really got a hold on me,
You give me more than I deserve,

You've become my everything,
The only reason that I sing,
The beauty is You chose me first,

And I still can't believe,
That you've loved me for eternity,
And what's so marvelous to me,
Is that I finally get,
I finally get,
I get to love You (to love You back),
I get to love You,
I get to love You,
I finally get, I finally get,

I get to know You more and more,
And make every single day about You,
I wanna live like I can't afford,
To spend another second without You,

The way You don't give up on me,
You really got a hold on me,
You give me more than I deserve,

You've become my everything,
The only reason that I sing,
The beauty is You chose me first,

And I still can't believe,
That you've loved me for eternity,
And what's so marvelous to me,
Is that I finally get,
I finally get,
I get to love You (to love You back),
I get to love You,
I get to love You,
I finally get, I finally get,

To go back to the start,
Back when my heart first met You,
Oh, I heard You were good,
But this is more than I expected,

So I answer the call,
I give You my all,
And lay it at Your feet,
I can't praise You enough,
But I promise to give You my love,

Oh I can't believe,
That you've loved me for eternity,
And it's so beautiful to see,
That I finally get, I finally get,
To love You back,
To love You,(to love You back)
I get to love You, (with every part of me)
I get to love You,
Oh I get to love You, yeah,
I get to love you back,
Oh how I love you... 

On another note - I always knew I liked Jamie Grace - I really liked all the radio singles that she had (those were the songs I knew), but my sister got Ready to Fly for Christmas, so I've been listening to it quite a bit, and gosh, love this girl and her music! :)

the love story {of Psalm 105}

Today I was reading Psalm 105. Which is, by the way, a beautiful story, and a great reminder, and I think you should go read it right now. Don't worry, I'll still be here when you get back. :) 

I love the beautiful reminder in vs. 3-4 that when we seek the LORD, we will always find a reason to rejoice.

But as I kept reading, I kept seeing all the reminders to remember all His wonderful acts, and His wonderful faithfulness, and to tell all the nations about what the LORD has done. And it goes on to tell the story of God's chosen people, from His covenant with Abraham;

"He remembers his covenant forever,
    the promise he made, for a thousand generations,
⁹ the covenant he made with Abraham,
    the oath he swore to Isaac.
¹⁰ He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree,
    to Israel as an everlasting covenant:
¹¹ “To you I will give the land of Canaan
    as the portion you will inherit.” "   

 to when He led them to the promised land;

  ⁴³ He brought out his people with rejoicing,
    his chosen ones with shouts of joy;
⁴⁴ he gave them the lands of the nations,
    and they fell heir to what others had toiled for—
⁴⁵ that they might keep his precepts
    and observe his laws. Praise the Lord.

Throughout the Psalm, it tells the beautiful story of God working, a large portion of the first part of the Bible condensed. 

But it got me to thinking. Looking back at it all, there is none who can deny that it is a powerful story which shows the faithfulness of the LORD. But what about in that time? We know there was a lot of heartache, a lot of discouragement that was felt every step along the way there. 

 They wandered around from nation to nation, they were strangers in all lands. How discouraging must that have been?! But we can clearly see that He protected them the whole time. He prepared for them the land in Egypt, where they were to live for many years. 

When Joseph was sold by His brothers, and all that happened to Him in Egypt, including being sent to jail for something he didn't do, it would be easy to say that it was all wrong. But one of my favourite verses is from Genesis 50, when Joseph is talking to his brothers, and he says: "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives." Think of all the hurt. But God used it to save many, many people from the famine, and to bring His chosen people to high positions in Egypt. 

But then they became slaves in Egypt; we'd say the story's gone wrong. The Israelites must have felt abandoned by God, they must have wondered if they were ever going to be free, going to get to the promised land. But looking back now, we know He was working all things together for them.

And He sent Moses and Aaron to lead the people. Through them He did many signs and wonders. He sent the ten plagues. And through that, the people left Egypt laden with silver and gold. 

And then they wandered around in the desert. We know the Israelites had a lot of problems during that time. Think golden calf, think lots of complaining. But honestly, if I were in that situation, I really couldn't say if I would've been much better. 

He provided well for them in the desert;

⁴⁰ They asked, and he brought them quail;
    he fed them well with the bread of heaven.
⁴¹ He opened the rock, and water gushed out;
    it flowed like a river in the desert. 

And still, they were discouraged, and they complained!! But we know that God was faithful to them.

If we can look at that story of God and the Israelites, and see that despite of, or even through, the discouragement of the people, God worked a miraculous story of love, then we should not doubt that He is doing the same to us even when we are in the middle of days of discouragement. 

He worked all of the story of Joseph for good - maybe, somewhere in your life, someone intended something to harm you. But God is working through that, redeeming it, using it to bring good. He led them through the desert, He fed them manna and gave them water from a rock (hello?!! food from the sky?! water from a rock?! does that not blow your mind??!), God is giving you great and amazing gifts all the time. Will you choose to complain anyways (like the Israelites did, they got tired of manna pretty quick), or will you choose to let the miracle blow your mind and be thankful to the LORD for leading you and providing for you. 

So today, whatever discouragement you are walking through, remember: in the middle of the story told in Psalm 105, it looked like a lotta heartache. But when you look at the whole story, it's beautiful. The same is true for yours. 

Blessings,
love Emma  

  

2015 :: one word

Happy New Year y'all!! 

In some ways it's hard to believe that 2014 is over already, and in other ways it feels like it was a full year. When I look back it feels like it sped by, but then when I think about it, I feel like it was a full year, and I really did appreciate and live in the moments far more than I have ever done previously. {except perhaps when I was a kid, because one of the super awesome things about kids is that they aren't really capable of not living in each moment.}

I've been working on a post to recap my word{s} {lol} for 2014: Here & Now, for quite some time, hopefully it will be published soon. Stay tuned for that. ha!

But for today, I want to share the word that I chose for this year, 2015.  

seek.

I want to seek the LORD this year, more then I have ever before. 

• I want to seek God and His will for my life, and for my future. 
• I want to seek God and the gifts + graces, big + small, that He gives each day. 
• I want to seek God and His character so that by His grace I might become more like Him. 
• I want to seek God and His grace because I so desperately need it myself, + so that I might generously extend it to others. 
• I want to seek God and His presence and all that He is so that I will know Him better, + be ever closer to Him, that I might discern His voice from all others, be satisfied only by Him, + keep my eyes fixed upon Him.

 I want to spend more time seeking Him than I do on small silly selfish fleshly things like I do right now. 

That's what I want this year. 

Do you have a word for 2015? What is it? Do you make new years resolutions?



Also, on the subject of my December Goal, which was slow for Advent and make the most of the Christmas season, I feel like I did that pretty well this year. :) I may or may not make a January Goals post later. We'll see. I have so many post ideas floating around in my head, and so many posts that I wanted to make in December that I never did...  like a Dressember fashion ideas post, and some advent stuff, among many others. like my 2014 word recap.

On a slightly related note, today was the first day for pants again and I'm alovin' it! ;) We also came up with this funny idea that I am not doing, wearing jeans all of January and calling it Jeanuary. lol

please excuse the mess lol

  

Tunes Tuesday :: Born is the King (It's Christmas!!)

I came and sat down to write this post quickly today, then realized it was Tuesday so it fit perfectly for a Tunes Tuesday post ;) 

Lots of Christmas baking and cookie-decorating going on in this house today! :) Have I mentioned before how much I looove the Christmas season???! Lots of Christmas music playing too, and I thought I would share this super fun Christmas song that will likely inspire much dancing, singing (it's praise, y'all!), and help us remember the reason we're celebrating :) (don't be afraid to turn it reeeeaaaal loud ;))

Take the time to enjoy your day - try not to be caught up in all of the to-dos, and miss the point of the season, and the joy it can bring. 

gingerbread house neighbourhood ;)

I promise you that even though these look like lumps of brownness they taste heavenly (double chocolate w/ candycane gooeyness)

Hillsong - Born is the King (It's Christmas) 

also? you should play it again and again until you're almost sick of it.

Born unto us this day a Saviour
Gifted from heaven to a manger
The hope of the world
A light for all mankind
All of the earth rejoice
It's Christmas time

So lift up your voice and sing out His praise
It's Christmas
Born is the King, rejoice in the day
It's Christmas
Make a joyful sound
It's Christmas
Let His praise resound
It's Christmas

Goodwill to all the earth
And peace divine
All of the earth rejoice
It's Christmas time
It's Christmas time

So lift up your voice and sing out His praise
It's Christmas
Born is the King, rejoice in the day
It's Christmas
Make a joyful sound
It's Christmas
Let His praise resound
It's Christmas

So lift up your voice and sing out His praise
It's Christmas
Born is the King, rejoice in the day
It's Christmas
Make a joyful sound
It's Christmas
Let His praise resound
It's Christmas

So lift up your voice and sing out His praise
It's Christmas
Born is the King, rejoice in the day
It's Christmas
Make a joyful sound
It's Christmas
Let His praise resound
It's Christmas

Praying that today and the rest of the days leading up to Christmas are a time of peace and joy for you and yours - it's a time of celebration!

blessings,

love Emma

Thoughts on Running

Sooo... I just signed up for my first half marathon last week (!!!!!). So excited and nervous. For the past few years I have run a 5K every spring, but this year I am running the half.

So today I thought I would share a few thoughts on running, some quirky things that work for me when I run, some quotes, and a couple songs that I always listen to during the hard sections of every run. Any thoughts or tips you might have for running a half would be much appreciated!

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I've always run the 5K with my friend, and this year when our race had its annual sale, I asked her if she was going to do it. She said she was going to race, and was thinking about the half. I will admit to being skeptical at first, thinking of the lack of training I had put in the last few winters and knowing there's no way I could run 21km right now!

But we figured out that the reason I haven't likely trained the last few years is because training in the winter requires motivation, and if I can just run a 5K anyways without doing much training, why go out in the cold or suffer on the treadmill?? So because I now have a goal that I currently can't achieve, and I signed up for this race I can't subconsciously excuse myself from training.

And I will admit to always having the desire to run a half somewhere in the back of my mind, but there was another part of me that knows it's totally crazy and I needed my awesome friend to help me make this commitment. :)

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So this is the training plan that we're doing. Even though we're both already runners we are doing a couch-to-half plan because then we can ease into it ;)

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A couple of super random kind of weird things about me and running:

• A piece of minty gum or a mint helps me to run better. I don't really know why, I think it has something to do with minty-ness making my breath feel fresher, making it easier to breathe or feel less yucky or something, and it gives me a really small easy jaw movement to half focus on. It's weird, I know.
• For me, when I feel like I'm running slow, I do less walking, even if I'm actually running faster than usual. And if I'm running slower than usual but it feels faster, the desire to walk is greater. So I usually try to run fast and make it feel slow. lol ;) 

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There are a few go-to songs that I put on when I feel like I need to walk, or right at the end to help me finish well, right now, the very best one is My Lighthouse, by Rend Collective. 

 And the live version is even longer so sometimes I like that one. lol

Another great one is Never Ending Love Song by Peter Furler, and Greater Is He, also Peter Furler. 

and Steven Curtis Chapman - You Are Being Loved

Other than that, I don't really think I have any particular songs that I like for running, I just listen to whatever music is currently my favourite. 

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And can I get an amen???!!!! ;)

 

I think I need these shirts ;)

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Anyone else have any tips for running? Any funny quirky things? 

 

blessings,

Emma

Tunes Thursday :: One Silent Night

I meant to share this song on Tuesday but the day kinda slipped away from me, and then yesterday too, so here it is today. 

It's one of my favourite Christmas songs, I love how it just feels so quiet and still, I can totally see the story happening. The song is so simple, so sweet, and has several lines that make you stop to think about them again. 

It helps me to feel quiet and still before the LORD, to think about how 'heaven came down and changed everything', and how there was 'no one to kneel, and no one to sing'.  

FFH - One Silent Night

Quiet and still was the whole world that night
The stars and the land and the sea
All were enjoying the quiet moonlight
Spinning so effortlessly
And the wind blew tender and sweet
Through the manger stall
Over one new tiny heartbeat
That would save us all
One silent night, one holy night
When all was calm, when all was bright
With no one to kneel, and no one to sing
Heaven came down and changed everything
Let all the earth receive her King
His mother there holding Him close to her chest
Rocking the Savior to sleep
Sleep, baby Jesus, You need all the rest
You can get, there are people in need
For a moment Heaven stood still
As the midnight watch was kept
As on that Bethlehem hill
The savior slept
One silent night, one holy night
When all was calm, when all was bright
With no one to kneel, and no one to sing
Heaven came down and changed everything
Let all the earth receive her King
One silent night, one holy night
(Oh, come let us adore Him)
When all was calm, when all was bright
(Oh, come let us adore Him)
With no one to kneel, and no one to sing
Heaven came down and changed everything
Let all the earth receive her King
Oh, come let us adore Him
Oh, come let us adore Him
Come let us adore Him
Oh, come let us adore Him
Come let us adore Him
(Silent night, holy night)
Oh, come let us adore Him
(Silent night, holy night)

May you be blessed today and during this advent season, this time of preparing our hearts to receive the King who has come for us. May we not be too busy with all of the things to do and miss what is really important. 

Anyone else have any favourite Christmas songs? Please let me know, I'd love to check them out! {I loooove Christmas music!}

blessings,

love Emma

Lots of Things

 I took quite a break from blogging {obviously....} but there have been so many times the last week or so that I've been like, oh I should post about that. But then I would be like, oh wait I should really post about that first. But I have also been finding myself very much lacking in energy and time, and so none of those posts have been written. Today I decided to write one post with little bits of them all so that I can't use any unwritten posts to keep me from posting anymore. {make sense? lol}

photo taken by my brother :)

First off, just this week my grandfather who had heart surgery  was moved out of ICU. Praise God! So many weeks of ups and downs, and finally he seems to improving. Thank you to all who prayed, and please continue to keep him (& my grandmother) in your prayers. 

 But partially as a result of all that, this past month has been so exhausting. My parents have been back and forth to the hospital (in a different city) regularly, and my mom has stayed with my grandmother a lot. Resulting in a large load being put onto my shoulders. And I am so thankful - thankful that we are currently in a stage of life where my mother was able to go be with her, thankful that the kids are all old enough to let her go, thankful that I have had this experience of running a household, thankful I don't have a full school load right now. I'm thankful for the great training I've had which allowed me to be capable of doing this. 

And I realized something. Running a household is not easy. I mean, I didn't really think it was, but I just didn't think it would be quite so hard. So thank-you Mum. Thanks for all that you do for us. Because I see more of it now :) And also, I see why you were always ragging on us to take initiative to see something needs to be done and do it. lol

Next order of business, this year I am doing Dressember. The group of people that I'm doing it with this year is raising awareness (and money) against abortion. 

I wear dresses all the time, and I thought I wouldn't get tired of it until the end, but whadduya know, I already am. Hopefully I'll get a second wind or something lol. And why on earth did they choose such a cold month for it??! Why not sometime in the spring or summer when you don't have to wear leggings (especially fleece lined ones) every day? I mean, sure Dressember is a catchy name that doesn't really work with any other month, but still. haha

I read these posts this week:
This post, by Bri. "But I long for a fall on your knees in awe and gratitude because God has sent a Savior, His own son to save me." Amen amen amen!!
And this one, by Marian. this was juuust what I needed to read this week. because it's true... when we're all messy and needy that's when we can best receive him, and that's why He came.

And lastly,
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. 
//hahahahahahaha. newp. I think I still ran once a week though.
-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.
// yes this did happen. :)
-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 of course, this month I didn't even remember or make up another goal. 

December Goals
-quiet for advent. try and remember that this is not just another 'to-do' for this season, but rather a time to bow humbly before the King who was born to save the world. 
 And ya know what? That's actually all I've got right now. :P 

So there we are. I'm so tired right now that most of the probably doesn't make sense but if you got something out of the mumbo jumbo then I'm so glad! ;) 

Blessings,
Emma