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  

  

31 Days :: {25} :: celebrating when it's hard

Hey there friends! thanks for stopping by! You've found us at Day 25 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 :)

Seeing that I only have two days left (whaaa??!) and I haven't really touched on this yet, I thought today was a good day to do so. And also, since I can't really do justice to the topic, I think I will let Shauna use her beautiful words today. 

"What I know now is that his [God's] kindness burns through even the deepest betrayals and invites life from death every chance we let him. There are things that explode into our lives and we call them curses, and then one day, a year later or ten years later, we realize that they are actually something else. They are the very most precious kinds of blessings." ~Shauna Niequist, Cold Tangerines

"But the only person who decided my life had turned to dust was me. The only person who is still deeply troubled about what I've lost, even in the face of what I've gained, is me. I would never have wanted it this way, but something bright and beautiful has been given to me, and I'm in grave danger of losing it, squandering it, becoming a person who cannot find the goodness that's right in front of her because of the sadness that she chooses to let obscure it.
Now we're talking about celebration. Celebration when you think you're calling the shots? Easy. Celebration when your plan is working? Anyone can do that. But when you realize that the story of your life could be told a thousand different ways, that you could tell it over and over as a tragedy, but you choose to call it an epic, that's when you start to learn what celebration is. When what you see in front of you is so far outside of what you dreamed, but you have the belief, the boldness, the courage to call it beautiful instead of calling it wrong, that's celebration."~Shauna Niequist, Cold Tangerines

 Celebration is hardest and most precious when it is hard. But it is so. worth. it. 

linking up with Elizabeth :) 

31 Days :: {14} :: in which I sort of tell you a story

 Hey there friends! thanks for stopping by! You've found us at Day 14 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 :) 

One morning, at the end of September, I woke up at my usual time of 6:30. It was a little weird, though, because I felt suuuper tired and achy. I just kinda brushed it off though, and tried to go about my day. Buuut, after breakfast, about maybe 8:30, I was just feelin' so bad, I couldn't even stand comfortably.  

So I went back to bed. I proceeded to sleep until about 11:30. At which point I finally got up, got dressed for real, and did most of the things I had to do. But I felt really tired, and went to bed at like 9:15 or something like that. 

My mother is convinced that I have been burning both ends of the candle for too long. It's certainly possible. Too long must be a long time, my body certainly waited a long time to rebel against my sleeping habits. :P

Since that day, I have been getting 9-11 hours of sleep most nights, which severely cuts into my waking hours. And I have this problem where I don't go to bed early enough most nights, which results in my not waking up {even if I set an alarm ~ believe me, I am an expert at turning off an alarm in my sleep! :P} as early as I would like to. And I looove mornings. 

Tomorrow and Saturday I *hope* to tell you two things I am *trying* to learn from this. And by trying, I mean I know I need to learn this but I really don't want to have to, and I'm kinda failing. 

be encouraged today!
love emma

31 Days :: {10} :: sleeping in

Happy {Canadian} Thanksgiving! thanks for stopping by! You've found us at Day 10 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 :)


Sometimes, it's important to celebrate the things you didn't intend to have or do. For example, I didn't intend to sleep in yesterday. It resulted in my not being able to do all the things I wanted to do before work yesterday {including a blog post}, and I could have chosen to be frustrated. Also: I hate the feeling sleeping in gives me. :P But instead, I chose to celebrate it and enjoy the extra rest, my comfy bed, and the great dream I had {which of course I cannot for the life of me remember now lol!}.

Unexpected and unplanned things can be beautiful if we choose to see them that way. I know that I for one tend to become frustrated when things don't go as planned, but I am trying to learn to embrace the way life flows, and celebrate things I didn't intend to happen. It's a discipline that takes lots of practice. 

So sleeping in gave me more practice, something extra to write about this weekend, and did I mention my bed is so warm and comfy and cozy? ;)

what unexpected things have you celebrated lately?

blessings,
love emma


linking up with Chantel and Elizabeth :)

31 Days :: {7} :: we need it

 Because, some days, I think I can do without celebrating. Sometimes because all I can see is the ugly, and other times because I think everything is 'just okay' without taking the effort to slow down and celebrate the beauty in life. 

But then I am reminded, that there is no neutral. Either we are celebrating, or we're shunning it and turning to despair and anger, even if we don't see it. And I believe that, as Shauna says, despair is a slow death. I. don't. want. that. 

From Shauna's Cold Tangerines:

"I need optimism and celebration and hope in the face of violence and despair and anxiety. And because the other road is a dead end. Despair is a low death, and a lifetime of anger is like a lifetime of hard drinking: it shows in your face and your eyes and your words even when you think it doesn't.
The only option, as I see it, is this delicate weaving of action and celebration, of intention and expectation."

So today, choose to let go of the frustrations, the deadlines, and the irritation with whatever it is in your life. If you hold on to them, it will show. Choose to celebrate. Take it one step at a time, what is something special you could do right now? could you make yourself a tea, hot chocolate, coffee, then savour it slowly, enjoying the feel of a warm mug in your hands? 

Look for the little things, they add up. They really are the beautiful within the ordinary. 

We need celebration, folks!
blessings,
emma 

Hey there friends! thanks for stopping by! You've found us at Day 7 of my 31 Days series on Celebrating Life. If you'd like to see all the other posts so far, you'll find them here :) (or here). 

Blue Sky & the Clouds

This morning I went to sit on the porch for my morning time with God, as I often do. When I went out there today, the sky was dark and heavy with clouds, the wind was raging, and trees were shaking from the wind. There was a little patch of thinner cloud down by the horizon to the east, and I could see a little hint of the forgotten sun.

It was chilly. I wrapped my blanket tightly around my legs, and tried to wrap both my hands around my tea mug :) I spent a beautiful time with the LORD this morning, reading from Psalms, Zechariah, and Colossians. I prayed for many things, including an MAF family who I met yesterday.

do you know how hard it was to keep the pages from blowing lol?

 And when I finished, I continued to sit out there, looking around me. And what I saw, was behind me, there was a little patch of blue sky, and as I watched, the wind pushed the clouds, and the blue sky expanded. The wind pushed those dark clouds right out of my view, until all I could see was a brilliant bright blue sky, with a few light fluffy clouds illuminated gold by the sunrise.

And it made me think. It made me think of days where I am all overcast. When my temper is short, my brainspace is cloudy, and I am not doing well. And then, sometimes, even through all that, I can hear the LORD telling me to come to Him. To lay it all at His feet and let Him blow the clouds away. Sometimes I listen.

And when I do? It starts with prayer, maybe a little Bible reading. A little blue sky creeps out. Turning my thoughts away from myself. Those heavy clouds start to shift a little more. Giving thanks and praising the LORD. Those clouds are running for dear life as the blue sky chases them away to take over. And suddenly, look at where we are compared to where we were before.

It continues to blow my mind, how God can turn a day around.

If you're having one of those days, turn to Him, trust Him. If you let Him, He will bring out that blue sky ~ just for you!

Sing to God, sing in praise of his name,
    extol him who rides on the clouds;
    rejoice before him—his name is the Lord.
Psalm 68:4

blessings, friends!
love Emma

on a slightly ironic note, now that I'm finished this post, I looked out the window, and what do ya know? clouds again. with a little patch o' blue sky in the corner, slowly growing. some days are a battle, and those clouds will just keep coming, but don't let them stay there!

 Linking up with Elizabeth and Chantel

Tunes Tuesday :: late {again :P}

We're busy packing up because we're heading away to visit family and camp in Michigan for a week and of course I am not organized enough to get my blogging done on schedule. So this post is late.

And because we'll be away, and once again, I'm not organized enough to blog ahead of time, there will be no Tunes Tuesday post next week either.

But on to this week's post. I found this CD at the thrift store, and I knew a couple of songs from Christian radio and I decided to pick it up. As I played it through, there was this one song that really reached me. I was sitting in the car, and listening to every word.

Addison Road - Change in the Making

Oh, the chorus. Lately I have been convicted that I have been living a complacent comfortable life. And that is so not biblical! So I've been asking Him to mold me and chip away all those things I don't need. It is uncomfortable to grow like that but it is worth it! Broken pride hurts, it's not 'cool' to be under construction. But I'm gonna trust that the One who created me knows that better version of me and how best to get there.

And ya know what? it's not even that comfortable living the comfortable life anyways. :P at least, that's what I've found, after a while.

There's a better version of me
That I can't quite see
But things are gonna change
Right now I'm a total mess and
Right now I'm completely incomplete
But things are gonna change
'Cause you're not through with me yet

This is redemption's story
With every step that I'm taking
Every day, you're chipping away
What I don't need
This is me under construction
This is my pride being broken
And every day I'm closer to who I'm meant to be
I'm a change in the making

Wish I could live more patiently
Wish I would give a little more of me
Without stopping to think twice
Wish I had faith like a little child
Wish I could walk a single mile
Without tripping on my own feet
But you're not through with me yet

This is redemption's story
With every step that I'm taking
Every day, you're chipping away
What I don't need
This is me under construction
This is my pride being broken
And every day I'm closer to who I'm meant to be

From the dawn of history
You make new and you redeem
From a broken world to a broken heart
You finish what you start in everything

Like a river rolls into the sea
We're not who we're going to be
But things are going to change

I'm Livin' redemption's story
With every step that I'm taking
Every day, you're chipping away
What I don't need
This is me under construction
This is my pride being broken
And every day I'm closer to who I'm meant to be
I'm a change in the making [x2]
I'm not who I'm gonna be
Moving closer to your glory 

blessings friends!

love Emma

*sigh* debriefing the July challenge

So remember that challenge I gave myself? way back at the beginning of July?

well I failed. big time.

as in, I only did it one day, and then half of the next. and then I completely dropped it. and not only that, but that list I had at least been making at the end of the day? well I pretty much stopped doing that too.

the last almost two weeks (?) have been full of those days where they're not horrible and they're not great. I just kinda make my way through them, and unless it's somehow 'unmissable' I don't see the beauty, God's little graces, His gifts to me.

one thing that I have realized, is that when I am fixing my eyes upon Jesus, everything else seems to sort of fall into place. not that it's all simple, or easy, cuz it's not... but when I'm looking around at all the things down here, everything gets all mixed up, and I don't have the clarity or strength to sort out what's good or not, so it all just kinda gets jumbled up inside me and I can't figure it out.

it's super easy to be focused on God during quiet time in the morning, but it's all throughout the day that I need it, and that's where lately, it's super hard to remember.

I also have to admit that up to the last few days, reading my Bible has also not exactly been at the top of my list. and that makes me sad. because I know it is life-giving. and it is what I need to make it through the day.

the last few days I have been more disciplined at getting up early and spending time with God. yesterday morning I went on a romp through the woods, and I sang loud for only my LORD, lots of praise songs as I wandered in and wondered at the woods.

but it's in the middle of the craziness that I forget... anyone got any tips?


some things that I need to remember:

•  Hebrews 12: 1b-2a
  "Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith."
•  to look to God all throughout my day, to turn to Him with every little bit, it should {will?} change the way I think and the way I do everything
• Philippians 4:6-7
  "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

 vbs camp next week!!! so excited! would appreciate any and all prayers :)

blessings,
emma


 

{challenge 1} {in which I compare my spiritual life to a plant}

Every year it goes the same way. Winter.... my spiritual life is often similar to plant life at that time of year: underground, cold/half frozen, sleepy, yet still alive. But as spring comes, I can feel it stirring in me. My soul says, don't leave me here, and I yearn for growth, and as the days get longer, warmer, my heart thaws, and I can feel life rising in me.

Typically springtime is amazing. Enter July. When I get to July I usually feel like I'm just trying to make it through the days that drag, and then the weeks fly by faster than light, and that really really bothers me because that's not how summer is supposed to be! {and all of a sudden I'm wondering, should this post really be about expectations and how discontent comes when they don't get met... maybe that's what my problem really is.}

Summer is such a beautiful time. And so often I miss it.

I'm in the habit of getting to the end of my day, and writing down a few things I'm thankful for about that day. I'm thankful for that habit. But I'm feeling like it's not enough to get to the end and scratch down a couple things like 'fun in the pool', or 'great run'. It's 'better than nothing' - but I want to be looking for the beauty in each moment, not thinking back on them later. I want to live in wonder and awe.

And so my challenge for myself this week of July {will you join me? :) } is to search for the beauty, and then document it. In either a photograph, or a written sketch. My goal for this week is at least two photos or written sketches per day. {and hopefully many more beautiful moments that are just captured by a word or two}

I want to love life. I want to live it fully, totally amazed by the awesomeness of what God has given us.
blessings on your day!
emma

linking up with Chantel over at A Harvest of Blessing

this post by Ellen, and this one by Marian, were among the many things swirling around inside my head that resulted in this post.

joy in the frustrating

you know those days. the ones where everything is going wrong and it all JUST DRIVES YOU CRAZY!

whatever your frustrating is, whether it is that grumpy, clingy toddler who insists on being carried around all day, and the kids who bicker almost constantly, and the house that is a mess; or something else: we all have that something. and today I challenge you to find the joy in it.

that toddler won't be young forever, and someday ~soon!!~ she will not want you to carry her around at all. YOU WILL MISS THIS. do not take it for granted now. those children? this is an opportunity for you to teach them about love & kindness. so what if it's the millionth time you've tried? maybe today will be the day it hits home. or maybe it won't. how often does our Heavenly Father try and teach us things and we refuse to understand, to listen, to apply it?

there is always beauty in each and every day. look for it. maybe it is the way the sun is shining on the floor (dirty or not), or maybe it is an impromptu hug or a loving and encouraging word.

today, look for the joy in the frustrating. if you look hard enough: you will find it!

blessings,
~em