Tunes Tuesday :: This is the Time

Since I totally completely 100% have this song stuck in my head this morning and still love it even though there is no getting it out, I thought I would share it. Yes, it's Superchick again. :) 


I love the sound of this song, and the harmonies on the chorus, and most of all the point of the song. People, life is waiting. This is the Time, get off your computers and phones, love people, do something you love, appreciate the little things. Don't be afraid to mess up, you fail more when you don't try (and of course that's a lyric from another superchick song ;)).

Superchick - This is the Time  

This is the story of your life
A movie starring you
What's the next scene have for you to do?
Leave the dishes in the sink
Leave your fear there too
Live the story you would write for you

Say Hey! Hey! Wake your heart!
and break break apart, the walls that keep you from being you
And walk, walk towards the light
And don't stop till you live your life
Like someone died for you.

This is the time, to try
Step out, your life is waiting
and as you fall, you'll find that you can fly.

You can find a million words
To build a wall of fear
Safe behind that wall, imprisoned here
Take that someday step today
To who you're meant to be
And turn your dreams to plans so you can breathe

Ask anyone whose time is up
What they'd give for what you got
And how they'd live your life
Live like your life's worth dying for
You just walked out that prison door
and you'll know how to live your life

please please please, remember, today, that someone died for you. live like you know it. we don't get another do-over at this life, today will be gone forever. don't waste it! 

yes, it takes work to live life well - but it is worth it. 

blessings,

emma

Tunes Tuesday :: Superchic[k]

So it seems I'm really out of the loop because I never learned until today that Superchic[k] had folded. A year and a half ago. Wow. Makes me feel sad and nostalgic because Superchic[k].

And since I've been meaning to post for a while (but haven't because of priorities and this winter has been just aahhmaayyzzing so far and hopefully there will be a post coming soon about it... it's in my drafts haha! along with lots of others :P), I thought today was the perfect occasion to do so. 

tons of fun tobogganing the other day! :D

So here is Superchic[k]'s song Sunshine 

Every day is Christmas
When every day is Thanksgiving
I can find the sunshine
If I count my blessings
I got love
And a brand new day
I don't have the best, but I make the best of what I've got
I can see I'm blessed if I don't obsess on what I'm not
Knocked down to the bottom, but I'll start it all over again
You can steal my songs, but you can't take away my pen
I've got nothing but love and a brand new day
I'm living a brand new way
If I miss, I don't cry - I change it up and try again
Every day I'm shooting, every day a chance to win
Easy to be hard, hard to let the light shine in
I love like a child, I never let the critics win
I got lint in my pockets
I got everything I need
Radio's broke so Imma make my own break beats
I get up when I get down
I never draw the perfect line
I got 99 problems
I knock 'em down one at a time 

 Hope you're all enjoying this winter - and if you're finding it cold and boring get out there because that's where the real fun happens! :D

Blessings,

Emma

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

31 Days :: {28} :: wrap-up/conclusion

Hey there friends! thanks for stopping by! This is the final post 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 or the posts all here :)

So I made it. I wrote every day in October {except Sundays}, on the topic of Celebrating Life. And I learned. so. much. 

Please please please go and read the Chapter entitled 'Cold Tangerines' from Shauna Niequist's book Cold Tangerines, you can do that here {scroll down a little bit and it will show up in blue printing}. Because I tried to find a couple of paragraphs from this chapter to highlight and share here but I have to admit that the whole chapter is underlined in my copy. Actually, I highly recommend reading the entire book ;)

I've tried to figure out what exactly I want to accomplish with this official wrap-up conclusion. And it's been hard. 

But I think I finally landed on something. I just want to encourage you {& me}. Encourage you to celebrate. Because it is so worth it. Even when it's hard.

Believe me, I know. When you get to the end of the day and you find yourself all snappy, and achy and tired, it's hard to celebrate. 

When you're bored crazy, it's hard to celebrate. When you're sad, mad, disappointed, hurt, frustrated, it's hard to celebrate.

A lot of times, it's even hard to celebrate when life is going good and it's a great day. 

Ouch. And that's the one I struggle with oh so often. Because I just let myself onto cruise control and it no longer matters if anything is worth celebrating, and nothing in my day has a real point, and I'm just breathing and moving but not really living. 

And so when Shauna write this in her book, it resonates with me. It calls to deep within me and says, celebrate. Make that effort. Because tomorrow will soon be today and when you look back on what will be yesterday, will you wish you had lived more alive?

"I want a life that sizzles and pops and makes me laugh out loud. And I don't want to get to the end, or to tomorrow, even, and realize that my life is a collection of meetings and pop cans and errands and receipts and dirty dishes. I want to eat cold tangerines and sing loud in the car with the windows open and wear pink shoes and stay up all night laughing and paint my walls the exact color of the sky right now. I want to sleep hard on clean white sheets and throw parties and eat ripe tomatoes and read books so good they make me jump up and down and I want my everyday to make God belly laugh, glad that he gave life to someone who loves the gift, who will use it up and wring it out and drag it around like a favorite sweater." ~Shauna Niequist (Cold Tangerines)

 And it's not about waiting to celebrate the big moments in life. It's not about waiting to become whoever or whatever it is you think you are becoming. It's about celebrating this very life that you have today.

"But this is what I'm finding, in glimpses and flashes: this is it. This is it, in the best possible way. That thing I'm waiting for, that adventure, that movie-score-worthy experience unfolding gracefully. This is it. Normal, daily life ticking by on our streets and sidwalks, in our houses and apartments, in our beds and at our dinner tables, in our dreams and prayers and fights and secrets - this pedestrian life is the most precious thing any of us will ever experience.
I believe that this way of living, this focus on the present, the daily, the tangible, this intense concentration not on the news headlines but on the flowers growing in your own garden, the children growing in your own home, this way of living has the potential to open up the heavens, to yield a glittering handful of diamonds where a second ago there was coal. This way of living and noticing and building and crafting can crack through the movie sets and soundtracks that keep us waiting for our own life stories to begin, and set us free to observe the lives we have been creating all along without even realizing it.
 
I don't want to wait anymore. I choose to believe that there is nothing more sacred or profound than this day. I choose to believe that there may be a thousand big moments embedded in this day, waiting to be discovered like tiny shards of gold. The big moments are the daily, tiny moments of courage and forgiveness and hope that we grab on to and extend to one another. That's the drama of life, swirling all around us, and generally I don't even see it, because I'm too busy waiting to become whatever it is I think I am about to become. The big moments are in every hour, every conversation, every meal, every meeting." ~Shauna Niequist, Cold Tangerines

 And so today, I am encouraging you, calling you, appealing to you, pleading with you to please, open your eyes and intentionally look at all the beauty around you to celebrate.

"The world is alive, blinking and clicking, winking at us slyly, inviting us to get up and dance to the music that's been playing since the beginning of time, if you bend all the way down and put your ear to the ground to listen for it." ~Shauna Niequist, Cold Tangerines

Shall we?

complete post list:
{1} :: October Goals and Pre-Intro
{2} :: introduction 
{3} :: beautiful 
{4} :: tangible beauty 
{5} :: today... 
{6} :: Tunes Tuesday :: 10,000 Reasons 
{7} :: we need it 
{8} :: hidden beauty 
{9} :: don't wait
{10} :: sleeping in 
{11} :: laughter 
{12} :: Tunes Tuesday :: Carrie Underwood
{13} :: 31 Days love
{14} :: in which I sort of tell you a story
{15} :: intention 
{16} :: intention, part 2
{17} :: Today...
{18} :: Tunes Tuesday :: Something Beautiful 
{19} :: intention, part 3 
{20} :: the root of celebration
{21} :: believing it 
{22} :: link love 
{23} :: family {beautiful people}
{24} :: Tunes Tuesday 
{25} :: celebrating when it's hard
{26} :: Today... 
{27} :: quotes 

linking up with Elizabeth :) 

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 :: {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 :: {19} :: intention, part 3

Hey there friends! thanks for stopping by! You've found us at Day 19 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 :) 

Soo.. the story is here, part 1 is here, and part 2 here. I thiiink this will be the last part. ;)

So you may have read the other posts, and been like, Emma, this is cool, but I thought that your series was about celebrating life, not living with intention. Please please explain exactly how this connects. And so that's what I'm hoping to do today. 

We are not, by nature, thankful people. Because of our sin nature, we will not, unintentionally, give thanks, which is, incidentally at the root of celebrating life. {did you catch that? sorry for the run-on sentence.}

We celebrate life as a way to say thank-you for each glorious moment - because even the 'un-glorious' moments, truly are glorious. We celebrate as a way to say thank-you when we live life fully, making the most of this sensational gift of life. 

Here's what Shauna has to say:

"I live according to my faith when I love a meal that has been prepared carefully, when I notice texture and color and taste, when I let the flavor and scent of something fresh from the ground surprise me and bring me back to life. I demonstrate my theology when I dance all night with people I love, because this life is worth the best celebration we can offer up to it. I thank God every time I eat crusty bread and garlicky olives, and when I smell clean laundry and hear that little squeak of fingers on a guitar. For me, what God said when he made the world is a prayer: It is good. This world, it is good. The beauty of a perfect green apple is good. The first steps of a child are good. Watching my grandparents dance in their kitchen is good. It is good. 

I have to remind myself that it is good. I have to create hope in my life, because there's something inside me that has radar for the bad parts of life. I walk into the kitchen and all I can see are crumbs on the counter, and I look in the mirror and don't even see my face, I just see all the potential wrinkles forming. I have a dark, worst-case scenario sensor, and it takes over."

{And here's where it's really hard. Because that thought continues and it's really amazing but I can't put her whole book here {otherwise I would, because I love it so much, and I think everyone should read it!!} so I have to pick somewhere to stop, but please go and read the next couple of paragraphs right here. She has so much beautiful to say about this!} {Or you could read the whole chapter... I think I underlined every word of it in my copy.}}

"When I live purposefully and well, when I dance instead of sitting it out, when I let myself laugh hard, when I wear my favorite shoes on a regular Tuesday, that regular Tuesday is better." ~Shauna Niequist, Cold Tangerines

 

So, in conclusion: to celebrate requires a conscious choice. To make that choice, you need intention. Celebrating is a way to say thank-you to God. He loves it when we celebrate life! 

But how many times do you walk past that clean laundry without noticing the scent? How many times do you eat good food without really tasting it? It takes intention to see all those things. Practice it! :) 

love emma

linking up with Chantel and Elizabeth :)

31 Days :: {18} :: Tunes Tuesday :: Something Beautiful

Hey there friends! thanks for stopping by! You've found us at Day 18 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 have love love loved this song for such a long time and I always knew what it was about, but it struck me yesterday that this song is pretty much exactly what my series is about!  My favourite lines are: "when we laughed so hard we cried, all the love between you and I, something beautiful"

Newsboys - Something Beautiful

I wanna start it over
I wanna start again
I want a new beginning
One without an end
I feel it inside
Calling out to me

It's a voice that whispers my name
It's a kiss without any shame
Something beautiful
Like a song that stirs in my head
Singing love will take us where
Something's beautiful

I've heard it in the silence
Seen it on a face
I've felt it in a long hour
Like a sweet embrace
I know this is true
It's calling out to me

It's a voice that whispers my name
It's a kiss without any shame
Something beautiful
Like a song that stirs in my head
Singing love will take us where
Something's beautiful

It's the child on her wedding day
It's the daddy that gives her away
Something beautiful
When we laugh so hard we cry
It's the love between you and I
Something beautiful 

blessings today, friends! :)

love emma

 

31 Days :: {8} :: hidden beautiful

Hey there friends! thanks for stopping by! You've found us at Day 8 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 believe there are such things as tangible beautiful, beautiful moments, beautiful people, and also, hidden beautiful {which I think, actually fits into all the other listed 'categories'}.

When we first moved to our house, a couple years ago, it was a new neighbourhood, a new side of town for us. That meant lots of exploring, and we walked down street after street, trying to find all the parks and soccer fields, and how all the streets fit together. Well one day, after we'd been living here a couple of months, my mother said there's a wetland with paths through it somewhere around here, we are going to go find it. 

And so we did. We ran down a hill at the end of a court, and made our way through a giant clump of birch trees and bushes (actually, my mother found the path, which was on the next street over, but we decided it was more fun to make our way through the woods), into the wetland and onto the path. Oh my goodness it was beautiful in there!

From the edges of the wetland you can see the backs of houses on either side, but in the middle, it's like you're not in the middle of a subdivision. If you know where the paths to get in are, it's easy to tell that the wetland is there from outside of it. But if you don't, and you didn't take the time to look for it, you would never know it's there. 

I think that's like the beauty in life, so often. Sometimes it's hidden within things, like our wetland in the middle of a subdivision, and it takes you looking for it to find it. And once you do it's like there's a whole other world out there. 

Since then, we have discovered a whole bunch of other trails and meadows and such in this neighbourhood, and they are all so very lovely. I can be five minutes away from my house and {almost} feel like I'm in the middle of the country.

I love this wetland. I go running there all the time, I take the little girls walking through there, we look for birds and bunny-rabbits and snails... during each season it is so different and beautiful. It makes me sad to think that if we hadn't gone looking for this beautiful, we might not have found it.  

It's kind of like that silver lining to the clouds... God puts it in there but we've gotta look for it. And sometimes... it's very well hidden.

What kinds of hidden beautiful do you have in your life that you would've missed if you hadn't gone looking for it?

blessings,
love emma


linking up with Chantel and Elizabeth :)

31 Days :: {2} :: Introduction

for real. {and I promise that most posts will not be this long lol!}

Life. I'm still (LORD-willing) still very near the beginning of mine, but even by now, I know that life is a journey. I truly believe what Corrie ten Boom said about every experience preparing us for a future we cannot see. And I can see it.

I can see the way life has lead me through a couple of years to get to this point. And I'm trusting that God will use this point where I cam right now to bring me somewhere new in the future. 

I don't even remember how, or why, but for some reason, several years ago, I picked up Ann Voskamp's book, 1000 gifts. And it awakened something inside. Something that said, the ordinary is more than ordinary. It is the very grace of God. And it began to change the way I looked at the world.

It was a fight. Everyday. It still is a fight. I don't imagine it will ever stop being one, but I do know the more I practice the stronger I am to fight this battle. 

"Life is a collection of a million, billion moments, tiny little moments and choices, like a handful of luminous glowing pearls. And strung together, built upon one another, lined up through the days and the years, they make a life, a person." ~Shauna Niequist (Cold Tangerines)

have you ever stopped to celebrate sunset? a glorious show that God placed in the sky just. for. you. to. celebrate?

At the beginning of September I was thinking about 31 Days and whether or not I wanted to do a series in it this year, and if I did, what on earth it was going to be about. And about that same time, I picked up Shauna Niequist's book Cold Tangerines and I was hooked. captivated. excited. I couldn't put it down. This book spoke to me, right where I was at. Right in the middle(ish) of my year of Here & Now, which I was failing and succeeding at by turn. But mostly failing :P

And I got to the end, and this quote: 

"I want a life that sizzles and pops and makes me laugh out loud. And I don't want to get to the end, or to tomorrow, even, and realize that my life is a collection of meetings and pop cans and errands and receipts and dirty dishes. I want to eat cold tangerines and sing loud in the car with the windows open and wear pink shoes and stay up all night laughing and paint my walls the exact color of the sky right now. I want to sleep hard on clean white sheets and throw parties and eat ripe tomatoes and read books so good they make me jump up and down and I want my everyday to make God belly laugh, glad that he gave life to someone who loves the gift, who will use it up and wring it out and drag it around like a favorite sweater." ~Shauna Niequist (Cold Tangerines)

and I knew. This, this was my 31 Days. I want to celebrate life - my everyday life. I learn by teaching and I process by writing. And maybe, too, someone else will be encouraged to celebrate their every-day! 

Because I don't want to get to the end and realize that my life was only mindane things, lifeless days that followed lifeless days, that turned into months, and years, and decades. "I want a life that sizzles and pops," I want to find this beauty in life. I want to celebrate!! :) 

So this is me. And Shauna. My writing will be raw and haphazard and unpolished, and hers, - well we all know her writing is refreshing and beautiful. 

One of the things that I had trouble with, even just getting started writing this post, is that I will puck up her book for inspiration, and then her sparkling words make the ones in my head, that I struggle to put to paper sound scattered and ungraceful. 

But by the grace of God, her book inspired me, and I can do no less than pick up my pen and write, and offer them to my LORD as a love offering, praying that somehow, in some way, He might use them to bless someone.

Glory to His name!

And so this month will be, as Shauna says, "a shameless appeal for celebration." I know I need it. Join me?

linking up with Chantel and Elizabeth :)

Tunes Tuesday :: let's dance

ya know, sometimes you just need to dance. this week was that week. and this song, was the song.

Hawk Nelson - Elevator 

Feelin' tired of feelin' nothin'
Feelin' stuck in the mud and I'm over it
So far down, lookin' around
And I don't know how I'm gettin' out

But hey, hey, hey
I hear You tell me not to stay, stay, stay
The door is open every day, day, day
It takes me to another place, place, place

Like an elevator
Can't stop 'cause Your love is liftin' me up
Like an elevator
I've never felt like I'm feelin' tonight
Straight off the ground, we'll never come down
Can't stop 'cause Your love is liftin' me now
Like an elevator
Like an elevator

Way up high, like I'm flyin'
And I'm finally feelin' so alive
You and I, to the sky
Gonna blow the roof off from the inside

So hey, hey, hey
I hear You tell me not to stay, stay, stay
The door is open every day, day, day
It takes me to another place, place, place

Like an elevator
Can't stop 'cause Your love is liftin' me up
Like an elevator
I've never felt like I'm feelin' tonight
Straight off the ground, we'll never come down
Can't stop 'cause Your love is liftin' me now
Like an elevator
Like an elevator (Woo!)

Here we go!
Here we go!
When we gonna stop?
No one knows
Everybody up
Get on board
You know you wanna come along for the ride
So let's go
Everyone on the flyest train
Never gonna be the same
I'm feelin' so fantastic
This party's everlastin'
So grab your friends
Push all the buttons
Ain't gonna stop until we get up to the top floor
Top floor
'Cause there's no way that we can feel more
Feel more
Here we go!

Like an elevator (elevator)
Can't stop 'cause You're love is liftin' me up
Like an elevator (elevator)
I've never felt like I'm feelin' tonight
Straight off the groud, we'll never come down
Can't stop 'cause You're love is liftin' me now
Like an elevator (elevator)
Like an elevator (like an elevator)

Whoa, hey, an elevator 

ever feel like you've just gotta dance? 

maybe, even if you don't think you do, just turn on the song and start dancing. by yourself, with friends, or family. just try it? :)

love emma xoxo

Linking up with Chantel :)

Tunes Tuesday :: stronger

Good morning peoples! :)

Today's song is Hillsong's Stronger. This is one of my favourite worship songs and it is relatable no matter what life is taking you through, and no matter how you're feeling. When I'm in a bad mood, or worried about something, this song is a reminder that Jesus is stronger than any of that. Sin is broken, and He has saved me! He is LORD of all! This is a cry for the LORD to be glorified, and for healing when I'm broken, and when I'm celebrating life, this is adoring and praising Him.

There is love that came for us
Humbled to a sinners cross
You broke my shame and sinfulness
You rose again victorious

Faithfulness none can deny
Through the storm and through the fire
There is truth that sets me free
Jesus Christ who lives in me

You are stronger, You are stronger
Sin is broken, You have saved me
It is written, Christ is risen
Jesus You are Lord of all

No beginning and no end
You're my hope and my defense
You came to seek and save the lost
You paid it all upon the cross

You are stronger, You are stronger
Sin is broken, You have saved me
It is written, Christ is risen
Jesus You are Lord of all

So let Your name be lifted higher
Be lifted higher, be lifted higher
So let Your name be lifted higher
Be lifted higher, be lifted higher

So let Your name be lifted higher
Be lifted higher, be lifted higher
So let Your name be lifted higher
Be lifted higher, be lifted higher

You are stronger, You are stronger
Sin is broken, You have saved me
It is written, Christ is risen
Jesus You are Lord of all

(x2)

blessings on your day!!

love Emma

Summer is...

How is already the last weekend of summer?!?!
I've been trying to soak it in as much as possible, and made a list of things that summer has involved for me this year :) 

Summer is...

Sitting on the porch bench reading,

warmth of the sun on my skin,

Peach juice dripping down my chin, 

Hot kitchen full of canning,

Buckets of peach skins & pits,

Corn on the cob,

Watermelon,

Ice cream,

Tan lines,

Sweaty curls in the not-so baby's hair,

Slower pace,

Jumping on the trampoline with the girlies,

Story time on the couch,

Early morning sunrise & Bible reading,

Peach pie with a gingerbread crust (for breakfast!!),

Swimming in the pool,

Watching the kids jumping competitions (and occasionally being in one too ;) ),

 Sunlight through the trampoline net, 

people falling over on the trampoline,

late nights and early mornings,

the animals we see on our walks,

long hours of sunshine,

bbq pizza,
your butt sore from a long bike ride,
strawberry picking: aching back and fingers & lips turned red,
playing in the sand (and being turned into a giant octopus ;) ),

I'm sure there's many many more... next season I think I will start a list right off at the beginning :)

What is on your 'Summer Is' list? 

The only thing that makes me somewhat ready for summer to be ending, is that fall is coming, and I just love how beautiful fall is :)

Blessings upon your day!

love Emma

linking up with Elizabeth  & Chantel :)

*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


 

year in review

as another birthday comes around, another year passing, I like to take a look at the year I'm leaving behind me, the year closing, and see how I've grown, how God has been working in my life.

last year's.

this past year has been, well, a roller coaster ride.  last summer was good (to be perfectly honest it always seems to me like the summers are just an amazing blur filled with so many fun days and other days that are.... well let's just say less fun), and the end of the summer was just spectacular (we went out west to see some friends). the fall was pretty rough, and I know that God was using it to teach me lots of things. the winter was a lot better, and I find when you look back at something it's a lot easier to see how you've grown through it and the difference between where you are and where you were.

once again, I thank the LORD that I read 1000 gifts because I have truly discovered in my life that when I am off track, the best way to get on track is simply to spend more time with God, and count your blessings. this spring has mostly been lovely. {I say mostly, and what I mean by that is that it has indeed been lovely, but there are days here and there, which are not so much, ya know?} I know that I can look back over the past year and see that God has had a plan to work in my life, and there were things that hurt, and while I was in them I wished I didn't have to, but now when I look back I see how much closer to God I have grown and I can say honestly that I am okay with it all. but only because God's got a plan and He works in my life, and He worked through that.

some things God has been teaching me this year include but are not limited to:
1. biggest thing. God will work in every little detail of your life. everything that God brings you into He will bring you through and out of, and if you use that as an "excuse" to run to Him, He will bring you out of it closer to Him.
2. contentment (if you read this blog at all you probably already know that haha!). there are some things in your life you can change. go out and change those if you don't like them! ...but there are lots of things you can't change -and so why would I want to waste all that time wishing for something I didn't have? time is precious people! make the most of what you've got!
3. living on your own power is just. so. exhausting. when I don't start my day with the LORD, and "stop in" a few times a day, I do stupid things and by the end of the day I'm a mess. yes.

some books I read this year that helped me grow that I would totally recommend to others:
1. A Million Little Ways by Emily Freeman. you have a life to live. you can make art where you are now. you don't need to be a painter or a musician or anything like that to make art. to make art with your life is to glorify God.
2. Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis. this book is great!!! it's pretty deep and a little confusing at times, but it's written in a way that is so easy to read... I have learned a lot of great things from this book.
3. The In-Between: Embracing the Tension Between Now and the Next Big Thing by Jeff Goins. I will admit that while I did read the first part of the book I only skimmed the second part... but I liked this book. did you know we spend a crazy whack of time waiting in our lives? (at the grocery store, the doctor's, etc, or for bigger things like university acceptances, or a baby etc) and I know that I tend to think of waiting as a waste of time, but God has given us this time for a purpose and we've got to use it too!

a few songs that God has used in my life this year:

my favourite hymn-y-worship-y song lately: Crown Him (Chris Tomlin & Kari Jobe)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NCcMqD_0z4

I need Him. Oh, yes! Every hour, every millisecond, whether I realize it or not!  Lord, I Need You - Matt Maher

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuvfMDhTyMA

Holy Spirit -Francesca Battistelli (honestly, I am so loving her entire new album!)
"Your glory, God, is what our hearts long for / To be overcome by Your presence, Lord"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvBBC7-PSHo

I also made a youtube playlist with 'just a few' of the many many songs that I loved this year. (those that I remembered yesterday anyways lol)

this year I spent a lot of time in the Psalms, Isaiah, Philippians and a few other epistles. some verses (&passages) that have meant a lot to me:
(if I didn't put the passage there is a link)

Isaiah 58

Isaiah 55:9-11

Isaiah 46:4

Isaiah 44:22-23
I have swept away your offenses like a cloud,
    your sins like the morning mist.
Return to me,
    for I have redeemed you.”²³ Sing for joy, you heavens, for the Lord has done this;
    shout aloud, you earth beneath.
Burst into song, you mountains,
    you forests and all your trees,
for the Lord has redeemed Jacob,
    he displays his glory in Israel.

Psalm 25: 12-13

Psalm 27:4

Psalm 27:13-14
I remain confident of this:
    I will see the goodness of the Lord
    in the land of the living.
¹⁴ Wait for the Lord;
    be strong and take heart
    and wait for the Lord.

Psalm 34:8

Psalm 37:4, 23

Psalm 51:10-12

John 6:35
Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

2 Corinthians 12:9a,10b
“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Philippians honest to goodness, I so love this book! picking a few favourite passages was very hard, please go and read it yourself. slowly. over and over and over again.

Philippians 1:6
being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Philippians 1:9-11

Philippians 2:5-11

Philippians 2:15b-16

Philippians 4:4
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!

Philippians 4:6-7
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:11-13

Philippians 4:19

Colossians 3:17, 23

God has got a glorious plan for our lives, so that we might be part of the beautiful tapestry He is weaving for His glory. I pray that I would never forget that. We worship and great and Almighty God, who has loved us wayy beyond what we can comprehend. I pray that we would live like we know it!
I hope that you got something out of this mumbo-jumbo ;)

love Em