Filipino happiness.



Tonight as I was thinking about what all I have going on this week, I was actually preparing to sit down and write a totally different blog than the one you are currently reading.  Hopefully, I will be able to write that one tomorrow and post it; but, tonight I want to share with you about my glorious "Filipino Day" I had yesterday!

Normally I am a part of the college Sunday School class in my church; however, because of Father's Day being yesterday I received a message from my pastor, Ray,  that we would be joining in with the Adult S.S. class, and I definitely wouldn't want to miss! He also added that he would be the one speaking, and he would be speaking to the fathers. As I got to class (only about five minutes late) I noticed that there was a very tan man (totally didn't mean to rhyme), dark hair, dark eyes, and my height speaking to the class.  Definitely not Ray. My immediate thought was that he was Filipino. He had my curiosity up soo much that I literally wanted to shout at him and ask him! But...I didn't. As he began to flip through and show us some of his pictures, I KNEW he was Filipino! His pictures looked just like many of mine with the tricycles, crazy power lines, and sweet, sweet faces! I had huge doubts though, and figured he had to be from somewhere else.  I am just so used to all of the Filipinos telling me how impossible it is for them to ever come to America, I couldn't imagine one being at my church. In Mississippi. FINALLY, he told he was from the place I like to think of as my second home, the Philippines. Keep in mind he probably had already told that, I was just slightly late. I was soo overcome with joy that I literally did a little dance in my seat, and even clapped my hands!  I was so excited to talk to him, share all about my trips, and ask him a bajillion questions! As soon as Sunday School was over we were able to chit chat a little bit. Then, we carried it over to after church, and then to lunch. Needless to say, I thoroughly enjoyed the conversations!  Now to tell you a little about this young man...

Pastor Jun..He is a young gentlemen from Capas, Philippines. Located in the Luzon area. He is a part of an organization, "Bringing Church to the People."  In the Philippines there are tons and tons of people, and only few churches. Many people do not have access to a Bible believing church, and even if they do they usually have to walk a very, very long way to get there.  Because of health issues and what have you, many aren't able to attend. At all.  Also, a concern he mentioned was the weather. Many times they can gather together people just in a space outside, and hold some type of devotion or Bible study type thing.  The only problem is, during the rainy season they can't meet outside.  Therefore, they aren't having church. The mission of Pastor Jun and this organization is to bring church to the people. Their goal is to plant a church in every single barangay in his area. As you know, this takes money. Each church cost approximately $8,000 to build, and get started.  Pastor Jun has been living in the States for two years now. While he has been here, he has been in school, and traveling all across America trying to raise support. He has so far raised enough money to plant two churches. He is now finished with school, and has  only one more year left to live here in the US. He has hopes of raising enough money for at least two more churches. He was very uplifting, and very encouraged by our support.  However, he did tell us something during lunch that really bothered me. He said that since he has been in the States, he has noticed that he can call maybe one hundred pastors, and maybe only three will let him speak. He also said he gets so very lonely.  It really made me think. What kind of people are we? We call ourselves a Christians, yet when someone is hear trying to get help to share the love of Christ with his own country, we are turning him away. Please join me today in helping Jun. I will post his email at the bottom of this blog.  I ask that you would please email him. Send him some encouragement. Ask him to come speak in your church. He is willing to travel anywhere in the country with hopes of raising more support to plant more churches. Can't get him at your church, but want to financially help? Ask me for his mailing address! I will gladly give it to you. Most of all, please keep him in your prayers. He is a Godly young man, just wanting to serve Jesus. He definitely has a heart for his people, and is so eager to bring Jesus to them!  Please help him out!

Pastor Jun:
junmejiajr@aol.com

Happy Father's Day

This picture was taken at Elkmont Campground. We were waiting on the fireflies :)

Since it is Father's Day weekend, I just wanted to dedicate a blog to my sweet daddy!

Dad, you are absolutely one of the very best. I am so very thankful for you. You go above and beyond to provide for our family, and I am so grateful for that.  Thank you for being a leader in the "White House." You have always been so supportive of whatever Gracie and I are involved in.  Whether it be church activities, sports, or school, you have always made a way to be there to cheer us on! Thank you so much for that! I love you so very much!!

                                                                                                       Love,
                                                                                                            Em

At Dollywood! He is such a GOOF!

Jacksonville Beach. We were just heading to church at FBC Jax.

Christmas 2010

Mom and Dad on their wedding day! Aren't they precious?!

Dad and Gracie on Jax beach.

Be sure and tell your Daddy you love him!

Much love until next time :)





Fireflies & Carriage Rides

As you already know, my family and I recently got back from our annual family vacation to the Great Smoky Mountains.  It was a wonderful trip filled with many exciting activities! We went to Dollywood a total of three days, and Gracie and I were able to break our record of how many times in one day we could ride the Thunderhead! In just one of those days we rode it five times.  We will gradually have a huge record ;) We also hiked up Clingman's Dome, went to see the fireflies, played putt putt golf three times, walked the streets of Gatlinburg, shopped the outlets, rode through Cades Cove, went on a carriage ride, and ate very very well, including the wonderful fried snickers (amazing!).

Below are some pictures of our fun happenings.  Some of the things we did such as Dollywood and putt putt won't be shown, because I didn't take any pictures with my camera.  Those activities are either on my phone, Gracie's camera, or my mom's. I also plan to put up some pictures, and tell you about the trip to Florida. I'll be working on it :) Enjoy!






                                                              Top of the Smokies=beautiful. 


                                                               Absolutely, totally worth it!                          


                                                           Taking a little break!
  

                                                   Clingman's Dome...we're almost there!!



                                             Taking a small break before heading up the tower!


Beautiful view! See those bare trees? Some European bug has taken over man of the trees in the forrest. Very sad.



                                                                              Breath taking... 





                                                                        love my sis! 


Dad & Gracie on the way back down!



BFF (Beautiful Fat Feet) made it to Clingman's Dome! Nothing these Filipino trained feet can't handle :)


                                                                  She's so beautiful! 


                                                        She made it! YOU GO MOM :)


                                    This was at the church in Cades Cove...it's very beautiful!


Cades Cove



                                                  Our friend, Crystal, told us about this little water hole. Of course, we had to stop and try it out! It was wonderful!



  

                                                               Our flashlights for the fireflies.
We had to go to Sugarland Vistors Center, stand in line for about three hours, catch a trolley, ride 20 minutes to Elkmont campground, hike 15 minutes up a trail, and then pick a spot in the woods. All to wait on some fireflies. Some may call it crazy, but I call it beautiful.  At about 9:00 the fireflies began synchronizing lighting up. There were millions of them. It was incredible. This only happens in the Smokies, and in Japan. They do this for a couple of weeks each spring during their mating.  I wish so badly I could have taken pictures, but any kind of light throws them completely off.  That's why we have our flashlights wrapped in the pretty red paper.  For some reason red and blue lights don't bother them!
 


I love this little church..perfect wedding location..or maybe even the field nearby. Just saying.. :)


            I love this little church..perfect wedding location..or maybe even the field nearby. Just saying.. :)


                                                      Gracie enjoyed filling up our bottles


          Happy Anniversary to my mom and dad! They also rode a carriage ride in Pigeon Forge for their anniversary! I'll try and get a hold of those pictures and get those on here :) Presh!




                                                    It might have only been half a mile, but whew...I could feel the burn!

**For some reason the pictures REFUSED to stay in the order I put them in. I hope you can figure it all out :)

Much love <3

the beauty of set apartness



"As women, the desire to be loved, approved, and found beautiful is innate. We dream of capturing the heart of a noble prince and gaining his lifelong devotion, just like the princesses in our childhood fairy tales.  And pop-culture preys upon that longing like a relentless vulture.  They keep dangling the carrot temptingly in front of us, urging us to spend our time, money, and energy pursuing the “next great thing” that will bring us one step closer to the dream.

And all too often, we fall for it.  We buy the clothes.  We read the magazines.  We watch the commercials.  We let the movie-makers and the fashion industry and the advertising executives define who we become as young women.

We’ve been looking for beauty in the wrong place.  And our incessant search for beauty has stripped us of all that is truly beautiful. 

Neither the world’s version of beauty nor the modern self-esteem message truly fulfills our longing to shine with enchanting grace and princess-like dignity.  And neither avenue meets that deeper inner desire to radiate with feminine beauty that never fades.

But there is another kind of womanly beauty – one that we don’t hear much about in today’s world. 

It’s the dazzling loveliness of set-apart femininity.

Set-apart femininity exudes a beauty that is not of this world; it’s the spectacular radiance of a woman completely transformed by the Author of all things lovely and pure.

Set-apart femininity, contrary to what you might be thinking, is not stodgy and grim-faced with drab, shapeless clothes, librarian glasses, and a twenty-pound Bible under one arm.  It’s not hiding from society or shunning the opposite sex.

Set-apart is the sparkling, vibrant, world-altering, Christ-like version of femininity that your King created you to exude. 

This kind of beauty is not found in the pages of fashion magazines.  It’s not found in the “love yourself” mantras of the modern self-esteem messages. 

The spectacular sparkle of set-apart femininity is found through absolute abandonment to the Author of all true beauty.  It’s found by exchanging a life consumed with self for a life consumed with Jesus Christ; by trading the desire to be attractive to this world for the longing to be attractive to Him alone.  Find a woman who cares about nothing but loving, serving, honoring and glorifying Jesus Christ, and you will see who truly is “the fairest of them all.”

                                                                                                                        Leslie Ludy

God Thing

Ever have one of those things that happens to you, and all of the explanation you can give is it was just a "God thing?" Within the past week my family and I have experienced a few of these. I feel like these moments happen whenever we are least expecting them.  When we have our hearts open, and God decides to really blow our minds. I don't know about you, but I love those moments, and I want to share one of the recent ones with you!

Each year my family and I take a vacation to the Great Smoky Mountains.  It's one of my favorite places on earth.  Being there is such a sweet reminder of my loving Savior.  The way the mountains are formed.  The serene sound of the creek flowing. I just love it. Almost every visit we stay at the same hotel. This particular hotel offers special deals with one of the pancake houses in the Smokies.  I absolutely love pancake houses! I can even make myself get up a little extra early just to go :) Last year, we went enough times that we become familiar with one of the waitresses in there.  She was our server almost every time, and even though she saw many people come in and out, she began to recognize us too. However, we never really got to know her well, and had somewhat forgot about our encounters with this young lady until we walked back into that same pancake house last Monday! We immediately recognized her, and even got to sit in her section.  We told her that we remembered her from last year, and although she didn't exactly remember us she was very pleased to have been remembered.  From one Monday to the next Monday we become very close to Crystal. She told us bits of her story, and how life was growing up in the Smokies. Before the week was over she knew to bring me a coffee, water, and those delicious chocolate chip pancakes. Every since I was a small child I have been very intrigued by people who grow up there, and have always thought it would be the coolest to have a friend from there.  We were only fortunate enough to get to talk to Crystal on a few mornings for only brief amounts of time.  I am very thankful the Lord brought her into our lives, and allowed us to get to know her.  I hope and pray our friendship with her will continue to grow although we are back home. 

As you all know, I absolutely love telling stories from the Philippines. The majority of my blog is filled with things about the Philippines, and I love it that way.  However, while I am back in the states I want to share with you all things going on in my life here.  I want to tell you about all of the things the Lord continues to do in my life, but I'm not willing to stop sharing the Philippines with you....so here's what I'm going to do.  Once a week I want to share with you a story and pictures from one of the trips in the past four years.  I think it will be fun to bring back some of those wonderful memories to share with you. I look forward to sharing more and more with you in the future. Much love!