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!

Faith. Hope. Love--HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY! Yes, I am aware I am a whole day late. My computer would not cooperate at all yesterday, so I am having to post today! Sorry. I have recently realized that almost every life lesson I have learned, all goes back to my time in the Philippines. God especially showed me many things this past winter during my time at Uncle Dick's Home. One of those things being just how much I take my momma for granted. Don't get me all wrong, I thank God everyday for her, and the love she has shown me throughout my life. However, I think we all sometimes take for granted those little things our mothers do for us. The sweet, and sometimes funny, text messages randomly throughout the day.  The cookies she bakes. The hours of waiting to pick up her children. The prayers. The "I love yous." The fashion advice (although we may sometimes disagree ;) ). The laughs. The many cries. The love advice. The many times she tells us the other kids are just jealous, only to make us feel better. The "No matter what they may say, YOU are the most beautiful."  The front porch talks. The shopping trips. And so on... Mom's are truly a gift from God.  "Her children rise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her." -- Proverbs 31:28



This picture was taken Mother's Day 2010 at church.



One of the things I am most grateful for, is having a mother who is always in church. A lot of people aren't that blessed.



Faith. Hope. Love. --our "tattoos" from the beach last year :)



Mom,

Throughout my life you have already taught me more about having faith, hope, and love than most people ever know. You have shown me what it means to have true faith in the One who provides, and brings us through the storms in life. During troubled times, you aren't one to stop praying, to stop going to church...you keep on. You press forward. What has amazed me most has been your remarkable faith the past four years.  I specifically remember the day I found out about the first Philippine trip. I knew in my heart it was God answering my prayers.  I remember your reaction. You had a look in your eyes that told me you knew it was God answering my prayers too, but you were so afraid.  Your little girl was about to leave the country to go to the other side of the world.  A place that was so unknown to you. So far away. What you showed me that year was that you had faith that God knew what He was doing. You had faith that I knew it was the right thing for me.  You really believed in me, and I will never forget that.  Now, look at us. I'm soon approaching my fifth trip. I know it hasn't been easy. The nights have been long while I'm away. And while I know that it saddens your heart to see me walk off to board a plane to travel thousands of miles away from you, I also know that your heart is leaping with joy for the mission I always have ahead of me.  Without you I would not be the person I am today. You have taught me to love people unconditionally. To have compassion for people. You have shown me a great love that I want to share with the rest of the world. You truly are my best friend. I love having long talks with you. Your opinion on things means the world to me. When my heart breaks, yours breaks. When I have joy, you have joy. I can only pray that I can be the mother you have been to me one day. I love you so very much! More than any Hallmark card could ever say :) Enjoy your little shopping trip! You deserve it...and so much more!!

Love you always,
Em


I couldn't have made it without you :)


** I wanted to add more pictures, but you know how ridiculous my computer is. I'm lucky to have gotten this many! LOVE YOU!





"Sit and smile...Even smile with your liver!"

Due to a  crappy computer, I haven't been able to blog in quite sometime. I have missed sharing things with all of you, even if there is only a couple of you who actually read it ;) Before I begin my ramblings, let me warn you...the "y" on my keyboard doesn't work very well. In order for it to work I have to put a lot of pressure on it, and I might just not do that every single time. So, when the "y" is missing in a word, please just ignore it. And now I will begin...

Things for me since returning home from the Philippines have been a bit weird. All of my life, all I have known has been busy, busy, busy. It has been a constant full schedule of tests, ballgames, projects, church activities, social events, etc. I have known no rest. However, as many of you are aware of, my plans of online classes this semester didn't work out. It wasn't the Lord's plan for me, and though it was disappointing to me, I know the Lord's dreams and plans for me are much greater than the ones I have for myself. Knowing that, I am content with my current place in life; however, I am ready for the next chapter.  Many believe I should have come home from the Philippines, and got a job. But, let's be real...who is going to hire someone who is only home for a couple of months before leaving again? No one. So that has left me with being a....stay at home daughter. Don't hear that title too often do you? Many have told me things such as, "You have it made." or "I wish I were you." Do you really? I mean yes it is nice to sleep in just because I want. It's nice to have the TV all to myself all day, to eat whenever I please, and to take long baths because no one else is home to save the warm water for.  Before you get too envious of me, let me just tell you...After a while, sleeping in is a drag, TV has nothing interesting on, and eating whenever = weight gain.  I feel like I am going stir crazy. I am not a fan of routine (even though I do enjoy my coffee dates with Dr. Phil & Oprah every morning). I like to change things up. Thankfully, I have a very dear friend, who just so happens to also be my pastor, who has been very good about keeping me busy lately.

With the summer Philippine trip coming up in just a couple of months, we have had many fundraisers going on lately. We have been selling Mothers Day roses (which I highly recommend for any of you trying to raise money), we sold hamburgers at a fishing tournament, and we have been selling plate lunches once a month at church. We still have a couple more plate lunches to go, and we are trying to come up with a t-shirt to sell. I will get you details on the t-shirt as soon as I can. If you have any ideas of more fundraisers I would love for you to share.  Okay, back to what has recently kept me busy...Along with the fundraisers has been little things I have been drafted to do for church, and my church family. I have enjoyed it.

After Sir Bob's meeting with the Filipino pastors in April, the final details for our summer trip have been made. The Mississippi team, aka "the rope people," will be made up of eight Americans. Four men, four women. We will be located in Southern Leyte. In 2009, our team of Mississippians was located in Northern Samar. We had such a wonderful team, and made comments of how we wished that we could have that exact group of pastors back with us once again. We also knew that the possibility of that was slim. However, God answered our prayers, and the pastors who we will be serving alongside us this year will be exactly the same as 2009, with the exception of one pastor who will not be there. The Filipino pastors who will be our translators, encouragers, and most importantly, our friends, will be Steve (a very dear friend to me), Ruel (our own personal shopper), Felipe (the pregnant man with a great laugh), and Primo (who loves to feed us flowers). I am very excited about this team. I ask that you would please begin to lift us up in your prayers. Pray that God would begin to work in the hearts of those who we will share the gospel with July 16-July 30.



In green- Southern Leyte

 


Left to right: Primo,myself, Steve
Ruel, Felipe, Ruel(who will not be joining us)

 


Molly eating one of the flowers Primo got for us...she will greatly be missed this year :(
"Eat 24 a day, and you have all of the nutrients you need"- Primo

Steve..he's such a good friend, even on the other side of the world

 


Left to right: Angela, Lane, Ruel, Me
Anytime us girls decided we wanted to hit up the market, Ruel was our guy!

Angela, me, Ruel after a trip to the market..one of my fav pics :)
Angela won't be joining us this year for the trip. She is the best roomie ever. I will miss her tons!

Felipe...he has the best laugh!



It has been two months since I have been away from my loves at Uncle Dick's Home. Although, I never believed it would happen, the hurt of not being with them has gotten better. My homecoming was very sweet. I was so very happy to see my family and friends; however, it was very bittersweet. While it was great to see my biological family, I missed my sweet Filipino family greatly. I never really let it be known, but it was an adjustment for me. For over a month I was surrounded by these precious kids, who literally became my family, and then all of the sudden, I'm back in my home, my family is at work and school, and I am at home....alone. I was lonely. I hadn't had time all alone to myself in over six weeks. It was very strange. I would look at the clock, and my mind immediately went to what the orphans were doing. I think it was a normal process. I learned to take my free time and use it to reflect on the things the Lord had done for me, and taught me during my stay at Uncle Dicks Home. My free time has become my quiet time. My time to spend with my Father.  Now, I think about my babies often, but I know that whatever they are doing they are very happy and loved.  And in those moments when I want nothing more than to have a great UDH hug, I ask the Lord to let them know I am thinking about them. I have great peace now, and find joy in reflecting on the time I got to spend with those precious people, rather than the sadness of going months without seeing them.



I believe I have blogged enough tonight to make up for the weeks I have been silent. I promise to try and be better about sharing. Oh, and if you're wondering about the title...go watch "Eat, Pray, Love!"

With love,

Emily

Hellooo Spring :)

It's finally springtime! This is absolutely my favorite time of the year. I love the flowers blooming, the nice breeze, the sunshine, etc. During this time of year, I am more than ever reminded of my wonderful Savior. It's amazing to me how He makes things bloom. The sad, bare, dead trees become beautiful, green, alive. It's a beautiful sight :)



I love my sweet Daisy





Hank is so photogenic