32 DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS!

Have you made your list yet? :)

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Today is my Daddy's birthday!

I am so thankful to get to spend the entire day with him in the Smokies!

He is everything and more I could ever ask in a Dad.  I love his goofy sense of humor. I love the way he is sometimes very shy, but other times he is far, far in the opposite direction.  I love that he protects his girls.  I love how he flirts with my mom.  I love my memories of him helping me build a tent out of sheets. I love our heart to hearts.  I love when he picks up the phone and calls me just to chat and see what's going on in my life.  I love that he provides for his family.  I love how he used to wrestle me in the floor. I love that he loves and serves God whole heartedly.  I love that he is one of my biggest Philippine supporters.  I love that he loves me.

I could seriously go on forever, but I'll stop there.

Daddy, I hope this birthday is the best yet.  I thank God everyday that He give me you as my Daddy. May you laugh until your tummy hurts, do all of the things you want, and most importantly stuff your face at Bubba Gumps :) I love you to the skies and back :)

Me, Gracie, and Dad in Dollywood a couple of years ago

His goofy face..definitely one of those not so shy moments.

our family...minus the random guy on the right :/

A sweet carriage ride for their Anniversary.

Beautiful :)

Recent happenings...

Hi :)

I miss the blogger world :( We have three laptops in our house, and would you believe I haven't been able to get any of them to work?! All three of them have at some point been with me to the Philippines..that could have something to do with their not working. Mine has been working fine, but now won't even come on. Mom's programs have somehow been deleted, and the Internet won't pull up at all. Needless to say, they need to go see the computer doctor!

I just wanted to catch you all up on this past week since I have been MIA! These past few days have been crazy. My sister's thirteenth birthday was last weekend.  We surprised her with a Scotty McCreery cake (she kinda loves him...A LOT), and invited a few guests over including her best friend, Katie.  We had such a fun evening.  We ate entirely too much, and stayed up way to late playing Phase 10. I won in case you are wondering :) My mom would not allow my sister to have a Facebook until she was thirteen. Facebook does not allow children to sign up under the age of thirteen unless they lie about their age, which a lot of kids do, but mom was not about to allow. Needless to say, she was beyond excited to finally get in the world of Facebook.  Gracie and Katie stayed up until after midnight Saturday night just so they could finallyyy create Gracie's Facebook account. SO funny!  I'm pretty sure they were both dozing off during church on Sunday.

This is the only picture I have for now!
Isn't this cake beautiful?!

This week I have had two finals, and have been finishing up all of my work for my online classes.  That has kept me pretty busy, and very stressed.

We will be leaving tomorrow to go to one of my favorite places in the world, the Great Smokey Mountains. I cannot wait. We normally go for a few days in the spring and fall, and take our week long trip in the summer. However, this year we are fortunate enough to take two week long trips. So, I probably won't be blogging very much until the week after Thanksgiving! I am definitely in need of this vacation!

Love y'all!

our true Prince.



Set Apart Thoughts from Leslie Ludy

In my book Authentic Beauty, I wrote about the time in my life when I finally discovered the fulfillment of all my romantic childhood hopes and longings; when I finally found the prince I had always dreamed of to carry me away to his castle and cherish me forever.  Since many of my readers knew about my love story with Eric, they at first assumed that when I spoke of my “prince”, I was talking about him.  But as I explained in Authentic Beauty:

via

 

"My true Prince is not Eric. My true Prince is Jesus Christ. Eric, with all his amazing qualities, could never meet the deepest needs inside my heart the way my true Prince has. If not for the tender love of my true Prince, my love story with Eric would not have even been possible. The romance of my love story with Eric is only a faded glimmer of the spectacular beauty of the love story I share with my Jesus Christ. In fact, my childhood longing to be loved and cherished by a tender knight that I could follow to the ends of the earth was placed in my heart by Him. Jesus Christ alone can fulfill that desperate longing. 

Jesus Christ was not merely a stand-in until Eric came along.  Jesus was, and still is, my true Prince, my ultimate Bridegroom, and my all in all.  Yes, Eric does bring wonderful joy and fulfillment into my life.  But my love story with him could never compare to my love story with the King of all kings.  Jesus Christ is the One that ultimately satisfies the deepest needs and desires of my heart.  Jesus Christ is the One I lean upon for fulfillment, strength and security.

  

I have no guarantee that Eric will always be around – God may call him home before me.  And though he is an amazing husband, there will always be moments when he fails – when he falls short of being the sensitive, devoted, picture-perfect prince of my childhood fairy tales.  But Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.  He knows my heart better than even I do – because He created me.  He will never fail me.  He will never disappoint me.  And He will always be the most perfect Prince my feminine heart could ever crave. Singleness is an incredible opportunity to be fully consecrated in body and spirit to Jesus Christ alone – to be undistracted by any other romance and free to be consumed with Him alone. (see 1 Cor. 7:34)  This is not only an amazing opportunity for our single years, but it is the absolute best way we could ever prepare for marriage.  When Jesus Christ is our all in all, we will never place unhealthy pressure upon our spouse to meet the needs only He can fill.  And if our husband is ever taken from us, we will not lose our confidence, hope or security – because it’s in Jesus Christ. "

Have a blessed day! 

20 kids?!

I'm sure most of you have either seen or heard this by now, but HOLY COW! The Duggar family is expecting their 20th child....TWENTIETH! 

Oh my goodness..I absolutely cannot imagine.  I used to say I would only have a couple of kids, Lord willing, but after spending time with my sweet friends from Florida, who come from a family of eleven kids, I began thinking differently.  They have such a fun life!

Do not misunderstand! I absolutely do not plan on that many kids, but I would enjoy more than the "normal." You know..maybe five or six ;)

With the Duggars, what has been more shocking to me than a woman actually having twenty kids is the fact that she is 45 years old. 

Michelle explained that this latest child came as something of a surprise since this was the first time she’d gone 16-18 months without being pregnant in, like, forever, “so we were really kind of thinking [No. 19] might be our last, and that was kinda sad,” she said, surrounded by her19 children, and a couple grandchildren to boot.

Michelle Duggar is kind of amazing if you ask me!

I'm thankful for...my sister! HAPPY 13TH :)

Hi all :)

I did not plan on posting this post until Sunday; however, my computer at home has crashed or something. I'm no computer whiz, but I know something is definitely wrong. I am also afraid if I schedule it, it won't post.  Sometimes that happens too.

I actually had planned on writing about my entire family for my next "thankful" post; however, I began thinking about it and decided it made perfect sense to dedicate an entire post to the beautiful, lovely, Gracie.  

I am SO thankful to call this sweet girl my sister. 

Sunday just so happens to be her birthday!! A very big birthday...she is going to be a teenager, and her big sister just can't quite believe it.  

It seems like just yesterday I was waiting patiently impatiently with my pink cigars, for her arrival.  

Yes, she is the little sister who loves to get all up in her big sisters business....and closet! But...what sister doesn't?! haha.  I can't believe she is a TEENAGER this weekend! Wow..time flies!

She's the best on the court :)



Clingman's Dome in the Great Smoky Mountains





Having a little picnic in Cades Cove





Beautiful!



Psalm 139:13-14

Dear Gracie (G.O.),

From the very first moment mom and dad told me about your coming, I was ecstatic.  I had always dreamed of having a little sister to play with with, and share things with.  Mom and dad knew I would be a little too excited, so they didn't even tell me mom was pregnant until she was several months along.  I admit, I was kind of upset at first..I thought they definitely should have told me way earlier, but it did make it not seem near as long before you were here!  On November 13, 1998, as we sat in the waiting room, I grew a little impatient and decided to take a stroll around the hospital with dad.  Oops...we almost missed your arrival.  :) I remember the first time I held you. Mom and dad repeatedly told me to be careful.  You were so fragile, and so, so sweet.  A precious gift from God.  The doctor and nurses in the hospital named you "Snow baby," because of your white hair.  I guess somethings never change. haha ;) 

As you have grown older, you have become such a beautiful young woman.  You make me laugh like no one else.  You sometimes say the silliest things, most of which make no sense!  I love movie nights with you, and wish we could have them more often.   It makes me so happy to see the joy that lives inside of you.  Never, never let anyone take that away. You are such a beautiful daughter of the most high King.  Always put Him first in your life.

This weekend, we celebrate the thirteen wonderful years we have had with you, and look forward to the many more. Always remember that I love you so, so much.  More than I could ever even begin to put into words.   I thank God everyday that He allowed me to be your big sister.  Out of all of the families in the world, He chose ours to give you to. I'm so grateful.  I love you to the skies and back, sis!

Love always,

Em

BE THE SUNSHINE!







Secret Church 2011

Hi friends!

Last weekend was total craziness!  I worked all day Friday at the flower shop.  As soon as I got off work at five o'clock, I headed up to Birmingham! Ever read David Platt's book Radical? If no, you definitely should. Anyway, in his book he talks about having secret church in closed off countries. Twice a year Brookhills Church has their very own secret church.  We went up to B'ham to experience that. Definitely coming back to this with more details! I got home and in the bed, about five o'clock Saturday morning.  I had to be back at work at ten o'clock. Ouch! I was exhausted to say the least.  Worked until five that evening, and then went to my sister's fall festival at her school.  Sunday, supossed to be the day of rest right? No mam. I went to church Sunday morning, worked Sunday afternoon, back to church that night, and then choir practice after.  Needless to say I was ready to sleep in Monday morning. Monday morning, I was awakened at 5:30 a.m.  to be told I had to have my sister up by six, and get her to school.  No rest for the weary.  Oh well...that is life. 

Now...back to secret church.  Basically, it was seven hours of sitting and listening to David Platt speak.  Sounds like a lot, I know. Yes, my butt was a little numb, and my legs a little restless before it was over, but all in all I barely realized it was that long.  David Platt was an amazing speaker, and seems to be such a great man of God.  I want to share with you a few points he made. It was wonderful.  I highly recommend anyone near the B'ham area to go and check it out next year.  If you aren't nearby, you can link up with simulcast!

The four main topics were marriage, family, sex, and the gospel.

Just a few things we talked about...

• God created men and women with equal dignity.
• We all represent God. 
• Man was created to exercise loving authority over woman.
• Woman was created to extend glad submission to man.
• Marriage exists for God more than it exists for you. 
• God gives children to fammilies by His grace.
• Orphans are easier to forget until you see their faces. They are easier to forget until you know their names.
• We care for the orphans not because we are rescuers.  We care for the orphans because we are the rescued. 
• Singleness has a purpose we must be careful not to waste. 
• Ponder the external delight and joy associated with future salvation. 

Over 160,000 Christians are killed every year for their faith.  One every 5 minutes....Pray for them!