All the Beauty

I know that she’s a liar when I look into her eyes
But I believe in every word she says
She’s out to start a fire burning everything I have
I can’t put it out ’cause it’s all inside my head

And then you singI hear you sing
You call me lovely
You call me friend
You call me out of death and let me try again
You call me beloved
You call me clean
Then you show me all the beauty that you see in me

I still hear her whisper and sometimes I hear her shout
You’re not good enough and you will never be
But if I focus on your singing I can start to tune her out
’Cause you came with a love to set me free
I know that you love me enough to die
And I will try to see the value that you place on me
And you say I’m worthy
~JJ Heller


I think every woman has struggled with someone or something that screams out to them "YOU ARE NOT GOOD ENOUGH". This very subject is why I have felt called to Estonia this summer. I feel called to minister to women, who just like me, have insecurities. But what women everywhere must understand is that Christ has covered all of the things that we hate about ourselves, the skin problems, the weight issues, the feeling of having to wear ten pounds of makeup just go to the gym. All of those things are covered by the sufficient grace of Christ. He has taken what we see has ugly and made it exquisite and beautiful. Women in Estonia, like women everywhere, look for love in all the wrong places- in sex, money and possessions. I don't know, maybe next time we look in the mirror we need to embrace who we are and not so much what we look like. God's grace and beauty are sufficient. He has made us beautiful... what more could a girl ask for?

This is just something the Lord has been putting on my heart in the recent days as we prepare to leave. 18 days!!!! You guys are so beautiful and worthy of so much love!

Have a great week! I love you all more than you know!
Forever His,
EmilyJo

Ruin My Life

"Ruin my life, the plans that I've made.
Ruin desires for my own selfish gain.
Destroy the idols that have taken Your place,
Til it's YOU alone I live for"
~Jeff Johnson Band


Today I was on my way to my mom's office so her coworker could give me my B12 injection (long story as to why she has to do it), anyways, I was listening to Jeff Johnson and "Ruin Me" came on. The lyrics of the chorus really stuck with me and rang in my mind all day. "Ruin my life", what an odd request. More times than not that phrase is a bad thing. "Mom, you embarrassed me in front of my friends! You're ruining my life!!" or "He broke my heart, and now my life is ruined!". Rarely do you say "Ruin my life" and mean "Ruin everything that I am so that I may embrace everything You are". Today I prayed something that I haven't prayed in a very long time. As many of you know, I am recently unemployed, and while I was having a huge pitty party that everyone was invited to, I stopped and realized that God is so much bigger than that. To me, losing my income ruined my life. All of the sudden I went from having it all to being scared of how I'm going to pay my next car payment. I was so wrapped up in everything that has been going on that I didn't stop to think about God's purpose through everything. My prayer is that God would continue to completely RUIN my life, that I may be everything He wants me to be. I can't wait for Estonia. I'm praying He would do some incredible ruining over there too!


The Jamaica trip is tomorrow! I'm so excited to see how the Lord uses you guys!! I can't wait to hear all about it!!


It's almost the weekend! Hang in there!
I love you all more than you know!
Forever His,
Emily Jo

Just a Side Note!

So I wanted to take a break from talking about what love is to talk about something that God has really laid on my heart in the past few weeks. In our college Sunday School class we're going through the book "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan. The book describes what it truly means to be in love with Christ. It's an incredible book, but I'll warn you that if you don't like feeling convicted you shouldn't pick it up!

In one of the chapters, Chan brings up a very challenging question. If God were to come into my house today and say "Emily. I need you to give up your car, your friends and family and everything else you love and go to Russia (or any other country) and serve me. You will never see any of your family and friends again, but I'm all you need". The question would be if I would be willing to give up everything to further His Kingdom or would I say "You know, God, I'm perfectly ok with my life here. I think I'm going to pass on your offer, but thanks for asking!"? I would love to say I would pick the first response and go where He sends me.

I'm not saying God is going to call us to leave everything and never come back again, but are we willing to lose it all to gain something greater? That's something God has really been speaking to me about so I thought I would share!


Happy Monday! I love you all more than you know!
Forever His,
Emily Jo

Love is Kind

When I think about kindness a few things come to mind, one of them being a smile. I've always loved the quote "Smile, it makes people wonder what you're thinking about". Do you know how many lives would be changed if all of us walked around with a smile on our face? If instead of honking at the slow driver in the fast lane who is probably close to 80 years old and has no business on the highway, we simply pass them and smile. What if we smile at the check out girl at Kroger? Or smile to the bank teller who isn't quite understanding what you need? The world could use a little more kindness.

Another thing that comes to mind are "Random Acts of Kindness". It's something that we always hear about and think about but never do. I'm not talking about going over to your grandma's house just to help her across the street even if she's perfectly content in her recliner where she has been stationed for days only getting up to go to the bathroom. I'm talking about opening doors for someone with an arm load of bags, or letting someone cut in front of you at the grocery store, or when you see a woman walking, talking on the phone and digging in her purse for her keys when everything is falling out, why couldn't we take 2.9 seconds to pick up the lonely lip gloss on the floor?

If we love God and love people. we must practice kindness wherever we go. Putting someone down using our speech is a sorry excuse for a wasted action that could have been used to encourage.

Not that I'm perfect or to say I don't love to hear the latest gossip, but I really think kindness is almost extinct in our culture today. I'm so thankful God is kind. He always knows how to brighten my day and He always knows my heart and yet loves me more today than He did yesterday.

I challenge you to smile ALL day today. Use kind words. God will bless it!


I love you all more than you know!
Forever His,
Emily Jo

Love is Patient

By fully understanding what Love truly is, we must dissect 1 Corinthians 13. Let's just take the first concept. "Love is patient"

Dictionary.com defines patient as

• bearing provocation, annoyance, misfortune, delay, hardship, pain, etc., with fortitude and calm and without complaint, anger, or the like
• quietly and steadily persevering or diligent
• characterized by or expressing such a quality.

How awesome is it that God is a God who bears all hardships and pain, that he takes all of that from us so that we may have life to the fullest. I feel so blessed to serve a God who gives me second chances as well. He wants what is best for me, but He still waits patiently for me to follow after Him and His will. Every time I mess up, He waits for me and He's always there. My little brain can't begin to grasp that concept. How is awesome is the God we serve?


I hope you guys are having a great week. I love you all more than you know!



Forever His,
Emily Jo

Just the Facts

Not very many people know where Estonia is or even that it existed before I brought it up, so I thought I would share a few facts about the country.


The capital of Estonia is Tallin.
There are over 130,000 folk songs that originated from Estonia
The city of Tartu, where we will be staying, is home to 101,092.00 inhabitants
Estonia is west of Russia and borders the Baltic Sea
Estonia gained FULL Independence in 1991
The Estonian flag is one horizontal blue stripe on top of a black stripe
Estonia is one of the fastest growing economies in the world
Estonia has over 1,400 lakes
Estonia has one of the highest level of irreligious individuals in the world


Pretty interesting stuff here! I can't wait to actually experience the culture. If you get a chance google pictures of Estonia... it is gorgeous!!


I hope all is well! I love you all more than you know!


Forever His,
Emily Jo

31 Days!!

As the trip grows closer and closer I can't help but be excited! I can't wait to see how the Lord uses us there!

The major subject we'll be teaching about is Love. What is Love? Who is Love? Am I worthy of Love? How do I get Love? The women of Estonia are just like women everywhere, looking for love in all the wrong places. We are called to not only spread the name of Christ, but to also tell these women that they are loved and desired by the Creator of the Universe who has made them worthy of all the Love in the world. We'll be teaching them that God is love, and without Him it is impossible to find true love anywhere else. God is Love. God is Love. God is Love. I can't wait to share the joy!!


I'll talk to you guys real soon! I love you all more than you know!!


Forever His,
Emily Jo

Here We Go!! 33 Days!

For the record, I'm not much of a blogger, but I thought this would be a really cool way to invite those who are supporting me on my trip to Estonia to come along for the ride! It was really Paul Lee that inspired me to do this... he's ok in my book!!


The trip plans thus far:

We will depart from DFW on Friday July 17th. (33 days)
We are scheduled to fly from here to Atlanta and then over to Stockholm, Sweden, where we will get to spend 5 hours exploring the city until our CRUISE over the Baltic Sea to Tallin, Estonia, departs for an overnight ride.

When we get to Tallin on Sunday we will drive two hours to Tartu, where we will be staying in Salem Baptist Church. Sunday will be a day of prayer and shopping for our supplies needed for the week. We then will attend their Sunday night service, where yours truly will be singing a few jams!
Monday- Wednesday we will be putting on a Womens' Conference entitle "The Unexpected Journey" and a VBS for the children.
Thursday is our day on the town for exploring
Friday we're jumping back on the cruise ship and heading back home.
We will return Satruday afternoon




It's going to be a super short trip, but I'm so very excited to see how the Lord uses us there! My prayer for this trip is that the Lord would send brokenness over the women we will be reaching. Our conference will have the purpose of ministiring to women who struggle with everything from sexual immorality to hopelessness and grief. Anything and everything we could think of that women deal with, we'll be talking about. Please be in prayer for our speakers, that they would have the words to say and would be completely transparent. May everything we do be for His glory!


More to come soon! I love you guys more than you know!


Forever His,
Emily Jo