I can't do this alone, God I need you to hold onto me...

So the more I think about Romania, and the more I tell people about it, the more my heart is just burdened. I mean, it was such an awesome trip full of laughs and inside jokes. But our purpose of going there was to shine His light to the people of Constanta. I truly believe we accomplished that. However, the images of the children begging on the streets and the doors that were slammed in our faces when we tried to tell them the good news haunt me. The hardest part of the visitations was walking away from an angry resident, knowing they were going to hell. Knowing that could have been their last chance to accept this free gift of life. Knowing they would never feel the joy I feel. How can you walk away from that experience and not be moved?

The other parts I dwell on are the faces of Bhara and her family. I don't even need to look at the pictures. They're permanently in my memory. Sad children, losing hope, abused with no one and no where to call home. I feel so guilty being home with my loving family, in our nice home with AC and my nice car while they struggle to survive. I know our God is sovereign, so my prayer is that He would reign. I pray, that against all odds, those precious children would grow up to be godly men and women that strive for change. That long to see their family and community open their eyes to what God has done and will do.

This trip has touched me on a different level than any of the other trips I've been on. I can't explain it, I just know God has something big planned for Constanta, Romania. I fervently pray that the seeds we planted would be used to better His kingdom, that our work was not done in vain and that He was completely glorified through our efforts.

Thank you a million times over again if you committed to praying for our team! We felt those prayers all the way in Romania, and I thank you for that! It feels so good to know I have such an awesome support team behind me. I ask that you would continue to pray for Constanta. Especially for Bhara's family. I pray your hearts would be burdened for them as well.

Now, how can I pray for you guys? I want to return the favor, so to speak! I hope you guys have an awesome week! I love you all more than you know!
Forever His,
EmilyJo

Home Sweet Home!

Hey guys! We made it home late last night, and thanks to my awesome parents, I got to sleep in my own bed for the first time in over two weeks! They surprised me in the Austin airport and drove me home instead of having me spend the night in Florence. I think we are pretty much all exhausted from the 26 hours of traveling. I'll update more as the jet lag wears off! Praise be to Him for all the lives that were touched this week! I love you guys so much for supporting us and praying for us. We could feel your prayers all week!! Be looking out for pictures and different ways you can continue to pray for Romania! I love you guys more than you know!
Forever His,
EmilyJo

Leaving on a Jet Plane

O what a week it has been! I want to quickly update you on Bhara's situation. CPS is in the process of taking the kids away from their mother. It's a bittersweet time for all of us. They will be pulled out of their situation and homelessness, however, they will be put in an orphanage where they won't get any attention or love. They will merely exsist until someone wants to adopt them or their mom gets them back. It's a catch 22 type of thing I suppose. Please pray for those precious children! Pray they would somehow defy all oods and become incredible, godly men and women.

The past few days have kind of been just for relaxing. On Saturday a few of our new Romanian friends took up around the city. It was so cool because we got to see the city the way they do. They took up through all the short cuts and all the cool places. We shopped around and ate lunch, then it was straight to the hotel to get ready for the baptism service. It was honoring an 83 year old woman. It was such an incredible experience, and I am so thanful we got to be a part of it. Her and her husband had tear soaked faces as she made it public that she loves Jesus. Such a mighty and awesome God we serve!

I am currently sitting in a hotel in Bucharest. We have an extremely early flight in the morning. Please pray for the day ahead. It promises to be very long and draining. Pray for low frustration and stress levels. We are all so tired and SO ready to be home!

I love you guys so much! Thank you a million times over for your prayers and support. Your encouraging thoughts and emails have meant so much to our team! I wish I could have written more, but as you can imagine, our week has been completely draining! I can't wait to upload pictures on here and share them with you!

Thanks again! I love you all more than you know!
Forever His,
EmilyJo

A Call to Prayer!

So there's a family that I've mentioned on here before that lives on an empty lot under a house made of all kinds of scrap material. The house belongs to Bhara, her mom, aunt, grandma and 12 brothers, sisters and cousins. The lot they are living on is just an empty lot full of rocks. This morning the owner of the lot kicked Bhara's family off and they were forced to take down their home. They are currently taking up residence on the small strip of sidewalk in front of the lot. All 16 of them get to sit side by side far too close to the street. On top of all these unfortunate events of the day, it is raining. Not just a light afternoon shower. It's pouring and has been for about seven hours. The city is quickly beginning to flood. While my team and I are cozy in our four star hotel, Bhara and her family are sitting on their sidewalk with a piece of tarp wrapped around them. There aren't any shelters that can take them. The Day Center rented them a room, but the mother refuses to take it, so they sit. They sit hoping the rain will stop, hoping it doesn't rain for the rest of the weekend as promised, and hoping to make it through the night. CPS has called asking the mom's to drop off the kids two different times and they refuse. So now we just wait until CPS takes them away.

This is a call to prayer for all who call upon His name! Bhara's family is in desperate need of a Savior! These precious children are being exposed to a life that no one deserves to live. My heart is completely broken tonight. Won't you pray with me? Fervently pray that our Savior would choose to deliever them from their hell. Pray they would realize just how much Jesus loves them. Pray they get out of the control of their family. Just pray!

Prayer Requests:

• Pray that God, in all His infinite power, would deliever Bhara and her family.
• Pray that the flooding ceases.
• Pray the rain scheduled for Saturday would not come. We are doing a baptism service in the village we've been working with and rain is promised for the whole day.
• Pray for peaceful hearts as we are burdened with the news of Bhara and her family.

Other than that, the day was pretty good. We went door to door at an apartment complex. After a few doors getting slammed in our faces, we were feeling a little discouraged. Please pray that the seeds we planted would be good and God would use them for the harvest.

It has been an incredible week so far, and we still have three days to go! Thank you all so very much for your prayers! To Him be the glory! I love you all more than you know!

Forever His,

EmilyJo

To Make You More Than a Religion...

Hey guys! Sorry I didn't update you yesterday! It was a very long day but here's what happened! My team got to go door to door in a nearby village. We are starting a nation wide campaign here in Romania. It's to read your Bible. Simple as that! To read your Bible every day. I can't honestly say I do it. It was awesome to watch our Romanian friends talk to these people. They have the greatest sense of urgency I've ever seen about spreading the gospel. Sadly, my team of four got mainly "No"s and "The Bible isn't important enough to spend any time reading it". It broke my heart for these people. To walk away from a home that just refused to talk to you about Jesus and knowing they are going to hell, is truly humbling and extremely sad. God save those people!

Today, my team was back at the Day Center. We made pillows. The kids were beyond thrilled but it quickly turned into a huge pillow fight with 15 little participants. It was so awesome! After a long day at the Day Center we took food to a family of a few of the kids. They have a family of eight living a room probably smaller than most of your master bathrooms. To see such conditions really makes your greatful for all the things you take for grante.

It's been a really good couple of days... long... but great!
Prayer Requests:

• PLENTY of rest tonight!
• A couple of our team members came down with some kind of stomach thing today. Pray it goes away quickly and isn't spread. They all brushed their teeth with the water and no one else did so we're thinking it was caused by that.
• Pray for boldness and urgency tomorrow as we tell people about Jesus
• Pray for ready and willing hearts to commit to reading their Bibles

It's been an awesome week so far! We're half way through! Thank you so much for the prayers and support! I love you all more than you know!

Forever His,

EmilyJo

There's Nothing My God Cannot Do...

Today was a very long day... I'll update everyone tomorrow! Sorry guys!

That's the Power of the Cross

Today was our first full day of ministry. I heard the visitng team had an incredible day, but I can only really speak of the experiences I had with my team at the Day Center. We got to sleep in an extra hour than the visitng team.. it was glorious! We went down to the day center to get ready for the day. Around noon all the kids had shown up. Praise the Lord there were 16 kids in attendance. It was a trying day with the kids. Most of them come from pretty violent homes and didn't understand the concept of a hug. For them, touching is only in mean ways.

There is one family we are helping out with that lives on a vacant lot. There are 13 kids and 3 adults. The have made a shelter our of tarp and any spare materials. One of the mothers bites her kids faces when they are bad. There is also supicision of sexual abuse. CPS has been called, tomorrow could be the day they get taken away. It's a really rough situation. I wish I could tell you more. Just pray for Bhara's family. She is a 12 year old girl now expected to be the mom of 12 kids.

Tomorrow our teams switch responsiblities. I'm excited to share my experiences with you guys.

Prayer Requests

• PLENTY of rest tonight!
• Boldness to share God's word without hesistation and fear!
• Positive attitudes and willing and flexible hearts!

I'm so sorry this is so short. We have very long days here and my bed is calling my name! Thank you for all your prayers and support!

I love you all more than you know!

Forever His,

EmilyJo

Just Give Me 5 Minutes.... Romanian Minutes...

So we found out today that Romanian time is unlike any other time we're use to. 5 minutes usually turns into about an hour. Today we got to go to church twice. Both times we were told the service would only last about an hour.. three and a half hours later we left for lunch. It was crazy to say the least. The first service was three hours full of singing, offerings, preaching, sitting down, standing up and we even took part in the Lord's Supper. It was really neat to see these Romanians worship. They prayed with such reverence and urgency. It was incredible. It really challeneged me and my prayer life. Do I pray to God like I actually expect Him to hear and deliever? These people do!

Tomorrow we are splitting up into two teams. One team will go into a neighborhood and go door to door telling people about Jesus and handing out Bibles. The other team, the team I am on, will go down the street to the day center and put on a VBS for the kiddos that go there. I am SO excited to play with some kids!

Prayer Requests:

• PLENTY of rest tonight!
• A few of us are having stomach aches and feeling a little sick to our stomachs. Pray it would all go away by morning! I'm sure it just has something to do with the jetlag.
• Pray for awesome and FLEXIBLE attitudes!
• Pray for boldness. May we be urgent about spreading the gospel!
• That all fear and nervousness would disappear!

Praise Him for an awesome day today!! God was glorified and we learned something in the process!

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers! The days ahead are looking to be long but it's all going to be worth it! I love you all more than you know!

Forever His,

EmilyJo

FINALLY HERE!

After 13 hours in the air and 3 hours in a van, we have arrived in Constana, Romania. The flight was a little rough for most of us. I think the excitement and anticpation mixed an uncomfortable plane loaded with strangers wasn't the best of combinations, but we made it! I don't think I've ever been so happy to walk around! Driving in was beautiful, well the parts I was actually awake for! There were fields and fields of bright yellow sunflowers. It was so refreshing!

Tonight we are just taking it easy in our hotel. We've been traveling over a day so some R&R is greatly appreciated! Tomorrow we have an easy day. We're worshipping with a Romanian church in the morning and then coming back for their evening service, where Troy will be bringing the word. Won't you pray with us? Pray for open ears and open hearts. Pray the language barrier would somehow disappear!

I can't believe we are actually here! We drove by a lot where a family is living. It's a gravel lot with three ladies and fourteen children who got kicked out of their home. Tomorrrow we will get to go meet them. Poverty is everywhere and we only got to see a glimpse of it!

Prayer Requests:

• Plenty of rest!!
• Renewed spirits and attitudes for tomorrow!
• If you didn't already know, I left the states sick and it's proving to be a bit of a hindrence. Just pray for healing and that I could just forget about how I feel.

Praise Him for a safe journey!!

Our team memebers are Troy, Todd, Autumn, Boots, Shelly, Rick, Patti, Pam, Cindy, Sandy, Greg, Angie, Roger, Mike and Myself. Please pray for each of us speifically knowing God has a very different plan for each of us while we are here!

I'm about to crash for the night! I'll update everyone more tomorrow! Thank you all for the prayers and supports! I love you all more than you know!
Forever His,

EmilyJo

PS- My computer is in Romanian right now, so spell check says everything is mispelled and my brain is way too fried to adjust any errors! Sorry! haha O and there's a radio in the shower...no big deal!

A Twisted, Messed Up Tango

Ladies-
As you read this, I need to you silently put one hand in the air if you have spoken negatively of another woman in the past twenty-four hours. I would be lying if I told you both of my hands weren't straight in the air. Why is it that we feel the need to constantly talk about someone behind their back? Some have better excuses than others, but when it comes down to it, they are merely excuses. Suzie said something about my boyfriend. Did you see what Jane was wearing yesterday? O man.. I could hit Margret for what she did to me! All of these, minus the names, are phrases I hear almost every day. The reality of the matter is that no one really cares what you say about someone. We all look like complete idiots when we open our mouths about someone else, because guess what?? It doesn't make us better than anyone!

If we claim to be daughters of the Almighty King, then isn't it about time we started acting as such? If we really love our friends as much as we say, isn't it time to encourage them? I get so frustrated when we choose to spend our time gossiping about someone. Does me talking about a comment someone else made that hurt my feelings make the comment somehow disappear? I'm pretty sure it doesn't work like that, in fact, it makes it worse. It just fuels the fire.

I'm not saying I am completely innocent of such behavior. I am just as guilty as anyone, but I am saying that we need to fix it.

"Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. For, "Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech. He must turn from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it."
1 Peter 3:9-11

"If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless."
James 1:26

It's time to start living as daughters in the light of our Creator. It's time to treat each other with respect. It's time to keep our comments to ourselves and instead of speaking poorly to one another, we must lift each other up. I challenge you to be the change in your office, your school or even your family. Relationships are breaking all over the place, and it's partly due to our inability to properly respect and love one another with the love of Christ.

I hope this finds you having an incredible week! I love you all more than you know!
Forever His,
EmilyJo

I Will Go Where You Send Me!

I get to be the hands and feet our my Precious Savior!!! I keep thinking about that awesome fact today. Not only is He allowing me to travel all over the world to spread His name, but He allows me to be His hands and feet every day, everywhere I go.. me EmilyJo... just an average person! What an awesome responsibility!

"But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain."
1 Corinthians 15:57-58

I hope you're loving Him today! It's Wednesday... half way there! I love you all more than you know!
Forever His,
EmilyJo

I'm Leavin on a Jet Plane...

In case you were wondering, I finally got my itenerary for our trip to Constanta, Romania. I leave Dallas on July 1st to go to Austin, only to fly to DFW on the 2nd to begin our long journey! It's really kind of complicated and sounds silly to drive out there just to fly to the airport that happens to be twenty minutes from my house, but it will be a fun adventure!


We are planning to spend our days split into two teams. One team will work VBS at the Constanta Day Center (look them up on facebook) and the other have will be doing some evangelism through some near by cities. The people going on the trip are Sandi Adair, Troy Allen, Cindy Boucher, Todd Chafin, Shelly Clopton, Pam Griswold, Autumn Hibner, Patti Knight, Greg Knight, Roger Morrison, Angie Ray, Rich Schiller, Mike Tackett and myself. I ask that you would specifically pray for each of our team members. Each of us has a special set of gifts and talents, and our prayer is the Lord would allow us to put them to good use!

I don't have a lot of details regarding the trip. This group is based out of Georgetown, TX, so I have not made it to any of the meetings. I have kind of enjoyed not being in on the planning. I think I'm going to like going over there and seeing what happens!

I'll let you know more as I find out more! Pray! Pray! Pray! The team has decided to make Thursdays prayer and fasting days until we leave. Here is the call, will you participate? Starting this Thursday, fervently pray that our relentless God would reign not only in the lives of each team member, but in all the lives we will come in contact with during our short stay and if you feel led to participate in the fasting, please do! I'm so very excited to be apart of this, and ask that you would choose to be as well!

I love you all more than you know!
Forever His,
EmilyJo

I Need Grace...

I know you have all been on the edge of your seats anticipating my next post... well here you go, Aunt Debbie! My most faithful follower! Sorry it has been so long. I don't know where the time has gone, but I would really love to find it and get some back!

As I've been seeking Christ through planning out my summer, I've noticed one thing I've been lacking for quite some time. My eyes have been sown shut. Not by a hurtful past, not by a loser friend, but through my own willingness and desire to stay in my own bubble. I want to plan my life out the way I see it happening. Meet someone at 23, get degree at 24, settle down at 25. But the beauty of His grace is He doesn't care what is "normal". He doesn't care where my friends or family think I should be or think I should be doing. God's plan is so much greater than all the silly ones I come up with!

Speaking of summer plans, I would love to share mine! Next week I'm taking an awesome group of 4th grade girls to GA Camp. I'm a little nervous, but I'm so excited to be an example to them and to learn from them as well! Our trip to Romania is coming up so fast! I'm sooo not ready! But when you answer the call to go, He prepares you! I'm asking that you guys would commit to praying for both trips. Pray that the Holy Spirit would go before us and create a way. Pray that the Lord would be glorified in our small efforts to exalt His name. Pray that He would meet us both at GA Camp and Romania. I have a prayer guide for our Romania trip. I would love to send you a copy. Shoot me an email if you're interested!

I know this post was kind of all over the place, but I promise they will get better! I'll post about more ways to pray for Romania soon! I promise... and plan to keep that promise this time! I hope your summer is going well, and I hope you can see His grace today!

I love you all more than you know!
Forever His,
EmilyJo

Psalm 73:23-28... Will You Read it??

Yet I am always with you;
you hold me by my right hand.

You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will take me into glory.

Whom have I in heaven but you?
And earth has nothing I desire besides you.

My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.

Those who are far from you will perish;

you destroy all who are unfaithful to you.

But as for me, it is good to be near God.
I have made the Sovereign LORD my refuge;
I will tell of all your deeds.

There's Just Something About That Name

For my birthday, my friend Cassie, decorated my car with window paint. A few of the windows said things like, "I'm 22!" and "Happy Birthday, Emily". On my back windshield, written no bigger than an inch high read "Emily Loves Jesus". It was written so tiny, I figured no one really noticed that part next to the huge "I'M 22!" signs. So yesterday I was sitting outside my school, waiting for my class to start and all of the sudden I feel someone hitting the back of my car. I looked in the rare view mirror, only to find two girls standing behind me, clearly upset. They started yelling things like, "Bible Thumper!" and "OOO Emily loves Jesus... well we HATE you and your Jesus". They obviously had no idea I was in the car. The look of embarrassment on their faces was priceless as they approached my diver's side window. I just looked up at them, smiled, and went back to reading my book. They quickly got into the car next to me and drove away.

At that moment, I wanted to say something to them, anything to make them feel stupid for acting so immaturely. Then I realized that nothing I could have said would have taken back their acts of hate towards my Savior. They are lost. They are obviously mad at God, or they wouldn't have even thought about the inch tall letters on the back of a stranger's car. My heart began to break for these girls. Beautiful girls with bright futures, but with the biggest and darkest clouds hanging over their heads. Their lives are empty. Their lives lack purpose and direction, and they felt it appropriate to take it out on my car. I never knew three little words could make a perfect stranger act out in such dislike. I began to earnestly pray that God would somehow save them. That He would wrap His loving arms around those girls, whisper His promises in their ears, and turn their lives into lives that glorify and honor Him. I prayed that those girls would no longer take their anger with God out of other people, but that they would learn to forgive and let go of the bitterness they have in their hearts. Won't you pray with me? They are in desperate need of a Savior!

Impossible in NOT a Word!

Basic Training... It Starts With A Heart Condition

This weekend, at DNOW, God was just everywhere! From Friday night playing dodgeball, to the last worship service of intense convictions and the awesome presence of our Maker! Man it was so blessed! 

Cassie and I co-lead the 7th grade girls group. Coming into the weekend we were both unsure as to what to expect. Freshman girls thought we were probably the coolest thing since sliced bread, but we had no idea what a bunch of middle schoolers would think. They said we were the coolest people they had ever met and wanted to hang out with us all the time! Such a blessing and so humbling to have a group of eight thirteen year old girls that hung on every word we said. 

One of our sessions was on the importance of baptism. I was kind of blowing through the lesson really fast, thinking they wouldn't really care and they just wanted to eat lunch. As I was going through it, I noticed the look of intense concentration on what I was saying. At the end of it I told them to come talk to Cassie or myself if they felt they wanted to get baptized. 4 our of my 8 girls came and talked to me and confessed they wanted to take the next step in their walk and follow in believers baptism. It was truly humbling to see these young girls have such faith in such an unshakable God!!

Saturday Night, we stayed up far too late prank calling people. I know, it's really immature, but it brought so much joy to them. Not that calling people was the joy, but just spending time with each other. One of them even told me they had never felt any older girls would ever want to hang out with them. I know it meant so much to them that we were just in the same room as them! Such a blessing to my heart!!

I could talk all day about what an awesome time we had at DNOW this year! I pray those girls would keep the fire going, and make a difference in their schools!

In other news, I fracture my foot about two weeks ago and I'm just now getting it taken care of... really good idea! It just makes me laugh at this point! I hope you guys are having an incredible Monday! I love you all more than you know!

Forever His,

EmilyJo

Prayer Warriors!

This weekend is our Middle School DNow!! Pray for a fun and exciting weekend! Pray for me and Cassie as we teach our beautiful 7th grade girls, that we might only speak truth and encouragement to our girls! More importantly pray that God would send His spirit and touch the hearts of all who are attending! May He be real to our students this weekend! Won't you pray with us? You won't want to miss out on what the Lord is doing! Please enjoy this video from our High School weekend! Stayed tuned for an update next week! I love you all more than you know!
Forever His,
EmilyJo

O The Love That Won't Let Me Go

Oh, love that will not let me go
I rest me weary soul in Thee
I give You back this life I owe
And in Your ocean depths its flow

May richer fuller be
Oh, light that follows all my way
I yield my flickering torch to Thee
And my heart restores its borrowed ray
And in Your sunshine’s blaze, its day
May brighter, fairer be

Rejoice my heart
Rejoice my soul
My Savior God has come to Thee
Rejoice my heart
You’ve been made whole
By a love that will not let me go

Oh, joy that seeks me through the pain
I cannot close my heart to Thee
I chase the rainbow through the rain
And feel the promise is not vain
That more shall tearless be

Oh, cross that lifts and holds my head
I dare not ask to fly from thee
I lay in dust life’s glory dead
From the ground, their blossoms red
Life that shall endless be
~Robbie Seay Band

To all Those Faithful FBCers!

I have an announcement to make, so grab a tall glass of sweet tea and have a seat.

For the past year and a half now, I have felt the tug to leave my home at First Baptist Church of Frisco. I desperately need to apologize. Shortly after I felt the Lord calling me away from FBC, I thought I could stop Him by getting involved in every ministry possible; Praise team, Choir, Youth and College and anything else I could possibly get my hands on. I figured if I got super involved, God would say, "You know EmilyJo, you can stay! You're doing awesome things for me and I'm proud! So stay... I'm not really worth it anyways". This is not the case. I got involved in these ministries for completely wrong reasons and I apologize for not giving all I had to them. I believe my efforts were still blessed, however think of how much greater it could have been if I was in it to win it!

I tell you all of this, not to make you feel bad or to say my time at FBC was in vain. These are simply not true. I tell you this in hopes that you would continue to support me no matter where the Lord takes me. I'm at a strange time in my life, where I am beginning to figure out who I am and who I want to be. It's a time or growth and confusion, and I truly believe my time at FBC is finished. God has been so good through the past three years. You guys have given me so much hope and more love than I knew what to do with. I could always count on The Choir for an extra boost to get through school when the weeks seemed to be getting longer. Praise Team was monumental in my growth this past year alone! The chance to help lead a congregation of fellow believers who, for whatever reason, looked up to me for strength when even singing a song was too hard, was incredible! Working with the girls in the youth group was the biggest blessing of all! I got to share life with them! I was able to aid in leading them through a path that I only wish I traveled in middle school and high school. This generation is the best one yet! They are girls striving to be women of a Maker that loves every inch of them! I feel so blessed to have been apart of it.

Who am I to limit God to my comfortable bubble that I have created for myself at FBC? I was so convinced that I could put Him in His box, only to be used and listened to when He has something to say that I wanted to hear. Starting Easter Sunday I will be starting a new adventure with Preston Ridge Baptist Church here in Frisco. Preston Ridge is actually the church I grew up in and where my dad still attends. I got involved with the young adult ministry. I have only attended a few Bible studies with them, and I can already tell a difference in myself. They challenge me to be a better version of myself and accept me just as I am. I feel so incredibly blessed to be apart of something so life changing!

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you for all your support! Thank you for always loving, always laughing, always ready with a hug and most of all, always challenging me to pursue a living God! I pray this would only be a "see ya later"! FBC has forever changed me and will always have a special place in my heart! I hope you see this as nothing but great! God doesn't do anything less than great!

I'll be fervently lifting up the Worship Arts Ministry, praying that our Maker would be nothing short of satisfied with your efforts. Being apart of something as big as WAM truly humbled me into a state of worship that I had not yet experienced, so thank you! Keep on singin!

I truly love all you FBCers more than you know!
Forever His,
EmilyJo

I Must Become Less

This past weekend our church had our High School Disciple Now Weekend! The weekend had a Basic Training theme where we learned that all basic training must start with your heart condition. The retreat started off crazy! We met our girls and hung out for a little bit and then off to midnight dodge ball. It was so funny to see these freshmen girls try to hide from the shots of the senior boys. They were so scared, and I can't lie, I was too! Those boys sure can throw a dodge ball! Staying up until 4:00 in the morning was brutal, but it made me feel like I was in high school all over again! Those girls were a HUGE blessing to me!

The last night of worship, the speaker had an alter call. He gave three different reasons to come to the alter. One being if you feel the tug to join the mission field. I noticed one of my girls up there, so I went to pray with her. I asked her what was up and this is what she said..."I want to share Jesus with everyone in the world, Emily!". So I asked her if she felt she was being called to do mission work and she replied, "I'm not sure, but I want to start with the kids at my school!". As I prayed over this precious girl, I was so challenged by her readiness to pursue our living God. She asked me to pray that God would help her to have strength to talk to her friends. It made me reevaluate my life. Am I that urgent to reach the people around me? Am I willing to be as obedient as her? I was so challenged by the faith of this beautiful 14 year old girl!

Man, God is so good huh? I just got back from a week in Nashville, so be expecting some posts about it! It was an awesome vacation!! I hope you're all having a great and relaxing spring break! I love you all more than you know!
Forever His,
EmilyJo

Plea

Father teach me just how to die
For I fear my will has grown too strong
Strip away my false humility, and grant that I boast solely in the cross

Father teach me just how to die
For my ears love to hear praise from men
Take my drive to be recognized and grant that my life only point to You

You're worthy, the only one who's worthy
Jesus You are worthy, worthy
Father teach me just how to die Forgive me when I think you owe me something Instill God fear within my bones. Lord I surrender, I am Yours
You are worthy, the only one who's worthy,
Jesus you are worthy, worthy
~Branch


This song was recently introduced to me as "something I can totally hear you singing!" from a good friend of mine. I just love the lyrics. "Father teach me just how to die. Forgive me when I think you owe me something...". It just reminds me our how selfish I can be in thinking that God owes me anything. He doesn't and I don't deserve anything, however He gives generously and lovingly. What an awesome God we serve!

I hope you guys are having awesome weeks! God is so good! I can't believe the amazing support I've gotten from you about Romania! You guys are making this trip something amazing.. thank you so much for being involved in what the Lord is doing! Have a wonderful rest of the week.. it's almost Friday! I love you all more than you know!
Forever His,
EmilyJo

Romania 2010?! Yes Please!!

This summer I will be joining a group of fellow Christ followers to Constanta, Romania. We will be there from July 2 until July 12. It's going to be an amazing trip! Here are some fun facts about Constanta!

• It is one of the oldest cities in Romania
• The city is located on the coast of the Black Sea
• In the winter time, they get more wind than snow
• The flag of Romania is vertical stripes of blue, yellow and red
• Romania doesn't have a national religion
• Of the few that are actually practiced, the dominant religious body is the Romanian Orthodox Church
• 23,105 Romanians are atheists

These are just a few of the interesting facts about Romania. We will be doing a lot of different things such as playing with children and bringing the Good News to all we come in contact with. I'm so VERY excited to see how the Lord uses us in the lives of the Romanian people, but I'm more excited to see what the Lord has in store for the lives of myself and our team members! The idea of Christ allowing us to be His hands and His feet blows my mind! I am so humbled by another opportunity to follow Christ overseas! I'm so excited to keep everyone posted as the weeks and months go by on the progress of the trip. Also, I'll have specific prayer requests for all you faithful prayer warriors! Stayed tuned... you're not going to want to miss out on what God is doing!!

I hope you're having an awesome week! Enough with the cold weather already! I love you all more than you know!
Forever His,
EmilyJo

...I want to be beautiful...

"The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen."
-- Elizabeth Kubler Ross

I got this quote from my friend, Hanna, in Estonia. I just LOVE it!!!

Something Tells Me I'm into Something Good!

Ok I'm going to spill my guts about a recent blessing that has been sent my way! As you may know, I recently changed my major from Early Childhood Education to Mass Communications with an emphasis in Journalism. Changing your major is always kind of a big thing, but doing it when you were super close to graduation... not the best idea. I have basically had to start over, however I am LOVING my new classes! Having this in mind, I knew I would have to quit my job and take more classes than I really wanted to in each semester to try to get caught up. I quit my job, knowing I had a car payment, knowing it cost money to put gas in my beautiful car and all my other expenses, but also knowing God would somehow provide. With the help of my sweet dad, I applied for financial aid and loans and didn't hear anything back. If you know me at all, you know I was freaking out and losing sleep over it. I was going to have to sell my car and start walking all the way to my school. I'm stressing myself out again just thinking about it! I was going to have to work over-night shifts at the hospital to make ends meet and I was so dreading the idea of being constantly exhausted and sleep deprived. Then God, after laughing at my faithlessness, threw me a curve ball! My dad happened to look at his old email account, and for whatever reason, he had an email with an offer for a loan. It just happens to be enough for me to live on for the semester, and I don't have to get rid of my car! It was a HUGE weight lifted off my shoulders! Why God is so good to me, I have no idea, but I'm totally loving it!

This situation has really just proved to me how little faith I have in Christ sometimes. I mean, did He not create the universe, live as a man, endure the worst pain and punishment of all times? If He did all those things, what makes me think He can't provide me with the things I need? I'm amazed at how unworthy I am of Him, but how He still loves me and blesses me with surprises like providing me with a little money for the semester.

In other news, my sweet Grandpa Kelley celebrated his 79th birthday this week! Happy birthday Grandpa Kelley! I love you so much! Thanks for being such a blessing to me!

I don't know what I did to deserve the love of such an awesome God, but I sure love it! I hope you're letting Him be your everything this week! I love you all more than you know!
Forever His,
EmilyJo

O the Places You Will Go...

I think my favorite part about Collin College is the people it attracts. There are people from all over the world, including students from various parts of Africa, Japan, Korea, India, Peru, North Carolina. But those aren't the students that interest me most. I mean, don't get me wrong, I LOVE learning about different cultures, and especially first hand from some of my classmates, but the kind of people I'm talking about are the people most never really meet.

It's that person that insists on sitting in the front of every class that has a strange odor that just follows them to the point where they wonder why all their classes stink. One of my personal favorites is the girl that speaks so loudly she would wake a whole room of sleeping babies with one word, and her sneeze is a Broadway performance, complete with hand gestures and a big "God bless me!" at the end. I also enjoy the fellow that wears gloves with EVERYTHING. There are different gloves for different outfits, with my personal favorite being the skeleton glow-in-the-dark gloves. But I think the person I notice most is the one no one else does. She's the one sitting alone holding her backpack on her lap. As she looks up from the book she was pretending to read, because it was far better than facing the reality of how alone she feels, she tucks the misplaced hair back behind her ear and evaluates the students around her. Who's talking to who. Who's on the phone and who could possibly be in the same boat as she. As she slides her book into her bag, she pauses and decides to hold it. Book clutched to her chest, she makes her way through the hall, wondering if anyone notices her. She starts with the hard questions of wondering if anyone knows her name and what she's majoring in, and then ends up at the easier ones. "What color are my eyes?", "What book was I just was I just reading for an hour?". Then finally to the hardest question of them all... "Am I invisible?"


I think we can blame the tragic situation of the latter on a few different components. One being our selfish human nature. The mentality of this one short life we have actually belonging to us. Another being we're too caught up in ourselves to notice a person in need. It's all about me, all about me getting to class on time, all about me making friends, and all about me living my life as smoothly as possible. I think any way you look at it, this girl being so lonely she doesn't know what to do with herself, could be blamed on really anything and anyone, but isn't it our job to reach out to her? To let her know this life is worth living? To let her know things can be good again? To make her feel beautiful? Somewhere along the road, she fell through the cracks to be left for dead. My heart is broken for the people that fall into a world of the lost. My prayer is that all of us can find a way to reach out to someone this week... just one...

I hope you're all having a wonderful week! You're worthy of so much love and joy! I love you all more than you know!
Forever His,
EmilyJo

Got my lunch packed up! My shoes tied tight! I hope I don't get in a fight!

It's always such an accomplishment to successfully complete your first week of school without wanting to rip your hair out! Being in college is still very much like the first day of middle school. You spend more time than necessary getting ready and picking out the perfect first day of school outfit. You want to get to to school extra early because the mere thought of getting lost and being late for class makes you want to puke. So, you pull into the parking lot a whole hour before class starts, pull out your schedule and make 100% sure you're parked on the right side of the building, you know EXACTLY where your class is (if you're like me, you print out a map of the school just in case), and place it neatly back into your planner, safe and sound. So you look around, noticing you may or may not be the only on in the parking lot sitting in their car, so you pull out the book you keep in your purse (don't lie.. I'm not the only one!). You'll read two, three pages max because you're WAYY too anxious to concentrate. On your way to class, you try not to make any eye contact with any passing classmates, in fear that someone might sense your anxiety. Once you find your class, and before entering the room, you triple check your schedule to be certain you're in the right spot. Take a deep breath, walk in a make a b-line to a seat that's definitely not in the front, but not too far in the back. As you sit there, pretending to read your book or check your cell phone for any texts you might have missed in the past three seconds, the hero comes in. The one that asks the question that everyone else is too chicken to ask but the same question that's burning in the back of your mind... "Is this G211? Public Speaking??"... the second bravest person in the room is the girl sitting in the front... "It sure is!"... with an obvious faked confidence. And so the first day of school begins, and as the anxiety finally starts to wear down, it's time for your next class and it starts all over again! Or maybe this is just me...

It was a very long week of full of new experiences and new friends. I can't wait to do it all over again Monday, but I'm so thankful for having Fridays off!! I hope you had an awesome week and looking forward to a relaxing weekend! I love you all more than you know!
Forever His,
EmilyJo

Disturb us, Lord

Disturb us, O Lord
when we are too well-pleased with ourselves
when our dreams have come true because we
dreamed too little, because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, O Lord
When with the abundance of things we possess,
we have lost our thirst for the water of life
when, having fallen in love with time,
we have ceased to dream of eternity
and in our efforts to build a new earth,
we have allowed our vision of Heaven to grow dim.

Stir us, O Lord
to dare more boldly, to venture into wider seas
where storms show Thy mastery,
where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars.

In the name of Him who pushed back the horizons of our hopes and invited the brave to follow.
Amen.

This morning, on my to church at 7:30 the world was covered in fog. As I drove, thinking to myself just how early it was, and how I got a total of two hours of sleep last night and how I wasn't ready to sing this morning. And then I realized that I couldn't even see the cars around me due to the fog that seemed to be swallowing everything in its path. I couldn't see the stop light until I was right on it, and I began to get scared. I was so busy worrying about silly things instead of the road and instead of what was happening around me. It reminded me of how often I let the fogs of this life engulf me and take me off course. How many times have gotten comfortable in that fog and didn't really care to see what was around me, so my prayer today is that God would disturb me. That I would not let myself get comfortable in this life.

Anyways, just a thought! School starts back up this week... I'm a little nervous... I feel like I'm in 7th grade all over again! I love you all more than you know!
Forever His,
EmilyJo

I Fall to the Ground, Cause I Want to be Better...

There's a little girl at Phoenix Children's' Hospital battling the most aggressive type of brain tumor possible. She's just six years old, and should be enjoying birthday parties and first grade. Along with annoying her older sister and making sure her little brother gets his fair share. That's the normal life of a 6 year, however, for Kate it's drastically different. On a daily basis, sweet little Kate, struggles with vomiting, chemo, restlessness, pain everywhere.. the list goes on and on. Would you join me in fervently praying that God would send His healing and peace to her little body? For her parents, comfort, love and wisdom? Pray that it would all be over soon, and Kate would be cancer free! Here's her blog. Check it out! I dare you to look at her pictures and read her story and not be broken!

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/mcraekate

I hope you're having an awesome week! I love you all more than you know!
Forever His,
EmilyJo

Where the Streets are Paved With Gold...

Today, I start my last week at my job! It's totally bittersweet, because I wasn't prepared to leave. I left for Christmas break, expecting to come back for another semester, but God had different plans. Starting next Tuesdays I'll be at school all day! The joys of college I suppose. I'm so excited to start this new chapter with a new major, however I'm going to miss all my crazy kiddos!

I started the week of with a very hard meeting! We had to terminate one of kids. It was a meeting with all kinds of people and the unanimous decision was that it would be in our better interest and the interest of the rest of the kids if he didn't return. It was a hard conversation to have, but it just reminded me of God's love for us and His discipline. I mean, even though it didn't work out with this little boy and his mom, how often should God just write us off? How many times have I misbehaved or ran and dumped off a table and ran away from Him, just because it was easier or because we like to show off our own talents and gifts and forget exactly where those came from.

How often should God say to me, "You know, EmilyJo, It's just not working out. I've got to go in a different direction and I just can't keep you"?? That's kind of harsh, but it's reality. I don't deserve Him. But what's so awesome about Him, is He doesn't say those things! He never even thinks them! And why? Because He loves me that much! What a humbling realization, that God doesn't need us to sing to Him, or worship Him or follow, but He allows us to, and He desires us to! I've just really been captivated by that lately!

"No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." Hebrews 12:11

In other news, I've been reading through the book of Matthew, and it has been incredible! It's like reading a really good novel that you have to force yourself to put down! Even though I know what's going to happen, I find myself on the edge of my seat in anticipation of what Jesus is going to say next and what dumb thing the disciples are going to doubt! It's just so great!

So I've been struggling a lot with my summer plans. Where should I go? I've had a few opportunities arise in the passing weeks, and I couldn't seem to pick exactly which one I wanted to go on, and which one I felt the Lord would want for me. I mean, I know any way I chose would be so blessed. I guess my thinking is that I don't want to miss out on anything. But the conclusion I've come to is that no matter where I go, no matter who I'm with, it can be amazingly blessed and God WILL do incredible things through me! My New Year's Resolution is to start having the mind set that everything is going to be great, because God doesn't do anything less. It may hurt, it may be long and hard, but it's going to turn out great! I'll leave you with a scripture that's really helped me with the decision of where to go this summer... stayed tuned for my final decision! You're going to want to get in on what God's doing!

"But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain."
1 Corinthians 15:57-58

I hope this finds you having a great Monday! And I pray that you're letting Christ romance you today! I love you all more than you know!
Forever His,
EmilyJo

Anticipating something big!

Lord Move, or Move Me

I can't find the words to pray
I'm a little down today
Can you help me?
Can you hold me?
I feel like a million miles away
And I don't know what to say
Can you hear me anyway?
What I need is for you to reach out your hand
You have taught me
No matter what you'd understand

CHORUS:

Lord move in a way, that I've never seen before
Cause there's a mountain in the way and a lock on the door
I'm drifting away, waves are crashing on the shore
So Lord move (move), or move me.


I've look every where to find
A simple peace of mind
I can't find nothing on my own
So I got to leave myself behind
Take up this cross of mine
Give away everything I hold onto

Lord I know the only way is through this
Lord I know I need you to help me do this

CHORUS

Lord move in a way, that I've never seen before
Cause there's a mountain in the way and a lock on the door
I'm drifting away, waves are crashing on the shore
So Lord move (move), or move me.

Out of this place of complacency
To a place of fellowship with thee
Cause I am weak but Lord you are so strong
And you know it's been way too long (been way too long)

Lord move in the way, that I've never seen before
Cause there's a mountain in the way and I'll knock on the door
I'm drifting away, waves are crashing on the shore
So Lord move (move)...

~FFH

With a heavy heart...

Today we lay to rest Christopher Lane Drew. He was 26 years old. His funeral was one of the saddest ones I've ever experienced, but at the same time it was the most joyful one. Some words used to describe him were joyful, he never met a stranger and practice with great success The Fruits of the Spirit. As I sat in the congregation, in the back row of course, I couldn't help but think what people might say about me at my funeral. There wasn't a dry eye in the room as different witnesses of his life shared testimonies and stories of Chris. Son of Gary and Ann. Brother to Steffi and Abbey. Husband to Sarah. He was so loved by so many people. I think you could judge a person's life based on the things said at their funeral. Chris paid attention to small details. It was his mission to help everyone he saw. Everyone he met became an instant friend.

To the family- My heart is heavy, thinking about the position you're in. Saying goodbye to such a good man is bittersweet to say the least. We can rest assured that Chris is dancing with the angels, and praising Jesus face to face. I see him as lucky! He gets to actually bow at the throne of the Most High, where he will no longer have seizures, not longer have to take any kind of medication again, and he has become a flawless beautiful, healthy being. What a blessing these pictures are!

To the friends- You have some big shoes to fill. My prayer is that you wouldn't let his spirit and outlook on life end here. May you carry on his dreams and his heart through the rest of your days. May you feel him with you every step of the way.

And finally to Sarah- You know, when you're a little girl you dream of getting married. You dream of the flowers and the dress and the food and DJ, but most of all you dream about the man who will be standing at the other end of the isle. When you find him, you feel complete, and I can tell that's what Chris did for you. I didn't know him very well, but judging from the smile on both of your faces in your wedding pictures and by the way he was described today, I can tell you'll never be the same. You never once picture your wedding to be just a short year before your husband's funeral, but I choose to believe this situation will turn out great. God doesn't do anything that isn't great. So right now, it hurts and your whole life is now turned completely upside down, but in the end it's going to be great. It may be a year from now or it may be ten years from now. But God has you in His grip. He has you right where He wants you. I fervently pray that His hand would guide you, and His love would pour an abundance of peace and grace over you. God doesn't bring us to anything we can't handle. I can't imagine going through this, but you're not alone. Praying for you daily!

My heart is heavy tonight, however, I rejoice in the fact that Chris is now with his Savior, eternally! Praise be to Him!

Pray for Sarah and her family, along with the Drew family. They are in desperate need of the comfort that only comes from the Body! May the Lord be their everything now. May they lean on Him!

Make sure you hug your loved ones extra tight tonight! I love you all more than you know!
Forever His,
EmilyJo

To those who hurt...

It seems like all you hear these days is about a world that's falling apart. I'm sitting here, watching the news, and I keep finding myself wanting to change the channel, but I can't bring myself to do it. A little boy was killed in a house fire, a mobile home park has been without water for weeks, terrioists... the list goes on and on and the one thing they all have in common is hurt. A great friend of mine lost her brother-in-law just yesterday. He was married to her sister for a year.



The question that always comes to mind when tragedy strikes is "Why?". Why did this happen? Why us? Why them? Then the questions of "what?" comes along. What did I do to deserve this? What happened to for richer or poor? What happens now?



Grieveing, though it comes in many forms, can be solved in one way. Relying on Christ. I know, I know, easier said than done! Man, sometimes it's just so easy to turn to other things, for example, drinking. How much easier is it to just surrender to Christ, and let Him take care of everything? Jesus says,

"Come to me all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."

Matthew 11:28.

So if Jesus says to come, why don't we come? Why don't we run? If I had a nickel for every time someone told me to rely on Christ for something, I would be rich! I'm so stubborn sometimes! I want to figure things out on my own. I want to feel accomplished when I figure something out. I want the attention to be on me. No thanks, God! I've got this one! So many of us have this mentality. You know, the one where we keep Jesus in a little box only to be taken out when we REALLY need Him, when we feel guilty or just can't get it together. Who are we to put restrictions on God? "No God! Last time I gave you control, it didn't turn out the way I wanted, so this time, I'm doing it! I can live without you! I can make my own decisions!" I wish I could tell you I've never even thought these words. I wish I could say I didn't know this lesson from experience, but I do. I, like most, have been through my share of hard times, and yet I still never learn.

I guess what I'm trying to say, is run! Run to Him as fast as you can, let Him pick you up, hold you, and send you down a path that is better. So, if this finds you hurting or angry or frustrated at your current situation, I challenge you to run! He's so worth it.

I hope you're doing well. I love you all more than you know!
Forever His,

EmilyJo