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