I Heart March

Guess what, folks?! It's that time of year again. My favorite time of year. It's almost March, the best month ever! Oh sure, December is full of holiday cheer, and who doesn't love a sunny day in June? But, March. March is special. Let me count the ways:

1. March 2- My birthday! (I really love birthdays, especially mine)

2. March 8-11- SEC Tourney

3. March 11- Daylight Savings begins

4. March 17- St Patrick's Day

5. March 21- First day of Spring, the "life after death" season

6. March 22- My parents will be here to visit

7. March 23- THE HUNGER GAMES!!!

8. Two of my best friends' birthdays are in March, the 8 and 28

9. It usually gets warmer in March

10. I will be planting some flowers and maybe an herb garden this Spring.

All in all, it's a pretty decent month. I just love the feel of it. It makes me feel refreshed after a long winter. Even though this winter has been mild and weird, everything is still dead and it gets dark too early for me. I love the longer days and the warm sunshine and bike rides and walks in the park when the daffodils are blooming. It's just good for the soul. God always gives us a spring, no matter how long the winter may be. He is so good. I hope this week finds you hopeful for the coming of Spring. :-)

Ghosts of Valentine's Day Past

Yesterday, as I was reflecting on my history of V-Days in a moment of nostalgia, I realized I had a few interesting stories about the day devoted to love and romance. For someone who was single until the age of 23, I figured that this was pretty cool. I could've spent all those years crying or depressed (especially as I got older), but that never happened. God loves me too much to not show me. That goes for you too.

As I began collecting my thoughts and writing down my stories I realized that this was going to be longer than I thought. So for your viewing pleasure, here is the first story in my collection. Enjoy!

Now everyone my age can remember Valentine’s Day in elementary school. I always came home with Valentine’s! It was a win-win situation. The cute boy in my class always got me one and I always got him one. Too bad every other girl in my class got one from him as well, maybe they were preparing my generation for their fate of finding romance on the next season of The Bachelor where your boyfriend dates 8-10 other girls at the same time. Oh, well. I specifically remember one year, I believe it was third grade, when I got a particularly memorable card from a classmate at Northwood Elementary. It was from a boy whose name was Shaun. I did not have a crush on this boy and I’m sure he himself had nothing to do with making the card, but it was so beautiful that I kept it… for several years. It was heart-shaped and had pink, purple and red glitter around the edges. I have no idea what it said but it had his picture inside. Shaun moved away that year as his dad was in the air force just like so many of my classmates’ parents. One day a few years later, probably sometime in middle school, my best friend Elin was at my house. Elin’s dad was also in the air force during elementary school and she lived in Germany from the time she was 5 until the 4^th grade when her family settled in Crestview.  As we were rummaging through my “junk drawer” she came upon Shaun’s Valentine. When she opened it and saw his picture she said that he looked familiar. I thought that couldn’t be possible considering Shaun moved away in the third grade and Elin arrived in the fourth and went to a different elementary school than me. But, she just knew that she has seen him before. We soon discovered after doing some research (aka asking her mom) that Shaun had been in Elin’s kindergarten class… in Bitburg, Germany! We found Elin’s class picture from that year and sure enough, there he was! Funny how you are connected to people in different ways. Elin and I are still best friends to this day, over 15 years later. There are many things that bind us together and Shaun is just one of those things. I have no idea where Shaun is, what he is doing, if he’s happily married, maybe even with kids. I hope his life is fulfilling. More than that, I hope he knows that however small it may seem, he made a plain, freckled faced third grade girl smile for several years on Valentine’s Day and strengthened her bond with her best friend years later. Thank you, Shaun. 

Elin and me at the beach in high school

Elin and me in January 2012

Two posts in one day?!

Just wanted to post some pics from our annual trip to Green Bay, WI. This year we took the in-laws and got to stay a bit longer. We took a tour of Lambeau and ate lunch at Curly's Pub with Tim and Amanda Masthay! It was so much fun cheering on the Pack and we loved every freezing cold minute of it!

Trading contentment for JOY

Today was the first day for our new pastor at Beaver Dam Baptist. The house was packed and you could feel the excitement in the sanctuary. We have been without a pastor for over 2 years now and it was well worth the wait. The Church is so much more than a pastor, but leadership is so important. I am truly excited for the Wayne family to begin their ministry here and challenge our church to be a light in our community. We spent a lot of time in prayer during the service today. We also read from the Word and worshiped God through music. Simple.

Some churches spend hours in planning meetings about how to make church cool or relevant to today's culture. I'm glad that is not our first concern. If you want to know how to do church right, go read the book of Acts, specifically chapter 2 verses 42-47. In verse 45 it talks about how the believers sold their possessions and goods and gave to anyone as they had need. Yikes. Talk about contentment. These people had nothing but the Holy Spirit and each other and they weren't just content. They were filled with JOY! What a difference. They didn't just put up with each other, but loved each other and cared for others' needs.

I have been longing for contentment, but what I really need is joy. Joy in the Lord and all He has done for me. When I seek Him I will find Him, as He promises in His Word. That in itself gives me joy. Regardless of any other detail of my life. That is my prayer for you today.

Joy and Peace,
Emily