the best teacher

it has been so long since I have had any time whatsoever to write on the blog.  it has been a good kind of busy, the kind that keeps days spinning forward in a good way.  suddenly i have found a rhythm i didn't know was possible. at last things are starting to feel less new.  though some would crave new things, i crave old things. i love the past, a little too much sometimes, and love creating a sense of been-there, history.  i love knowing things from experience.

in the past few years much in my life has changed, as i always like to remind myself...  sometimes it overwhelms me. but right now i am thankful for the lull in the system.  i am able to be more confident, walking into work and being able to somewhat predict what will happen. i love being able to easier put together a dinner at the last minute.  i loved feeling a part of family traditions with Kurt and Christmas time.   i love doing recital music and practicing with the ballet girls and knowing that if you don't teach them to march in a circle on day one, they may never learn.

experience is the best teacher, maybe the only teacher.  have i ever learned anything that i didn't want to take part in teaching myself? learning is a life long activity and i am proud to be learning still. how wonderful to have a bit of experience under the belt. blessed for that and blessed to be alittle bored this morning.  nothing stays the same. soon things will change.  more things will come, we may move, we may stay, people grow, but its because of this, that things are special.  they will change which makes them special.

much love
em

truth

Stolen from Hallmark Commercial....but TRUE none the less.
Here's to not waiting for holidays to celebrate.

Love love love and Happy Thanksgiving

tweenager

i am 14 and have been revisiting

xoxo

and tonight i get to go see::

and i am sooooooo totally excited.

happy weekend!! :-)

gratitude in check

can't help but feel grateful tonight--want to check your attitude? check your gratitude.
i am blessed beyond belief...thank you Lord.

i've been given so much.

would i be happy with a Christmas shoe-box? would i be content?

heard a testimony by Lisa Terkheurst. Two of her sons were born in a third-world-country.  Each day, at an orphanage, they were challenged in choir to stand up and say things in their lives they were grateful for.  These children, faced with bare feet, empty bellies, and scarred hands couldn't think of one blessed thing to be truly grateful for. and yet one at a time they stood up and sang a praise song.  their attitude was transformed by their gratitude.

thinkinig recently about thorns in my life. some seeds fell on good soil, but they encountered there, thorns. 

are my comforts my thorns? does my need for perfection, a clean car, 3 square meals, shoes, gas money, running water--does it numb me into ungratefulness? sometimes the things that we take for granted (or marble, if you are Kurt...he can never resist that joke)

are the very things that hinder us from pure gratitude.  I am praying this Christmas for a heart without thorns, a heart uninhibited by wants disguised as needs.

create

singing psalms has always calmed my heart. whenever i find myself in discord, i always sing this. thank you Jesus for your power to renew me!

"create in me a clean heart oh God
and renew a right spirit within me
cast me not away from your precense oh lord
and take not your holy spirit from me
restore unto me
the joy of your salvation
and renew a right spirit within me."

How to Conquer Comparisons by Lysa Terkheurst

*comparisons are always something I have struggled with.  How easy is it to do? So easy!, if we are not living a "controlled thought life" and being happy being perfectly equipped to be our own selves. Wow. *

How to Conquer Comparisons

Have you ever questioned why God isn't blessing you in the same way as someone else? When I

find myself making comparisons and wanting what someone else has, I must consciously choose

to redirect my thinking. Too many of us live with an uncontrolled thought life. It is possible to

learn to identify destructive thoughts and make wiser choices. Instead of letting these thoughts

rumble freely about in my mind, I make the choice to harness them and direct them toward truth.

Think of something you want that someone else has. Have you been lured into thinking, “If only

I had ___________________ like that person, my life would be great!”

Now, practice redirecting those thoughts by saying instead:

I am not equipped for her good.

I am not equipped for her bad.

I am not equipped to carry the weight of her victories.

I am not equipped to shoulder her burdens.

I am not equipped to be her in any way.

I am, however, perfectly equipped to be me.

Therefore, thank You, God, for only entrusting me with what I have and who I am.

When I compare myself to others and focus on wanting what they have, it quite simply wears me

out trying to figure out how to have more, be more, and do more. That’s why Jesus instructs

worn-out people, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will

find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28–30).

Note a couple key words in these verses. A “yoke” is a wooden frame used to harness two draft

animals to whatever they have to pull. The Greek word for “easy” can also mean “well-fitted.”

Combine this information together and it appears that Jesus is saying He has equipped each of us

with well-fitted assignments in life. As long as we do and aspire to only what He calls us, our

burden will not only be manageable, it will be light.

It’s also interesting to note that when an animal is in training, a farmer will often put it in a head

yoke rather than a neck yoke to keep the animal from looking around and getting anxious. I think

my head yoke has been the thought-redirecting statement, “I’m not equipped to handle what they

have—both good and bad.” It sure has stopped me from looking around and getting anxious!

For more information on this topic, read Lysa’s book,

Becoming More Than a Good Bible Study Girl.

Lysa TerKeurst

following Jesus Christ. As president of Proverbs 31 Ministries, Lysa has led

thousands to make their walk with God an invigorating journey. For more

information, visit www.LysaTerKeurst.com

To purchase this resource click on Shop P31 at

helps everyday women live an adventure of faith throughwww.Proverbs31.org© 2010 by Lysa TerKeurst. All rights reserved.

welcome fall

fall

leaves

red

spice tea-bannana-fire chatting-mid 50's-cinnamon sticks-pumpkins-octoberfests-thankfulness-foot ball games-candle burning-just plain in love

with fall.



Under the Covers

Consider me a LAZY DAISY

After 10:05.
Needless to say, I should not be held responsible for words typed passed 10:05

So I'm going to forget my own words and rely on someone else :
  
 This little blip caught my attention on the radio on the way home from work. Much needed encouragement & a lesson in confidence. Perhaps that's not something you struggle with today, but I feel certain that at some point in our lives we all question whether we are "enough" in some capacity or another. I know I certainly do every day and feel as if I could have always done more. . .So much so that by 10:05 I simply feel spent and need to read rather than write, or soak in someone else's words & encouragement. I hope that this video touches you in the same way it touched me


http://vimeo.com/soundpostproductions/reneeswopeaconfidentheartsv

much love and confidence,
em




 

What’s Your Musical Memory?

Goodness if Music doesn't take you back or forward or somewhere in between, then I don't think we can be friends. I say this with confidence, because I am fairly certain that music takes just about everyone to a certain spot in their lives.

A Musical History by Emily H. Nelson

-I was raised on slow and easy listening stations, as well as the good old oldies. My daddy sang "I wanna hold your hand" at me everytime we were together, "My Girl," etc…he still does.

-My mom is the type who typically asks, have you heard this song and then starts singing it, not a few lines, but like the whole thing. She also could probably think of a song for every sentence you say to her. She will burst into song. It's not unusual. Whether its recent favorites like Jar of Hearts or a Stevie Wonder song, she's coming at you no notes barred. She has a beautiful voice.

-Toni Bennett makes me cry, as well as Christmas music favorites like Andy Williams and don't even GET me started on Perry Como. Oh Perry Como. Melts. My. Heart. And makes me cry and then laugh and then want some serious hot chocolate.

-In highschool I kind of listened to whatever was burned to me. Lucky for me I had lots of wonderful friends with lots of wonderful music tastes. A good harmony would get me in choir. There were songs we sang like the Hallelujah chorus that would literally give me chills. Or singing in the rotunda…okay I will stop, getting slightly dorky. Or riding home from school with a CD made by that SOS and knowing just knowing they picked that song just for you…which I'm sure wasn't always true but it made high-school that much more romantic.

-When Kurt and I met it was all country all the time. I remember listening to him sing Brad Paisley and *swooning* -- something about a good old country song that will get you everytime. I remember we would ride in the car and he didn't seem to mind me belting out my favorite songs, and he certainly wasn't shy about it either. We would ride down Highway 6 and back, just to listen.

-Going through my ipod today, I realized that my "most played" playlist was identical to that of my Baby Ballet CDS…uh oh. Looks like I need a music-makeover, or need to spend some time soaking in the tunes. I got on the treadmill and the WAKA WAKA song came on, its Shakira, don't judge…but I could literally not stand still. Obviously danced on the treadmill.

Sam Cooke is my Saturday obsession

"Darling you-ooo-ooo-send me"

There have been songs I have tried to forget, lots I can't remember exactly, and then some I hear in the car with friends and magically know every single word. What's your musical story? What musical memories will you never forget?

Music, oh I love you.

God broke the mold when he gave us music, didn't he?

 

Xoxo Emily

 

 

 

Big Hearted

These beautiful creatures have a heart the size of a VW Bug! Can you imagine that? This video reminded me of how much I love sea creatures, DOLPHINS especially. I used to have a dolphin collection of sorts that would have made my DDD friends proud.

Makes me feel so small and insignifcant, thankfully so. "I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean!" Sing it Lee Ann! 

Happy Tuesday Yall!

perspective

the things i have worried over this week have included superficial concerns of many kinds, most of which have revolved around minor inconveniences of my every day life

such as

not getting my coffee
running late to ballet
nearly running out of gas  on the interstate
going grocery shopping every other day
"stress" (this is an abstract word i use when i don't really know what else to say)
not having something new to wear out to eat
and not getting 8 hrs of sleep

each night.

newsflash :: i am beyond blessed that my everyday concerns are comfort factors i have tricked myself into believing are required. reflecting on 9.11 i am incredibly thankful--

i am alive, life is so good, and above all GOD is in control and my all in all.

this week im challenging myself to live blessed, starbucks or no & to concentrate on things of eternal importance.

10 years later and it still brings me to tears, to my knees, but most of all it brings me back to focus, perspective.

instagram fun

loving my instagram lately!

i want to see life like instagram does--all pretty and artsy like! take a picture of a sack of potatoes and instagram it

INSTA-ART.

happy SUNDAY!

Life Is Sweet Without Wheat

Got a phone call last week that informed me, "you have celiacs disease." Cool, thank you and Goodbye then gastro-entro-nologist (absolutely this is not how you spell this word)

Which all that means is my body is now, for some strange reason, allergic to wheat. So here-goes a new diet of gluten-free foods. I need to get serious and start checking out some "oodie websites" and saving my pennies for the expensive flour ($8.50?) i have to purchase, but there are some great perks to being a gluten-ite.

1. is called you get to go to FRESH MARKET a lot and your hubby supports this decision because he knows you are depressed about not getting to eat Nutrigrain bars, animal crackers, and milano cookies, which up until this point had been your main food groups.

2. is called you get to shop around at the FRESH MARKET with your cutie little two-teired shopping cart that fits exactaly $90 of the freshest, happiest, fruits, veggies, meats, and cheeses you have ever seen.

3. is called you get a Sonic Power Ade Slush whenever you want because it does not have gluten in it and you occasionally feel bad for yourself over seeing all the happy digestive systems eating at the CFA.

4. is called your friends come over just to check out what you figured out you could make. So far I have made glutenfree ROAST BEEF and Veggies, Gluten Free SPAGHETTI! I am working on more lunch ideas so if anyone has any suggestions please let me know!!!

love love love,
em

i'm so exhausted tonight--so exhausted that is a miracle that i am blogging.
but priorities, are important and it has been forever since i wrote anything down about anything.

all i want to do tonight is READ, put words into my mind, not try to squeeze them out into something that makes a little, hopefully, sense.  Reading is so good like that, have you thought about it? taking words in and processing them is so much easier, for me, than putting them on a page.

this is also a wonderful quality in a facebook stalker. (que scary music)
i can easily spend hours just looking. reading. never posting, just looking. you're really lucky if i have the energy to give you a thumbs up "like" on facebook. this is big for me. don't ask me to come up with something to SAY however.

i  can spend hours reading blogs, without anyone knowing i'm there. okay,sounds creepy but tonight i wanted to say

HERE I AM.  and this is what I know TODAY

today i know:

i'm loved, blessed by JESUS, not hungry at all because i have had lots to eat today, happy to have a comfy bed, excited to start BITTER IS THE NEW BLACK, getting to love new home more and more each day, hoping that i can visit family SOON, and pondering the benefits of five hour energy pills at 4 in the afternoon, are these healthy? oh, and LOVE you like a love song baby IS ON REPEAT. loves it.

so these thoughts prove i am here. as does the big dent in my favorite pillow.



goodnight world. stalk you in the morning. 

R&R

Been reading a wonderful book by Joyce Meyer called Eat the Cookie Buy the Shoes. My first instinct was to say well no wonder this is a Nee York Times Best Seller! How many times does it take to tell a woman to "eat the cookie!"

The thing is, it has taken me a while longer than it should have to discover the true art of relaxation. It is a talent, and sometimes I have a difficult time of it. I compensate for my worry with to-do lists and hard work. Sometimes I think people will no longer love little old me if I stop being a hard worker. Well that's just pride and prides just as ugly as they come.

The truth is a good woman knows the art and necessity of a little R&R and can lighten up every so often. My mother is known for laughing at her poor children during a tantrum or when we find ourselves the most pitiful creatures on Gods green earth. She doesn't take our tedious troubles too seriously. She knows its better to laugh. She also believes in the power of the cat nap. 20 minutes and she's a new woman. With six kids if she didn't recharge she'd be in the funny farm by now.

So dismiss that negative connotation of rest and recreation and refreshment with These thoughts from Joyce's book::

"rest is not inactivity but the harmonious working together of all the faculties and affection of will, heart, imagination & conscious."



"if the emotions heart will or mind is set against the thing being done there will be no rest. Martha was working, but she resented it so she could not rest. When we have a job to do we should do it willingly not with resentment. It is vital for us to use our free will and choose the will of god when a thing needs to be done. We say in our heart "I will do this as a service to god and I will do it with a good attitude."

immeasurably more

wanted to share a few things that have cropped up in my life lately--in Bible verses I have come across & books that I have been reading; all have presented truths i already KNOW, but do i truly TAP into the powersource, the ABUNDANCE that is my Jesus?

as believers in Christ we have the power that raised Christ from the dead, living within us. Paul urges the Ephesians to truly tap into this power when he writes,

"that HE may grant you in accord with the riches of his glory to be STRENGTHENED with power through his spirit in the inner self, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that YOU rooted and grounded in love, may have STRENGTH to comprehend with all the holy ones what is the breadth and length and heighth and depth, and to KNOW the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be FILLED with the fullness of God"  Ephesians 3:16-19

as i read this verse, I feel myself getting bigger and bigger, stronger and stronger.  God wants me to have strength? power? he wants little me to know the length, breadth, heighth and depth of his love! he wants happiness and peace, true joy found only in Him! why, if this is true, do i worry over the small things, mistakes made, my inadequacies, grades, what others think, what others say? if i truly was tapped into the power that Christ gives me, and places within me, then I would not worry at all about what is to come.

"Now to HIM who is able to accomplish far more than all we can ask or imagine, by the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever." Ephesians 3:20

In this verse Paul says that God's power, his abilities, his overall-plan is SO MUCH GREATER than even our WILDEST DREAMS.  He is able to do IMMEASURABLY MORE
than what we can comprehend.  Why then do I not ask him? pray specifically for the strength and power that I require to make it through the day, for the self-esteem, for the desire to play hard, for my future-spouse, for whoever and whatever it is I am struggling with, why do I not ask him?

Because of these truths we are called to CELEBRATE and REJOICE in God's goodness.  He desires for us the "abundant life!"  He desires for us bigness, fullness, happiness, joy, freedom---he desires for us a care-free lifestyle that ONLY relying on Jesus can give. 

In college I struggled the most with anxiety and inadequacy.  I felt stretched thin, I felt like I was living hand-to-mouth and day-to-day. I struggled with eating enough food to keep me going. I felt like the less space I took up the better. Smaller, quieter, I didn't have enough energy to ward off what I knew was Satan tempting me to dispair.  Wow. That is hard to admit, but so true.  While I wasn't actively sinning against others, I was certainly not tapping into the power that Jesus had already given me.  He had a big present waiting for me in the corner but I was too tired to notice, or believe.

Still today I struggle with anxiety but I have to actively choose to believe and reopen his gifts each morning.  Lord, I believe, help my unbelief. Not in my power, but in God's power.  Reading these verses makes me feel full, powerfull, strong.  it makes me feel happy and joyful.  unafraid. 

Thats why I love this picture of Kurt so much; he is unafraid, unworried, stretched out agaisnt the biggest place he could find. Taking up as much space as he can in a picture//he stands next to a huge ocean and yet he struggles to be as large as the sea.  It is refreshing to me.  It used to bother me how much space he demanded, but now I see what a gift that is.

God can do IMMEASURABLY MORE

talked out

i feel talked out

lately i have been carrying on at the office, answering telephones and writing down messages like "rt tooth sore. sensitive to cold. needs to be glued back." very professional messages such as this, might lead you to ask the question, girl, what are you doing answering phones in a dentist office?

you might also wonder why a girl who makes her husband order the pizza, talk at sonic, and pay all the bills, is handling making appointments, phone calls, and billing other peoples insurance?

dr. westover, if you are reading this, don't lose faith in me.

but isnt it funny the way my comfort zone no longer exists?

a year ago, only a year ago, i was scrambling for a day job--kurt would push me out the door into a random establishment, yelling encouragement such as "you look cute! of course they will hire you" or "tell them you wrote a thesis!" as one may have told me, ahem, 5 years ago, a liberal arts degree and no experience grants you just that: a liberal arts degree (and a pretty way of talking that others probably won't be able to understand) a thesis? who do you think YOU are little lady? Charlotte Bronte?

needless to say my smallish voice and shy way of not looking at you directly in the eye for too awfully long, didn't insight complete confidence in my selling, teaching, govering, or even peir-one-ing abilities.  looking for a job is one of the most humbling experiences.  its kind of like you are a sorry little telemarketer, who gets hung up on relentlessly all day long. i feel bad for their self confidence.  random telemarketer, if YOU are reading this, take heart.  we do (maybe) need you after all.

zip to the present
i have a job, and on most days i can do it.  on most days i can correctly identify your appointment, not choke on the phone, translate your bill, and pretend as if insurance companies are my best friends.  i can sweet talk you into not having an appointment, paying your bill, and convincing you that its probably best for you to come back in four months to have your teeth checked again. on most days.

on other days
i find myself trampling around the muddy grass in search of dr. westover's car, which is literally smarter than i, clicking the keys in hopes of a beep. you may find me shaking at the wheel as i tread cautiously to his son's grade school, where i try to gracefully holler his name out the window, and not look like a kidnapper in the process.  i also may or may not find myself rejoicing with blackened hands that the toner is now working, asking the FedEx man how to apply the shipping label, or screaming gibberish at the sweet lady who fixed my credit-card-thing. 

all in all
it is good. it is good to know i can do it. it is BETTER to know when i can't, there is someone to ask, someone to help, and someone to laugh with.

cheers to a lack of comfort in my very comfortable life.
em

for what is a year without learning?

what is a day without laughter or trials--

a bubble of sorts, unrealistic and all

lovey dovey the whole day through,

will never compare to a real year with you.

things aren't always easy neither are they always trying
you can laugh or you can cry. never mistake a chance to laugh as a reason not to
prefecting can be the opposite of accepting if i'm not careful
just a thing or two i learned in one year with you

one can be mad enough to spit and happy enough to cry
and by one i mean me.

food is better when you eat it
sometimes considering others means considering yourself first
nothing's sweeter than contentment
just a thing or two i leanred in a year with you

one can't step over certain rules like how minutes and hours work together
and by one i mean even me

some people are loud, they make noise. they generally take up space.
it is better to bite the bullet, own up, tell the truth, make it count
twenty dollars gas now, twenty dollars gas later, is not more effecient than spending all up front
just a thing or two i learned in a year with you


one can leave or run, hide or try, not to see the good
and by one i mean me
but the other one will always be
all the good there was in me
and by the other one i mean you

when i look at you all i see

is many different pieces of me thrown together in a mis-match way

fitting in with you and blending

some days the texture is smooth,

where she stops nobody knows

other days the texture scrapes like a fall on summer-time rocky top

open and raw challenging itself to heal

but whatever day comes your way

you always choose i do.

i do too.

i choose i do every day. you committ to loving me every day this year and then some.

for that i thank  you and learn from

a year with you. 

mary

lately God has been teaching me so much about myself and i have had a few of these thoughts running around in my head. they aren't a great sum-up of all i have been thinking about but they are easy to remember

1. "if you judge people, even for a split second, you miss loving them where they are"

2. "what is GOD'S PLAN for mylife -- not what is God's plan for MY LIFE!!!"


3. "take what you do seriously, take YOURSELF very lightly."


4. Is God the CENTER of my life or is he a supporting character I have put in my movie? hmmm...
that's a scary thought!


5. miss the little things and you have missed everything.


this is what I have been thinking on lately--trying to be a less Martha and more Mary every single day, Lord.

spring

i love to see this sunshine! every season opens up and i think--now, this one, this season, is my absolute favorite.

spring is no different--and SPRING wins one a break often. oh and cleaning! i am such a lucky girl that in the past few weeks i have gotten BOTH. here are some memorable moments of spring so far.




my SWEET parents drove all the way from T-town to come to the ballet--only to drive all the way back!!



deep sea fishing trip--gulf shores, AL

we caught so many of these red snapper! it wasn't in season so no fish for us, but they were fun to catch and release

very yummy food all week--this was taken at an Oyster House in Point Clear, AL

CLEANING

got this idea from Real Simple--cork board and tacks GREAT for belts and necklaces.

it is possibly SAD how much i love organizing.

So Far So Good Springtime.