“God is not a belief to which you give your assent. God becomes a reality whom you know intimately, meet everyday, one whose strength becomes your strength, whose love, your love. Live this life of the presence of God long enough and when someone asks you, “Do you believe there is a God?” you may find yourself answering, “No, I do not believe there is a God. I know there is a God.”

~Ernest Boyer, Jr.

Wow. Truth spoken so plainly that it grabs my heart and won't let go... "I know there is a God." This past year has been a whirlwind of a year. Full of trials, pain, feelings of worthlessness, hopelessness. And yet, I serve an incredible God. A God who sweeps me off my feet day after day because of his love for me. A love that will never fail, be imperfect, but forever real and genuine. I am His Daughter. Treasured by my Heavenly Father, regardless of the messy world I live in. He reminds me that I did not do anything to deserve His Love... He chose me. Why me? Why did Jesus call me to Himself? To glorify His Name. To show His Majesty. To show that He alone is perfect, and that I am not. 

"The Lord will keep you from all harm - He will watch over your life;" ~Psalm 121:7

There is a deep wondering that follows deep thoughts. Lately I have been thinking deeply, and I forget that speaking is often necessary to communicate those thoughts. When life appears to fall apart at the seams, everything, every place, and everyone are questioned in thought at every moment of every day. And most of the time those thoughts are not tangible, but are what we wish would happen. Reality is seemingly so far away and hopelessly out of reach. Every day thus far has been a struggle for me to admit that my reality is the real reality and that I can really not do much, given my circumstances. But in my circumstance(s), I must not lose hope. For to lose hope would be to succumb to my own thoughts, and let those become my reality. In a sea of faces, I cannot help but look for a glimmer of hope that everything will be alright. And when I look at His face, I know that I will find rest.

Lately I've been thinking about songs that have had a positive influence on me. The songs that God uses to pick me up when I feel down. The songs that make me feel beautiful, when I try to run to makeup to cover up what I think is ugly. The songs that stick in my head, and lyrics that I remember when I get wrapped up in the things of this world. I started making a list. This list is now a few pages long, and I thought I'd share them so that maybe they can be an encouragement to you as well.

You Are More - Tenth Avenue North

Forward Motion - Relient K

How He Loves - David Crowder Band

Shine - David Crowder Band

What Love Really Means - JJ Heller

Your Hands - JJ Heller

Cannons - Phil Wickham

Serve You While I'm Waiting - John Waller

I Would Die For You - MercyMe

From the Inside Out - Hillsong

Blessings - Laura Story

Not Guilty Anymore - Aaron Keyes

Up to You - Krystal Meyers

Aimless - Bethany Dillon

Beautiful - Bethany Dillon

7 x 70 - Chris August

In Your Hands - Krystal Meyers

Beauty of Grace - Krystal Meyers

A Voice Calling Out- Bethany Dillon

Why - Bethany Dillon

For My Love - Bethany Dillon

Walk on the Water - Britt Nicole

Headphones - Britt Nicole

Believe - Britt Nicole

Hanging On - Britt Nicole

That's How We Roll - Britt Nicole

This is Your Life - Switchfoot

This is the Stuff- Francesca Battistelli

Beautiful - MercyMe

God of this City - BlueTree

Death in His Grave - John Mark McMillan

Better than Drugs - Skillet

Yours to Hold - Skillet

Those Nights - Skillet

Catchy Lyrics

Exactly a month ago, my friend asked me to join her in listening to ONLY christian music for the month of January. I thought about it and agreed. It convicted me, because I had been listening to secular music regularly, sprinkling christian music here and there. I didn't realize how much I was listening to that music. This month, I also discovered a Bethany Dillon cd that I forgot I had. I have listened to her songs every day, and have not missed those secular songs one bit. In fact, it was refreshing for me to listen to songs that didn't make me think "Is this okay for me to listen to?" Today, that month is "up". So, I decided to go on youtube and look up some of the songs I used to listen to, and a few that I had heard about but had not listened to... I listened to Katy Perry's 'Firework' and 'Teenage Dream' first. These songs I found catchy before, but didn't realize how much of the lyrics I knew. After listening to a fwe other songs, I listened to a song by Britt Nicole and one my Tenth Avenue North. I was so encouraged, because unlike the 'other stuff', I felt like I was worth something. More than the secular songs talked about. I feel valued, and loved. Not like a firework, or like I want to be in a teenage dream. Now, I don't think secular songs are bad. But when they are the primary source of music on my iPod, I know there is a problem. I will work very hard to make sure that the lyrics that I let 'go to my head' are ones worth listening to...

Greetings! :)

Whew. What a summer it has been. Where do I even begin?

Well, I'll start with the job that I had this summer. My parents and I prayed for a job that would suit me, and also something that would allow me to take off a little more than a week so I could travel to Lima, Peru with my church. God answered our prayers. A family from my church contacted me and said they were interested in hiring me to be a nanny for their daughters. I thought, "Oh, this might be fun..." What I didn't know was that they wanted to interview me. That made me nervous... Well, I went to the interview. They had already interviewed 4 or 5 girls, and I wasn't sure what was going to happen. To my surprise, they offered me the job almost immediately! :) I was thrilled. The COOLEST thing about it was... their daughters were going to be out of town the EXACT SAME time that I was going to be in Peru!!! Oh my goodness... I couldn't have asked for anything better. God knew what I needed. And boy did He provide in a way that I didn't even expect.

My job this summer consisted of: taking the girls to iHop and McDonalds for breakfast on occasion, swimming in my neighbors pool, watching movies, painting nails and styling hair, playing in the sprinkler, tiedyeing shirts and aprons, playing at the park, having tea parties and just goofing around. It was tons of fun. :)


Peru was also an AMAZING experience!!!!! I loved teaching martial arts to the kids of Salamanca :) It was great to be able to share my sport with another country. It made me realize how much I have here, and how often I take it for granted. I really have alot to be thankful for. All of our flights went very smoothly, no one got sick or seriously injured, and most importantly, we got to share Christ with people in another country. So awesome :)

I would love to go back to Peru someday. I would do it in a heartbeat.

Thats all for now :)

eMiLy

Almost to the end...

Right now, I sit in my bright teal room, the sun peaking through my curtains as it often does on a sunny afternoon. I think about this past year and all the fun times and sad times.
One thing that I vividly remember about this year was our long summer vacation. We visited every state west of the Mississippi River in a little over 3 months. What an adventure that was. :) I collected various items, and now, every time I pick up a necklace I purchased or slip on my Minnetonka moccasins, I think of every place we went.

But this year also brought something sad, yet very real to the front of my mind... moving to Pennsylvania. Since my dad was retiring shortly before our trip, he had to look for another job as soon as possible. I had this vision in my mind of moving in quite a few years... I can't leave Virginia. I have lived here for almost 8 years, and a wonderful 8 years its been. But now I can't help but almost 'count down' how many months we have left here. And i hate it. I don't want to think that way. I want to treasure every moment I have here and remember every good memory that has been made. But right now I am struggling to trust God for provision. I don't want to move... I really times infinity(and more) don't want to move. But I have to. Right now, it is a matter of being thankful for every day that I have here and every day that I have left... every friend that I have made and every friend that I will make...


"His hands never shake when preparing the road for which our feet will travel."

Where do I begin?

Oh my. I'm soooo sorry that I haven't updated in such a long time! We have been very busy, but now I will tell you of our adventures.

After Canada, We spent 5 days at Dan and Sarah Woods' house. We had a BLAST playing xbox, jumping on the trampoline,playing with the dogs, and well, not being in the camper!! Mom and Dad thoroughly enjoyed 'catching up' with Dan and Sarah. That Wednesday, we went to Seattle. Tessa came with us and we walked around downtown and Pike Place Market. We also bought Turkish Delight. Everyone liked it. If only Edmond Pevensey could have been there. :)

Thursday morning we left for Ben and Anna's house. We stayed there until Sunday morning. Friday we went to Crater Lake. Dad, Josiah and Nathan hiked a bit, while me, Mom and Noah stayed behind and sipped hot drinks in the cafe ( we were congested and hiking just wouldn't have been the best thing to do). On saturday morning, Anna, Mom, Dad and I went to the Saturday Market while Ben stayed and played games with the boys. That night we went to a local brewery for dinner.

Sunday morning we drove down to California to see Greg, Kimberly and Iris Young. We drove through the Redwoods, and Noah said, "Dad? Are we in ANOTHER National Park?" WE all laughed heartily. We arrived around 10pm, got all of our stuff out of the car, and made our way inside. We all slept well that night, and I woke up to Iris 'talking. Monday we spent taking pictures, playing basketball, and just relaxing. We were all sad when we had to leave the next morning. :(

We made it to Ben and Anna's on Tuesday night, and ordered pizza for dinner. The next morning, we drove back to the Woods' house to pick up the trailer. Now, we are back on the road again.

After Washington, we dove to Pocatello, Idaho where Dad ran a marathon. The next 2 days we spent driving to Colorado Springs, Colorado. Dad ran his CO marathon this morning, and we all enjoyed relaxing. Tomorrow, we will visit the Denver Mint and Focus on the Family. Wednesday we pack up for Kansas. We will spend 3 days in Kansas. After Kansas, we drive to Charles City, Missouri, and after Missouri, we head back to Michigan. We plan on arriving back home late September 18th. We can't wait to see everyone!

Happy Kampers signing off! :)