Life Today

It has been one month and a week. Sometimes it feels like that year was simply a dream and it never happened at all. Other days this feels like a dream and I'll simply wake up and head to barn chores.

I am resolved...

When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified." - 1 Corinthians 2:1-2

 "I resolved to know nothing..except Jesus Christ and Him crucified!"

I am resolved no longer to linger,

Charmed by the world's delight,

Things that are higher, things that are nobler,

These have allured my sight.

I will hasten to Him, hasten so glad and free,

Jesus, greatest, highest, I will come to Thee

I will hasten to Him, hasten so glad and free,

Jesus, Jesus, greatest, highest, I will come to Thee

I am resolved to go to the Savior, 

Leaving my sin and strife;

He is the true One, He is the just One,

He hath the words of life.

I am resolved to follow the Savior, 

Faithful and true each day;

Heed what He sayeth, do what He willeth,

He is the living way.

I am resolved to enter the kingdom

Leaving the paths of sin;

Friends may oppose me, foes may beset me,

Still will I enter in.

I am resolved, and who will go with me?

Come, friends without delay,

Taught by the Bible, led by the Spirit,

We'll walk the heavenly way.

You Are Loved

(These are my notes from one of my favorite chapel services this past summer at the ranch--Sunday morning, July 29, 2012. This message was so challenging to me then and it still is a wonderfully challenging message to me today--even though my notes don't do it justice. The photo is also from this past summer.)

John 14: Three Fundamental Truths

1} You have a Savior! (verses 1-3)
      - Why would Jesus tell them not to be troubled?
           -because He was on the way to the cross
           -because Peter (the strong one in the group) was told he was going to deny Jesus
           -because they were told that one of them would betray Him
         *-because Jesus' preparing was His cross bearing
2} You have a Father! (verse 21)
      - John 17:23: The Father loves me, Emily Grace, just as He loves Christ!
3} You have a Helper! (verses 16-18, 23)
      - Romans 8
      - we will never be alone

Boils down to this: YOU ARE LOVED!
       - so you're weary--YOU ARE LOVED
       - so you're going home to circumstances you fear--YOU ARE LOVED
     *- so you failed this past week--YOU ARE LOVED
       - so you_______--YOU ARE LOVED

So what are you going to do?

Philippians 3:8-11 {1}
       - Your knowledge of your fears/mistakes makes you ineffective, so press on and strive because the Savior has made you His own!

Matthew 7:7-12 {2}
       - the terrible burden of caring for yourself has been lifted by the Father!

Romans 8:26 {3}
       - know that the Spirit intercedes for you, so cry out in the simplest of ways!

This is the Love for which the world was made.

"Love well this week--give it your all--because YOU ARE LOVED!"

We love because He first loved us.

Welcome to the Real World

Well, I'm back from camp. (actually, I've been back for a month now...)

(a sunny morning outside my bunkhouse...                                                                ...a sunny evening with the mares out in pasture)                                    

And honestly? It has been hard adjusting to life back at home. (or maybe just harder than previous years?!)

At camp it was easy to do the right thing. I knew what was expected and what came next. Since being home every week--every day--has been different.
Right after coming home we were off to Philadelphia. Then came the fair and I was signed up to work 4-10pm. School started after the fair. Vacation to the beach came the second week of school. While that has all been wonderful, it didn't leave me any time to sit down and think. Think and reflect about what I've learned this summer and how I'm going to apply it in my life at home. It also made it hard to keep to my good habits that were more firmly established while at camp.
Getting up early and time spent with God are just two things that have really been tossed to the wind since being home. Does it really matter if I can have good habits when everyone around me has them? Doesn't it matter more when I have to do it because I want to and not because everyone else is doing it? Granted, I did it at camp because I wanted to--but nearly everyone else was doing it too. Not that life at camp was easy--it wasn't. It was challenging, but oh so rewarding.

As I've been struggling with this I remembered one of the chapels that stood out to me most this summer. Emily just remember: Put off. Renew. Put on. Repeat! Put off the old sin nature. Renew your mind in Christ. Put on the fruit of the Spirit. Repeat the process again! A never-ending process of becoming more like Christ. But that is for another post at another time...

"Your knowledge of your fears/mistakes makes you ineffective -- so press on and strive because the Savior has made you His own!" - Dan Stanley 

This summer...

...I'm going back.

(School is finished--praise the Lord!, summer is here, I'm excited, and I'm going back!)

Back to the place where the sunsets are magnificent, the gospel is shared, horses are cleaned/ridden/fed and then cleaned/ridden/fed again, lessons are taught, kids are encouraged, trail rides are never boring, thunderstorms are sudden, chores are completed, songs are sung, hay is stacked, games are played, boots are worn every day, God's Word is read and studied and memorized, laughter is everywhere, and Christ is honored above all. 

At the end of the day I might be exhausted, smell more like horse than anything, feel at peace, be in awe of God's grace, wonder how in the world I'm going to get up in time for morning chores, but it is all worth it in the end. 

I'm going back to camp. =)
(I'll return home in August!) 

Hello :)

Yes, it is actually me, Emily Grace, back from the wondrous world of summer camp. It was an amazing summer.
Exhausting, yes.
Rewarding, yes.
Challenging, yes.
A learning experience, yes.

I made so many memories, new friends, and learned so much.






If you had asked me during the middle of the summer what I was learning it would have been something about what I was learning through chapel, barn devotions, or my own devotions that spoke to me that day. Early on in the summer it would have been something like this, "Because of His grace, God will give me the strength to get through each day. And He will give me joy to share His love with others. Because my life is not my own, it is His." That is so true.




But now I see the summer through a different perspective. It really hit me during on of the last weeks of camp during barn devotions was that God was teaching me perspective. We see life through our little human perspective but God sees all that goes on and He is in control. While I may not understand what is happening or why I have to go through this situation, God has it all in control and He has a plan and a purpose for it. I can either choose to have a good attitude about it or a bad one. For example, I can have a bad attitude about having to help out with the counselor hunt because I'm missing my 'shower time' and completely miss the opportunity God gave me to talk to a kid who was hurting. Or I can take advantage of that opportunity even though it means getting up a half hour earlier in the morning to shower. Am I rambling? I don't even know if I understand all that God has taught me this summer. 

I'm a detail oriented person so it is hard for me to see the 'big picture' but I think that this is it--perspective, joy, and it is only by God's grace that I can do anything. That is what I learned most during my nine weeks at camp.

What has God been teaching you lately? I'd love to hear!

(photos from my favorite spot to do my devotions at camp--yes photos from camp, my mom surprised me with my own point and shoot camera!)

I'm off to finish organizing my desk for the upcoming school year. We're moving around our desks and things so that my sister and I will have a quiet room separate from the three younger(& noise loving) ones. Plus, I was able to go shopping for school supplies today! =D 

Love in Christ,

FYI

(For Your Information)

This summer I have the amazing opportunity to go work at a wonderful Christian camp. It is an all summer obligation and I won't have internet access. Therefore I won't be able to keep blogging over the summer. My blog won't be entirely neglected all summer. I have several wonderful guest posts lined up and a few Tuesday's Tips.





I will be serving in the horse barn as an Assistant Horsemanship Instructor. I will be assisting with lessons, chores, work projects, games, just to name a few things. =D





I have attended this camp for the past six years(five as a camper and last year as an in-training.). The photos in this post were taken last year. I will return with many stories to share, but unfortunately no photos. The point and shoot camera I took last year finally died. =(





Other news:



If you're interested, I am hosting a photography challenge over at my photography blog. =)





With the newest version of blogger comes some changes. One of those changes is that the 'edit HTML' option of blogger is going to be removed!!
Help keep 'edit HTML' for Blogger! Sign the petition [here]. More info [here].
AHHHhhh!!!

Speaking of designs, I just finished this one for the giveaway winner. =) -->


Until the end of summer my friends!

Love in Christ,