words and pictures for Thanksgiving

O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also. The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land. O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker. —Psalm 95:1-6

In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 5:18

  

 “A sensible thanksgiving for mercies received is a mighty prayer in the Spirit of God. It prevails with Him unspeakably.”  

-John Bunyan

Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good, His love endures forever.

Psalm 107:1

Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me to "recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness. Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be.
—George Washington

Happy Thanksgiving!


Love,
Emily

I'm thankful for Operation Christmas Child

For the past three years, my family has been blessed to pack boxes for Operation Christmas Child.

We just love it. It is a wonderful opportunity to give, to pray, and to spend some lovely, excited, gift-buying and wrapping, fulfilling, God-honoring family time.

This year, I chose to do a box for a girl, age 10-14. I thought it would be fun to share what was in one of my boxes. I've thought about it, and this post isn't at all to show off. I've hesitated posting it because I don't want it to seem as if I'm doing good for praise from others. My idea in posting this was to encourage you all to participate in the future, if you haven't already, and to share what is going on in our family right now. 

So, without further ado, my box...

Jewelry! I made the necklace with love and bought the bracelet (with love).     

Colored pencils and a notebook. As an artist myself, I wouldn't think of not including these items. ( I put in regular pencils as well.)

Can't forget hygiene! These are necessities. ( I also included a bar of soap.)

Treats! I also added a box of animal crackers.

A hand-written card. This is one of my favorite parts of the whole box-making process. It is so exciting to think I get to wish a little girl who lives in a different country 'Merry Christmas' with love in Jesus' Name. Isn't that exciting? Isn't it? 

I am so blessed to be a tiny part of this huge, wonderful ministry. I pray each child receiving these Christmas gifts would come to know Jesus! And that they would know that they are loved by Him, and loved by Christians all over the world.

With Thanksgiving fast approaching, this opportunity was a wonderful time for me to reflect on the many blessings for which we can be thankful to our Savior. 

What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving holiday?

Love,

Emily

siblings, snickerdoodles, and thankfulness

Last week, my little brother and sister ( the two littles pictured below) wanted to bake cookies. Not just any cookies, but Snickerdoodles, our family's beloved easy-to-make-and-to-bake cookie of choice. These cookies are delicious--so much so I've been temporarily 'banned' from making them to preserve the health of our family...these cookies are not particularly healthful...not at all actually...and they seem to have the habit of making themselves addictive. With most recipes, I try to make them healthier by using less sugar, but with this one...not a chance. If it a'int broke don't fix it, right? With these cookies that is most assuredly true.

It is such a blessing to bake with little siblings. I loved helping the 'littler' one add the salt and mix it up, and watching the 'bigger' one take off and measure everything to the T...spoon (hey, I just couldn't resist).

Any time spent with these two kiddos is time well spent, and I loved baking with them. They've got talent!

Not to mention they're pretty cute and kinda sorta amazing. ( =

(Yes, I do love my siblings a LOT. And NO, they're not for sale.)

Freshly baked beauties! Want to learn how to make em'?

Snickerdoodles

        2 cups all-purpose flour

        2 teaspoons cream of tartar

        1 teaspoon baking soda

        1/4 teaspoon salt

        1 cup ( 2 sticks) butter, softened

        1 1/2 cups sugar

        2 eggs

Preheat your oven to 350 F. Line or grease 2-3 cookie sheets ( it is helpful if you use a couple cookie sheets because you'll need to either have several sheets OR wait until the sheet cools down before you put the next set of cookies into the oven. Make sense?).

Now, whisk the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda,and salt until well mixed.

Next, beat in a large bowl (an electric mixer is quite handy at this point) the butter and 1.1/2 cups sugar, until creamy (and, I might add, delicious). At this point add the eggs and beat until well blended.

Now, slowly mix in the flour mixture until completely combined and the dough resembles...well, cookie dough.

Shape the dough into roughly 1.1/4 inch balls (it's very approximate-don't stress about it and I order you NOT to reach for the ruler) and roll into a mixture of:

       about 1/4 cup sugar and 3-5 teaspoons of ground cinnamon

arrange on a cookie sheet with 2-3 inch spaces between each cookie ( they WILL spread, so make certain they have plenty of room).

Bake for 12-14 minutes, turning the cookie sheet once midway through the baking process to insure they bake evenly, until the cookies are light golden brown. Let stand briefly, then remove to a rack to cool. One batch usually makes 3-4 trays of cookies.

That's pretty simple, right? 

This little face is so dear. Thank you, LORD, for my sister.

After all our baking work was done, we went out to the garden to enjoy the fruits of our labor. As I took the above picture, my heart filled with wonder and thanks to the LORD.

I am so, so thankful, and He is so, so good.

Love,

Emily

Every good and perfect gift is from above...

James 1:17

                    

she is TWO!

This is the little girl who captured my heart the moment she was born two years ago.

The first day I met her. November 2009, born at home.

What a rose!

Summer 2011

She keeps us laughing!

With mama.

Sleeping Beauty.

Making tea!

Me and my girl. 

Wearing the mama's baby dress (handmade by Great Grandma Bertha).

 So precious is she!

Oh, sweet baby!

This was taken with real film! My mom is an amazing photographer.

This is my baby sister.

My heart swells with thankfulness to Jesus that He made her my baby sister.

I love her more than words can say. I love her so much I think I might just burst.

Today is her birthday.

Happy Birthday, my little lady of loveliness.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Your doting sister,

'Eminy'

Wonderful are Your works;

my soul knows it very well.

Psalm 139:14b

eleven eleven eleven

Today is 11.11.11. 

This won't happen again for one hundred years.

That is pretty amazing, if you think about it.

So think about it.

For everything there is a season, and a time for everything under heaven...

Ecclesiastes 3:1

pray for Sudan

We just received this as an e-mail from Samaritan's Purse and I felt impressed to share it with you. Please read it.

''A few days ago I visited a refugee camp in South Sudan, where Samaritan's Purse is helping care for some 23,000 refugees who have fled the atrocities of the government of Sudan. The camp has been a safe haven for these suffering people. But Thursday, the violence followed them when the camp was bombed by the very government they have been fleeing.

Four bombs were dropped. Praise God, we have confirmed that all of our staff are safe and accounted for, and as of now there are no reports of people injured on the ground.

These people are in need of immediate prayer.  Please pray for safety for the refugees, and for our staff. Pray for peace to come to this troubled region. Most of all, please pray that the people we are helping will find lasting hope in Jesus Christ.''

~Franklin Graham

Please pray. If you feel God calling you to give to this ministry, here is the website.

Love to you in Christ,

Emily

'captivated'

This is the trailer for a documentary made by some very dear friends of ours. The message is very powerful and so needed in our media-craaazed society. I can't wait to see this film's impact. I'm  excited!

Media discernment is a topic dear to my heart. We need to glorify God with our media choices, and also to use the time He has given us wisely!

Watch the trailer and tell me what you think!





"Captivated" Official Trailer from Media Talk 101 on Vimeo.

the invisible identity of the the peanut OR always read the label yourself

Whilst grocery shopping and simultaneously browsing sample stands ( what can I say? Why refuse tasty morsels of free food?) at costco the other day, I overheard this conversation and thought it humorous enough to share...

 1st lady (giving out samples):  Well, hello there ma'am! Would you like to try our delicious Cheesecake Factory Reeses Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake?

 2nd lady ( desiring a sample): Oh yes! I'd love some!

 1st lady: Here you are ma'am. It is delicious!

 2nd lady: about to take a bite... I almost forgot! I can't eat nuts!!! This doesn't have nuts in it, does it?

 (Mind you... this is 'peanut' butter cheesecake)

 1st lady: No ma'am! No nuts!

(This IS peanut butter cheesecake...)

  2nd lady: about to take a bite...


 1st lady: Wait! It's processed in a facility that produces nuts! There just might be traces of nuts in that            cheesecake!

(But it's peanut butter!)


 2nd lady: In this cheesecake? There could be traces of nuts in this cheesecake? goes over to trashcan and plops sample in


Well, it was peaNUT butter cheesecake.


Now isn't that something! True story. I suppose I'll never see a peanut without laughing again. ( =

Love,
Emily