Hello to my fellow bloggers,
I must say that I long to get back in to the habit of blogging, both reading and posting. I long to share my life, pictures, and adventures with you all. I long to share in your lives, pictures, and adventures. The exchanging of inspiration, admiration, and encouragement.
Unfortunately, I can make no promise to that. I haven't blogged in almost a year. It's been forever since I actually blogged regularly. Perhaps growing up had something to do with that. ;)
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| I did my first engagement session this summer during camp. I miss these two a ton. |
So much has happened in this year. I graduated high school. Went on a week long adventure trip in the middle of nowhere with my youth group. I worked 5 weeks at camp, and it was the absolute best summer of my life so far. Despite my not wanting to be there and a being sick a lot God blessed me with some amazing friends and he gave me grace to be joyful and trust him about being there. (In the end, I am SO thankful he put me at camp for one more summer, I wouldn't trade it with anything.)
This fall I started CrossFit at my local box. I go three times a week and I am in love with it! :) It's as hard as I hoped, and some days a little more than that. ;) I've been blessed with great coaches and community and I'm super thankful for this opportunity.
I am a small group leader for my church youth group so that occupies some of my time. I'm with the 8th grade girls and they are awesome :)
I'm still working my retail job. Not without ups and downs but is a job and I'm grateful for it! Plus, I definitely 'belong' there and am quite at home which is helpful as I struggle with that a lot. :)
I also was able to get a second job as a hostess. It's a gorgeous, local restaurant, right on the bay of a lake nearby. I struggle to fit it, it's super preppy and above my 'class' you could say. But learning to be comfortable in uncomfortable situations is a part of life. It's a great job, though we are in the off season now so it can be really boring. I am having a hard time making the most of standing in one spot all day...haha. I have found that it's a great time to work on memorizing and meditating on Bible verses so I try to do that.
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| My faves. <3 |
I've been able to do a few photoshoots for people this year, along with plenty just for fun ;). I'm really struggling with the editing side, I have the hardest time focusing that long and sitting still. If we're honest, I'm actually supposed to be editing right now, not trying to revive my blog.
There is a little bit of method to my madness though! I decided blogging should be my motivation for picture editing. If I edit pictures, they can go on my blog. Picture editing can be motivation for blogging. If this is edited, I might as well write a blog post to go with it.
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| Emily sandwich! I miss these girls and camp so much. |
I know that is totally going in circles but I feel like it might possibly work. I am not sure if I want to commit to blogging regularly. That's the biggest hole in my plan right now. We'll see what happens. :)
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| "One suffering Savior, many satisfied servants" |
I feel like this is all about me, which I guess it is? It's strange just going on about me and my life and I and so on. Forgive me for being so self-centered.
Before I go, I just want to share a little bit with you all about a sermon series my church is going through. We're learning about discipleship.
Disciple:
"Someone who loves Jesus, forms their life around Jesus, and joins the mission of Jesus"
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| Nothing like an Emily party! :D |
Two things so far that have really hit me I would like to share.
The first is not "making time" in my life for God. If he is the center of my life then I need to be making time for everything else. I think of how many things I do each day without thinking about or purposefully making time for. He should be like that, naturally part of my day, more so the center of my day. He's the reason I'm alive, I should (and I want to) act like it.
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| My adventure trip homies...also my 40+ people escort to camp for the summer :) |
The second thing are my thoughts. Everything I do has the opportunity to glorify God or not. I can think about everything I'm doing and do it for his glory. Or I can do it just because, just for me. There is no middle ground.
When I wake up, just saying "God, this day is yours, not mine. Help me live for you". When I'm at work, not just doing my job but thinking about the fact I'm doing it for him. I have the choice in everything I do whether to do it for myself or to do it for God.
You know what this has shown me the most? How self-centered I am. Sure, I go to work and do a good job. But I do it for me. I do it so I feel good. So I get praised. So people like me. The majority of the things I do are "good" things. The reason behind those things is what matters.
I do all those things because I know they are right and they have been ingrained in me my whole life. It's natural. But if I am not doing them for the glory of God then I have it all wrong. It doesn't matter what great things I do, if it's not for God then I might as well not being doing them at all.
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| Adorable little bell tower and door. |
Just a bit of what's on my mind lately.
Soli Deo Gloria
-Emily
