Born in Prague

I was born today (written on 8-8), not in Prague however.....

There is much meaning to the phrase "born in Prague" for me today. Camps are over. Debriefing is beginning and there is so much that I need to bring with me to enter into going home and being in the "real" world again.

I hate saying "real world" because I feel like this is the real world in most ways compared to being in every day life at home.

English camp with the Bohumilice church and the Russian Vine church stretched our team. I remember hearing one of our leaders saying " if you don't have troubles with your camps, and you aren't being challenged....there is something wrong ", and being in the middle of the turmoil made me realize that there was something extremely right happening. We were forced to rely on God's words and also to rely on Him to give each next step.

When you are in the place of myself and the other people that are here serving for the summer, it is so hard to relay God's doings. I wish I knew how to tell you every small and big thing that God did to make this summer happen. He creates the dynamic of the camps through us and it is usually in ways we didn't expect. I know you all are interested to see and hear what God did specifically. I also know that you love pictures. I can give you pictures right now and when I get home (3 weeks) I will blog about some specific students and how they changed over the summer.

Ephesians 4:17-24 talks about life before being taught by Christ. In our missionary meeting this morning, we talked about how that passage not only talks about before becoming Christians, but it mirrors our experience here and for our return home.

Attempting to Spill-Czech Update

Apologies first! So sorry for not being able to write as much as I wanted. It's been hard between camps and between "rest" time. YAY UPDATES!

We went to Hallstatt, Austria as a team a couple of weeks ago. I was basically in a hole...in the Alps....filled with water. Lake Hallstatt. wow..... it was beautiful. We got to stay there for a few days to get our last official team time together before we started the Tabor english camp.


After 13 1/2 hours travel time to Tabor (technical train and bus difficulties..) we arrived at camp. We prepared for the students in our "classrooms" (I taught in a dining hall). The students arrived in the evening and we got to start getting to know students!

Through the week we went on a rainy hike, played some sports and enjoyed eachother! We worked with another American team that was just gere for the week, and they were rad.

Above anything that I have to report from the Tabor camp, this is the most important. God orchestrates relationships so quickly. He helps us to have patience and He gives us hearts to pursue people. The prayers that you have been lifting up for us, have been heard and answered with so much abundance. Teaching english is just a pro compared to the great inside jokes and fun memories that we (being my team and the Tabor students) get to smile about when we think about them. I wish I could describe all of the students, and all of the youth group members from Tabor and Oregon to you. You all who are reading this from Tabor and Oregon know who you are and I love every....single...one of you.

Our hearts hurt a little bit after being at camp. We had our first goodbye with the first relationships that were created this summer, and still have 5 more left. The most beautiful things I have seen this summer by far, is the sight of 50 people running next to the train and waving goodbye with so much intensity. Some tears, some smiles, some confusion. But it's all relevant. Seriously, sometimes the hardest things are the most beautiful because of how much deep emotion they bring...and there is nothing you can do about it.

The past 2 days have been in Cesky Tesin. It has been restful, but now we are getting ready for another 12 days with a youth group in Bohumilice. We were having a hard time getting students to sign up for this one, but we asked God to bring us 60 students all together. It was good news to hear that the new number for students at camp is exactly 60. Thanks God.

Keep praying for strength for our team. Energy to pursue and a heart to be able to move on to the last camp after this one. Gosh I miss you guys. Lots of love.....

Tri-Bohumilice

This past weekend my team and I got to visit a town called Bohumilice. The village has 100 houses and a population of about 240 people. We were a part of "childrens day", when all the families hang out together, and got to help plan an obstacle course for the kiddies. They were stinkin adorable.

I was introduced to a little girl named Gabby and her mother Suzana. Gabby is 11 months old with the wisest eyes I have ever seen. I fell for her within the first few minutes of seeing her. Suzana gave me permission to take Gabby around and play with her a little bit. This was huge for me. It was a priviledge to be able to do this. Between language and cultural barriers, it was awesome of her to let me steal her daughter for a little bit. In this itself I was grateful. After making Gabby giggle and seeing her "walk", Suzana brought me a banana with a spoon and asked me to feed her. Suzana sat right next to me while I fed her.

This may seem so simple and ordinary, but I felt God so much in this. She was trying to get to know me, and she embraced me and my EXTREMELY broken english and loved on me anyway. I thought I was supposed to be the missionary.....

We have been in Cesy Tesin since Monday and we got to have some alone time on Wednesday. I got to spend some time with God and thank him so much for that moment of bliss. Between the calming city sounds and all of the random details that I couldn't help but notice and love....I was filled up yet again for more......

Here are some pictures of Bohumilice, Host families, and some awesomes from my team.

Loves.

I'm so glad He enjoys me

Let me go and experience God.

Let me come to Him as He created me to be.

Let me bring Him joy as I serve Him in this new way.

Let me enjoy giving Him joy.

Let me be as His son was on earth.

i am a peeled, perfectly placed sticker on a wall. only to have my adhesive stripped from me to attempt to stick onto a new home for a wall. i might never stick the same.
metaphors are lame....too bad i use them all the time

God's Works

THE PLANS OF THE HEART BELONG TO MAN, BUT THE ANSWER OF THE TONGUE IS FROM THE LORD. ALL THE WAYS OF MAN ARE PURE IN HIS OWN EYES, BUT THE LORD WEIGHS THE SPIRIT. COMMIT YOUR WORK TO THE LORD, AND YOUR PLANS WILL BE ESTABLISHED.

Proverbs 16:1-3

I purposefully wrote this first. I have been sharing with you for months now about a planted desire, and an action of trying to ask God if this is something He wants me to do. He has challenged me with asking time off work, missing the summer, raising over $4000 dollars and trusting in Him completely....that He can and will do it if I commit to Him.

Financial update is $4995.

He can...and He did.

Red Letters

Update:
-Financial: $1450
-Getting more and more emotionally prepared

mark 1:38

"Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out"


so appropriate.

Portions

Update:
-Official Financial count: $800.00
-Mental Prep: Nervous but it's good & getting prepared
-Prayer Requests: Finances from all angles keep coming in, My nerves climax soon and I use the adrenaline to serve God and students. Pray for their awesome hearts. If we are praying in God's will, it will be done for us. John 15:7

I hate disappointing people. Especially people I love. It seems as though I always fail. The truth is, there is always room for it. Not matter what I do, I am a sinner...therefore I always have room in my actions and in my being to disappoint somebody, or more importantly...

God.

"When my soul was embittered,
when I was pricked in the heart,
I was brutish and ignorant;
I was like a beast toward you

Nevertheless, I am continually with you;
you hold my right hand.
You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will receive me to
glory.

Whom have I in heaven but you?
Any there is nothing on earth that I
desire besides you.

My flesh and heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever"

Psalm 73:21-26

a. This is some sweet poetry!
b. God is faithful and good. Nothing can separate us. Not height and not depth. Disappointing Him sucks, but we have a God who refines us through our mistakes and grows us closer to Him.

He is it.

Que: Music

Czech Update:
-Support Letters are being sent out this week, they rock
-I can physically and emotionally feel God revving me up to go. It's almost like an out of body experience. Rad.

No, I'm not putting songs from 1985 on here. My bangs would start to tease themselves with aquanet if I did that. You know when songs remind you of certain memories? This could be the worst thing or the best thing, obviously depending on what memory the song creates. If you had a soundtrack for ____ 's life (fill in your name) what would you have on it? Well here is the challenge:

1. scan through your itunes or cd library. refamiliarize yourself with the nooks and crannies of your musical options. 2. identify five categories — genres, if you will — of music. these should be as obscure and finely-articulated as you’d like. feel free to use modifiers liberally. 3. nominate — select, really — a “perfect song” for each category. include a link for each song to something (the amazon page for the CD, or the artist’s website, or whatever). you may find it easier, as i did, to find “perfect songs”, and craft categories or genres around them. 4. ideally, some of the songs will be nominally obscure, or, at least, not completely mainstream and overplayed. no need to tell us all about songs we all know!

These are mine:
"Driving home on late night and feeling particularly intense for some reason"... The Dumbing Down of Love by Frou Frou

"Laying by the pool, almost asleep, so very content, in love with life"...Fade Into You by Mazzy Star

"The love of your life just walked in the room (you haven't seen them in awhile) and it's smooch time"...Brightest by Copeland

"This is the most captivating image I have ever seen and I want to stare at it for a very long time"...Clair De Lune by Philippe Entremont

"Walking into a church by yourself. All you want to do is surrender"... I Will Wait for You There by Phil Wickham

Tell me what you think....

I've been sitting here too long (not metaphorically speaking...like my tush hurts right now)

UPDATE:
I have all of my support letters ready to go. All I need is the address to send support to. Check your mail soon...(Can I mention that I LOVE every one of you reading this?) :)

Ever since I got that rockin' phone call from Josiah Venture, I have had a major feeling. This feeling consists of excitement, fear and nervousness all in one. Surprisingly it creates a calm in me.

God is preparing me in a major way.

I want to disclose something to my favorites (that's you). I write these things not for the sole purpose of telling you how I am feeling about this mission, but I tell you these things because I want God to be visual. I want Him to get the credit for these thoughts of encouragement because He is the one who motivates me. If you look from the first day that I started blogging, until now, you can already see the beginning of something He is doing. How sovereign He is. How good He is. This is vulnerable for me (which I do not love, and I'm not good at) , yet God humbles me so that He is glorified.

"...that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of ful assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery, which is Christ" *Colossians 2:2

Preparing for what? Showing a love as authentically as I know how. Why?

"So we do not lost heart. Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. Fir the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal."
*2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (emphasis mine)

Did you hear that? What did it say? Personally.

Lord- May I not lose heart.
i love you

PTL

Apparently PTL means Praise the Lord, text talk. Thanks for telling me EShoe

I appreciate the constant prayer support from you all

Josiah Venture called today. They are having me come out as a summer intern this summer for 3 months. I can't wait....

Knowledge of Fragrance

Why is smelling good so important?

What is it about a familiar scent that reminds us of people or childhood memories? Every time I smell Dr. Pepper Lipsmacker, I think about a classic childhood- unlike one I could ever forget.

Let's admit it, smelling good rocks.

Almost every person I know chooses a scent, or a few, of their own. One of my faves is "Woman in Yellow" by Oiseau. I feel so fresh in its fragrance.

This is what Webster tells us about the word fragrance.
1. The quality of being fragrant; a sweet or pleasing scent.
2. The state or quality of having a pleasant scent.

Notice how both of the definitions say something about a fragrance being pleasant, or a quality. A state even.

We're talking much deeper than a smell here.

There is nothing undesirable about a fragrance.

God gives me pages of His fragrance. His pleasant, perfect, intoxicating aroma. He even lets me wear some of it.

"But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of Him everywhere" ~2 Corinthians 2:14

Triumphal means:
1. Of, pertaining to or commemorating a triumph or victory

Procession means:
1. The line or body of persons or things moving along in such a manner
2. Act of coming forth from a source

What source are you coming from? What scent do you smell like?

Is your scent a fragrance or an odor?

This is my realization. It's as if God were speaking to me directly saying, "Emily, I'm going to give you a fragrance of my knowledge. I'm going to honor Jesus and have a huge party. I want you to be there, so bad."

And He does. He wants us to show up for the commemoration of Jesus. Every day.

He always leads us. His word says so. All that is required of us is following. He'll glaze us in His perfect fragrance so we can be like Him.

My perfume always fades during the day, and eventually my bottle runs out.

Not God's. When I'm wearing His fragrance, all I have to do...



is ask for more.

This picture is how I feel.

I sent my application lastnight.

Yesss

Sting Rays

Update for Czech missions trip:
I finished my application and it's being sent out tonight. If my prayer and this organization's prayer for internships is aligned with the Lord's, this is going to be a beautiful thing!

The zoo has to be one of the most awesome places to go to. Talk about viewing God's creation...wow.

It was beautiful.

I went Monday with some close friends, and we pet some sting rays. They're definitely unlike anything I've ever touched before. I picked up on something about them when I came home and checked out my pictures.

They are usually traveling all together.

They seemed to be facing the same way, most of the time. All different looking, with different personalities, but in the same ocean... traveling together.

I have to share something beautiful that I thought went along great with the way I felt about sting rays. Topic of conversation at home group last night was unity. After awhile of silence, a friend spoke up with a comment that ended our night at the perfect spot. That comment was this.

RF's comment: God wants us to be unified, but we all have different gifts, and share His gospel in so many unique ways. How can we be unified?

One person says, "We'll sing soprano." Another says, "No no we'll sing alto." The third says, "No way, we're singing tenor." So they sing together.

They sing the same song with the same lyrics.

It ends up being one of the most beautiful songs you've ever heard.

Thank You God, for giving us different tones, so we can create Your song.

Psalm 27:6
"And now my head shall be lifted up
above my enemies all around me,
and I will offer in His tent
sacrifices with shouts of joy;
I will sing and make melody to the Lord."

Bright Lights

UPDATE:

-Haven't sent my Czech app. Dang it, my computer crashed so it's backed me up. I'm sending it soon... :)

Today I was on my way to church just like every other week. I took Scottsdale Road, for some reason, instead of the freeway.

I saw all of the same places I drive by when I'm on Scottsdale. Sapporo, Sauce, Oregano's etc. The oddest thing popped into my head.

First "Those places look so much prettier at night with their pretty lights"

Second "Lord, how can people notice your light in me?"

Third "How can I be bright in the day and in the night. In the darkness and in the light?" (THAT RHYMED!)

Recently I have witnessed a lot of pain in some close friend's lives. Divorce, broken relationships, death and illnesses. This cuts to the core. These people are going through so much pain that I cannot begin to understand the anguish they must bear.

They shine SO brightly. As things get darker and darker around them, their light begins to become more noticeable. I think they recognize that God delivers no matter what. Whether it be from, by or through it, He will deliver. He is sovereign, and He will do what He says He will do. Which is keep us going just when we think we can't take it anymore.

Isaiah 40:31

"...but they who wait for the Lord

shall renew their strenth; they shall

mount up with wings like eagles;

they shall run and now be weary;

they shall walk and not faint"

My friends are exhausted. They are so tired in their pain.

God does not get tired. He never faints. He doesn't need naps!

Thank you God in heaven, for providing your strength so that the only thing we can do is rely on your fuel for us.

Perfection

Hi. Can I start blogs with "hi"? It's my blog I guess. So hi.

CZECH Prayer update:
-Got work off (3+ months with a job when I return... yesss) We all know God is the only one that can pull that one off
-Almost done with the application, I'll be sending it to Josiah Venture within the next couple days
-Encouragements are flowing from people I love. The most joyful part of the process may I add

"Do I have to be perfect to be consistent?"
This is a question myself and a few friends of mine were faced with this Tuesday Night. Crap. That's seriously a hard question. God says a lot to his followers in His word. How to face, to stay above , and repent from sin when it has or hasn't already completed itself in you. This can be overwhelming for a follower of Christ. Yet a relieving feeling subsides. Relieving, how? Because of this. God has such a great goal for us, that we will never be able to deliver, simply because we are not God. He also warrants so much grace , that it makes up for all that we cannot be or know. He knows we are sinners and that we just...can't...ever be perfect in His plan. So "Do I have to be perfect...." No. Because we can't be perfect. Since we can't be perfect, we cannot be perfectly consistent. "....to be consistent?" Be consistent in Him and He'll fathom the realism of your heart.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10 "But he said to me "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

Brand New

I'm not gonna lie. Blogging semi-scares me. But, I promised myself I would do it. This one is going be very short, maybe sweet. I guess it depends on who you are.

Right now, I am praying about a possible missions opportunity in the Czech Republic. Why? Because I think that God is rocking their world in a really awesome way. I went last summer, and I would love to be a part of it this summer. Difference....last summer was 3 weeks, this summer is 3 months. Really quick, think of something that you love. Something that makes you spark up a bit. Something that you maybe couldn't imagine your life without....

I feel that way about going on this missions trip. Gosh, what a sweet feeling.

I will be praying for answers on this. Let you know?