Immediate Circumstance

retired

2010-02-16T03:03:00.000-08:00

bloglogemily is retired. please visit my new blog

here

wait, no

here.

Torn purple

2009-03-26T13:10:00.001-07:00

Life, as of now, is by far the most bittersweet thing I have ever had to go through.

Red is an anticipatory type of color to me that represents excitement and joy.
Blue is more of a down color that represents seriousness and maybe a little confusion, creating sorrow.

As for me, I'm a bit purple right now.

Leaving...
family
friends
comfort
english
church

Entering into...
marriage
missions
new language
culture shock

With the little time I have right now, I rarely get a chance to sit back and soak everything in. I try to, but I always feel like I should be doing something. If not for planning a wedding, then marriage prep homework. If not marriage prep homework then missions application. If not missions application then picking that one thing (there is always one more thing...) that I need to bring to Czech. If not picking up that one thing then there has to be somebody free to spend time with! If nobody is available then I will finish emails. If not emails then I could probably start packing... it continues.

None of this is bad, even though it's crazy busy. I am preparing for what God has brought into my life and therefore I feel like the luckiest girl in the world to be doing these things!! I just want everybody to know that whatever it may look like from the way I look, sound or act like... I am processing so so much.

What I desire most right now is for my friends and family to let me in on their lives. What is happening with jobs, relationships, marriages, kids, how they feel about me moving, churches, ministries...

all of it.

More soon.

April 30th

2009-02-06T18:15:00.000-08:00

If I am going to be an organ... I'm glad it's the heart.

Snobenec

2009-01-10T20:53:00.001-08:00

I get to marry Nate Hughes on April 26th.
I'm pretty much the luckiest girl ever.

Convincing

2008-12-15T23:31:00.000-08:00

This is my Circumstance

2008-12-05T13:21:00.000-08:00

Where did he go? Oh yeah...

Czech

Distance from Glendale, AZ to Český Těšín, Czech Republic= approx. 6000 miles

Emily...cooking... with an apron on?

2008-11-27T11:10:00.001-08:00

Going through the motions, I think making a Thanksgiving dinner in Czech would look intensely different than in the States.

I think I'm okay with that...

Rethinking Christmas

2008-11-24T13:16:00.000-08:00

The way it should be...

Hosea

2008-11-22T11:59:00.000-08:00

Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness and speak tenderly to her- 2:14

I am so tenderly spoken to by Jesus - He is handling me with so much care like He always does but I just really feel it right now.

This time in my life is so sweet. I can't wait to be still and enjoy it just to experience what is next...

two

2008-11-18T11:51:00.000-08:00

by NBH

Marketa

2008-11-16T22:15:00.000-08:00

Hi, my name is Marketa and I am from Czech Republic. First week in June I had opportunity to be on english camp for the second time. I have to say it was the best week of my summer. I could met many awesome people from america and also from czech. I made my english better. Well, I hope so :) Except chance to learn english and make new friends I could to know something about God. I am not from christian family and we never talk about God at home. On english camp people told me about him and about his impact in their live. Everything I heard maked me think about it. Is it true that God exist? Does he really loves me also? Can I have relationship with him? I had many questions. I have them still. And I know I will have more new questions in future. I dont know what will be in future. If I will have relationship with God. But I know that my life will be never same as before camp. I know about God and I had also some experience when I was praying with somebody. I know he is waiting for my decision but there is still some gap between us. I really would like to put it away. It is great to know I have many people around me, who helps me to put gap away. And I am thankfull them so much!

My Place.. not space

2008-11-14T16:25:00.000-08:00

Miša Massacre

2008-11-14T16:21:00.000-08:00

poor ducky

SoCal

2008-11-13T11:42:00.000-08:00

I got to watch missionaries act out their missionary lives this past week. I should say live out their missionary lives. Approaching this decision of the sincere desire to become one of them, it was a time for me to watch, learn and little did I know... love.

My thought the whole time

I
could
do this.

Granted this is only a small fraction of what it would really look like, it's a small fraction that I enjoyed to great extent - inviting people to join in on what God is doing in the world. No, I won't be traveling the world per say but that is the beauty of it. I can have a magnified focus on Eastern Europe or even the Czech Republic and still be a part of what He is doing. I can still be passionate about God's word being spread to people everywhere.

God has been specific with me lately. It's been a prayer of mine to receive clarity from Him.

How sweet is this? I'm going to hang on to the consistency of God. I trust in the desires He gives and I trust that He will only continue to pile more love for missions on my heart to show me His way.....

how sweet and precious to me are your thoughts oh God and there are so many of them. if ever i counted them there would be more than grains of sand on the beach, too many to count. i wake up and i am still with you. -psalm 139:18, my soul's version for today

Red Lipstick

2008-11-07T20:39:00.000-08:00

Lucka was here for Halloween. Czech doesn't have this holiday and so despite our tired eye lids, we went out to celebrate.

Oh, and I forgot to tell you............

we went with Sammy Davis Dr.

Luck-a to have Lucka!

2008-11-07T20:26:00.000-08:00

This girl is spoiled. I got to spend a week and a half with some sweet friends of mine, and here is one especially sweet one.

Lucka became a mexi-can instead of a mexi-can't after she ate some spicy food of Arizona's very own Carolina's. Good work Luc

... and we hung out with Quasimoto but he had to take the picture so you can't see him.

miss you tutsi.

1 November, 2008

2008-10-09T16:37:00.001-07:00

Come be with us. It's going to be

lots
o'
fun

saturday november 1
scottsdale bible room b132
7:30pm

Orange Crush

2008-10-09T16:28:00.000-07:00

A New Way to Get Around

2008-10-09T16:21:00.000-07:00

This is my new GPS system.

198?

2008-09-29T16:31:00.001-07:00

One of my good friends turned 30 yesterday. I won't tell you who it is just incase he wouldn't want me to, but I'll give you a hint. He was wearing a sweet navy blue tank top with a red, white and blue headband.....

We had a birthday party for him last weekend and the theme was

80's

Though, I think the 2 boys at the bottom missed that memo. Maybe they got the "look as ridiculous as you can for this party" invitation

The cutest boy alive

2008-09-29T16:27:00.000-07:00

2x3 Campaign

2008-09-29T14:29:00.000-07:00

Be there.

Next Generation from Josiah Venture on Vimeo.

Reverting Forward

2008-09-22T17:02:00.000-07:00

I'm home. I'm trying not to revert back to summer in Czech (I miss it dearly)

while

trying not to look too far ahead in front of me (I desire to go back next year).

These are hard tasks for this planner girl. But, I'm working on it...

The good and perfect reasons for me being home during this season of my life are constantly being shown to me. This is the book I've been dwelling on to show me how to be content.

One day at a time.

Shirts

2008-09-22T17:00:00.000-07:00

Allen Wedding

2008-09-22T16:32:00.000-07:00

On 14 September 2008, Tim Allen gave Ashley Quesada his less than exotic last name.

They are beautiful. They love God and it's obvious. It's no less than a good thing that these two are now married. It was so great to be there.

lenses

2008-09-20T13:24:00.000-07:00

Italy: Roamin' Roma

2008-09-20T12:48:00.000-07:00

Day 5 & 6: There is so much to see in Rome. I feel like we had to walk 500 miles total to see what we wanted to see but it was way worth it.

I think you can tell a lot about our indiviuality in this picture

Emily and the bros

Ancient Ruins of Roma

Pantheon

a blurry night

Day 7: Ciao Italy.

Italy: Ohhh Capri

2008-09-05T15:59:00.000-07:00

Day 4: We traveled expensively to an island of modern utopia called Capri that was worth every penny... or euro

Italy: Naples, Pompei & Sorrento

2008-09-05T15:04:00.001-07:00

Italy Crew:

Brunette Bearded Man: Look familiar? He should. That's J. He and I were on the same intern team
Red Bearded Man: That's Josh. He resembles Chuck Norris when he has a beard. Don't worry Josh, it's a good thing
Blonde Bombshell: Aubree. I like calling her Baubree. Her & Josh were on the same intern team together
Bandana Beauty: Remember Rerin? She was also on the same intern team as J and I
Redhead Curly Q: Yours Truly

Didn't know I was going to Italy for vacation? Neither did I. A couple of my favorite fellow interns were already going and I, well.... invited myself. Yep. They spent a week in the Northern areas of Italy and then met me in Rome in the middle of their expedition. Our hostel was in Naples but we traveled outside of Naples quite a bit

Day 1: Filled with sweaty travel and was boring. Except for Josh's sleeping position on the train to Naples...

Day 2: Visiting Pompei was probably one of the hottest days of our lives. Don't mistake the second picture as me sitting in an ancient toilet even though that might be exactly what it looks like...

Second half of day 2 was spent swimming in the beautiful waters of Sorrento

Day 3: We decided it would be sweet to lay out on the beach the whole day and then rent a paddle boat and jump off of the random cliff jutting out of the sea, so we did just that

You'll understand why I had to reserve Day 4 for it's own blog

Ohhhhh Capri

God Loves Marriage

2008-09-05T13:56:00.000-07:00

Our dear friends Joe and Tereza Gordon had their wedding ceremony on August 16th, so a grip of us stayed at the Czech Inn and enjoyed Prague together a couple days before the ceremony. A "remembrance of vows" has never looked so beautiful to me as through tears from the groom, father of the groom and best friend of the groom

Two days before the ceremony, Joe & Tereza took us out for a typical Czech lunch as a thank-you for being a part of their big day. It was great to enjoy some Czech yumminess together

Tereza looked beautiful. As always. I got the privilege of getting ready with her for most of the day. I've done wedding hair before but I've never helped a bride put her wedding dress on before. It's a process... but it's also a very special part of the day. I felt like it was a present to me to be able to do that with her

It was a beautiful ceremony on a rainy day

JOE & TEREZA ARE MARRIED! HUSBAND AND WIFE!

Friends!? From home!?... in Prague? AND KRAKOW?!

2008-09-05T00:57:00.000-07:00

One of the craziest feelings of the summer was having a group of my friends come into Prague to visit after being there all summer serving. Not a lot of short-term missionaries get to experience their friends from home on their missions turf. I did

Joe & Tereza's wedding ceremony was the main purpose of everybody coming to Czech, but not the only experience we all got to share together

Our group cruised Prague...

.... Nate got creative inside the Czech Inn bathroom...

... Craig and I met with some of the students I had from the summer and visited Bohumín to spend with Rohreroví family (Deni, is that how I say/spell that?)...

... and Nate, Stacks, Martel, Craig, and I met some other interns in Krakow to eat lunch and then visited to Auschwitz. I didn't take pictures of Auschwitz for obvious reasons. Though it was a powerful walk through some crazy history.

Sidenote: Nate and I have officially been to 11 countries together (we've decided that driving through TOTALLY counts).

This trip was confirmation that our group of friends can have fun and enjoy each other anywhere. Our book about our friendship history will hit the bookstores soon... keep you posted.

2008 Kaspar Team Part II

2008-09-05T00:08:00.000-07:00

I decided that because I introduced my team prematurely without really knowing them before I did so, I have to introduce them once again with a better knowledge of who they really are... so here they are

Name: Denča
Nickname: Denčovy, Denč, Deni
What she is good at: Skin art, art in general, mornings and loving people

Name: Ryan
Nickname: Ryanova, Ray-Ray, Ryano
What he is good at: Evangelism, leading his team, speaking czech, reciting ridiculous movie lines and worshipping God early in the morning

Name: Erin
Nickname: Rerin, Er-Bear, Flerin
What she is good at: most everything, listening, word affirmation, being our team backbone

Name: J
Nickname: One Letter Guy, Jček, Kuba, Tight Nape
What he is good at: Jumping over stuff, hugs, encouraging guys, and speaking on love in front of people

Name: Emily
Nickname: Emč, Emča, Emilka
What she is good at: Being loved by her students, having a great time with her team and trying to learn czech

Name: Brad
Nickname: Bread
What he is good at: silent leadership, best animated camp face, words of affirmation and being a good husband

Name: Lucka
Nickname: Lucy
What she is good at: nurturing, being a good wife, making things special and really laughing

I miss them.... a lot

08-08-08

2008-09-04T23:17:00.001-07:00

08-08-08 I turned 23. Nate and J pointed out to me that a very small population of the world ever gets to have their birthday on the same number month-date-year. EVER. I won't even begin to explain the train of thought that they had, but I do know that the

conclusion to the madness=rare

So my birthday was great. Not only did I get sung to at midnight on the Charles Bridge, shop with Baubree in Prague but I also got hang out with all the interns for our yearly debrief dinner! JV likes to surprise the interns with a special dinner every year and this year it was dinner on a boat crusing the Vltava

During dinner, I got a VERY special phone call from one of my favorite girls in the Czech Republic. It made me so happy. Marketa, from Hradec Kralove (our first camp city), called me to say Happy Birthday! She remembered....

After we ate, we hung out for a little bit and then we gathered together on the top of the boat to share with one another the awesome things that God had done throughout the summer. This time was so valuable. It still is. It's different sharing experiences like this past summer's with people who experienced extremely similar things along side of you. It's even better to rejoice in the really sweet stuff God did for us and through us all summer. And the things He did to stretch our comforts as missionaries...

Čau-čau Sport Grill

2008-09-04T23:01:00.000-07:00

This lovely place was our home for the month of July during camps

Thanks to Shumak we were well taken care of with some legit food, a pool to get thrown into (which I spent a good portion of my time on the upper right balcony trying to avoid) and some great hospitality...

Camps officially ended after Bohumín for summer '08. It was weird to leave with the knowledge that we wouldn't be back and that we didn't have any more camps to do. Especially knowing that we had to leave our beloved students that we became so fond of.

Intern debrief starts....

Bohumín Camp!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-09-04T16:10:00.000-07:00

So, you remember my blog about Babynec? Yeah, they're from Bohumín. Not to mention, this is Denča's home town! I love these girls. I love Bohumín.

I really love Bohumín. From what I have seen and heard from missionaries prior, everybody falls in love with it. I completely understand why. One girl, named Emily (SAME NAME! WOW!) from California, joined us for the week to help out with teaching. She was an absolute blessing to have, and she is a blast. Her laugh is unlike any other I've ever heard. I got to know her a lot staying in the same house for follow-up as she did. It was awesome to pray for and encourage one another for that couple days alone together.

There were two girls that decided to start their trust in God at camp. I have to dwell on this because these two girls are best friends and they really just hadn't heard of who Jesus was before. As they heard the gospel, they just knew who He is and what He is doing is true. I am so thankful for these girls.

I'll try to relay the fun-factor of Bohumín. We played the best games, had the best evening snacks, laughed SO much, played paintball (my first time by the way and it ROCKED thanks to a little motivation from two teammates who love challenging me...), and ate a lot together. They have a certain pride for living where they do. It is an extremely small town, but if you ask anybody who lives there, they are very excited about it.

The church that we worked with is an apostolic church. You see lifted hands during worship, raising and waiving of flags, people praying at the top of their lungs, a ton of different culture and community and a genuine love for one another and for God.

The week of camp, including follow-up, was full of encouraging one another and having a great time together. I would really love to be a part of what God is doing there one day.

Maybe soon?....

Dvur Kralove

2008-09-04T15:14:00.000-07:00

In between every camp we have 3 days of rest. It gives us time to relax and get our brains together for the next week of camp. It's much needed.

During Hradec Kralove follow-up, Denča and Erin stayed with one of our favorite students named Tamča. They went to her cottage in Dvur Kralove for a family birthday party one night and fell in love with it. They had the idea of staying there during our next rest time. As of this point we didn't have much of a plan, so we went with it. We asked Tamča's family if it would be okay to stay at their cottage during our upcoming time of rest. The sound of being away from civilization and away from wi-fi sounded fantastic. They graciously said yes...

We arrived. Home-made blueberry dumplings awaited us. Our beds were set up. The orders from the family were

"Relax and do nothing. We are taking care of you for these next 3 days."

Not only did they let us stay there, but they made and provided all of our food. I have never been served like this before. They did everything they could to make sure that we stayed rested.

One cool aspect of our time at the cottage too was that we got to be close with Tamča's family. They didn't speak any english, and we (besides Denča) didn't speak any Czech, but we still had so much fun together and connected in a major way.

This was our toilet. I think Shrek lives close by. It was the best. "

For sure one of the best Czech culture.... no.... life experiences I've ever had.

Praha Anglicky Campu

2008-09-02T20:24:00.001-07:00

I have re-written this blog 4 times thus far. Let's see how this one works out.

It's so hard to describe God's wonder during this week. You'd think a week would be quite simple to sum up. False.

God sent some specific girls to me that I never dreamed I would be close to. He gave me a class that I had fun with. He let me witness my teammates relationships with other students. I would love to tell you about these in person. They are beautiful stories but I have to stick with one for now.

One specific girl comes to mind when I think about Prague Camp.

She is beautiful.
Free-spirited.
Opinionated and not afraid to be.

One out of the seven discussion group nights we have is about love. Ryan and J challenged us in the discussions to talk about concept of the prodigal son. One of the big questions was

is unconditional love possible?

This girl had an amazing, yes unusual response. "Love is only something I experience from romance. Not from my parents or friends, so I don't really know if unconditional loving is possible."

Of course, that automatically sets me up to want to love her as much as I am able to for the rest of the time I am with her.
So that was my goal.
Through the week we totally connected. It wasn't hard to do so in our similarities. Every week at camp we have one hike day and on this particular hike day, she and I connected with flying colors. It was really, really great. We laughed a lot, talked about her pets, my pets, Harry Potter, picked blueberries, & hung out with two other guys that are on just about the same goofy level as we are.

For our last night at camp our english class got together to talk one more time about the week and everything that we had discussed (which was.... a lot). Keep in mind that my class, even though they were the most advanced, couldn't help themselves in speaking Czech for the majority of these discussions. I was okay with it because it's hard enough to talk about deep things in your own language, much less in another language that doesn't know how to speak your heart.

I was patiently waiting to ask a new question when this girl said "Hey, Emilko" Out of nowhere.

"Yessssss...?"

"I just wanted to tell you that Tuesday, during the hike, I had a really great time with you. I really liked listening to my headphones with you. Even though we weren't saying anything to eachother, it was really nice."

I then proceeded to ask her if she still believed that love only came from romance, and if anything had changed to make her believe it could come from elsewhere.

"Yeah, I think it can."

Then I said, " If you don't mind me asking in front of everybody... do you think that this week, you could safely say that you felt loved by me?"

With a huge smile on her face, she tilted back and said

"Yeah, I do."

My heart melts for this girl. This may not seem like a big deal. Sometimes the desired response from people witnessing happenings on the missions field sidelines is much greater than this. But what really is greater? God was able to use us to make her feel love. To open her heart to a possibility of a greater love than she believed in once before. And, since God is a greater love, I pray that one day she recognizes the greater love that

only He offers.

Simply so you know what I'm thinking...

2008-08-14T11:09:00.000-07:00

What is this pretty picture supposed to do for you? Here are it's purposes...

To let you know that I am in Prague at the moment

To let you know that I am safe

To let you know that I desire to blog about everything in the past 3 weeks, but don't have ANY time to do so in the detail that I want to at the moment, and won't until I get home

To tell you that I get home August 28th

To tell you that I am not ignoring you, nor will I neglect my blog after I get home this year, like I did last year

I really can't wait to tell you about the cool things that God continued to create in the past few weeks...
to be continued...

Frydlant

2008-07-10T01:23:00.000-07:00

Hey friends, just want to let you all know that my e-mail will be SUPER limited until the beginning of August. I really appreciate your updates and emails, and I would love to write back but my time to write will be scarce. I will constantly be with students and then finally on our time off, I won't have internet access. I am semi-thankful for this because us as a team need a lot of rest after camps! Especially entering into the third one....

Lots of Love from this girl!

Hodim Savli

2008-07-09T05:37:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago, my team and I got to rest and relax with one another in a city called Cesky Krumlov before our first English Camp.

The 1st day we got all of our last minute stuff done that needed to be done before camp. English Lessons, itinerary details etc.

The 2nd day was a day to be just with our team and to pray for the Hradec Kralove camp. We also decided to bond by renting a canoe and a raft that holds 7. We also bought 2 small rafts to "solo float" (good one J) down the river. IT WAS BEAUTIFUL! I think it would have been the perfect day if it didn't entail Erin and J crashing on one of the canoe chutes. It ended up being funny, but we were scared for a minute because Erin tends to get hurt a lot in Czech (the past proves....).

Finally, the 3rd day was our free day! YAY! Not so much for Emily..... have any of you noticed my lack of e-mail reply? This was partially due to one full day in bed with the exception of time next to the toilet. Or in front of the toilet. I got super sick for about 24 hours with food poisoning.

MY TEAM TOOK SUCH GOOD CARE OF ME!!!!! I would almost (emphasis: almost) do it all over just to experience their care for me. Ryan, on crutches, hopped over to the nearest restaurant just to get me ginger ale. J walked 30 minutes just to bring me Immodium (sorry, that's a lot of information...). Erin gave me head scratchies and Lucie gave me foot rubbies. It was so sweet. It was so cool to be able to be real with them and not be afraid to tell them what my "symptoms" were (ew). Thanks team, you really do love me.... A LOT.

The 4th day was travel day. We had to leave our Penzion at 6 am and seeing as though I was puking at 1am, we weren't sure that I would make it out of bed. My team prayed for me, Erin prayed over me and by morning, I was weak for sure, but God kept me stable enough to travel 6 hours across Czech. My team, amazing once again, carried all of my bags the whole time. God totally healed me in time to make camp awesome. He gave me energy, like I have asked you to pray for, and enough strength to engage students. Thanks God, so so much!

Hradec Kralove Camp starts.........

1 Thess 2:8

2008-07-09T05:21:00.001-07:00

Camp is hilarious and SO MUCH FUN! Somewhere between bonding, big hair, random karaoke, getting thrown in the pool, blindfolded food samples and pee in your pants funny skits.... God grows seeds that are planted by ones who love Him.

God keeps providing us with unbelievable experiences. Sometimes I don't realize how great something is until I leave it.

Every time I go to camp, I forget how much I will really miss it when I leave.

We just left Hradec Kralove. For the past week and a half, we have been with students! Camp was first and then we got to join them in their city, stay with them in their homes and visit with them in their world.

I wish I could tell you every story of every heart at camp, but it is impossible. Hear me when I say that it was awesome. It's awesome that God asks us to share our lives and love with them.

It's not our responsibility to make them Christians. It is our responsibility however, with joy, to love them. I am really trying to make an attempt at understanding the gift of loving people with joy. God has authority and power to make us do anything He wants. Instead of making us, He gives us joy to love people. It's something we like!

One girl at camp told me that she had never really thought about being a Christian. but that she was starting to think about it because of

.......the way Christians treat each other.

We had to say good-bye this morning to students that we have built relationships with. It sucked. But... it's great when you don't want to leave. Seeing 20 students run along side of the train you are leaving on is an emotion on it's own that I can't really describe. I'm feeling all of the things I didn't really have time to feel at camp and during follow-up. It's a rest I don't experience much.

As we all group-hugged each other at the train station, Ryan read 1 Thess 2:8

We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well because you had become so dear to us.

We will spend this next week in Frydlant resting, doing laundry and being with one another to pray for our next camp. Please pray for rest and built up energy for the Prague English Camp next week. Also, please pray for ordained conversation and intentional relationships built for the sole reason and purpose we are here..... to share what we already have

with them.

Hair Cuts in the Park

2008-07-09T04:59:00.000-07:00

It's true. My team and I got to spend two days with Teen Challenge in Prague. We participated in their outreach events such as sweet tatoos...

Middle of the park haircuts...

Sanding...

and Painting.

It was GREAT fun! It was especially cool to reach out to the kids of the city. We passed out fliers and told them that we would meet them in the park to hang out! Ryan did Beat-boxing, J and Deni did tattoos, Erin was my personal assistant (seriously...), and some of the girls from the Prague youth group did some dances for us. It was pretty sweet to see how each one of the people from the youth group, as well as from our intern team, served in separate and very different ways.

Yet, all effective for the same God.

I wish I could relay...

2008-06-18T01:01:00.000-07:00

Matt Redman and Hillsong were in the Czech Republic on Sunday. In Vsetin... a sincerely small city in Moravia.
Lucy(Brad's wife, the cute blonde that you have been seeing in my pictures) put the whole thing together. Denča volunteered and got to wear this fantastic vest.

Melissa and I (as well as the rest of the people there) were SUPER excited to see all the Czech people come together and worship God.

In the US, we are used to this. Getting together with a young congregation and going to worship concerts at least once a year.

This is a first concert like this for the Czech Republic. 4000 people! Especially in Vsetin, because it is so small!

Matt Redman and Hillsong were both incredible! The worship was extremely alive and it was an amazing gift to see the Czech youth worship like that. I looked behind me at one point and thanked God for making me a part of such a special day for this specific generation in the Czech Republic!

After the concert, we got to hang with a guy from Hillsong and hear about their ministry. It was cool to hear about their journey, their standpoint and where God is leading them. I love how God leads us all in such crazy different directions sometimes. (below is a picture of Brad & Lucy with Hillsong)

During "Mighty to Save" I prayed for one specific student. My team and I had been praying for him before we met him, during our time getting to know him and also after we left him. He just happened to be in my discussion group at the cottage and it was FANTASTIC talking to him. He is incredibly brilliant and I realized we had a lot in common (that sounds funny because I just called him brilliant...). He and I have a lot of the same questions, only I ask these questions to God and he asks them to deny God's existence. I realized by talking to him, how much we have to put under the category of

Faith.
Oh, and by the way, he just asked for a copy of the New Testament (he has only read the Old) to begin reading in the near future. I am smiling right now, but I don't like to type smiley faces in my blog, so you can just think of me smiling instead!

I am so thankful that God is worthy to be trusted and called upon. He really answers prayer!

Weekend Getaway

2008-06-17T01:57:00.000-07:00

We were such a blessed team this past weekend. We got to visit a cottage with the Bohumin youth group.

Our Purpose? To get to know students on a deeper level before camp starts and to get students to come to camp!

I wish it was describable how much God blessed this time. Maybe it is... He created some really cool friendships and did it so naturally through us all during sports and LOTS (I should say hours) of card playing. There were several hearts opened to hear the gospel. Usually, we don't dive so deep so fast, but the Spirit led us to do so for sure. It was amazing. Ryan talked a little bit before our discussion groups. He basically said "You may be wrong in the way you think. A man's own way seems right to him, but ultimately leads to death (Proverbs 14:12)." Obviously, not just in those words, but enough to challenge some hearts and thoughts which made it easy to share the gospel in our discussion groups. It was a really cool way to open hearts to Christ and to have them come to camp with open minds.

I am so thankful for what God is doing in Bohumin. Please pray for this group to be thinking about where they desire to stand with God. Pray that their hearts would be ready to bring Him into their lives... I love you guys a lot. Thanks for reading.

Babynec (Bobby-Nets)

2008-06-16T04:15:00.000-07:00

I LOVE BOHUMIN! Denča is from Bohumin. Their youth group is amazing! Small, but still growing. Denča gets together with 6 or 7 girls once a week to reach out and have "girl time". For those of you who know me well, I don't love "girl time". I love girls, and I love time with friends, but "girl time" is different.

With all that said.... I HAD A BLAST! These girls know how to get together! They brought all sorts of yummies and we talked about all different things. We spent a lot of time on pronouncing words like

Belly Button

Bumble Bee

Aunt, Ant and And

I really connected with one girl in particular. Her name is Lucka (Lootska). She is 15, super quiet and doesn't speak much english. It was great to connect with her on a level that I didn't think possible.

YAY Babynec!

Trains and Bohumin

2008-06-10T05:10:00.000-07:00

We had a 4 hour train ride back to Bohumin (Denča's home town) and there were no seats on the train. We made benches from our bags, which were great!

Arriving in Bohumin was great. We have gotten some team time as well as gotten to meet Denča's parents, who are way cool. I can't even begin to describe the hospitality! Yesterday was a rest day. We spent the day as a team at the lake where some of the boys went "cliff" diving. The water was beautiful. No tan though, does that surprise any of you? :)

Today we went to one of the local schools to teach english to a couple classes. We taught them some slang like...

"What's up bro?"
"Nice shot!"
"Good Call"
"For Sure"

What a great laugh that was. Some of the girls looked at me and said "She is crazy! She is smiling a lot!" (Lucie translated that for me....) Awesome....

Also, Brad and Lucie love each other a lot and it's cute. The above is a perfect example!

(disclosure: all beverages consumed during the making of these photos are non-alcoholic) :)

Denča IS real after all!!

2008-06-10T05:05:00.000-07:00

This is the beautiful Denča! I dedicate this blog specifically to her because of my lack of taking pictures of her... love you Denč

First Youth Group Visit

2008-06-10T04:55:00.000-07:00

Our first youth group visit was to a city called Hradec Kralove. We hung out at a Kavarna (coffee shop) on Friday and then hung out with students and the youth group Saturday. We went on a "hike" (more like the longest walk ever...). It was beautiful and a great time to get to know them more. We played some games before the hike as well. One of the games consisted of one roll of scotch tape and a raw egg. We had to find whatever we could in the brush around us within 5 minutes to protect the egg from breaking if thrown in the air. We wrapped it with tons of grass and tape, and it didn't break! This is my team.... we rocked.

Our first camp is with this group, and I know it will be a good one! We usually have to promote camp and go to schools to see students and invite them to camp, but this camp is already full! Sweet job Hradec!

Goodbye Intern Training!!!

2008-06-10T04:46:00.000-07:00

We jump for joy as we get ready to disperse into the rest of Eastern Europe! Please pray for our safety in traveling :)

2008 Kaspar Team

2008-06-03T05:15:00.000-07:00

Our team consists of 7 people. "Well then, why are there only 6 people here Emily??" Well, Denča isn't here... again. She was here for a couple days, but is back to studying!

I will put a picture of her here soon! About her...

Name: Denča
Nickname: Denč
Hobbies: Studying A LOT, and making really cool noises with her mouth!

From top to bottom (fyi, making a lot of these bio's upon estimated assumptions I have made about them in the last week...):

Name: Ryan
Nickname: Ray-Ray
Hobbies: Freestyle rapping, passing out Czech tracks to share the gospel, and being a dedicated leader!

Name: Erin
Nickname: Er-bear or Rerin
Hobbies: running, taking naps and giving really good hugs!

Name: J
Nickname: His name is actually his nickname....
Hobbies: Serving in Ethiopia, stealing from people's drinks and talking about people's conflict resolution styles!

Name: Sad if I have to say this....
Nickname: Emilko
Hobbies: being loud, talking and dancing like a robot!

Name(s): Brad and Lucka
Nickname(s): Bread and Lucy
Hobbies: enjoying being newlyweds, and being with their team!

I feel super blessed with this team, and I'm so excited to see what God does through us this summer...

If you would like to pray for us, we would appreciate it so much! We need God to give us strength and energy through camp ministry. Selfless attitudes this summer as well as patience with one another! děkuji!

Lot's of love, thanks for your prayer and support!

AmazingRace '08

2008-05-31T06:13:00.000-07:00

Our team arrived safely at Malenovice hotel after the 3rd day of traveling to MANY cities in Czech during the Amazing race. What is that, you ask? Josiah Venture puts together a 3-4 day race starting at the airport for the 13 Eastern European Intern Teams. During this time,

we learn a ton about one another, and also set ourselves a little more straight with time zones (in a rough rough way....). It's way worth it and it was a blast! This sideways picture is of the Intern team that I am on, getting ready to fall asleep for 3 hours on a bench outside of a train station at midnight after getting off of the wrong stop. It was freezing but you gotta love it...... Lucka, Erin and I spooned the whole time!

The top picture is of me, Erin and Ryan in our last few moments on a taxi ride for the end of the Amazing Race, can I get an Amen?

Training is going to be great, we have some major lessons to learn. I pray that I have an open ear for God to speak what He wishes into my life. Please be praying for all of the interns to have energy and to be intentional about prayer time as well as studying time in God's Word. Be praying that the Lord allows our minds to focus on Him while preparing for English Class. Interns are here to have integrity in Christ and representing JV and America. Not all of us love teaching English so please ask God to help us create a fun environment in class as well as prepare quality english lessons for camps!

Loves.

Born in Prague

2007-08-08T08:17:00.001-07:00

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

2007-07-13T00:39:00.000-07:00

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

2007-06-14T10:47:00.000-07:00

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

2007-05-27T21:50:00.001-07:00

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.

2007-05-19T01:54:00.001-07:00

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

2007-04-29T12:08:00.000-07:00

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

2007-04-24T12:17:00.000-07:00

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

2007-04-10T23:38:00.000-07:00

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

2007-03-14T23:40:00.000-07:00

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)

2007-03-06T21:27:00.000-08:00

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

2007-02-20T17:24:00.000-08:00

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

2007-02-18T01:49:00.000-08:00

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.

2007-02-09T16:34:00.000-08:00

This picture is how I feel.

I sent my application lastnight.

Yesss

Sting Rays

2007-02-08T12:39:00.000-08:00

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

2007-01-28T22:09:00.000-08:00

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

2007-01-16T21:06:00.000-08:00

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

2007-01-14T14:43:00.000-08:00

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?