Hi everyone!
Man, I am so sorry for slacking when it comes to blogging. I have a lot of things that I want to say but getting them from my brain down onto a format for other people to read is more challenging than I originally thought.
Life update
I am graduating from college in one week. ONE WEEK!!!!! I turned in my last assignment this past Wednesday and the feeling has been so surreal to know that I am done with school (probably not for forever, but at least for the next year or two). My time in Lubbock is also coming to an end and I have several mixed emotions about that. Most of the time it feels like this season of life is like an hour glass and the sand within it is moving way faster than it should be. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed and anxious because I want to hang out intentionally with all of the special people in my life, but time (or the lack thereof) is making it hard. There have also been a lot of tears shed (both publically and privately) about leaving. It almost feels like I am mourning the death of college and being only a few minutes away from my friends and family. It may sound a little dramatic, but that is the honest truth, and I said from the beginning that I was going to be honest, right??? (But God is still so incredibly patient with me during this time and speaks to me tenderly when I feel like the walls of time are suffocating.)
In other news- I finished up my YEAR LONG student teaching this past week! However, I am still with my kindergarten kiddos because my mentor teacher had her daughter on May 9th. I will be finishing up the year with my class as their full time teacher! It has been a treasure to have started with my class waaaaaay back in August and knowing that I will get to hug them goodbye after their last day in kinder. My kids have taught me so much about sacrificial love, and PATIENCE, and joy, and how to laugh when things are falling apart, and how beautiful it is to be called “teacher”.
In other other news – about a month ago I had to get a new phone number! If you do not have my new number please PLEASE send me a facebook message so I can get that to you!!
So yeah, life is really stinking good even though I wish everything would slow down just a little bit.
Financial Update
YA’LL, this is so exciting. As of today ya’ll have raised almost $11,000!!! I actually started crying while I typed this because that number is beyond my wildest dreams. This means that I need about $6,000 to be COMPLETELY FUNDED! Raising money was my biggest hesitation when I applied to go on the World Race. I thought “I could never ask people to do this for me, the number is too big”. My parents even tried to talk me into waiting a year or two so that I could get a teaching job and pay for it on my own, and at one point in time I agreed with that. But in the middle of the arguments, anxiety, and tears The Lord whispered to me
“Emily, you could try to do this on your own. You could try and be independent and self sufficient, which you know you love to do. But where is the trust in that? Emily, you can trust me. You trust me with your salvation and you trust me with your eternity. You are willing to die for me but why is it so hard for you to trust me with money? I know you want to glorify me and trusting me in all parts of the World Race will be part of that, including fundraising.”
And that right there was the game changer. It hasn’t been easy. I wanted to doubt and I wanted to be skeptical. Because if I was skeptical and doubtful then it wouldn’t hurt as much if The Lord “disappointed me”. BUT MAN WAS I SO WRONG.
In February God brought me to 2 Timothy 2:13, it says “If we are faithless He is faithful, for He cannot disown himself.”
Reading this caused me to ask; How does this apply to my life? Where have I been faithless? Where have I seen God’s faithfulness in the midst of my sin?
We are the definition of unfaithful, from Adam to David, to all of Israel, to the disciples, and to you and me today. In my own life I see my unfaithfulness when I reflect on how deeply rooted my sin is and how it plays out in various ways in my life and to think about the depravity of our sinfulness is a really heavy burden to bear. But I am so thankful that our God is a God of consistency and faithfulness. Where I am wavering he is steadfast, where I am unsure he is confident, and when I am faithless he is faithful! I know that is how God is working in my fundraising; in my sin I doubted his goodness but he poured his grace upon me anyways even though I do not deserve it.
It is almost unreal to know that here we are $11,000 later and I am crying because of God’s faithfulness when I was so incredibly hesitant to trust him. He has already worked so much in my heart and I haven’t even left the United States yet. He is good ya’ll.
Thank you
Thank you so everyone who has been a part of fundraising, whether you know it or not, God has used you to display his unending grace to me and it has had a huge impact on my heart. Thank you to everyone who has prayed for me and over me. Our words to the Lord are so special and it overwhelms my soul to know that you and the Father have had conversations about me. Thank you for taking the time out of your day to read this. Thank you for caring about what God is doing in my heart and through my life, for asking questions and listening to the answers. Thank you for encouraging me and loving me and being patient with me even when I am a hot mess. I cannot express how much it means to me to know that there are people who are as excited about this as I am.
All the love,
Emily
2 Timothy 2:8-13
Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel, for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God’s word is not chained. Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.
Here is a trustworthy saying:
If we died with him, we will also live with him;
if we endure, we will also reign with him.
If we disown him, he will also disown us;
if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself
