Angel Tree!

**So I know Christmas is a few months away, but I'd like to tell you about something that I'm going to be doing in these upcoming months. So all of you can get excited with me! **

I remember when I was little, the way my heart would skip a beat when I saw wrapped boxes under a tree.
I remember singing "Away in a Manager" with my children's choir at church.
I remember eating Christmas cookies until I was nearly bursting.
But thing I remember most of all have nothing to do with presents or traditions. . . family.
Jesus surrounded me with family, I was loved.


This year through Reece's Rainbow, I get to help a very precious little girl get closer to finding her family.
Every year Reece's Rainbow does a HUGE fundraiser called Angel Tree.

Meet Lanie. This is the little lady I've committed to raise funds and awareness for. Isn't she beautiful?! Look at that little button nose and her tiny glasses. I just want to squeeze her!

Lanie is seven years old and she's living in an orphanage in Eastern Europe. 

She's waiting, waiting to be a daughter. I can't imagine the joy she'll feel when she finally gets a long-awaited hug from her papa and kiss from her mama when she's scared. This precious girl needs the love that only comes from being in a family. 

I've got some really neat fundraising ideas in the works for Lanie during this holiday season. (Including the auction of some one of a kind art pieces!) But I'm open to any ideas you may have.

 Lanie is loved by many people here in the states and I want to urge all you to continue posting her photos and telling people about her.

LANIE IS LOVED. 

I can't wait for the day that I see pictures of her with her future family, safely in her mama's lap. 

***Angel Tree officially starts November 1st. . . If you'd like to have your own Angel Tree child this holiday season or would like to help me in any way email me at emmyxjoy@gmail.com and I can point you in the right direction***

Change of heart, new beginnings, and precious faces.

Sometimes words don't come out the way we want them to, I wish I could just show you the content of my heart on this subject without words. But since that's not possible, you get to read the contents of where I sit currently. How my heart was stirred & how it happened.

So I remember visiting this youth group when I was about 14 years old, this missionary and his wife were visiting and they showed us this slideshow of the kids they were helping care for in a country that seemed so far away. They didn't ask us for money, they just asked us to not forget about their kids and to always pray for and care about orphans. I agreed to do that, I swore that day that I'd always care about the fatherless but I slowly forgot about them and their faces were a distant memory. But then something amazing and incredible happened. . .

Fast-forward to the week of Christmas last year, my sister-in-law showed me a picture of a precious little guy. Big brown eyes, handsome tiny face, the works. . .while looking at him I remembered those precious ones from the missionary's slideshow all those years ago. I felt about 25 emotions at once, that night I prayed harder and longer than I had in a VERY long time. Not just for the sweet little brown eyed boy in the photo, but for his friends and for the kids in those photos I saw over 10 years ago. The sweet, little, and handsome brown-eyed boy is now my nephew and his story is just beginning. I can't wait to hold him in my lap and tell him how loved he is. I can't even explain with words how grateful I am for him, his parents, his siblings and their part in my story and how my eyes were opened. (I'm sure there will be more on that in a later post.)

These precious ones below sit and wait for their stories to begin. Look at their pictures. Donate to their funds if you're able (links provided under every picture), pray for them, tell people about them, and please don't forget their faces.

"Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you."--James 1:27 NLT

http://reecesrainbow.org/41347/ginger-jamie-twins

http://reecesrainbow.org/60615/ava-mia

http://reecesrainbow.org/59313/iggy

http://reecesrainbow.org/59329/phoenix

***Also my friend is currently on the road via Van's Warped Tour, with her non-for profit, SKAD.       They are reaching out to kids that desperately need to feel the love of a Father and need to know that they aren't forgotten. She's dedicated her life to loving the unloved and shining light in some of the darkest places. Support these wonderful Jesus lovin' folks, make a donation, "like" them on facebook, see what they are doing, and pray for them as they continue out on the road. ***

Learn more about SKAD via the links below:

https://www.facebook.com/StealKillandDestroy

http://stealkillanddestroy.com/

https://twitter.com/SKADworldwide

Instagram: SKADigram

Arks, hope, and photos from lately.

 Lately I've been thinking a lot about Noah. . . you know that guy who built that big boat?
I can only imagine how insane he looked building the ark, I can almost hear the people of his day snickering and laughing as they passed by. But Noah obeyed, he used God's blueprint, and he lived.

Sometimes it's really hard as a human to obey, to just listen and do what we are supposed to be doing. There are times in my own life where I don't do that, I'm pretty sure we're all guilty in that sense. But there is hope and there is a promise, a promise that every thing will be alright. It may not be today or tomorrow, but eventually you'll be just fine. For Noah that promise of hope and better days took the form of a rainbow. . . in a once stormy sky. I'm learning to just be still and obedient during storms, even though my personality says otherwise some days. There are brighter days ahead for all of us my friends, keep your chins up.

Check out the two cuties on my sidebar, their names are Jamie and Ginger. They need a family.   Click on their picture for more information and feel free to share their photo and pray for them.
As always, for prayer requests you can email me at emmyjoyprays@gmail.com.

 

 

 

Raspberry Rampage Smoothie

So about a year ago I started working out regularly, I never thought I'd be that person.
About a month ago I bought a blender and started making a LOT of smoothies, never thought I'd be that person either.
I've been toying with smoothie recipes that I've found on Pinterest but today I got a little bit brave.
This recipe was born while I was staring a big ol' bag of Chia seeds. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Raspberry Rampage Smoothie

Recipe type: Vegan, clean 

Total time:  5 mins

Serves: 2

 

Ingredients

• 1 cup Raspberries (I used frozen)
• 1 cup of Strawberries (I used frozen)
• 1 small Banana
• 1 handful of Spinach
• 1 tbsp Chia Seeds
• 2 cups Almond Milk (I used unsweetened)
• 1 scoop of Vanilla Protein Powder
• 1 tsp of Almond Butter (optional)

Instructions

1. Add all ingredients to the blender. 
2. Blend until smooth. 
3. Add ice if you need to thicken or cool off your smoothie (I added four cubes)
4. Enjoy! 

Happy.

So I decided to look up the word "happy" in the dictionary and the first definition I came across said the following, "delighted, pleased, or glad".

In our current day and age happiness is often based on material things, status, how many people follow us on whatever social networking website. I've been guilty, I think we all are.
Tonight I saw this picture and it inspired this post.

It hit me in the face, your reality could be someone else's dream for a better day. . .
Your bad day could be the first time the guy sitting next to you has smiled in months.
Your kids could be screaming at the top of their lungs and trying to light the cat on fire, but there's someone out there that would do anything to finally have a child.
Your tiny house looks like a mansion to the man sleeping on the sidewalk.
What I'm getting to here is that if you're waiting for your situation to change in order for you to be happy. . . you'll most likely never get there. CHOOSE JOY.

So when I told one of my close friends that I was writing a blog post about happiness, she sent me this picture of her daughter Alli. I thought it was perfect, as soon as I looked at this picture I felt immediate joy. Little kids get it, their happiness isn't based on anything except the moment. I love that.

Also some of my friends wrote what I think is one of the happiest songs ever, check it out!

Choose joy friends, I know that's hard. 

I'm challenging myself to do the same. 

What's something that makes you happy?

It's you I like.

Growing up I was insanely shy and scared of everything, I struggled with self-image from a young age.

But there was this kind, gentle, and wonderful man that I used to watch on TV nearly everyday that told me that I was special, loved, and important. 

That man was Mister Rogers.

(property of the post-gazette)

I grew up without a grandfather, so as odd as this sounds. . . Mister Rogers filled that void for me. I used to carry around a tattered Mister Rogers book before I could even speak fully. I remember going to far away places with Mister Rogers, places far outside of the walls of our home. But most of all, I felt like he was talking directly to me. Tonight I found this picture while lurking the internet and it brought me to tears. So I thought I'd share it with all of you, mostly because just recently I've started to like who I am and you should like who you are as well. 

(property of buzzfeed)

Mister Rogers would have been 85 years old this week, I wish he was still here.
But he left such a legacy and I'm sure he's had a great time with Jesus thus far.
As for me, I'm glad that I was his neighbor. . .



“When I say it's you I like, I'm talking about that part of you that knows that life is far more than anything you can ever see or hear or touch. That deep part of you that allows you to stand for those things without which humankind cannot survive. Love that conquers hate, peace that rises triumphant over war, and justice that proves more powerful than greed.” --Fred Rogers

Magic cold medicine!

So over the course of the past couple of months, I've made the decision to stop using ibuprofen and acetaminophen for pain relief and as a fever reducer. Last week I got the mother of all colds and as I walked down the aisles at Walgreen's I realized I had very few options. So after some wandering, I found this product by Hyland's and let me tell ya. . . this stuff is magic!

I always said I'd never do a blog post dedicated to a product but I figured this time was the exception. Hyland's Defend is amazing, it's a little bit pricey but it is worth it. I started to feel better about an hour after my first dose. No grogginess and no nasty ingredients, I liked Hyland's Defend so much I purchased Hyland's migraine formula as well! I also must say that this stuff tastes pretty darn good as far as cold medicine goes, I'm going to stock up on this product for future cold/flu adventures.

(Sick face.)

**For more info on this product and other Hyland's Homeopathy products visit:
http://www.hylands.com