Emilie's 8! And Away we go!

Emilie is 8!
I often tell Emilie, "I have always wanted you."
When I was 16, I seemed to be drowning under the circumstances of life. I was hopeless, I wanted God to rescue me from the home I lived in, to bring me into more, to promise me more. He wasn't moving quickly enough, it seemed he never would. So I became angry with him, and decided I was done with him.
Sometime later a friend approached me, he had heard a song called "Emily" by Michael W. Smith. He played it for me, and told me that God had so much more for me, and not to lose hope. My heart stirred, and I asked God to make things new in my life, I asked for him to own my future, to give me more than what had been passed down through the generations, I asked to live in his promise. I also asked to one day have a daughter, my own Emily to pass a hope and a future too. Such a big prayer for a 16yr old girl. A prayer I continued to pray until July 14th 1999, when my Emilie was born.

Emily by Michael W. Smith & Wayne Kirpatrick (1989)

Caught, in an endless time
Waiting for a sign
To show you where to go
Lost, in a silent stare
Looking anywhere
For answers you don't know

On the wire,
Balancing your dreams,
Hoping ends will meet their means,
You feel alone
Uninspired,
Does it help you to
Know that I believe in you
You're an angel waiting for wings...Emily

You, going through this stage
Its a restless age
Young and insecure
Still, there are doubts to fade
Moments to be made
and one of them is yours

On the wire
Balancing your dreams
Hoping ends will meet their means
But you feel alone
Uninspired,
Oh does it help you to
Know that I believe in you
You're an angel waiting for wings... Emily



My Emilie is definitely one of those "moments to be made!" A blessing to our entire family.
She is tender, thoughtful, giving, considerate, sensitive, creative, a hard worker, loyal, and so beautiful. I get a kick out of Emilie because she loves to organize (a girl after my own heart), I often find her organizing her hair bands and clips, her doll clothes, even her daddy's closet!

Emilie will work all day with her daddy on a project, even when the rest of us call it quits.
She plays the piano beautifully, and works hard on all her lessons, paying attention to detail, her teacher always praises her faithfulness to practice (Noah and I rarely show up to piano practice rehearsed). I love the way she plays with Josie "mommy and sister" with their dollies, but the next moment she can be in a sword fight with Noah. Emilie is loving, she is the one who is going to jump in your lap, or be at your side showing affection and love. I love Emilie's prayers, she is so intentional, it is beautiful to listen to her talk with Jesus. Emilie is intentional about everything. She is definitely going to fly one day, I can't wait to cheer her on!



AND... we're off to the Azores! Ahhhh, nervousness mixed with excitement!

Jesus!