A Little Bit of Beautiful Eulogy

I must give an apology as of late for this post. I have been meaning to sit down and write for many many days now. My story is being written so quickly these days that I can barely keep up. Mornings turn to midnights and when I blink, another week has past. It's almost frightening that my high school life is down to the weeks. I never thought that this time in my life would be here, and now that it is Im not quite ready to let it go. But amidst the transitions, the goodbyes, the hellos, and the craziness of what we all like to refer to as our "normal lives," I have a sort of hope welling up inside me.

God whispers, "I have better things for you than this." 

Last week, I began my lenten journey. To my dismay, I have been anything but focused on the one thing I should be focused on.  I also was given the go ahead to start walking without a boot. I cheered and I danced and then I served. That takes us to this past weekend:

On Friday, I was beyond excited to take this beautiful drive up to one of my favorite mountains. I don't just love this drive for the scenery, but also because it is just enough time to center myself and focus on the weekend ahead. Not to mention, I get to have great dialect with the Father.
I can't lie and say that the weekend was a breeze, but man the amount of awesome in those kids made up for the, at times, frustrating situations that I was put into. They picked right up on the use of metaphors and the depth that they had just astounded me. God was moving through every person at camp and it was noticeable.  On Saturday, we had our share of interesting happen-stances. Blake taught me a little bit of Archery, we had some stellar snow up on the hill, we defeated a vicious velociraptor, and we learned what it meant to stand for something other than what the world offers us.

Sunday was full of babies, caves, and little girl shrills. My face, however, was not as warm as my heart. Needless to say, my face felt like Antarctica but I digress. I loved watching each participant put on their gear, make the hike up to the platform, and hesitate to smile as Patrick strapped them in for the ride. The best part is when they finally let their arms down and took the initial drop. So many times have I looked at the swing and thought of my walk with the Father. Most days, I sit on the platform waiting for someone else to come along and push me off, but it has come to my attention that I must put my elbows down and take the drop because the ride will be better than I ever could imagine. And I always laugh to myself when the most serious people have the best scream. They are always the ones who thing "Oh I wont scream. Im tough." and yet their shrills are about as girly as a 3 year old princess meeting cinderella for the first time. And again, I think about how this relates to my walk. I see the shrills as my worship. It's the way that I express my soul. and when I go off the swing, no matter how hard I try, I cannot hold back the scream. Its my sort of beautiful eulogy. no matter how much weighs down on my heart. I cannot hold back from lifting my hands and praising my maker. Something within my being continues to shrill in worship even through the darkest moments. 

Overall, the weekend was. I was able to walk the entire weekend and even afterwards. (In case you're new: THAT'S NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE). and Jesus whispered to my heart through the actions and words of 5th graders. 

I also just have to mention the re-occuring theme of anchors in my life recently. For a few weeks now I have been hooked on the song Anchor by Josh Garrels (with Beautiful Eulogy). Can you guess what the group's theme was? yup. Anchored in the Father. and when a good friend called me up this weekend she exclaimed that a missions conference was at her college. and she began ramblings about our walks being like sailboats and how we must be anchored in the Lord to survive the storms. So clearly, there's a message that has been received loud and clear. My Savior continues to assure me: "be anchored in me, and the rest will take care of itself." and so I obey.

Monday finally rolled around. I knew from the time I woke up that it was to be one of those whimsical days. and so it was. Blake and Caleb and I loaded up and roadtripped up to Louisville to visit dear friend Paige. The music blaring, the laughs, and the conversations made 3 hours seem like 1. and let me just say that that roadtrip was the best idea we ever had. As soon as Paige ran to hug me, I realized just how much I really missed that girl. and It's always the sweetest adventure to say hello to an old friend again. We danced and laughed and toured the town. Just being together was enough for me. 

And I've decided that life needs to be more like this weekend. Constantly serving. constantly worshipping. constantly anchored. constantly whimsical. These elements are all part of what makes a good story, or life eulogy. It's my challenge to you to make your life a beautiful eulogy. and if you are saying "emily, what the heck is a eulogy?" it's cool, I googled it too.
a eulogy is a type of tribute to someone who has passed away, or a high praise.

We must make our lives a tribute to the one who died for us. I know that in this time of decision and transition I will try my best to seek his face and give all the high praise to the one who orders my steps.

So here's to walking without boundaries.

 to jesus lovin middle schoolers. 

to anchors & roadtrips.

 and to living out a beautiful eulogy for the Father.

Week one of lent is done and over! What did you give up or pick up this lenten season?

-Em