welcome to even the sparrow
i'm so glad you stopped by!
i've been writing here since 2009 when we began the journey to adopt our youngest daughter, bella, from china.
i'm so glad you stopped by!
i've been writing here since 2009 when we began the journey to adopt our youngest daughter, bella, from china.
"even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where shy may have her young -- a place near your altar, Lord Almighty, my King and my God." ~ psalm 84:3
i have continued to write in this place as God has taken our family through a breast cancer diagnosis, a cross country move and just the general craziness accompanying a family of seven!
keeping my family clothed, clean and (sometimes) on time is my main ministry. i wouldn't trade this job for anything. when rick and i married as college seniors, we couldn't begin to imagine where God would lead us in these decades together. we are humbled to watch His plan unfold in our lives. 2020 will mark 30 years of marriage!
this blog is a collection of my words and photography which i hope point to God's Word and His beauty. i'd be delighted for you to discover something here which encourages you to build your nest nearer to Him.
the swallow and sparrow, only birds, but they got it right --- they built their nests near His altar -- bringing their homes, their children, their everything close to Him. it's a place safe and secure, but, be assured, also a place of great surrender and, sometimes, even sacrifice.
facebook:
if you haven't stopped by my facebook blog page yet, consider yourself invited!
it is a place where i post daily devotionals, pictures and scripture.
speaking:
with a tiny bit of experience behind me and some encouragement around me, i am just stepping into these waters. contact me at emmyandty@aol.com. i'd love to talk with you about your event!
my hope -- that this blog would be an encouragement whether your nest is bulging, empty or in the process of being built.
my prayer -- that my words, pictures and ideas would bring grace to your day and glory to my God.
my joy -- to journey with you!
"make time for the quiet moments as God whispers and the world is loud.”
other places you can find me (beside the laundry room) ...
facebook:
if you haven't stopped by my facebook blog page yet, consider yourself invited!
it is a place where i post daily devotionals, pictures and scripture.
speaking:
with a tiny bit of experience behind me and some encouragement around me, i am just stepping into these waters. contact me at emmyandty@aol.com. i'd love to talk with you about your event!
here are a few of the topics i've prepared. i'm happy, however, to tailor to your event.
2. He still walks on water -- how do we learn to trust Jesus in the hard stuff?
* do you ever feel you are in storm after storm after storm? and some times--you can hardly catch your breath? when Jesus walked on water--it wasn't calm, but rather full of waves and wind. it was then that Jesus asked peter to get out of the boat and walk on water with Him. sometimes God has lessons for us to learn while we are in the boat and sometimes He has lessons which require us to get out of the boat and into the rough waters. what about then? do we trust Him then? God might sometimes choose to ramp up our storm, but He reminds us to keep our eyes not on the wind and waves, but on Him.
* scripture: "so peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. but when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” Jesus immediately reached out His hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “o you of little faith, why did you doubt?” and when they got into the boat, the wind ceased."
~ matthew 14:30-32
1. stretch marks -- when is it time to hang up the super-mom cape and hold on tighter to the hem of Christ's cloak?
* in "stretch marks," i will talk about what happens when God stretches us in motherhood. when He stretches our bodies, our hearts, our minds, our time and our finances. as a mother who this past month was helping her high school senior with her college essay while sorting crayons for kindergarten, i know pretty well the word "stretched." but, what is our role and responsibility? and what is this culture attack which tells us we can do it all and be it all. there's a post on my blog called, "the day i cried in my closet." in that piece you'll get a feel for how i will address this topic or surrendering the super mom cape.
* scripture: "when she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak ... because she thought, "if i just touch his clothes, i will be healed." ~ mark 5:27-28
* do you ever feel you are in storm after storm after storm? and some times--you can hardly catch your breath? when Jesus walked on water--it wasn't calm, but rather full of waves and wind. it was then that Jesus asked peter to get out of the boat and walk on water with Him. sometimes God has lessons for us to learn while we are in the boat and sometimes He has lessons which require us to get out of the boat and into the rough waters. what about then? do we trust Him then? God might sometimes choose to ramp up our storm, but He reminds us to keep our eyes not on the wind and waves, but on Him.
* scripture: "so peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. but when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” Jesus immediately reached out His hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “o you of little faith, why did you doubt?” and when they got into the boat, the wind ceased."
~ matthew 14:30-32
3. there's no place like home -- reflections on the home: our ideal and our real. our dazzling moments and our disasters mishaps.
* in "there's no place like home," i will talk about how easy it is for women to run themselves wild in pursuit of the (seemingly) perfect -- especially during the holidays. women just naturally have a self or culture-imposed pressure to create some kind of extra magic in our homes and with our families at this time of year. this worldly need for the extraordinary and excessive can quickly distract us from the simplicity of the babe in the manger. sharing the story of one of my own humbling holiday moments, i will demonstrate how God used it to refine the pride in my heart and refocus the priorities on my plate. this will relate not only to our homes at the holidays, but throughout the year as well. unless Christ be in it, we end up shoveling in a snowstorm or spinning our womanly wheels.
* scripture: "unless the Lord builds the house, the workers labor in vain." ~ psalm 127:1
4. holding gifts with open hands --- reflections on what God has graciously given ... and our response of surrender.
* in "holding gifts with open hands," i will talk about the challenge we have to nurture and cherish what God has given, but also to hold these things loosely. God gives good and perfect gifts, but ultimately these gifts -- all of them -- belong to Him. this image of holding loosely is hard for most women. just like when we give our small child a gift on christmas morning and we watch their instinct to hold it possessively in their little arms and cry, "it's mine!" we women also, tend to hold on tightly to our children, to our homes, to our things, to our ideals and to our lives. we are natural gatherers -- we gather up ... and letting go isn't always our instinct. but God designed us for both.
* scripture: "every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of heavenly lights ..." ~ james 1:17
and "the earth is the Lord's, and everything in it..." ~ psalm 24:1
CONTACT ME AT: emmyandty@aol.com or 770-265-6690