if i had been tweeting: Ecuador & Uganda 2014

   Do you believe in the saying 'Better late than never'? Yes? Splendid. Because this summer during those beautiful three weeks of no social media, I kept track of what I would have been tweeting if I would have been near WiFi. We'll start with Ecuador on July 8th excited for my summer of brand new adventures & stretch to August 15th when exhaustion was overtaking me & home was within reach.

   Enjoy the good, the bad, & the ugly of the simple tweets of my mission trips. I recorded these in my journal day by day. 

   ECUADOR 2014

-Sitting in the airplane before take off is just like the alchohol swab before the shot. #apprehensionstinks 

-Jkz. Flying is horrible & I'm anticipating being in South America. #soon&verysoon 

-When you sit next to strangers (even if they're an answer to prayer) you have to act brave; which leads to silent screaming.

     So I mainly tweeted about flying for most of my trips. But, trust me, it was simply because I didn't have time to write down tweets about everything I wanted to when I was working on the most important thing day after day - relationships.

-JUST DON'T LOOK DOWN. K? 

   Approaching supper time with no food in my stomach but a strip of beef jerky & total exhaustion from running through airports with rude staff... 

-I really should've taken Mom up on that offer for a nut roll before I left. 

-Remember when I said I hated flying? They just brought me a Dr. Pepper. #temporarilyhappy #anditwasthelastone #score 

   On one particular flight, the only flight all summer I sat by 'myself', I got my very first view of the ocean! I was in awe. For the beginning of that flight, I kept the window closed, due to the fact that I wasn't going to look down. But when I opened that window to take a peek, to see if the sights had changed, I saw this. My first view of the ocean. I couldn't stop smiling for a half an hour as I gazed at the clear water below. 

-That gahhgeous ocean, though. 

   ...& apparently I was lost for intelligent words as well. 

-Oh, just listening to Spanish radio with Ranson & interpreting the song based on tone of voice. Lizzie McQuire & HSM belting was also a highlight. #internationalmemories 

   That flight mentioned above was one of my favorites. Singing, dancing, giggling, & landing in Guayaquil was so much fun. The lights of the city were beautiful & I was traveling with a slap happy, clever group. Not every mission trip member can say they landed in a brand new country singing the 'Fresh Prince of Bel-Air's theme song, now can they? 

   This was the next day, after we'd settled into our host's home at 2AM & gotten a nice-considering-the-circumstances nights sleep. 

-Walking through cocoa fields on the way to lunch... #wegottotasteittoo

-Some people need to accept the ten second rule. Right, Evan? #necessary 

   You may have had to been there.....

-Sitting in the middle of Ecuador, under a palm tree. #thebeautifulsweatylife

   There were many plants surrounding our family's house (including COFFEE)! It was beautiful.

   Also, sweaty is an understatement. Believe me when I say that it was unbelievably hot.

-SUNS OUT; BUNS OUT. 

-So, um, I just asked an American girl here how she & her husband met during our second conversation. #ilovelovestories

   As this picture portrays, our standing-in-line-for-the-bathroom conversations sprung into a sweet friendship by the end of the week. 

-Shout out to SheaSmith for not pushing me off our bed while I was hogging it. 

      Our living room converted bedroom was full, to say the least. 

-Two churches, two languages, one God. 

-What we do to entertain ourselves... #waterbottlebalancing 

      This is what a late night among traveling teenagers with no WiFi looks like.

-It's easier to public speak when you have a translator beside you, surprisingly. 

-Oh, to finally be used to the beautiful mix of English & Spanish. 

-It rained this morning & the mist under these fruit trees is blissful. #thethingsthatbringjoyinEcuador

-@chloejane73 "I read it on Pinterest is has to be true!"

   One day, we piled 17 people on the back of a pick-up truck & headed to a banana plantation. I know, it's not something you get to do everyday. On our slightly-bumpy ride that was an absolute blast this was requested to make my list of tweets:

-Jesus is bae. 

     The day declined. I was in pain from Saturday afternoon to Tuesday night due to my surgery in May. It brought a lot of tears & messiness to my personal trip, because I wasn't able to do several important activities or be fully useful at the activities I was already at. But, for some reasons I'm still not sure of, God worked through all the pain (literally & figuratively), like He always does.

-I'm so thankful that there's a doctor on board. #graciousDrPenner

-That's Entertainment in Ecuador, folks. #MrAladdinSir #goEvan

-Late night conversations with my favorite couple in the kitchen make me laugh deep. 

-Oh, the joys of seeing Ricardo after being in a house by myself with only Spanish speaking people. 

    ^for what seemed like hours. It was one of the hardest things I made myself do - not go door to door to evangelize in the community. I was completely alone in South America, besides a kind-hearted woman & a few young girls that only spoke Spanish. I was able to read a tiny bit, but mainly rest  & listen to nature outside our windows. I cried as the sky got darker & darker outside our window, because I wanted to be with my team. Looking back, it was one of the most stretching & beautiful afternoons in Ecuador - maybe because it made me appreciate Ricardo's familiar face & my team's loud banter like never before.

-Bo & Paige win at life because they've seen me leaving-a-foreign-country-ugly-cry twice. 

     

     It's not pretty. Just sayin'.

-So bitter & bueno. 

     Wrote this on our bus ride back to the city of Guayaquil. I sat by myself, enjoyed me first air conditioning in seven days, & wrote about the the sadness of leaving our wonderful host church. 

-The man that admitted me to the U.S. again called Michael Bublé bad names & this is not okay with me. 

   THUS CONCLUDES ECUADOR TWEETS.  

   UGANDA 2014 

  

-You know you're not in Kansas when a single KSTATE shirt is not available to purchase at the airport gift shop.

-Keep speaking to me, British people. #DallasToLondon 

-I'm basically the happiest person on the planet. I'm back! #theresreddirt #andmybelovedfamily

-Ugandan people speaking my name will not grow old. 

-When it says to not grumble & complain, that doesn't include to your journal, does it? #imisscertainpeople #icouldusesomesnugglingblackbabytime

-Home sweet guesthouse. #iloveuganda #oursafehaven

-First a whale, now an elephant... #youdontwannaknow #latenightgiggles @Dana @Diane @MommaV

-Slashing grass, cooling pooridge, car washing, & counting... #allinadaysUgandanwork

-Just scarfed a whole bag of beef jerky. #unashamed

-"I imagine Jesus cut loose a couple of times..." #lolz

-Not very many people can wake up in a banda in Uganda with one of their best friends saying, "I brought you coffee!" #blissfulmornings

-Carpetball with Lake Victoria in the background is a much different experience. 

-Count it all as gifts... #PreachGospelToMyself

-Being reminded of a God that stoops on our behalf. 

-Sometimes when you're in Uganda & you take a morning off for sanity, you need to lay in your tent, listen to the rain, & have some TSwift therapy. 

-I've met or reunited with so many beautiful people this summer. #thelistgoesonandon 

-I'm at that emotionally-unstable-because-I-don't-want-to-leave-but-these-people-are-driving-me-crazy phase.

   I love my team y'all, but after being with any group of people you don't usually live with for two weeks straight...The Lord gives you many character-building opportunities. I may not have accepted them too well after a full summer. 

-If they only knew... #finishthatsentence 

-Apparently security chooses the girl that is sobbing to randomly inspect her whole bag. #leavingUganda #itwasme

-Knowing how to get around at the London airport... #thelittlethings

-I'm going to miss these British passengers & flight attendants. #BritishAirways #classypeopleallaround 

-Update on Emilee's life: I still hate flying. #justsayin #twomore 

     There it is, folks. A simple glimpse into the not-so-glamorous side of mission trips. Don't let this be the only blog you read about Ecuador & Uganda. ;) I'm so glad I wrote these, because it was a way for me to jot down quick memories if I didn't have time to journal about them. Thanks for reading.

     Have a beautiful rest of your week, mi amigos! 

Much love,

Emilia 

P.S. I miss introducing myself as Emilia. Tear.

    

when your midweek feels like defeat

    

Emma Watson

     I've been known spend too much in the past. If we were all honest with ourselves, we might notice that we spend too much time there. But if we do it in such a way - it's healthy - even necessary. We need the strength of yesterday's sorrows & the joy of it's victories. Life is a string of memories. How does a simple thing turn into a memory we relive? Someone is brave. Someone is brave enough to face rejection. Someone has twenty seconds of insane courage to do something that they wouldn't do if insecurity was holding them back. Someone is brave enough to simplify, to not glorify being busy. Someone is brave enough to start a conversation that matters. Someone is brave enough to choose immeasurably-more instead of so-so (even if it's scary).

     It's interesting to me how year by year, weather doesn't really change. The same trees change the same color during that certain week of the year. But every year at this time - over the sound of crickets & my tea studying sidekick - the way I see all of these changes does. With each passing year, I can either live in wonder of a God that is majestic. Or, I can choose to get caught up in me - but every part of me that He doesn't nurture. My flesh. My I-really-just-don't-want-to-spend-time-with-Him-today side. The side that comes out most often.
     I can't let that discourage me, though. Because as I look across the past few years, I know that each year's situation may get worse - but my outlook gets better.
     Why?
     Because I have a patient God, friends that are brave, and a dare to begin to change the world one faithful act at a time.
     There's more mundane tasks than adventurous when following Jesus. But that doesn't mean that they are not equally important. Sharing the Gospel to children in two different continents this summer that may have never heard about Him before? That's easy. That looks good, feels good, sounds adventurous. It's a commandment: GO.  Praying for the last person you want to love this week? That's hard. It doesn't feel good, it looks messy, & it's a command.
     Both are commands from a very patient God.
     He knows you hate being outside of your comfort zone. But He longs to stretch it in different ways everyday. Maybe it's by singing a silly song in a room full of children, maybe it's forgiving someone to only become right with God - not to be seen by men. Maybe it's being content with the nothingness that only seems to be your everyday life.
     Remember what makes memories? Remember what leaves fingerprints on the Kingdom calendar? Being brave. Being, practically, fearless. Fearless of what other people think, as long as you're following Christ's command.
     You can do it. So GO out there & trust that nothing is wasted & sometimes, every tiny thing you do (like staying up after midnight to study for a test that bores you to tears or changing that baby's diaper or grading that test) is leading up to a better tomorrow for all of us.
     Remember to be brave. Keep the good of your past experiences alive - you'll need them for this journey. You'll need to see how you've done it before, you can do it again, & how it made someone smile. Make new memories by ''being as you wish to seem''. Dive yourself into the crazy life He has made - just for you. Because life doesn't start tomorrow. You bring the good life into tomorrow by giving it your endurance today.
     So, maybe next year at this time, over tea & study notes & crickets, we'll see how something we did this year made next year better. How being content reminded us that eternal life with Christ starts now & we have His power within us.
    What's your first step? Ask Jesus how He wants you to be brave (sometimes just a silly word to disguise the act of being faithful) today.

--Emilee

P.S. Have you ever listened to Brave by Sara Bareilles? Today would be a great day to do that, too.



For more posts filing under 'coffee for your heart' click here: Holly Gerth's Encouraging Blog.

renewed honesty

This is a little something I wrote in my journal on September 29th. My writing is transforming as every week passes & life throws many different plot twists at every turn. It's exciting and terrifying all at the same time. Read on:

   Ernest Hemingway wrote - I'm not sure when - to "write hard & clear about what hurts."

I don't think I've done this. I talk a lot of brokenness & vulnerability, because I love the idea of being real. I love the idea of being honest in every interaction. 

   But, in many ways, I've failed you for covering up. It's not that I've been hiding my passion from you in my writing - I've just been too scared to write it out myself. 

   I'm reading a novel - Dear Mr. Knightley by Katherine Reay. Long story short, Sam has been hurt deeply through her life in the foster care system. She is an orphan hiding in her books, not being honest with herself. Her strict professor, Johnson, finally tells her that she has no voice. He wants to see the real her - not just facts or statistics. To him, her writing was good, but it sounded like one of her grocery lists (no conviction).

   So, as if the strict professor was speaking to me, I've realized that I talk ABOUT these things - & sometimes I write about heavy topics that put me into an very scary-introvert place. But not often enough do I pour myself into my work. Not often enough am I honest enough with myself to even be able to. 

   Writing isn't all fancy words & enchanting fonts - what makes writing fancy & enchanting is the passionate heart behind it. 

   I'm going to commit myself to honesty. Honesty to my writing, to myself. 

   My journals will be some the same - but newer ones will be in the format of a letter to the dear pages  - or as a prayer to The Lord. Keeping better track of the life He's given me. Blogs will be a deeper challenge and my 'binder articles' will be see through. My forming of my books will be changed. 

   I'm not sure what this all looks like yet. I just know I have to begin. 

home is where i'm with you

   

   I consider Kansas home - most days. ;)

   However, to all my friends that have grew up here their whole life - and watched basically everyone else around them grow up - I'm still a newbie. After all, it's only been four years since I detested the idea of living out here where I was related to everyone, but didn't know anyone else. I'm still new to all of the connections and old stories that can only be truly experienced as you live life alongside the people in your community. 

   Seven years ago, I had no idea that I would know any other state but Iowa as home. I'm glad I was wrong. 

 

   Five years ago, I was pleasantly surprised to make Iowa my home once again (in a different area, though) and get the heck out of Mississippi. I'm glad I was wrong. 

   Four years ago, I just wanted to move back to southern Iowa where all of my best friends were - where the bulk of my history was. Again, I'm glad I was wrong. 

   In Iowa, if I was being introduced to someone new, they would probably know my brothers. Here, in Kansas, most people don't even know that I have a brother. (I have two wonderful, handsome brothers, for anyone out there that didn't know.) 

   Today, I realize that every single place I've been - let alone the places I've lived - has built the roots that I call home. 

   Did you catch that last part? Where friendships flourish. 

   Now, recently, especially while I was in Ecuador this summer - I realized that I've missed out on a lot of some of my best friends' childhood. I wasn't around to see their first most embarassing moment in second grade or to walk alongside them through the awkward middle school years. It's true - I did miss out on a lot. 

   But there's something that I have that this community probably doesn't.

   On Saturday, my youngest brother got married. I know, I know. It's a beautiful thing, but it's still hard to wrap my mind around. That event is for more pictures on another blog for another time. :) 

    But over my long weekend...

    I got to tell some stories about growing up alongside people that were there.

    I got to hug necks that knew me before I could speak. 

    I got to catch up with a few of my brother's best buddies in high school that I was probably around more than any of the kids my age. Guys that were my second family and protective big brothers.

   It gave me a chance, for the first time in a long time, to appreciate my younger years and to not feel sad the next time that a story is shared around the youth group dinner table that I wasn't around to witness - because, in Iowa and Mississippi, I could sit around and tell story after story about the events that made me who I am. About the people that have made me who I am. There's a whole other world that I take part in when I leave the Kansas state line. People that my Kansas friends may never meet and stories they may never understand. 

  Stories about learning how to count with packets of jam at the Gas N' Grill and Saturday trips to the Dutchman's store. 

  Stories about riding bikes around our tiny town of two hundred. 

  Stories about wrestling tournament road trips with a van full of loud, teenage boys. 

  Stories about the kudzu of the south and singing pretend concert for hundreds every weekend with my best friend.  

  Stories about five feet of snow and The Lord bringing us out of a pit of dark loneliness. 

   The list goes on. 

   What's my conclusion? (because like any good Geometry problem, I need to sum it up for you.)

   Home isn't about a specific place. Home - for me - is where I can take my shoes off, feel safe, and at my friend's house where I know exactly where everything is in the kitchen. Home is in the familiar laughs of old friends and in picking up right where you left off. Home may be Kansas right now - because it's for such a time as this. Kansas may be where I hang my hat for years to come and I hope so very much that that is the case - but home is never just one place. 

  

   Home is a compilation of stories and people the made you who you are today. The good, the bad, and the possibly (most likely) very ugly. A town is where you run errands and lay your head - a home is where you grow and build the best relationships...and if we're in Christ, our future home destroys our wildest imagination. 

   So here's to you: 

  The people that have upheld your promise during my dedication (or as a part of the different church family's I've been in) to point me to Christ. 

  The people that have watched me grow up, given me grace, and loved my unconditionally. 

  The people that we still have relationships with, no matter the distance. 

  The people that will continue to give me grace as I stumble down this scary road of high school and onto college. 

  The people that truly care about me and portray that in huge or small ways. 

  The people that make anywhere I go - Kansas, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, the good ol' south, Colorado, Ecuador, or Uganda - HOME.

  I will cherish our memories and I anticipate thousands of stories He will write for us in the future. 

   In the meantime, I'll just keep writing my address in pencil. 

Peace out my friends,

Emilee 

More home roots blog inspiration credits go to "Take Me There" by Rascal Flatts (my all time favorite road trip band to play over and over back in the day). Check it out! 

whoop whoop! #TGIT

Time for a list of randomness, friends. (for those of you that don't know, if the title includes 'whoop whoop' in it, there will be lots of sarcasm & life inspiration from Pinterest. It usually means that it's the weekend.) Let's jump in! 

1. MAROON FIVE HAS A NEW ALBUM: V. This is number one for a reason. The first few days that I discovered it, I listened to it at least three times through a day. Now I've almost limited myself to once through a day. Grin. (Unkiss Me tears my heart to shreds on a daily basis. So good.) 

2. Fall is upon us. For more reasons than one, it's become official but our youth group resumed Life Groups a few weeks ago and it finally feels like 'normal Autumn'. 

3. Hence the hashtag #TGIT: Grey's started again tonight. It's prettyyyyy exciting. I would use more exclamation points, but I'm getting tired & it's almost Friday. 

4. As you know, my coffee lovin' game is strong. However, at the end of a long day, I've found that a nice cup of apple cinnamon tea or peppermint tea from London is just what I need (with honey, of course). Tonight, as I was getting some tea out of the cupboard I saw this: 

   Next to my London Tea Company container that uses the word 'whilst' properly in a sentence (because England is just that cool), these companies are winning at life. 

5. Have you heard the new Taylor Swift song? Shake It Off. Don't watch the music video and save yourself from that waste of time. However, I still love her & find it extremely catchy. Here I am - entirely exhausted & ready to go back to my hotel room - singing it at my brother's wedding last week. 

   I'm glad I can laugh at myself. ;) 

6. I change my homescreen and lockscreen probably once a week or once every few months, depending on the people that I place in them. Currently, Rapunzel's room (from Tangled) is my lock screen...

...& this beautiful morning captured with one of my very favorite girlfriends while I was in Uganda is my home screen: 

   They've already beat the one week point. Just sayin'. 

7. I miss this view. It's been so long since I went to go sit at Java Junkies (our coffee shop downtown I'm usually always at) & do nothing but write/read I was still drinking cold drinks. 

8. On September 8 we reached the one year mark of the Michael Buble concert Mom & I attended last year. I can't wait to go back. I love that guy & his beautiful show. 

9. Due to my freshman - sophomore year, weight loss, and transformation pictures in Uganda, I've been 'framing' lots of them. Here are a few: 

Seventeen pounds shed from the first photo to the second. I can't wait to see more of my weight loss transformations a few more months down the road! 

Top: My first airplane ride (since I was a baby) in 2011 on the way to Uganda. 

Bottom: My seventh flight of summer 2014 on the way to Uganda the second time. 

(Co-starring Momma V, of course!) 

Standing in front of Lake Victoria with Momma V in 2011 & again in 2014. Time flies (but you already knew that). 

Let's not talk about the fact that I'm wearing the same skirt, okay?

With my girlfriend AuD four years ago and present day - back before either of us could drive and now, when she drives me to MHK for a day of sanity on a regular basis. Four years from now she'll be a junior in college.

10. Like I mentioned earlier, sometimes... (ahem, always) it's good to be able to laugh at yourself. Thanks to Pinterest, I've found a chuckle or two out of this:

*insert crying laughing faces here* 

   Overall, I'm loving my new autumn routine. It's good to have structure again and resume to the regular activities of life. I can barely fathom that next week will be October. Make sure you slow down & enjoy the little things: look up at the stars, read inspiring labels, spark up a fun conversation with your barista, buy someone a pumpkin spice latte (preferably me), COUNT GIFTS, write stories (if that's your thing), enjoy Netflix on lonely nights, check out that book at the library you haven't yet made time for, send someone a handwritten letter, hug a friend, & make lists late at night when you need to relax & reorganize your thoughts... Breathe. 

   Because, after all, "That it will never come again is what makes life so sweet." -Emily Dickinson

 Until next time's list of happy randomness...

 Your Truly, 

 Emilee