heart of gratitude.

Happy Thanksgiving friends, 

As the years go by and I get older, it becomes more and more clear to me how truly thankful I am to have so much. I think that at the core of who we are, the thing that we crave the most is to be loved. (Hang with me, this won't be super emotional...promise.) Truly, the feeling of being loved is unlike any other. It has the power to heal, to conquer and to encourage. It allows you to rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who are mourning. It allows us to step outside of ourselves and carry the heart of someone else. 

Being 3,000 miles from home on a holiday that is so focused on family is incredibly hard. (I dropped a friend off at the airport this morning and may have teared up just a little.) So today, I am thankful that love is not limited or measured by space or geographical location. I am thankful that loving and being loved transcends physical distance. 

Today, I will be having Thanksgiving dinner with a family that is not my own, a family that just a few short months ago, I didn't even know. That's how good the love of God is! The way he continues to care for his children fills my heart with so much joy. Ultimately, today, I am most thankful for that unconditional love. It makes all the other love in my life possible and gives me so, so much to be thankful for. 

So friends, I hope that you enjoy this thanksgiving with people that you care about and people that care about you. Remember that love is not limited and looks really different for everybody. Sadly, there are some people in the world today who don't feel loved by anyone so if you have a little extra to give, go find someone who needs it. I bet we won't have to look to far. 

With a full heart from Portland, 

Emily 

it is well.

Hey friends! 

Don't you just love pretty letters and fonts? I would say I have a passion for doodling. In fact, I can remember being in middle school and my brothers finding pieces of scratch paper that I had been writing my name in different fonts on. They would tease my by saying "Emily, gosh, you must really be in love your name!" It wasn't that I particularly loved my name (it's a great name though, mom, thank you) but it is simply the word I was most familiar writing. So naturally all the fonts that I was trying to come up with looked best in my name. Makes sense, right?

...Or maybe I am partial, who knows. I do know that doodling is fun and sometimes it turns out pretty. 

I made this little doodle and put it on a picture that I took in the Columbia River Gorge. I love hymns and 'It Is Well with My Soul' has always been on of my favorites. Knowing the story behind the the hymn is so powerful and makes it hard not to sing every line with a heart that is exploding with gratitude. 

Have an excellent Wednesday my friends! (It's almost Thanksgiving!!) 

Fondly from Portland, 

Emily