Dear #217 {31 Days of Letters}

~ Emily ~ 8 Comments

Dear #217,

Of all the places we will ever live, you will always hold a special place in our hearts.  You, my dear apartment, get to be forever remembered as our “first place”.

Tim and I were professional house sitters after we got married, watching over the houses of family and friends before our big move.  We were quite grateful for the generosity of others during our time of transition, but after a few months, we were ready to have a place we could call our own.

As God would have it, you fell right across our path – in the best possible way, of course.  Tim and I had two days to find a place to live and there you were, meeting all of our apartment desires.  I know we originally signed up for your cousin, #223, but we are so happy things changed.

We appreciate the new paint and carpet and the new kitchen appliances are a plus, too!  I appreciate your proximity to the fire department.  That seems to be a trend everywhere I live and it has come in handy a few times.  We especially love that you are within walking distance from The Kroc Center – perfect for winter workouts when snow makes running outside a tad too chilly.

Even though the toilet your back bathroom runs incessantly and the occupants above you must walk around with lead shoes, Tim and I love to call you home. We’ve actually nicknamed you Timily Place – I hope that’s alright…

I hope this can be a symbiotic relationship.  We promise to spruce you up a bit, add some character, you know?  Would you promise to help us be hospitable to others?  Tim and I want to partner with you to offer relaxation, rejuvenation, and respite to others.  Are you game?  (PS – we like to play those. Have you heard of Fill or Bust?)

I anticipate your walls will absorb a fair amount of laughter, tears, joy, pain, prayers, conflict, love, tension, and excitement.  Our goal is to crowd you with Christ.  We want nothing more than to fill your nook and crannies with warmth and acceptance.

We don’t want you to harbor secrets or collect cobwebs.  We want to throw open windows and let light in and shine our Light out.  Please be patient with us in the process, dear #217.   I am already praying you can accommodate all of our weirdness… Will you be flexible as we adapt and grow in this new season of life?

Again, we appreciate that your walls create a space we can call our own.  Tim may not have carried me across your threshold, but we hold the matching gold keys to your door.   You have been a delight for the past month, #217.  Here’s to 11 more!

Sincerely,

Emily

31 Day Challenge

~ Emily ~ 9 Comments

I had no idea what people were talking about.  I kept seeing things on Twitter about 31 days, writing everyday in October, The Nester, etc.  I was a bit lost; but then again, I am kind of new to this blog thing…

It didn’t take much googling to figure out what all these bloggers were talking about. The Nester, whose tagline (It doesn’t have to be perfect to be beautiful) I absolutely adore, writes every day during October.  She isn’t writing willy-nilly but focusing her posts on one topic.

The best part about it… she’s extending the challenge (er, opportunity) to everyone!

In a nutshell:

Basically anyone can join in, just pick a topic and write about it every day for the month of October–we all come here and link up on October 1st.

I liked the challenge and the idea of having added focus for my writing, so, as of yesterday, Primitive Roads is in the 31 Day Challenge pool.

My focus for the challenge is writing letters.  Sometimes, what I most want to articulate is best expressed on paper (in this case, a keyboard).

I had already been stewing on an emotionally charged letter I wanted to write to someone i’ve never even met (which will show up during the first week*.  Come back and check it out!), so I decided I would just continue the theme and post a letter a day here on Primitive Roads.

Everyone participating will be linking up tomorrow over on The Nester.  The pool of topics will definitely be worth exploring!

Day 1: Dear #217 – shall we be partners not enemies?

Day 2: Dear Jen Hatmaker – can we be friends?

*Day 3: Dear Jackie – a letter to my husband’s ex-girlfriend

Day 4: Dear Thomas Hammer – rhapsodizing over my favorite coffee shop

Day 5: Dear God – a plagiarized letter

Day 6: Dear Sarah Rose – a letter and apology to a dear friend

Day 7: Dear Cold Weather – a letter to the sudden Fall chill

Day 8: Dear J.A.G. – a letter for my future baby boy

Day 9: Dear Eustace – a letter to a reformed dragon

Day 10: Dear Southwest – a letter to my favorite airline

Day 11: Dear Tim – a letter to my husband on our 5-month anniversary

Day 12: Dear J – a letter to a modern day Joshua

Day 13: Dear Emily – a letter to about a lesson I’m still learning

Day 14: Dear Kenya – a letter without words

Day 15: Dear Weekend – a lament against Monday

Day 16: Dear Brother – a letter about new seasons in sibling relationships

Day 17: Dear Wedding Well-wishers – let’s brainstorm a better way to ask questions

Day 18: Dear Ash – a letter about my longest standing friendship

Day 19: Dear Gramma – a letter to honor a legacy

Day 20: Dear Jesus – a letter of surrender

Day 21: Dear Autumn – a letter of reflection

Day 22: Dear Browned Butter – a letter and recipe

Day 23: Dear Jane Austen – a letter to one of my favorite authors

Day 24: Dear Paul – a letter to the Apostle who gets me

Day 25: Dear Christmas – a letter in poem form

Day 26: Dear Older Women – a letter of encouragement

Day 27: Dear Legs – a request to keep going strong

Day 28: Dear PB – a letter to one of my favorite foods

Day 29: Dear AJG – a letter to my future baby girl

Day 30: Dear HS Gals – a letter for single ladies about waiting

Day 31: Dear Mr. Owl – a letter to my kitchen timer

Infinite Grasp

~ Emily ~ 6 Comments

My youth pastor once told me about how his wife, on the drive to her grandfather’s funeral, slammed the backs of her hands on to her thighs, palms up in desperation to have God take control.  She was letting go.

I have a hard time letting go of things.  My grasp can be pretty tight.  Its not that I just have a firm grip, I have a complicated grip on things.  I dig my fingers in deep, weaving whatever I have my mits on up to my wrists, around and around, so really it would take a knife to cut me loose.

But, what I think is an unbreakable bond between me and the object is a mere piece of twine in God’s eyes.  He’s calling me to let go, throw my palms up in surrender to His plans, His ideas, His love.

Contrary to what I think on a daily basis, my grasp does not equal control.  Grasping is my finite attempt to reach an infinite God.

He is already right in front of me and won’t ever leave.

Five Minute Friday

Thankful Thursday: One Body

~ Emily ~ 1 Comment

My soul never ceases to swell with praise when I am surrounded by people singing out to their Savior.  It’s especially meaningful to me when the people are young.

Last night was Unite – a worship  night for teens in the area.  Youth groups from neighboring towns gathered in one local church to praise God together. I was encouraged by this display of unity among believers.

God shows no favoritism and this group was a living, praising example of the corporate body of Christ.   Many voices sang out, many hands were raised to honor our Lord.  It was an audible and visual reminder that we are called to be One body, One family, One church under Christ.

Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace.  {Ephesians 4:3}

Highlighter Worthy

~ Emily ~ Leave a comment

My first few real Bibles (you know, the ones that have Jesus’ words in red and aren’t broken down into Bible stories instead of books…) bear the scars of an over eager highlighter hand and a juvenile view of what was meaningful enough to underscore with some neon yellow marker.

I remember coloring over large sections of Genesis and Leviticus thinking any verse with the words “Abraham” or “law” in it must be important and thus worthy of some highlighter love. This is not to say that family histories and Biblical statutes are not important, just that I was making the Pentateuch look more like Joseph’s technicolor dream coat than a thoughtfully underlined patchwork of spiritually significant passages.

I was thinking of my highlighting habits this morning after reading a person’s story that I really want to remember – and it happened to be in a genealogy. His name is Enoch and I want to be just like him when I grow up…

The genealogy recorded in Genesis 5 lists the first 10 generations from Adam to Noah:
· Adam
· Seth
· Enosh
· Cainan
· Mahalalel
· Jared
· Enoch
· Mehuselah
· Lamech
· Noah

These men’s years are recounted in a systematic breakdown by
1. years lived before first son
2. name of son
3. years lived after first son
4. total years lived

Example:
Enosh
1. 90 years – lived
2. Cainan – begot
3. 815 years – lived
4. 905 years – all the days of said person

Kinda boring. Then, six generations in of living and begetting, living and begetting, Enoch appears on the scene. His life starts out pretty normal. He lives 65 years and then begets Methuselah. But Enoch didn’t just resume living after begetting (I really like that word) his son.

Enoch “walked with God.” For 300 years he walked with God and then – boop – Enoch was no more “for God took him.” And the other generations keep right on living and begetting as usual.

While some people in the Hall of Faith, found in Hebrews 11, have whole books devoted to their story, Enoch’s story gets a mere 6 verses in the middle of a genealogy. But the simplicity of his life’s example makes a large statement about what matters to God.

Hebrews 11:5 retells Enoch’s story, saying: “By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, ‘and was not found, because God had taken him’ for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God.”

The man so pleased his Heavenly Father with his faith that God spared him a physical death.

That alone is awesome – for God to desire your presence in heaven so much He doesn’t wait until nature takes its course, but plucks you right off the Earth in an instant. Just wow.

But what I love about Enoch’s life the most (and what I covet for my own life) is that he was remembered for pleasing God. Enoch’s testimony, the evidence of his faith, was that he walked with the Lord and it pleased his Abba.