Tag: 31 Days of Letters

Dear Older Women {31 Days of Letters}

~ Emily ~ 8 Comments

Dear Older Women,

It may be out of your comfort zone to strike up a conversation with someone 20 years younger than you, but it may be one of the most (mutually) rewarding things you can do.  Reaching out to the next generation produces fruit well beyond a neighborhood walk or a coffee date.

You probably don’t realize the gifts you have to offer and how much us younger women need what you have to give.  We need your encouragement, support, and Godly counsel.  We need to hear about your triumphs and failures, your joys and sorrows.

You have the opportunity to pour into others what God has poured into you.  We may seem unapproachable or disinterested sometimes, but keep hounding us.  Once we experience the benefits of consistent accountability, wisdom, and friendship from an older woman, you won’t be able to keep us away.

Please come alongside us, disciple us, help us become women after God’s own heart.  Encourage us to love our husbands and children.  Challenge us to serve selflessly.  Stir up in us a passion for prayer and studying Scripture.  Model what it means to live a pure and set-apart life for Christ.

There is an eternal return on your investment.  You plant Godly seeds in us that will be sown in our relationships with others.  Good fruit will be passed on to our family, friends, and coworkers.  Your investment trickles down to the next generation as we follow your lead and begin pouring into the young women we encounter.

You have an important role to play in the spiritual formation of younger women.  We are eager to let you become an active part of our lives.  Please do.

Sincerely,

Emily

You can find all my letters here.

For more information about the 31 Day Challenge, visit The Nester.

Dear Christmas {31 Days of Letters}

~ Emily ~ Leave a comment

Dear Christmas,

Candles are lit and garlands are hung.  Carols are playing and goodies are plenty.

How come I still have sixty days to wait? Why can’t it be twenty?

Red noses abound because of the cold.  Rudolph lives on like in days of old.

Is it time to string lights and cut down a tree?  I’m so eager for snow to fall.

Some people aren’t eager for you to arrive.  To them I say, I’m rather appalled.

There’s so much to enjoy when you come around:

Mistletoe and laughter and mugs of cocoa!

And what about family, food, and traditions, too.

So, please hurry, Christmas.  Don’t be late.

Sincerely,

Emily

You can find all my letters here.

For more information about the 31 Day Challenge, visit The Nester.

Dear Paul {31 Days of Letters}

~ Emily ~ 1 Comment

Dear Paul,

You have given voice to the battles raging in my heart, mind, and soul.

For what I am doing, I do not understand.  For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate; that I do…For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. {Romans 7: 15 & 19}

I cannot think of a better description of the internal dialogue I have with myself daily.  Righteous Emily (am I ever?), who seeks God, does good, and surrenders everything to her Savior is at constant war with Carnal Emily, who is sold to sin and fleshly desires.

They volley back and forth, trying to convince plain old Emily to take action, using two very different methods.  I try to stay balanced on this narrow path of life with both these voices making compelling arguments.  Righteous Emily urges me to keep walking this primitive road; Carnal Emily promises shortcuts at every bump and turn in the road.

I must look rather funny to passers-by.  If I’m not zig-zagging with indecision as I move forward, I’m probably standing still with confusion as I listen to each voice pulling me in opposite directions.

You seem to know exactly what I’m talking about.  You said it yourself:

For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. {Romans 7:18}

The internal combat makes me tired.  I’m frustrated when I fail, when I listen to the wrong voice.  I hate that I make poor decisions and give in to my carnal side.  But, you speak words of hope to my heart.  In the midst of your own struggle against the flesh, you sought freedom in Christ.

There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.  For the law for the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.  For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin. {Romans 8:1-3}

Truth has never been so full of light and beauty, mercy and grace, redemption and promise.

Your honesty is encouragement wrapped in a present I am eager to receive.

Love,

Emily

You can find all my letters here.

For more information about the 31 Day Challenge, visit The Nester.

Dear Jane Austen {31 Days of Letters}

~ Emily ~ 7 Comments

Dear Ms. Austen,

You have an uncanny skill – a skill not often replicated among authors.  You  craft words into narrative that speaks volumes about a woman’s heart, no matter what century she lived in.   Simple greetings and common gestures become insightful social commentary with help from your quick wit and expert prose.

Even your earlier work, the juvenilia as scholars now call it, is masterful and engaging.  Your Lady Susan, a work composed solely of letters, rivals the prowess of Frances Burney in Evelina.  Although, I do wish you had finished The Watsons.  What was to become of the love triangle between Lady Osborne, Mr. Howard, and Emma?  I will forever be hanging on Mr. Watson’s fate.

Emma, however, is my favorite of your novels.  It is the perfect example of how you balance social commentary and narrative.  To an unsuspecting reader, your novels are a pleasant look into a place or person.  For those who look deeper, they are a running appraisal of life.  From the surface, Emma seems to revolve around the heroine’s matchmaking skills, but the true meat of your story lies in one person’s preoccupation with the advantages of herself in comparison to others.

I’m particularly drawn to Emma as a character, and a novel, because I share many of the same faults as the heroine.  But, through Emma, you give me hope that my pride and propensity to judge others can be tempered.

You pit Emma’s advantages against Mr. Knightley’s superior, albeit wise and kind, social values.  Mr. Knightley is able to see Emma in a realistic light, exposing her imperfections and loving her in spite of them.  With his consistent love and steady correction, Emma begins to see beyond her own advantages in life.

Mr. Knightley is the perfect foil for Emma’s inherent loftiness.  The spirit of what you’ve created in Mr.Knightley’s character, is echoed in my community – community with Christ and community with friends and family.  It often takes the patient prodding of others to promote candid appraisal of my Emma-like qualities.

After reading all of your novels, your letters and scripts, your unfinished works, I am all the more intrigued by you, Ms. Austen.  Just like I find myself in many of your heroine’s, you must put a bit of yourself in each one as well.  Since I can’t meet you in person, I immerse myself into your world, your life, your mind via the written word.

Every revisiting comes with new discovery.  I keep reading.

Sincerely,

Emily

Below are some photos from my trip to Bath – a prominent setting in Jane Austen’s novels and a vacation spot Austen enjoyed frequently.

At the Roman Baths {Bath, UK}
Assembly rooms and Bath Cathedral

 

You can find all my letters here.

For more information about the 31 Day Challenge, visit The Nester.

Dear Browned Butter {31 Days of Letters}

~ Emily ~ 2 Comments

Today, I’m sharing a letter AND a recipe.  Mondays aren’t always the best, so I hope these words inspire you to start the week by browning some butter and making a batch of these delicious shortbread cookies.

Dear Browned Butter,

If I could bottle a food smell and make it a perfume, you’d be a top contender.

Your aroma is intoxicating.  One whiff and I’m instantly transported to a land where my dog stays in permanent puppy stage, chocolate has no calories, and Thomas Hammer hands out free chai lattes.

In other words, your smell is nearly perfect.

Born from a steady, gentle heat, you emerge in simple glory.  You aren’t a cold stick of butter anymore;  you are a substance completely transformed.

Warmth.  Nuttiness.  You have it all!

You can go sweet or savory.

You can be a leading lady or a supporting actress.

There aren’t enough words for just how scrumptious you are.

Sincerely,

Emily

A couple years back, I had the privilege of working for Traci and Christa Hozie – the sibling masterminds behind the Brown Butter Cookie Company.  They take simple, fresh ingredients and turn them into melt-in-your-mouth confections.  The original Brown Butter Sea Salt flavor is addictive. It’s nearly impossible to just eat one.

Once I moved away from Cayucos (a gem of a beach town on the Central Coast of California), and didn’t have access to those delicious cookies, I trolled the internet for similar recipe concepts.

Though nothing could beat a BBCC original, warm from the pan, I’ve developed a great substitute.  I adapted a recipe from Gourmet Magazine to create these shortbread cookies.

Swapping brown sugar for regular granulated sugar adds caramel and molasses undertones to the cookie base.  Taking the extra time to brown the butter is what sets these shortbread bites apart from the rest.  A sprinkle of salt to finish the top brings all the flavors into perfect harmony.

Browning butter is easy, but requires a watchful eye.  Brown can turn to black all too quickly. Simple Recipes has a great tutorial on how to brown butter properly.

Without further ado, I give you…

Brown Butter Buttons

adapted from Gourmet Magazine

1 cup unsalted butter 

2/3 cup brown sugar (5 oz) 

2 1/3 cup flour (9 ¼ oz) 

1 teaspoon baking powder

Sea salt, for sprinkling (optional)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

Brown the butter until it becomes a light golden color.  Let it cool down a bit while you mix together the dry ingredients.

Whisk brown sugar, flour, and baking powder together in the bowl of an electric mixer.

Pour butter into flour mixture, making sure to scrape all of the brown bits from the bottom of the pan (those create lovely speckles and contain a ton of flavor).  Mix until well combined.

NOTE: It’s important to measure your dry ingredients very accurately or the dough will be dry and crumbly, making the rolling process difficult.  If this happens, brown more butter and add it to the dough 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough is maleable.

Using a small cookie scoop, measure out the dough and roll into balls.  Slightly flatten the balls before baking with the palm of your hand.

Bake at 325°for 18-20 minutes. Edges will be just starting to brown.  There may be cracks appearing – that’s okay!

Cool on wire racks.  Store in airtight containers (after cooling completely) for up to three weeks.  Freeze well.

Yield: 45 buttons 

* sprinkle a bit of sea salt on the top of each cookie when it comes out of the oven for a spark of salty/sweet flavor.

You can find all my letters here.

For more information about the 31 Day Challenge, visit The Nester.