The here and now

Hello friends,
My goal is to update my blog every day but yesterday it was impossible to do so (I'll tell you why just a little bit later). So today is a double whammy. My thought for today was to update where I am and what God is doing in the here and now. Let's begin with yesterday...
 
     Yesterday I worked a 16.5 hr day at a wedding at Rosewood Inn. This is such a lovely place that my Uncle Joe and Aunt Val own and operate. Let me tell you their story because it's just so great.
     My Uncle Joe (my dad's oldest brother) was a contractor and met a wonderful woman, now my Aunt Val, who was an interior designer. They fell in love and got married. They found this 1870's Itlianate and decided to restore the house to be a beautiful bed and breakfast. It is such a beautiful house  and a great place to stay. (please go to the website to see more photos of this amazing place)

     So then, because the house has such a wonderful backyard, they started having weddings on the property. The weddings are in an amazing wedding garden build in the old foundation of barn, complete with gorgeous ferns and ponds. Check it out.

     The reception is held in a huge tent behind here. These are some seriously elegant weddings. It's amazing how sophisticated outdoor weddings can be. This is their 3rd summer of weddings and had about 30 weddings this summer.
     I love being a part of them and working at them. While it's long hours and a whole lot of work, it's just such a joy to know that you're making the best day of someone's life happen just like they want it.
     So that's what kept me busy and employed yesterday and most of the summer. And speaking of weddings and the inn, it leads me to something that is a happening in my here and now also: wedding planning :)


     I am so excited to be marrying my best friend, Jared Alan Grandlienard, on June 16th, 2012 at...take a guess... ROSEWOOD INN! I could not think of a better place to get married than somewhere that I know so well and is a family business. It has been such a blessing to know that that's where Jared and I will be beginning our life together as we celebrate with family and friends.
     Wedding planning as been so much fun. I know that at times it is going to be, and already has been, stressful, but I seriously have the best family and friends helping me out. That's not to mention my amazing fiance who has been such a help and loves planning with me :) This is definitely somewhere I have seen God's hand working. Before we had decided to get married at the Inn, it was stressful to look at venues and prices and such. Since we just came into town, Jared and I don't have a home church in the area that we definitely wanted to get married at. But God kept reminding me of my job through 

Phillipians 4:6 

       "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."

It's amazing what happens when we really truly do this. I still have a lot of work to do on having my heart in this state always but God is showing me how He provides and has the BEST ideas ever.


     Along with planning a wedding and getting ready for married life, God has been faithful in providing for me while living at home. I was blessed with babysitting jobs this summer along with working weddings at the Inn. While I loved this work, I wanted so desperately to find a teaching job. 
     And God is so good. I am now a part-time math teacher at Portland Alternative Education. I teach two days a week to students who have not found success at regular high schools and are working towards graduating with a high school diploma. Along with this I am employed as a substitute teacher.
     It has been quite the adventure as a teacher so far. My job is nothing like a regular teaching job at a high school and middle school but is right where God wants me in the here and now. The kids aren't easy to deal with and are a rough crowd, which can be very frustrating and discouraging at times. There are days when I cry out to God saying "Am I even doing anything? I don't feel as if I am being effective at all. I'm ready to give up, LORD". And this is when He shows me that these kids are hurting souls; that even though they defy me and might hate me at times, that God LOVES them so unconditionally and He is calling me to do the same. This is the verse He whispers in my ear over and over again.

        “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

 John 13: 34-35

    This is my here and now. Learning to love as He loves me, learning to teach as He has called me to do and learning to love every minute of this adventure He has me on.

Peace, prayers and blessings,

      Emily
 

You are cherished