My goodness! There is just so much to say, and I'm overwhelmed just thinking about where to begin. I feel like I start off every post with, "so much has happened since I last wrote" and that's always true! So much is happening in my life and its exciting that I get to share it all with you! God is SOOOO good! For those of you who prefer to SEE instead of READ, I've included lots of pictures. :)
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Our first Valentine's Day as a couple was spent in the car driving 10 hours home to Pennsylvania. I loved every minute of it. It took us only 5 hours to reach the first Sheetz, and Mitchell was kind enough to buy me my own popcorn chicken with boom boom sauce. What a guy! With only 2 miles to go, we were almost there.....until a snow bank got in our way. The snow bank won. ;) The family had to come and dig us out! Christian basically saved our lives. "That was all me guys. While the rest were standing around watching, I was under the car freezing to death. Mitchell was kickin snow and throwing shovels, and Emily was over doing whatever she was doing...." Ohhhh Christian, you're quite the heroic comedian and we love you for it!
After that mild catastrophe was over, we were finally home and it felt SO good! I could tell Mitchell was so relieved to be there, as was I. Mother was OVER THE MOON to have her oldest son back in the house, and to have a house FULL of noise! It always melts my heart to see Mitchell with his mama; he loves her more than she knows! (It's true mother!) I was beyond excited to be back in the Steele household, and this time felt much different than the first. I truly did feel like part of the family; like I was one of their children who had come home for the weekend. I was welcomed with hugs and laughter and LOVE! My sisters were all there, and I was SO happy to see Kelli, Gracie, and Faith again! The girls were all together for the first time ever! It was soooo good.
For real though....that guy Jared Mitchell, is one of my best friends in the entire world. Not to mention, he is SO extremely talented. I'm so blessed to know him, and I can't wait to see where his music is going to take him! Follow him on SoundCloud if you want to hear more of his music.
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| Brett Eldredge |
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| Kip Moore |
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| Justin Moore |
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| Love and Theft |
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| Rascal Flatts |
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| Chris Young |
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| Thompson Square |
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| Carrie Underwood |
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This past weekend was, without a doubt, one of the most inspiring weekends I've ever had in my entire 20 years of life. God worked in amazing ways and really revealed Himself to me very obviously.
I had the opportunity to work the Girls of Grace event on Friday. I met Colleen, the tour manager, and I knew right off the bat that her and I would get along well. I followed her around for most of the day, doing whatever she needed me to do to prepare for this event. Before working this event, I never really knew what Girls of Grace was all about. Now, that I spent two days working my tail off for it, it is a cause I 100% believe in! Girls of Grace is all about showing and inspiring young girls to live freely, love fiercely, and lead fearlessly. They strive to build up the next generation of young girls who are living lives filled with grace and dignity. I saw amazing things happen in the lives of so many young girls, and I am so happy to see causes like this reach and impact the lives of girls. Confession alert: I fan girled a little bit when I saw Brit Nicole backstage with her new baby, Ella. SO CUTE! I also have never had the chance to see her perform live, and that was a treat for me! She surprised the heck out of me…….you go girl! It took all of 3 seconds for me to become her newest and biggest fan. I ran out to the lobby right after her set and bought that CD, and I've been singing it (obnoxiously and slightly off pitch) ever since. Do yourself a HUGE favor, and check it out!
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Saturday night Mitchell took me to my first ever show at the Ryman Auditorium. It was a night of firsts because 1.) I've never seen anyone perform at the Ryman and 2.) I've never been to a Steven Curtis Chapman show. It was the most amazing concert I have ever seen in my whole entire life. Not only was his singing ridiculous, after all these years, he still knows how to put on a spectacular show! It was intimate and personal and inspiring and every other good adjective. I was blown away and can't wait to see him in concert again! It's amazing to me how this guy has 18 albums under his belt and is physically incapable of writing a "bad" song. Play any single song off of any one of his 18 albums, and you aren't going to find a song that's just "mediocre". Talk about a God-given talent….
God works in very mysterious ways I tell ya! Confession #2: I have never cried so much at a concert before. God showed up and He showed up big time at the concert. I had no idea I would be convicted so deeply at this show, but I'm so glad I was. For those of you who follow my blog regularly, you know my heart for the organization Show Hope. For those of you who aren't aware, Steven Curtis Chapman and his wife started this organization and movement to care for orphans. That night he spoke quite a bit about their cause, and he sang the songs he's written about his experience with adoption. I had tears literally POURING down my face. (The video montage of real adoption footage in the background, behind a Steven Curtis Chapman singing his heart out certainly didn't help either). My heart immediately ached for all those children sitting in an orphanage just waiting for their forever family to come take them home. Those of you who have read my previous post have read my story of Hope. (If you haven't, go back to my previous post and you can read my story.) I just wanted so badly to know her. In that moment, I have never been so sure of anything in my entire life. I looked over at Mitchell and, without him having to say a word, I knew he felt the same way. I thought of our little sister Faith and how much of a blessing she is. How grateful I am that God placed her with the Steele family!
It was after this song, "When Love Takes You In", that they made the plea to gain Show Hope sponsors. I'm telling you guys, my heart was going to BURST and God's voice was so much more than a whisper. It was as if he was sitting next to me shouting in my ear "do it!" I looked over at Mitchell and again, I could read his mind. He raised his hand and they came over and gave us an information packet. For $35 a month ($17.50 per person), we are sponsoring the Show Hope Adoption Aid Grant Fund. I have never heard God's voice so clearly in my entire life. It was so clear that this was something Mitchell and I needed to do. When it's time for us to start the adoption process to bring our daughter home, we are going to need the help of Show Hope. If we expect others to help us bring our little girl home, then we need to help others bring their children home, too! There was no way we could have left that show without doing it. Both Mitchell and I felt SO much peace after making this decision, there was no doubt it was the right one.
It was after this song, "When Love Takes You In", that they made the plea to gain Show Hope sponsors. I'm telling you guys, my heart was going to BURST and God's voice was so much more than a whisper. It was as if he was sitting next to me shouting in my ear "do it!" I looked over at Mitchell and again, I could read his mind. He raised his hand and they came over and gave us an information packet. For $35 a month ($17.50 per person), we are sponsoring the Show Hope Adoption Aid Grant Fund. I have never heard God's voice so clearly in my entire life. It was so clear that this was something Mitchell and I needed to do. When it's time for us to start the adoption process to bring our daughter home, we are going to need the help of Show Hope. If we expect others to help us bring our little girl home, then we need to help others bring their children home, too! There was no way we could have left that show without doing it. Both Mitchell and I felt SO much peace after making this decision, there was no doubt it was the right one.
It's so easy to feel so hopeless and helpless when I think about all the orphans in the world without families. It absolutely breaks my heart and I know that if there was anything I could do, I would do it in a heartbeat! I know that someday, I will be Hope's mama, but its hard for someone like me, someone who is a very much "do it now" type person, to feel like I could and should be doing something NOW. This is exactly what my heart needed; God must have known that. If you're interested in learning more about Show Hope, click on the tab on my homepage!
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| Show Hope |
I guess you could say love took me over that night! ;) (Pun intended). If you haven't heard Steven Curtis Chapman's newest record, do yourself yet ANOTHER favor and listen to it!
I don't know about any of you out there, but I'm the type of person who desires to see the entire finished picture before taking a step. It gives me physical anxiety sometimes not knowing what's going to happen, or not knowing how my life is going to turn out. It is a constant struggle to trust fully and take steps (sometimes leaps) of faith into unknown territory. My patience is constantly tested on a daily basis, because God doesn't reveal the big picture to us right away. He does that on purpose so we have literally no other choice but to trust in Him. I was SO happy when I first heard the song Glorious Unfolding because that's EXACTLY what it talks about. Our story is so far from over and the unfolding of our stories is going to be GLORIOUS!
If I think about it, seeing the big picture would be like reading the ending of a book before you get there. Skipping all the other pages and reading how it ends, wheres the fun in that? The thrill in reading stories comes from eagerly flipping the pages and seeing how every single page unfolds. Knowing the ending would defeat the purpose, just like seeing the whole picture would prevent you from living every day fully. God so desperately wants us to be in awe of His mighty hand in our lives, and if you let Him work, you'll see that His works are beautiful and perfect! Even as I write this, I feel a strong sense of peace in NOT knowing all the answers. God hasn't failed me yet, and He won't start now. If you're at all like me, there's freedom in letting go, and letting God write His story with your life. After all, we were created for HIS glory, right? God is writing my life story and its going to be far better than anything I could ever write myself…and the same is true for you all.
If I think about it, seeing the big picture would be like reading the ending of a book before you get there. Skipping all the other pages and reading how it ends, wheres the fun in that? The thrill in reading stories comes from eagerly flipping the pages and seeing how every single page unfolds. Knowing the ending would defeat the purpose, just like seeing the whole picture would prevent you from living every day fully. God so desperately wants us to be in awe of His mighty hand in our lives, and if you let Him work, you'll see that His works are beautiful and perfect! Even as I write this, I feel a strong sense of peace in NOT knowing all the answers. God hasn't failed me yet, and He won't start now. If you're at all like me, there's freedom in letting go, and letting God write His story with your life. After all, we were created for HIS glory, right? God is writing my life story and its going to be far better than anything I could ever write myself…and the same is true for you all.
"And this is going to be a glorious unfolding.
Just you wait and see and you will be amazed.
We've just got to believe the story is so far from over.
So hold on to every promise God has made to us.
And watch this Glorious Unfolding!"
Until next time, Keep Calm and Listen to THIS SONG! While you do that, I'll be on my way to Florida!!!! #Springbreak2014
AND this one!
PS: Francesca Batistelli's new album "If We're Honest" is available for
COMING APRIL 22 2014!
-E
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