He called her Hephzibah

If you've had a calendar for the last year or two, you may have noticed a slight difference in this one.  Instead of just scripture, I decided to mix it up a bit and include some favorite hymns.  Here in February is the first of six that we will explore in 2025.  Be Thou My Vision,  O Lord of my heart Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art Thou my best thought, by day or by night Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light Be Thou my wisdom, and Thou my true word I ever with Thee and Thou with me my Lord Thou my great Father, and I Thy true son Thou in me dwelling and I with Thee one Riches I heed not, nor vain, empty praise Thou mine inheritance, now and always Thou and Thou only be first in my heart High King of heaven, my treasure Thou art High King of heaven, my victory won May I reach heaven's joys, O bright heaven's sun Heart of my own heart, whatever befall Still be my vision, O ruler of all Heart of my own heart, whatever befall Still be my vision, O rule...

  Happy New Year! Before we dive into the devotion, I want to take a moment to introduce myself to our new readers! My name is Emily. There was a time that I struggled with that very sentence due to a traumatic brain injury.  The full story and some yearly updates can be found here , or under the My Story section above.  I am the only girl among 3 brothers, the owner of a service dog, and a wannabe artist. Thank you for being here.  Thank you for your support and your prayers. Jesus is getting me through things I never expected to see on this side of heaven.  I hope and pray this blog is a source of encouragement that points you towards our great Shepherd.     If you want to receive a monthly reminder about these devotions and you didn't get the email this morning, please let me know .  It is optional, of course.  Just a reminder on the 1st of each month that there's a new devotion to go along with the calendar.  Occasionally I'm late ge...

Thanks for being here, friends!  I am so glad you will be joining me as we journey through the calendar paintings in 2025! If you would like to join our mailing list, please email me at:   emfwlr.paints@gmail.com Thank you! The proceeds from your purchase in my shop go directly to my current medical expenses.  The immediate use of those funds will be a haircut, a dentist appointment, and a new experimental treatment that I started this past fall. The haircut- the haircut is being included because I have matts in my hair.  I am unable to take care of my hair the way I used to- so I either let my precious mom work on it for hours or she cuts it for me.  It's been a really long time since I've had a professional cut- I'm hoping my hair girl can help with the matting and still give me something that looks half way decent.  I am nervous about this appointment, but I know it needs to be done. The dentist- I recently started having problems with some of my teeth....

  "Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.  Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.  Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of His creatures." -James 1:16-18 I had a mental breakdown right before Thanksgiving this year.  I’m not over it yet & I honestly just feel so drained that I don’t even have words to put on the page.  I’ve tried so many times to start this post and then deleted it. What encouragement is there?  What hope do we have?   How do I try to convey genuine encouragement when my own heart is in despair?  Even in the midst of a season of celebrating the birth of our Savior!  What is wrong with me? These are some of the questions my heart and mind are wrestling through right now. In my struggle, the Holy Spirit reminded me of this song: If you want to rea...

 LORD, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth! -Psalm 8:1 How are you doing today? Do you have peace? Are you in panic? Are you indifferent? There seems to be so much noise in my life right now.  Clamor, banging cymbals, fear mongering, boasting...whew I'm exhausted just typing that.  And to be honest, that's just my social media feed...that doesn't count the fears and worries that swirl around in my own heart and mind each day. And yet, David reminds us in this Psalm that God cares about us.  In the great expanse of the universe, we humans are small creatures.  We don't even compare to the size of a polar bear or the ocean, much less the galaxy.  What is man, that You are mindful of him?  That is David's question.  Have you ever stopped to ponder how small we really are?  Yet,  we are so loved by a God who is so mindful of us.   Psalm 8: My dear Christian, if you are distraught today, may I gently ask you  "where...