He called her Hephzibah

I am so glad you're here & I'm so excited for us to journey together through the 2024 scriptures and calendar paintings!  Lord willing, on the first of each month I will post a devotion that dives deeper into the scripture on your calendar page. *You do not have to own a calendar to follow along! *I send out email reminders with a link on the first of each month.  If you'd like to sign up, you can do so by sending me your email address  here ! Since we have some new friends joining us this year, I wanted to take this opportunity to also introduce myself!   My name is Emily.  Jesus rescued me from death and has brought me through a fair share of heartache.  I have all brothers, lots of fish, and a pup named Winnie.  Winnie is an ESA & therapy dog, so she frequently accompanies me to the doctor.  From 2013-2021 I was an elementary school teacher, tutor, and reading specialist.  I worked with the best kids and I miss them every day. In 2021, I had a grand mal seizure w

The calendar. Wow. Can I just say…WOW. It started off as a fun way to raise money for medical bills.  It turned into a community when the Lord would not relent that the devotions would go with the paintings.  It has been so fun and so encouraging to hear the different ways God has used this little 2023 calendar. In January of this year, I knew I wanted to try to create another calendar for 2024.  So I started off strong with completing the January 2024 page a whole year in advance.  Then life happened and I didn’t get February done like I planned.  But for the next six months whenever I could steal little moments to paint I did so- sometimes with the calendar in mind and sometimes just for fun.  Then summer came and I hit a wall.  You might remember that July’s whale never got his devotional.  So instead of Christmas in July, how about we have July in Christmas? This has been the hardest post to write.  I have wrestled with what to say or not say.  My prayer is that it encourages you.