My Grandmother’s Childhood Christmas Story

One Christmas Eve, my grandmother and her brother were determined to find the hiding place for their Christmas gifts. They searched high and low, in the smokehouse and all throughout the family farm to try to find their presents. Despite all of their searching, they couldn’t find a single present. Their excitement turned to disappointment. They figured that there would be no Christmas gifts this year, and went to bed that night discouraged, dreading waking up the next morning.

The next day, on Christmas morning, their parents came and woke them up, and called them into the family room. They reluctantly arose with little expectation of anything special. To their utter surprise, it was the biggest Christmas they ever had. There were toys for everyone! The stockings that once appeared limp and empty were filled with apples, oranges and nuts. There was more than they even hoped for.

This morning, when my grandmother shared her childhood Christmas memory with me, I imagined her & her brother searching for the toys, disappointed faces lying in bed on Christmas Eve, and their bright eyes of wonder on Christmas morning.

Her memory encouraged me in my current season, and I believe it will do the same for you.

I was reminded of the song lyrics from Waymaker:

“Even when I don’t see it, You’re working. Even when I don’t feel it, You’re working.”

Just like my grandmother’s parents were working on a surprise for their children even when the evidence appeared bleak, God is working on blessings in the background. We can’t always see it, but we have to trust & believe the Father’s heart. The Bible says, “It’s the glory of God to conceal a matter, But the glory of kings is to search out a matter.” (Proverbs 25:2) God specializes in hiding great gifts in unlikely places.

So if you’re believing for something you haven’t yet seen, and feel disappointment in your seemingly empty search, trust that God is still at work. Begin to expect again. Hope again. Have faith for what you cannot yet see.

There are hidden, stored up blessings that will be revealed in due time.

Emonne Markland

Leave Your Beauty Mark

Overcoming Christmas Loneliness

Have you ever felt alone in a crowded place? I remember one night being unintentionally separated from my family at a downtown Christmas tree lighting. There were hundreds of people everywhere... smiling, taking pictures with the sparkles of Christmas lights shining through their eyes...Merry music rang throughout the streets & sidewalks... while I waited and looked for my husband for what felt like forever. With no battery life in my phone to call him, my heart sank and I began to feel not just lost, but sad. In time, we were reunited...but I never forgot that feeling of being alone & lost in a crowd of merry people.

This holiday season, I believe that every day we encounter people who are not just experiencing a moment of loneliness, but a lifestyle. And no matter what season of life you’re in, we all have something that we’re believing to see change. Many people are lost, and really struggling with dark feelings and circumstances. Maybe you’re feeling that way this holiday season, and this year has sent unexpected blow after blow and you’re just ready for it all to be over. I remember feeling like that in 2018, and even spoke with someone today who is feeling that way as they grieve the loss of several loved ones a few weeks apart. It’s so important to acknowledge that not everyone feels happy this season.

Life is hard, and it’s okay not to feel merry by default this Christmas.

We all experiencing real life, real emotions and real disappointments. My encouragement to you is to take time to process your emotions. Don’t and find something to be thankful for.

If you’re it’s up to us to give our attention, encouragement and kindness to those around us. When we take the time to look up & speak up, we can make a difference in someone’s life. Ultimately, placing hope and trust in Jesus helps to bring light to those dark places.

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This week, my church is putting on a Christmas production that creates an environment where you can not only experience a spectacular show, but find a place to belong. So if you’re reading this, you’re invited! The shows are Wednesday - Sunday and are FREE for everyone. And if you’re out of state (Hey Texas!) you can host a watch party with your family to view together at home one night! Visit Christmas.victory.com or watch on YouTube. Our family will be attending and serving throughout the week, so let me know when you’re coming.

Most importantly, I want to encourage you: don’t spend the holidays alone. Don’t let those negative thoughts and emotions take over. Take some time to have fun, laugh, be a blessing to someone else, get around positive people and uplifting environments. Interrupt the darkness with light.

Wholeheartedly,

Emonne Markland

Don't Jump

As sweat drips from his brow, a man peers over the edge of a bridge to the speeding cars below. Wind blows through his hair as his heart beats fast and hard, feeling as if it will beat clear through his shirt. Thoughts of what happened swarm through his mind as the weight of his mistake holds him hostage, frozen in time. I can't take this anymore. I've had enough. I failed and there's no turning back.

He looks to his right and his left, wipes his brow and takes a deep breath of release before he takes his fateful plunge. When all of a sudden...

"DON'T JUMP!!!"

The loud, stern cry of a faraway bystander holds him back. The bystander walks calmly and cautiously in his direction with their hands in the air, reasoning with him to come down and realize that jumping won't solve his problem...

 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord:  “Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.”  So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him. Then the word of the Lord came to me.  He said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel (Jeremiah 18:1-6 NIV).

Many of us have been on the Potter's wheel lately. Tossing and turning. Swirling and stretching. Painfully growing through the discomfort and heat of the process. I know it's been tough. The potter's wheel isn't glamorous. It isn't pretty. It's messy and quite confusing. It takes everything in you to stay the course and allow God to shape you and mold you through the trials of life, many of which make no sense to your logical thinking and reasoning. And yet, if we jump and abort the process, we will be left as an unfinished lump of clay, always wondering what could have and would have happened if only we'd stayed the course.

As someone who is right there with you, let me encourage you today. Before you make a drastic move and try to fix the circumstance yourself in an attempt to assist God (because of course, the God who runs the universe needs our help in running our lives), don't jump. Don't jump off the Potter's wheel. God is working in you something far greater and bigger than what your mind can even conceive right now. If you want to be used by Him in a great way, you've got to submit to the process. Looking back over your life, I'm sure that you can recall a time of transition and growth where you thought there was no way you would make it through. And yet, as you stayed the course and allowed the Potter to have His way, you came out of that situation as a better person and are thankful you went through it. The same thing applies to now. God is molding us, shaping us, and preparing us for His work through us. He is forming us into vessels of honor. And in the end, He will be glorified in our lives, sanctified and useful for Him.

But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor.  Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work (2 Timothy 2:20-21 NIV).

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11 NIV)

Emonne Markland

Leave Your Beauty Mark

P.S. For more posts on this topic, check out Vessels and my mom's latest post, Vessels of Honor where she shares 5 keys to becoming a vessel of honor.

Where is Your Trust?

“What sorrow awaits my rebellious children,” says the LORD. “You make plans that are contrary to mine. You make alliances not directed by my Spirit, thus piling up your sins. For without consulting me, you have gone down to Egypt for help. You have put your trust in Pharaoh’s protection. You have tried to hide in his shade. But by trusting Pharaoh, you will be humiliated, and by depending on him, you will be disgraced. For though his power extends to Zoan and his officials have arrived in Hanes, all who trust in him will be ashamed. He will not help you. Instead, he will disgrace you.” (Isaiah 30:1-5 NLT)

Beware of making your own plans without consulting God; trusting in the help of a leader instead of the right hand of the Lord. Make God your strength. Consult Him for your plans. Seek His path.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. (Proverbs 3:5, 6 NLT)

Emonne Markland Leave Your Beauty Mark

Promise

Yesterday, it rained. All day.

My husband and I made use of the rainy weather by staying inside and cleaning up our home. Later in the day, I faced the rain and went out to Starbucks for some quiet time and reading. (By the way, I tried a pumpkin chai tea latte as suggested by the barista and it was delicious!) I decided not to take my laptop, which I usually never go to Starbucks without, and simply brought my bible and favorite book: Beauty Will Save the World by Brian Zahnd. In chapter 2, “The Greatest Wonder of All,” he shares a glorious moment he had atop a mountain. As he took a moment to breathe and bask in the beauty that surrounded him, a deer came alongside him and his antlers formed a perfect frame to the sunset. It was a moment of glorious wonder that he said he will never forget.

As I read the story, I could only image how beautiful that sight must have been. My imagination ran wild as I tried to place myself in his viewpoint, visualizing a mountaintop sunset framed by brown antlers. What a sight that must have been. After I finished reading, I headed home and noticed that there was a festival going on in my city. A large ferris wheel was going round and round and the tents covered the street to keep the goods dry. Amidst the rain, the contrast of flashing lights from the fair rides was an interesting contrast to behold. Is this my “wonder moment”? I thought. I parked alongside the festival gate and snapped a few photos of the scene with my iPhone. I used various filters on Instagram to enhance the shots, but didn’t care for the mood that was captured.

I continued home and prepared to go out again to the grocery store with my family. After about an hour and lots of team work, my husband and I completed our shopping trip and headed outside. As we looked into the sky, we were captivated by the most beautiful, bright, full rainbow we had ever seen. We gasped as we beheld this unexpected display of glorious wonder amidst an ordinary Sunday afternoon. Customers all throughout the parking lot were taking photos and gazing into the sky, grocery carts pushed aside as the priorities of the evening were delayed in this moment of divine beauty. THIS was my wonder moment.

As I beheld the rainbow, this thought entered my heart:

The promise is worth the rain.

Every rain drop that fell from the sky throughout the day was worth the display of the magnificent rainbow. I want you to know that the rain in your life will be worth the rainbow that’s coming. Although storms seem to last forever, and there seems to be no end in sight, there is a promise on the other side of your storm.

Hebrews 6:13-14 tells us that God gave Abraham a promise and swore by Himself, because there was nothing higher to swear by, saying, “Surely blessing I will bless you and multiplying I will multiply you.” Psalm 12:6-7 tells us that the words of the Lord are pure, like silver tried in a furnace purified seven times and that He will keep His words and preserve them forever. We all have received promises from God, spoken directly to our hearts and found within His word. God is not a man that He should lie, and He’s not toying with our emotions. If He said He'll do it, He will do it! The question is, are we willing to wait? There’s that gap of time between when God spoke and when the promise manifests when we must trust God and not allow impatience and murmuring delay the process. Hebrews 6:15 tells us that after Abraham patiently endured he received the promise.

In Psalm 27, titled An Exuberant Declaration of Faith, David proclaims,

I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord; Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord! (vs. 16-17).

My encouragement to you (and myself) today is not to lose heart! Don’t try to make a “wonder moment” happen by creating your own promise in a time of impatience, as I did with the ferris wheel photo. God is bringing your promise in His timing. A promise that will be worth every teardrop of rain we’ve cried and every loud roaring storm that we’ve endured. In the meantime, our job is to stand firm by faith, patiently endure and wait for God. The promise is coming. The rainbow is worth the rain.

Emonne Markland

Leave Your Beauty Mark

Sonflower: Follow the Son

A few Sundays ago, while walking with my daughter, I came across a field of beautiful sunflowers. I’ve always loved this unique type of flower and was so excited to get a snapshot up close, which is pictured above. I gazed at how beautifully they stand tall and erect, facing high to the sky. Later that evening, I decided to post one of my photos to Instagram and include a fun fact about sunflowers. As I began to review various facts, I was fascinated by the interesting characteristics of this beautiful creation. It is believed that the name “sunflower” is connected to both it’s look and behavior. When you look at a sunflower, you can see how it resembles the sun: a large, circular head and bright, yellow petals (which are actually individual flowers) encircling the center. However, the most fascinating fact about the sunflower is found in a process called heliotropism.

Heliotropism is the process in which a sunflower follows and faces the sun’s position in the sky. In the morning when the sun comes up, its head points East towards to sunrise. During the day, there are cells in the stem of the sunflower that cause its stem to tilt the sunflower’s head to receive the maximum amount of sunlight, tracking the movement of the sun throughout the day. At evening time, the sunflower’s head faces West towards the sunset, causing the sunflower to follow a 180 degree turn every day from sunrise to sunset. In the evening after the sun goes down, the sunflower goes back to its original position facing the East, awaiting the rising of the sun and is ready to follow the sun’s path again. After going into full bloom, the sunflower ceases its heliotropism behavior and stays in an East-facing position.

For the Lord God is a Sun and Shield; the Lord bestows [present] grace and favor and [future] glory (honor, splendor, and heavenly bliss)! No good thing would He withhold from those who walk uprightly. (Psalm 84:11 AMP)

They looked to Him and were radiant, and their faces were not ashamed. (Psalm 34:5 NKJV)

Truly the light is sweet, and it is pleasant for the eyes to behold the sun. (Ecclesiastes 11:7 NKJV)

As children of the Light, we can learn so much from the beautiful sunflower as she silently teaches us to follow her example. Just as the sunflower follows and faces the sun from sunrise to sunset, we must constantly keep our focus on the Son and follow His path. As we do this, we receive the power and energy from on high to continue to grow and bloom into all that God has for us. This past Spring, I did a post entitled "Bloom" and another entitled "The Whisper of Spring" where I discussed the beauty of Springtime and how God is bringing us into a season of freshness, beauty, high achievement and development. This summer, let's be encouraged by the story of the sunflower, a beautiful summer blossom, and continue to allow our lives to bloom. Let's follow the example of the sunflower and become flowers of the Son, Sonflowers who constantly keep our eyes fixed on Him and are empowered in His presence. When we look to Him, we are able to throw off the head-lowering countenance of shame and lift our heads high as we reflect the beautiful light of the Son and shine brightly in a dark world.

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2 NIV)

Emonne Markland

Leave Your Beauty Mark

P.S. Have you entered the 1 year blogiversary giveaway? A Stabucks or MAC gift card is up for grabs! Enter here! The winner will be announced next week!

The Attractive Factor: A Bride for Isaac

Hey everyone! Thank you so much for reading and commenting on my previous post, The Attractive Factor. I decided to do a video for the Bride for Isaac post and switch it up a bit. It's a little long, but I know it will bless you. :) I pray that you are encouraged by this story and continue to trust God along your journey!

Emonne Markland / Leave Your Beauty Mark

youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gj01KCzIboE

Stay tuned for part 3 of The Attractive Factor where my husband and I will be sharing our love story!

There’s a Blessing in the Pressing

A little over a year ago, I made the choice to press in & spend some quality time with God and really delight myself in Him. I read though the Word, prayed and made it a point to seek Him more than usual. I was pregnant at the time, and my husband had to work that Saturday, so I decided to spend some time with my mom and grandmother. We met up at a local mall around 10 am, not long after I had spent my time in prayer. We weren't really shopping, we just walked around and enjoyed each other’s company. Well, as we were leaving, I felt an urge to stop by the Nine West store. It was out of the way from where we parked, but my mom and grandmother agreed to press on with me anyways. As I walked into the store and looked toward the sale section (of course), I couldn’t believe my eyes. A very prominent speaker and Bible teacher that I admire greatly and had always wanted to meet was shopping in the store with her young children and assistant. I was so excited that I seemed to be drawn to her like a magnet! I joyfully approached her and with a large, and probably silly-looking, smile I asked, “Mrs. So-and-so, can I have a hug?!” She graciously smiled back and gave me a warm hug. I went on to tell her how much I admired her ministry and had just read about her in the NY Times the night before. After kindly juggling the task of watching her children and listening to me, she said a few words to me and exited the store. Now honestly, I could care less what shoes were on sale after that! I know without a shadow of a doubt that God led me to that store not only to give me a desire of my heart (Ps. 37:4), but to reveal to me that when I press in, despite the inconvenience it may seem to cause, there is a blessing on the other side. This week, let's keep this simple principle in mind: When you press, you get blessed.

Press on, beautiful ladies!

Emonne Markland

Leave Your Beauty Mark

Bloom

Bloom: a state or time of beauty, freshness and vigor; a state of high development or achievement; to mature into achievement of one's potential; to flourish in youthful beauty, freshness or excellence; to shine out; glow

A number of weeks ago, the word “bloom” sprang up in my heart. Given the fact that I absolutely love doing word studies, I immediately began to search high and low for the various definitions of bloom and the scriptures associated with it. I even preached a message on it at my church! Over the last few weeks, a new joy and hope for this Spring began to rise up in my heart. As you know from my previous post, I absolutely love Spring. But this study of the word "bloom" and what the Bible has to say about Spring has given me a new-found love for the season. There is so much goodness packed into this five-letter word that is rarely used outside of Springtime and often overlooked. I truly believe that our Heavenly Father is speaking in the midst of this season, and through this simple yet profound word. My sisters, my friends, it is officially time to bloom. It’s time to arise from our sleep, as a seed rests in the darkness of winter below the ground, and spring forth into the newness that God has for us.

“For as the earth bursts with spring wildflowers, and as a garden cascades with blossoms, So the Master, God, brings righteousness into full bloom and puts praise on display before the nations.” Is. 61:11 MSG

This past weekend, we celebrated the beautiful sacrifice of Jesus' death on the cross and His glorious resurrection. As a result of His life, death and resurrection, righteousness and praise have sprung forth throughout the world as people of all nations have received Him by faith. In other words, because He rose, we can arise! Because He bloomed, we can bloom!

This Spring, I am full of expectation for God to move in a great way in our lives and resurrect some things that have lay dormant. As my mom says in her book, Pray-ers Bear Fruit, "without a death, there can be no resurrection". Maybe you have been in a dry season for a while and it seems like God's voice has been a faint whisper, or maybe even silent. Maybe you've experienced the death of a dream and feel like there is no hope for a new beginning. Maybe you're in a relationship that is struggling to survive and you feel like the love is long gone. Oh, my sister, Jesus is about to resurrect your situation. He is fully aware of and well able to raise up that dead situation in your life and breathe a new life into it this season. Encourage yourself in the Lord. Build your faith through the Word. Don't believe the enemy's report. Believe the report of the Lord! He has positioned you for a miracle this season! We are about to see things that we've never seen before, do things we've never done before and go places we've never gone before.

Get ready to shine. Get ready to spring forth. Get ready to glow. Get ready to bloom.

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Emonne Markland

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