Em here~

 Wow, where has the time gone? 

Chances are, no one will even see this. But just in case, I wanted to share what's up!! Remember me?! 

Believe it or not, I am officially a college graduate! I graduated last month from with my Bachelor's in Social Work. I'm now home for the summer, soaking up some time with the family and raising support before moving across the ocean for the next year

YEP! 

I've always been a dreamer. Dreamed big things and never set my limits. and then, my dreams started to die. I stopped chasing them, thinking I had to live another way and fit this certain mold… that dreams were dreams and they couldn’t be reality.

I started to believe that my dreams were too far out of reach. With that, came a loss of self.

And then I realized that maybe my dreams aren’t so out there after all. Maybe I really can chase after them. Maybe my dreams aren’t just dreams, but really truly the path the lord is taking me on.

So I ran towards them.

And now I find myself two and a half months away from boarding a plane with a one way ticket to a place where I’ll spend a year living what was once just a dream, a little inkling on my heart. 

Because this semester, the Lord has taught me to dream again. And that maybe I get to say no to one dream to say yes to another; the one I am confident the Lord is calling me to for right now… the one of moving across the world. 

I’m giddy thinking about it. Opening the door to big dreams once again, because all of a sudden, they don’t feel so out of reach.

I’m in awe at how the Lord lets me dream. And how it all started with a dream.

You see, towards the end of October, 2005, my mom had this vivid dream. Two little Asian girls standing in a crib in her bedroom. It sounds crazy, but that’s all it took. The Lord used this dream to so clearly speak to my mom and lay adoption on her heart. She called my dad the next day and shared with him. The rest is history.

But it took a dream. If it weren’t for that dream, we never would’ve found ourselves in Hunan a year later meeting AnnaClaire.

And we definitely wouldn’t have found ourselves back every 2 years after that until our family felt complete with 10.

And if it weren’t for the adoption journey and all the Lord taught me through that, through seeing the gospel lived out so clearly in front of my eyes, through stepping foot in a Chinese orphanage and seeing the effects of a world so broken by sin… I never would’ve found myself passionate about orphans or adoption or this country.

And if it weren’t for those adoption trips, soaking in every sight and smell and taste of too much rice, i never would’ve fallen in love with this country that is so beyond anything that feels normal, and yet so much a part of who I am. I never would’ve fallen in love with that place.

And I never would’ve had on my heart to live there for a summer, getting to share the best news there ever was with the friends I met. I never would’ve been broken for the reality that they had never heard his name, or had the desire to go back for longer and actually move there!!

But because of one dream. ONE dream that I wasn’t even the one to have. This is where I find myself today. Saying no to one dream that I can run in the direction of another and see how the Lord uses all of these little passions, desires, and dreams to allow me to do what he has made me to do.

And to think, it all started with a dream.

I can only say so much here, but I'd LOVE to share more so please be in touch with me!! (emilyann.horner@gmail.com)

I must be fully supported by August 1 in order for this dream to be a reality! If you have any desire to give, email me! I also wanted to share the link to a t-shirt that some friends helped me design to help raise support!

www.booster.com/goinjoy

Thanks for walking so many years of life with me! I never would've guessed when I started to blog 9 years ago that this is where I would be today, but praise the Lord for all the ways he works and his abundant faithfulness throughout.