How to Dress 1950's style

For all who are going to my little sister Sierra's birthday party, and are confused as to what we mean by dressing "1940/1950's World War II Style", I thought I'd show a few examples.

Think the Pevensie Children on Narnia.

Think Mollie McIntire or her brother Ricky from the American Girl characters.

 

 

This has to be one of my favorite clothing style era's. In fact, anything retro-ish.

 

So the style is basically made up of:

 

GIRLS:

knee-high neutral colored socks

plaid skirts or knee high simply colored dress

button up sweaters

wool knee length coat

pennyloafers

hair in long curly locks or a short bob

 

BOYS:

knee-high neutral colored socks

high collared shirts

suspenders

wool vests

wool sweaters

straight-legged trousers or knee length shorts

knee-length wool coats

leather shoes

 

 

 

 

Hope this helps! I know you won't probably have all those things on hand, but hey...just have fun!! :)

 



Levi ::Senior Photos::

I recently had the privaledge of taking Levi Guthmiller's senior photos.

His family has been friends with our family for years. It's so crazy to think he's graduatating already! But then, it was kinda crazy being a graduate last year too. My, how time flies.

Levi was so easy to photograph...I didn't even have to tell him to pose, he just went for it! :) A natural for sure.

Below are some of my favorites from the photoshoot.

 

 



The Oak and the Reed {poem}

This poem illustrates my inward struggles of my spiritual and emotional life as of late. The picture of a tree is what keeps coming to me, what I want my end goal to look like in my relationship with Him: a picture of steadfastness, trust, and inner strength...to be secure in all that God has called me to be: secure in my foundation (Jesus), and my identity. The contrasting picture is that of a reed, which bends in the wind, compromising according to it's curcimstances--the writer James mentions such in the first chapter (James 1:6), and says,

"But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does."

 Lord, help me to not doubt what you say about me, but let it become a part of who I am. I don't want to be conformed to the patterns of this world...but be TRANSFORMED by he RENEWING of my mind!

The Oak and the Reed

Only a seed was I

when You carefully planted me

cleared the ground around

by Your grace I was firmly found--

now growing and faring

through life and it's seasons

has nurtured and carried me--

and now if my heart were to look in a mirror,

 I am seeking and desiring

this one thing,

 through all the winds--

every tempest, storm, and rain,

 in life's curcimstance, in trial and change:

I desire the steadiness of the oak tree

with it's roots spread deeply--

solid and secure, like an anchor

firmly planted --a sure foundation--in the sand,

keeping the ship at bay,

And not that weary state of the reed,

which is blown and bent {this way and that},

to and fro, undecided,

with doubts frequently swaying it back and forth like

the pendulum of a clock,

the result of those those parading thoughts...

 ...and like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed,

carried with the entourage of the world's patterns

and forgetting where it was planted,

and that which it was meant to be

please, take me on that journey, Lord,

that will turn me, this floundering reed,

 into a solid oak,

a planting of righteousness

for the display of Your spendour

So are they that choose to trust in You

You make them to flourish,

going from strength to strength,

their roots filling the land,

their leaves remain green

through every season they may face

for they are planted by the River of Delights,

the Fountain of Life,

the unfailing streams of water

that will never run dry.

-Emily Kopp

Bible References:

Jeremiah 17:8

Isaiah 61:3

Psalm 80:8-11

My Abiding Hope

God faithfully reminded me today of His infinite grace. That, no matter what I think I look like (inside or out), He will use me for His glory as I commit my way to Him. It has nothing to do with my performance. Nothing to do with my perfection. It only has to do with His faithfulness.


For God has promised me, like He promised Paul,
"My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness."
Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me."
-2 Corinthians 12:9

 

    






Some days are complete roller coasters: I'm soaring one minute, down in the dumps the next. Maybe you can relate? But then God reminds me that these two things always remains the same:

His unfailing love

His abounding grace

No matter what doubt I face, no matter what the circumstance, God is faithful. He's unfailingly good in everything. His grace is so much bigger than any of my failures!! Than me! It's so vast--no waters, no oceans could compare with it's depths. And...I don't have to earn His grace! It's His beautiful gift to me every single day.

Therefore I have an abiding hope:

"And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us."

-Romans 5:5

When I sometimes struggle to know if it is God working or speaking, I remind myself of this truth: If it is not faith, hope, or love, it is not of God.

God has been working inside me, teaching me NEW ways to think and imagine. Not my own ways, but His ways. For my ways are my "old man", and are not Holy Spirit inspired. Oh Father, teach me to be renewed in the spirit of my mind--to imagine/think God-thoughts!

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD.

-Isaiah 55:8

"...And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness."

-Ephesians 4:23

How do I renew my mind to be like His? Dousing it in the Word of God and confessing His Words  out loud until I absolutely believe it with all my heart. That is how I will have the "Mind of Christ." Daily submition of my thoughts to line up with His Word. And not only that, but being built up in the Holy Spirit {by the edification of speaking in tongues}.

Phew. It surely is a day by day process, this "renewing of my mind". But it will be worth it, for like Vincent Peal said, "Change your thoughts, and you change your world." For I desire to live a life nothing short of a living, abiding hope that looks at any situation and says, "With God, nothing is impossible."

"And the Elohim of expectation (hope) fill you with all joy and peace in believing that you overflow with expectation by the power of the Holy Spirit."

-Romans 15:13

-Emily Kopp

ALL THINGS NEW

Miss Autumn has slipped away, along with the vibrant hue's of her colorful trenchcoat. Gone is the pleasantly crisp evenings and cheerful sunny afternoons. The late night sunsets have disappeared, and the early morning dawn has procrastinated. Yet...a NEW beauty has surfaced.

Glorious pastel mornings with beautiful depths of blues and corals. The neutral, faded landscape let the colors of the sky be the canvas for all of nature. Everything covered in a sparkly, brilliant glaze, delightfully mirroring the welcomed sunshine. A fully awing stillness. Grippingingly cool evenings. Bright florescent moons, rising scarlet in the horizon. Clear and open night skies proudly displaying the vast celestial brilliance. All of nature rests as it settles in for Persistent Winter. For indeed she loves to linger in pleasant North Dakota.

Despite the season's cool change, I am enjoying a whole new spectrum of delights to be thankful for. Like yesterday morning, when I discovered a dazzling blanket outside:

        I just had to capture it's stunning combination of light and frost.

For these things seem to slip away so unnoticed, and I couln't afford not to make good use of the Creator's morning handiwork.

Oh Abba, thank You for a NEW day. For second chances. For NEW experiences.

I am beginning to look at change in a positive light...for change is the door that opens up a whole storehouse of unfound experiences and joys that wouldn't have come about otherwise. What new things do you have in store for me today, YHVH?

Lamentations 3:22-23
"Because of the LORD’S great love, we are not consumed-for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness."

The word "new" in the verse above in Hebrew means "fresh". It's also to "repair, restore, renew".

YHVH's love and mercies are fresh every morning. They repair/restore. But repair/restore from what?The darkness of the past. Years ago. Even yesterday's disappointments. And not just your past, but the ancient past. Specifically, that which came after Adam's fall.

But Yeshua, the "second Adam", fulfilled all that Adam failed to do. And by doing so, restored us to the face of our Set-Apart Father. And in the process, we too are Set-Apart.

So...just think, His love/mercies are restored to you as they were in the beginning! The BEGINNING beginning. Before sin and it's seperation. When Adam and Eve walked with God. Talked with Him like you would your best friend. Met with Him face to face. That's yours today. As you ask the Lover of your soul to meet you this morning {and throughout the day}, remember what your relationship can look like. And advance toward that bright vision with confidence.

-Emily Kopp, November 17, 2011

Comes like the rain...

 This is a poem I wrote last year at about this time. The time when I had an incredible encounter with the love of the Father, when He showed me the Secret Place--a place where He met me. A vision. Let your soul soak up the words...the peace of God calm and refresh your spirit.

This is what He showed me. {I may even attempt to paint it someday, because it was so amazing.} I found myself in a valley. And it was quietly raining. Large thunderclouds built up in the horizon over the valley, like a man knitting his brow in concentration. And mountains rose at the end of the valley, dark and mysterious. It was almost like I was at Mt. Sinai, when Moses encountered God. For His presence was coming, thick as the humid air. And He came like the rain...

 I hear...

A distant rumble of thunder.

The rustling of the leaves {as if with anticipation}.

A steady shower,

yet a quiet stillness.

The Indescribable Peace...

Inner rest.

A balm for my soul.

The wide valley is silent in reverance--

--the dark, forboding mountains humble in it's renown...

...for I've found my Prince of Peace.

"So let us know...

..let us pursuit to know YHVH.

His going forth is as the morning.

And He comes to us like the rain,

like the latter rain watering the earth."

{Hosea 6:3}

-poetry by Emily Kopp



"Bless the Lord, oh my soul...

...and all that is within me. Bless His holy name; Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and forget not all His benefits-- who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases."

-Psalm 103:1-3

This verse has been my hope and purpose on the darkest, gloomiest, and hopeless of days.

When a storm rises up to were you can't see the clear skies beyond,

it is sometimes hard to put that smile on your face

and trust.

And especially hard to not let those storms

fester into your heart and attitude.

But love does break through...in fact, it shines ever brighter through the darkness.

And I realize love is not dependant on the calmness or roughness of the seasons of life.

Rather, everything that is not love falls and breaks to nothing...just like the refining of gold seperates the valuable from the cheap. For love is not cheap; it's pricless. And it lasts through the storms.

Love has began to reveal itself to me through this:

Having my Little Women book being read aloud by my sister, who is caring enough to try cheering me up after a long, long day...

A hug when I have nothing left to give...

And even my sister's opted plan of Gingerbread Waffles for Rice Pudding, because it would be less painful for me to eat (after an orthadontist appointment)...

See, these small, seemingly insignificant things are actually the things that show so much love! The things that I wouldn't have been able to notice if wasn't I was down here, helpless.  

Bottom line: The love knit together by a family is altogether irreplacable.

 I believe the reason God made families was so that when you run into a storm, you can huddle together for warmth and shelter.

"A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity."

-Proverbs 17:17