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Comfort and Joy

24 Friday Dec 2021

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The other day I woke up singing “oh tidings of comfort and joy” and for some reason it hasn’t left my heart as it’s still singing in me. I was sure there was a reason so I started to dig a little deeper.

“Then young women will dance and be glad, young men and old as well. I will turn their mourning into gladness; I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow.” Jeremiah 31:13 NIV

The verse speaks of what God will give us in place of something else. He is so good at that. He offers us what only he can give for what has impaired our hope. Our joy. Our healing. Our restoration. Our peace. Our mourning and sorrow can be felt by Him. Our pain is his pain. Our sorrow is his sorrow. He knows all to well the ache of the human heart in times of suffering. He promises to deliver and comfort us from the hand of things stronger than us. Anxiety. Grief. Disappointment. Pain and even death. God is the only one who could do a trade like that. This is what the angel spoke of “Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. You and I are apart of “all” people.

He will give us comfort AND joy. I wrestled with this because of the grief in my heart lately. I desperately needed something and he saw fit to bring me both. The song in my heart confirmed it. He was saying “I will do this for you. I see, hear, and know you. My hands are stronger than the ones that threaten and consume you. I am Immanuel, God with you. Your comforter. Your Father. Your peace. Your joy.”

I don’t know where your heart is today, but I do know Gods heart towards you. It’s full of love, grace, mercy, comfort, and joy. He’s more than enough to fill the empty and broken places in you. This Christmas is more than the tangible gifts, it’s about the intangible that will heal and bless your soul. What a gift!

Merry Christmas from our home to yours!

Peace over you and yours,

Emilie ❤️

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Did You Know?

17 Wednesday Nov 2021

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Do you know how loved you are? Not the subjective conditional love that can’t make up its mind from one moment to the next. I’m talking about the I died for you kind of love. The love that fights for you. Believes in you. Protects you. Sees the best in you. A no matter what comes I’m not going anywhere love. If you know Jesus you know he IS this love. The love that sees you and knows you and still went to the cross for you. No one loves like Jesus. His love sets you free. His love is unconditional. We search and desire for someone to love us like this. Truth is…only Jesus could love this flawlessly. Us humans even on our best day will fail the ones we love, but His love never fails. Don’t believe the lie that you’re unloveable or hard to love. You, my love, were created out of love, to be loved, and to share this love. What a lovely truth! ❤️

John 15:13. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.

One Day at a Time

20 Wednesday Mar 2019

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The other day my alarm went off and panic set in. I was afraid of what the day would bring. Am I enough to handle it, whatever it is? As I laid there I felt this reassuring tug and the words “you got through Mike’s cancer, you can get through this.”

We try to tackle life all at once. We want the blue prints. The plan. And when we don’t have it we go bonkers with anxiety, stress and frustration.

As days go by and situations develop in ways we didn’t see coming we need more grace to live one day at a time. The unknowns of life. The anxiety of what needs to be done. The fear of ifs. The torment of how. Only Jesus can bring relief, peace, and help.

The enemy wants and needs you to believe that YOU have to figure it all out….today…right now. That my friends is a lie! Gods word says…So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today. {Matthew 6:34} God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble. {Psalm 46:1}

We may not have it all figured out and guess what we don’t need to. Can we be ok with that? Can we trust that Jesus has gone before us and will lead us into victory? Can we believe that his heart is for us even in all things?

My hope today is that yes, we can! We can be trusting, hopeful, and confident that we are not alone or without help. We can rest that one day at a time the Lord will equip us. Lead us. Protect us. We are in good hands friends.

Praying for y’all ❤️

Emilie

Won’t He Do It Again?

29 Sunday Apr 2018

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Current trials can blind us to the history we have with Jesus. If he has done it once, won’t he do it again? I was reminded again {sometimes we need a spiritual smack} of how far the Lord has brought me and what he has “already” done in my life. A moment of reflection brought me to tears as I was asked “Don’t you remember Em?” Yes Lord, I remember how many times you picked me up and mended this broken heart of mine. I remember every time you miraculously met a need. I remember the moments you divinely guided me in the right direction. I remember how you rescued me from myself. Lord, I remember.  Go back today and be reminded of all the Lord has done. Speak of it. Tell someone. Encourage yourself and others with the proof of his faithfulness. Won’t he do it again? Yes, my friends, he will!

Blessings,

Em ❤️

Thy Will Be Done 

16 Thursday Mar 2017

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What is the will of God for you? Some of us have no idea what that is. We live by our emotions. Our situations drive us and lead us down into a ditch of despair. 

When Mike was first diagnosed with cancer I heard this song “Thy will be done” by Hillary Scott. Powerful song. As I was singing it the Lord questioned me…what is my will? Do you even know what your singing? I had to stop and think. The scripture of when Jesus was teaching the disciples to pray came to mind…thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. What is heaven like? No lack. No tears. No pain. No sickness. I had been praying…IF it be your will Lord heal Mike 😳 why do we pray that way when God tells us clearly in his word what his will is? It is his will you be healed. Be prosperous. Live in peace. We rely on our emotions and not enough on the word of God. 

We have have the power and authority as children of God to speak things that are not as though there were. Speak. Declare. Call down the promises and word of God into your situation. Believe he is able to honor his word. No more believing lies. Don’t allow doubt, fear, and unbelief to be your guide. We have something greater…Gods word to lead us into all truth!! 

What Are You Waiting For? 

24 Tuesday Jan 2017

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Imagine a child on the edge of a pool, ready to jump, with their father waiting with open arms to catch them. Now picture 20 minutes later and that same child is still waiting to jump. By now the father has said many times over…I’ve got you, just jump already. 

How many times has the Father told you to step out, to jump, because He’s got you? 

What would you do if you knew that you’d be ok in the end? 

I’ve been that child. Full of fear. Intimated by the water. Afraid I’ll drown. Unsure that I would be caught. We all have those fears that hinder our progress. They scream loudly and echo lies in our ears. Sadly, we believe them and have grown accustom to their voices. We no longer challenge or silence them. 

Years ago I was given a dream that I whole heartedly believed. A passion began to stir in me and I walked in the truth that I was someone with a purpose. Along the way life hit me hard. Decisions I made. Other people’s decisions. Situations that came and stayed longer than expected. All of it became more than I could bare and I caved under the weight of it all. 

I stopped believing the dream, I stopped believing I had purpose. 

Have you been there? Are you there now? Can I whisper some truths to you friend? 

That dream, passion, desire, and promise is still alive in you! How do I know? You’re still alive!! All those moments, weeks, and years you feel have been wasted have created depths in you. What the enemy meant to distract and derail you the Lord has used to your benefit. Your God has sown his truths deep in you. He’s changed you. Although you may feel numb, you have transformed through the pain and become strong, beautiful, and a force to be wreckoned with. 

So, what are you waiting for? It’s time to move closer to the edge of your destiny and put your foot in. Write that story. Go to the gym. Take a class. One step at a time and soon enough you’ll be all in. It’s not easy to overcome what holds us back, but today we need to take a step closer than we were yesterday. It’s a process. It takes time, but I have faith that with God on our side and a promise in our belly we can accomplish anything! 

Not This Time Around 

25 Thursday Aug 2016

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Today as I was enjoying my breakfast I was confronted with a piece of my past. Why does that sting so much? Makes me just wanna crawl back in bed and stay there. Memories flooding my mind and taking me back to a place that I never wanted to visit again. A place of shame. Guilt. Regret. 

What do we do in these moments when you’re taken by surprise by your own actions? 

Run? Hide? Deny? 

I wanted to do all these things. Instead, I put my big girl chonies on and said “oh heck no, not today!” 

I was reminded that I am forgiven. That I have a choice to do things differently. What once was is no longer. I can’t go back and undo what was done but I can do what I should’ve done then, today. 

Gods mercies are new every morning and today I needed an extra dose. I got it in the form of a gentle soul who whispered grace to me. She reminded me of how far I’ve come. When all I saw was shame she saw me. She echoed the redeeming voice of God. No condemnation. No judgement. 

Couldn’t we all use that? 

Let me be that voice to you today. Let these words bring comfort to your heart. The Lord wants you to know… 

  • You are forgiven.
  • You are not defined by your failures. 
  • You can choose today, right now, to go a different way. 
  • He will give you the grace to hold your head up high. No shame. No guilt. Just freedom. 

Choose today to live in the freedom of his grace. He is kind. He is redeeming your past for his glory and your good! Now go and pass on his grace to someone who needs it! 

Em ❤️ 

I wanna be a Hero! 

22 Monday Aug 2016

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“Don’t buy the lie that you can become a hero without ever engaging in the battle.”

 Lisa Bevere 

Good morning my friends!! If there is one thing I’m passionate about it’s the truth. Knowing it. Believing it. Living in it. Telling it. In my house we do superheroes all day, everyday. Every superhero movie I’ve ever watched {there’s been A LOT, remember I have 4 boys} there was battle. In the end good wins {love that} but never before engaging in war. We will have to fight through the bad days, the struggles, the generational curses, the lies, the shame, the regret, and whatever you may be facing today to earn hero status! Victory is already ours, but we have to fight!! How? Don’t believe the lies of the enemy when he comes charging at you with your past. When he throws darts of shame your way. When he whispers lies of defeat and doom in your ear. Fight back with the word of God that says you are more than a conqueror! You are the righteousness of God! Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world! You are loved. You’ve been chosen. We have to arm ourselves with truth to win! We must know it, believe it, and USE it! I want to be the hero of faith in my family, my community, that stands up to lies and sets the captives free…Don’t you?

Detour 

24 Tuesday May 2016

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So you’re moving along and out of nowhere you have to be rerouted. Ugh! So annoying! It’s never the easy or quickest way. No, you go over the mountains and through the woods only to come back to where you initially wanted to go in the first place. I recall a story where the Lord took his people through a detour because they would have fought an enemy they weren’t prepared for. The people were tired and needed a rest. Have you ever felt that God could have just did it “this” way instead? It would have been easier, right? But look at what they learned. How he protected them. Provided for them. Miracle after miracle. Could he have protected and provided for them another way? Yes, but this way was part of the transformation of them not their surroundings. In other words, character over comfort. Sure, it wasn’t easy and many died never having seen the promise land, BUT think of those who never gave up. They got there. Prepared. Ready. Different. Changed. Whatever your detour is, it’s for your good. Don’t look around you disheartened. You are being led right where you’re supposed to go. March forward. Enjoy the scenery. Take it all in and trust you’re headed in the right direction!!!  

Let Go 

10 Tuesday May 2016

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I recall a time when I was ok with the idea of being single forever. My track record of finding “Mr. So Not Perfect” was flawless. I was resolved that I could be single and be just fine. Really, I was good. I didn’t tear up watching chick flicks, it was allergies. My heart didn’t long for a relationship, that was heartburn. Nope, not going to that wedding, I have to wash my hair that day. Truth was my defenses were up and I didn’t want to go through what I went through before. My past was a reminder of all that could, would, and did go wrong.  So, I shut my heart up and nearly killed my hope. 

Are you stuck in a past defeat or situation that has left you hopeless for the future? Believing that nothing is going to change? If God, right now, answered your prayers could you believe and receive it, or would you be looking back and not notice all that is right in front of you? 

Well, I’m here to encourage you that it’s not to late to begin to look forward with hope and expectations of good. Our seasons of life will change and when they do we must be willing to let go of the past and embrace the new. If not, we risk forfeiting the blessings and the joy that comes with them. 

God will turn our situations around and when he does I’m gonna be ready!! I choose to empty my heart of painful memories, disappointments, and fears and be open to receive all the good he has for me. Yesterday is gone. Today is a new day, with new mercies. New grace. New blessings. New relationships. New jobs. New opportunities. New doors. New visions. New dreams. We can’t go back. There is nothing we can do about yesterday other than let it go. 

When I am tempted to lose my hope I will remember that I have been married for 18 years to a handsome, funny, brilliant, loving, and perfect guy for me. I would’ve settled for just handsome and loving but God is too good to let us settle for less than his best for us. My husband is a reminder to me that when I let go of yesterday and believe that God answers prayer and is true to his word…I get more than I ever asked for. Dare to believe God. Let go and get ready. I promise you, you won’t regret it! 

Now to Him who is able to [carry out His purpose and] do superabundantly more than all that we dare ask or think [infinitely beyond our greatest prayers, hopes, or dreams], according to His power that is at work within us.            

Ephesians 3:20 {AMP}