Tag Archives: hope

Ponder It

25 Tuesday Jan 2022

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I recall many moments a sweet friend would give me an encouraging word and tell me to “ponder it.” She would always use that word…ponder. I had to look it up because it’s not a word I had ever used. The definition is to think or consider especially quietly, soberly, and deeply. Honestly, I was hesitant because quiet is not my style. Being an external processor I talk things out. My friend on the other hand is the epitome of quiet. She would say very little, but when she spoke you listened. Was I not suppose to talk about the things God has told me?

I’ve come to learn what she meant. What quiet looks like on the inside. How to process in the quietness of Gods presence. How to take what the Lord spoke and let it simmer in my heart like soup cooking over a low flame. Allowing time for the full flavor of it to get down deep where my heart becomes convinced. Considering the words before I speak them knowing how powerful they are. That both life and death are an option by what I speak to myself. Guarding the door of my heart carefully as to not let thieves come in and rob me of the truth.

I’ve come to learn there is a time for everything. A time to speak and a time to listen. I pray you hear me today and consider what the Lord has spoke to you. Keep the words close. Don’t allow others to bring their thoughts before you have your own. Don’t let the dream or vision get cloudy or muddied by opinions. Hold close to your heart what the Lord said and consider it a secret until the appointed time. Just like Mary and my friend Beth, believe in Him who has promised and it will come to pass. ❤️

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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 ❤️

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.

Change of Scenery

28 Thursday May 2020

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I remember it so well, crossing the California border headed to Texas. I had no idea what God had in store for us. All I knew was it was gonna be good…eventually. We saw so much potential and possibilities but never realized the journey ahead was for healing. We had so much toxic surrounding us. Every where we went it was there. Unhealthy relationships. Broken dreams. Messed up mind sets. Damaged trust. In Gods grace and mercy he took us to a safe place to heal. To find him, again. To find each other, again. To find ourselves, perhaps for the first time. I love our story of how God redeems everything if we let him. We must yield to his careful hands to take what’s toxic and broken and turn it into something healthy and whole. Only he can do it. Don’t resist his tugging you away. Isolation can be hard as we all have seen in recent days. He has to take you aside and silence the noise for you to hear him speak truth. Life. Healing. Into EVERY broken place. You are safe there. It will hurt, but you’ll heal. I realized after all these years that he was preparing us for the hardest journey we’d ever face. We needed to be emotionally whole to deal with the physical torment of cancer ahead. I’m so glad we said yes. I promise you’ll never regret the change of scenery that healing offers. Go my friend and be healed. ❤️

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 ❤️

Heart to Heart 

16 Tuesday May 2017

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So, the other day my hubby and I were having a heart to heart. Love those with him. He is usually very quiet, so the conversationalist in me rejoices in these moments. Since the cancer diagnosis {9 months ago} a lot has changed, mostly our perspective. How we live and why. Trauma does this. It rearranges, subtracts, and adds to life. We don’t get to choose the unexpected, but we can choose how we respond to it. 

It’s easy to become cynical. Angry. Bitter. That’s the path of least resistance. Looking for the good and purpose requires more thought, time, and effort. People usually quit before they find it. Fatigue sets in. Hopelessness drains hearts. Lies steal futures and then our choices destroy us.

We make excuses for inexcusable things just because of what has happened to us. Life. Family. Struggle. We give it all to much credit for all the wrong reasons. I am guilty of glorifying the pain and the ones responsible for it. A huge part of my life was lived being hurt by those hurting from others hurting them. It’s a vicious cycle that needs to end now! 

Cancer is not an excuse, neither is abuse, rape, poverty, violence, or any other horrible thing the enemy throws at us to become one who victimizes others and ourselves with our poor choices and thoughtless actions. 

Choice. It’s a beautiful, fragile, powerful thing, yet we don’t always handle it with care. I’ve learned that not making a choice, is a choice. When we choose to sit back and do nothing with the life we’ve been given it’s a waste of the potential we have inside of us. 

You see, our life doesn’t end at the end of the struggle if we still have breath. Purpose can be born out of the struggle if we don’t grow weary and trust that God is faithful to complete what he started in us. 

This was the heart to heart we had. What are we gonna do about where we’ve been? The good. The bad. The ugly. It all matters. Can we become people who allow God to use our struggle, pain, and past to be expamples of what hope and victory look like? I pray we can.

I want to blaze a trail of hope for my children and generations to come. I want and need my life, all of it, to count. I won’t accept it was all for nothing. When God said, all things work together for the good of them who love him and are called according to his purpose, I believed him!! And now I have to partner with him to see that purpose revealed and lived out. 

No more excuses. No more causing pain because we hurt too. Enough is enough. We have lives waiting on us to be who we are meant to be. You are someone’s example, blessing, and trailblazer.  Don’t quit now! Be the someone you needed and I promise you you’ll find your purpose. 

There’s no going back to the way things were. Honestly, I don’t want it to. Why? I’ve learned what it is to be strengthened in difficulty. To rely on God with every fiber of my being. I’ve seen miracles happen. Hearts transformed. Cancer won’t become our excuse. No, it’ll be our launching pad that propels us closer to our purpose!! 

Em ❤️  

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}

Plot Twist 

06 Friday May 2016

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I love watching a good movie or reading a good story. However, I do not like it when there is a serious plot twist and it throws me for a loop. I wasn’t expecting it! Seriously!! Way to change it all up!! 

Oh how our lives can be the same way. One day we are good and the next day BAMM it all changes. No matter what the changes are, good or bad, it takes a minute {or longer} to wrap our minds around what is going on. Adjusting to the change may take a little more time as well. 

I recall our first months in Texas. Talk about plot twist! I could not for the life of me wrap my mind around living in Texas. I mean, we are here, in Texas, but in my mind everything was California. Writing my address took some time for me to put the correct state. Realizing that my friends and family were not as close as they used to be. Knowing that I would have to make new friends terrified me.  

Some plot twist can throw you so far off and if we’re not careful they can destroy us. Like the passing of my dad. Never saw that kind of pain coming; for him or for my family. Some things won’t ever make sense and searching for the why’s will lead us down the road of bitterness. A dark and lonely road filled with shadows and despair. No good dwells there. 

I want to be strong. Resilient. Brave. Ready to face what comes unafraid.  Instead, sometimes I run and hide. Cowardly. Full of fear. A damsel in distress who needs rescuing. Through these past years Jesus has reminding me over and over and over again that if I run to him he can take any plot twist and turn into a story that brings hope, restores faith, and encourages others not to give up. Oh sure, I may have to face the big bad wolf or a wicked witch {hopefully not literally} but never alone or without a victory.  

With Jesus as the center of my story ensures that my ending will be fruitful, purposeful, and more than I ever dreamed or imagined. I may endure loss but he has promised to restore. So, I’ll take the plot twist knowing that it will ALWAYS be used for my good! 

Morning Prayer 

28 Thursday Apr 2016

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Lord, we give you this day to do as you will. We trust your heart, your ways, and your plan for our life. You promised that you would finish what you have started in us, so strengthen us to keep hanging on when we feel like we are about to fall. Give us courage to continue to believe your word and promises. Show us your mercy and grace should we blow it today. Remind us God that you are bigger than any issue. Stronger than our weakness and more faithful than the morning sun. Nothing, absolutely nothing, is impossible for you to do. We cling to the hope that you are ALL we will ever need. In Jesus name we pray…Amen!!