‭‭James‬ ‭1:12‬ ‭NLT‬‬ [12] God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

Welcome to 2024! I am so excited to introduce you back to #warriorwednesdays How I have missed these days connecting with you and sharing what God is doing in my life. He truly is a good and faithful Father! After a tumultuous year, filled with so many highs and lows, of this I have become so confident, I have seen the goodness of my God! Even in the darkest night of heartache, He never left my side. He faithfully provided for every one of my needs and I was not once defeated. "I would have lost heart, unless I have believed that I would see the good 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! Psalm 27:13-14" Friend, cling to His truths today, He loves you anyways. You might as well let His heart embrace yours. He won't ever fail you! Choose to believe you will see His goodness here, it's written in His nail scared hands. Love, E

Being tired doesn't mean we quit. Being tired means we are human. We get tired so we press into Jesus to supply supernatural strength. Being afraid doesn't mean we walk away. It means we ask Jesus to be our courage when we FEEL afraid. Because being afraid doesn't mean we ARE afraid. Being afraid means we are humans who need Jesus to fill us with His Holy Spirit so He gets the glory. Feeling the weight of responsibility or feeling the brokenness of the world does not mean it's time to run to a vacation, a quick fix, or we have taken on too much. It means our hearts are breaking for what breaks Gods. It means we are onto something good! It means now God can show up and work. We must keep an other world way of thinking. For if we say, it's too hard, I'm too tired, it's too scary, it hurts too much... Well good! It should! Because if not, what moves you? What is faith without these? We don't need Jesus without our lack. We don't see His glory absent from the impossible. He is the miracle in every mess. So yes, we will get tired, our bodies will ache, our hearts will break, but this is why we never give up, because our spirit is being renewed every day by His Spirit and this light and momentary affliction means nothing in light of eternity and the souls saved for it. Jesus came to seek and save those who were lost. To give His life up for us. Won't we be willing to offer the same in His name? Offer everything until our hands bleed? When I get to heaven I want my body covered in blood and earthly scars, my knees worn from the dirt, I want my hands to be dirty with the lives of the broken people around me so that when I look in my Saviors face, I won't even need to say a word, He will just know from looking at me I was faithful with the life He gave me. And with tear filled eyes we will embrace our Savior who gave everything for us and know every painful day and long night was worth it! We will rest for eternity in His arms without regret because we know we fought the good fight, we've finished the race. We brought Him glory with every ounce of us. And NOTHING He gave us was wasted. Let this be our creed, let us get dirty for Jesus. Love, E

"I am right here to help. Whenever you are ready to ask, I am right here." Trying to keep my cool, I echoed this sentiment to my son for the third time while folding laundry the other day. "How could he be so stubborn!" I wondered. And this is when the Holy Spirit gently whispered, "This is you too. You are often stubborn too. Unwilling to surrender and frantic in your mess. And all the while I sit here, waiting to help you. If you would but ask me." Man, over and over without fail I learn so many solid life lessons through motherhood. I can recall so many times as I counsel or reprimand my children, God speaks so loud and clear to my heart that I am much the same as them. It's humbling to say the least. And yet I am equally grateful for the challenge to my spirit that struggles with the same flesh my kids do. I mean, if we are honest, we all likely have sat cold and unrelenting in our corner, screaming out to God with a huff and puff. Wondering why He doesn't show up already and fix our mess or, like a magic genie, make a miracle appear. But God's heart isn't for our comfort but our character. Much like I care more about my son's character then I do his ease, God longs to teach me submission and surrender far more than His heart longs to make all things simple. For if life was simple I would never need to take the time to see, He has always been there waiting to help me. Whatever your struggle this week, will you take a deep breath with me? In all your wrestling will you take a moment to look back on the faithfulness of your great God who has never failed you before and believe with faith that He surely won't fail you now? Then, surrender. And then surrender again. Over and over admit your need for His help and let Him do the work on your behalf. Let Him fight for you, just be still. He is waiting. He hasn't left you. Turn from your frantic panic and see Him sitting there. Curl up in His lap, hand Him your pain, and let Him make beauty from your ash. Love, E

Happy National Women's Day! I see in the lives of women around me such a move of God calling up women from their shame and pain to own who He has called us to be. Not to be loud and flashy and prove a point for some feminist agenda, but instead, to proclaim His love and glory to the lost world around us. God made us women for a specific reason. He has imparted to us specific gifts and abilities for a purpose. Not to show we are superior to me, but to come alongside men and women alike to share in advancing against the enemy. There are places God is calling us women to go that men cannot. Don't miss that call while hiding behind your fears and the lies of the enemy trying to force your way to the front above men. I implore the women around me to rise up with discernment like Debra, with faith like Rahab, with humility like Ruth, with boldness like Esther, with love without abandon like Mary Magdalene, and step into the calling God has placed on your life. You are here for such a time as this! Love, E

"Don't die at the door!" Ever heard this? I learned it's meaning from a friend who said the most common place fire fighters find deceased victims is inside the threshold of their homes. But why? The individuals so close & yet never get to see victory that was inches from their finger tips? The reason? They took a big breath, sucked in all the smoke & gave up. This imagery speaks to me in more ways than one & makes me question, where am I metephorically dying at the door? Maybe it's with parenting? I expect 8pm bedtime to mean lights out & I can "clock out". But it never goes that way. I often regretfully lose my cool. I expected victory but upon seeing it I gave up too quickly, took a big breath of negative & bitter & "died at the door" of my night. When runners train, they don't just train for the half mile sprint. They train to cross the finish line & beyond. Because they know if they don't practice to go beyond the goal, they will give up before they reach their mark. Paul talks about our race as believers with much of the same imagery. Championing us a long to persevere & not give up before the end because what awaits us at the end is so beautiful it will be worth every sprained ankle & skinned knee we aquire along the way. So, my friend, what is holding you back? What is tripping you up? What is causing you to die at the door? Is it fear? Doubts? Thinking you aren't good enough? Feelings of inadequacy? Lies from the enemy that say pushing through the pain & hurts won't be worth it? What about that project, that calling, the difficulties in our marriages, or relationships? What I see now is that all the miracles we long to hold are on the other side of all our discouragement & disbelief if we will just fix our eyes on Jesus to carry us through. I challenge you, finish the project. Fight for that relationship. Hold fast to that dream. Don't lose heart. Don't die at the door. Don't get so close to the end & then swallow all the toxic lies from the enemy & never make it over the finish line into the promised land. Instead, run the race with endurance, not just to the finish line but far beyond into victory, into your Saviors arms. Love, E Get a copy of my book here: https://a.co/d/7Skqf8s

What does it mean to walk by faith? To actually regulate and conduct our lives by the unseen rather than what we can see? I don't know about you, but I have grown pretty comfortable depending on the tangibility of things that make me feel secure and promise a bright future. Things like my bank account being at a certain number, peace in my home, two cars parked in my drive with the tank on full. I like to see the fruits of my labor and therefore have become reliant on my sight which has numbed much of my child-like faith. We all know children see the world through such a naive and precious lens, rose colored glasses if you will. We marvel at their faith and ability to believe the impossible can happen, even if it's their determination they can fly like super man. But what if a little bit of that naivety wasn't a bad thing? I have to argue that because children must depend on adults to survive each day, their faith muscles are so much stronger. It's only as we enter adulthood and start depending on ourselves to succeed and survive, that we forget to continue to depend on our Savior to be all we need. When children look at someone in pain or in trouble, they don't see the limits adults set. They don't worry about the brokenness, the age, or station of life, they just willingly and boldly call down heaven to earth believing (as we all should) miracles are possible here. Could you imagine how different the world would be if we all saw through the lens of faith and not the limitations of our human sight? How many more mountains would we see uprooted every day for the glory of God? Let's not just look at children and dismiss their wonder for the impossible, let's be challenged and changed to adopt back some of that innocence and with it a reliance on the only one working the good and miraculous into every dark day we experience here on earth. Let's have some child-like faith. Let's regulate our life by the promises of God, not the security we see offered to us by man. Love, E