Morning Cup of Faith

Our world is in need of a hope coach. “I like to say I’m from a long line of hope dealers,” shares extraordinary Author and Hope Coach April Osteen Simons (“Better Than Ever”). April hails from a powerful family of encouragers who inspire millions daily through television, books and social media. April is the youngest of six children in the awe-inspiring Osteen family, which includes her brother, pastor and author Joel Osteen from the Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas. April shares, “Growing up Osteen with my mother and father, Pastor John Osteen, was a wonderful life. We traveled a lot, I slept in pews, and when we weren’t in church, my brother Joel and I played church at home. Life wasn’t perfect, but I saw that God was real. I grew up seeing miracles. You can’t talk me out of a miracle for the life of me."   April accepted Christ into her heart at the tender age of seven. April admits, “I wanted to do it earlier, but I was too shy.” April’s new book “Better Than Ever” is all about getting your happy back, keeping your sanity and enjoying everyday living. April reflects, “I travel, speak and share hope, and I inspire with the word of God. I have this desire to give daily hope to people that life can be better."   April is the proud mother of five beautiful children. In her uplifbook and podcast “Better Than Ever” she explores family mindsets and circumstances and positive, hope-filled practical insight and humor on becoming a better you in every area of your life. April beams, “If you’re having a bad day, just do a do-over! A wise woman builds her house. A foolish one tears it down."  April imparts life-changing advice about praying life into parenting during the challenging teenage years. April insists, “So many people say that the teenage years are going to be terrible. I started declaring that the teenage years are going to be great with no rebellion. God holds us accountable to be Mama Bear and protect our children. I rarely let my kids sleep over at someone else’s home, and prayer is everything."   April reveals that it was a surprise to everyone, even Joel, when God put him on the fast track with his worldwide ministry. April states, “My brother Joel is still one of my greatest supporters. When I was growing up he was my softball coach and we played on the elevators when my father was in a meeting. Joel is very honored to do what he does; he doesn’t ever take it for granted. Our goal as a family is to cheer people on to their destiny.” What’s in April’s cup today? “Expectation,” April laughs. “My mother taught me to wake up every morning and expect God to move. I shoot for the stars and I expect to see God every day.”

Since military conflict began last Thursday, "Morning Cup of Faith" has been praying for the peace and protection of Ukraine. This episode is about the power of prayer and the 8,000 promises God has for us in the Bible. In this moving and deeply personal episode, Brenda Epperson-Moore bares her heart as she shares her “Book of Promises,"  a journal she’s kept for over a decade with scriptures that she speaks aloud daily over her life which breathes new strength in her spirit. She reveals intimate details about her family and prayer life and her favorite scriptures that she stands on every day: Isaiah 54:17, 2 Corinthians 5:7, Isaiah 61:1, and Shelley Anderson Myers' favorite Jeremiah 29:11.   Brenda shares, “My ‘Book of Promises’ was inspired by God and and His blessings, and all of the things He’s done in my life, and the things I want to see come to pass. I started this book when my young family was coming together and I was very grateful, but I was in ‘mom-mode’ wondering, what’s next? I’ve always had this burning desire and understanding that God has planted these seeds inside of me and I’m supposed to reach out and encourage people; that is such a huge part of my heart. I was frustrated because I wasn’t in faith. I opened up my Bible and I started writing down scriptures that resonated with where I was at, and I started speaking them over my life daily."   It’s important to chronicle all of the miraculous things God has done for us over the years because if we don’t take a moment of gratitude, we tend to forget our answered prayers when we’re enjoying a time of prosperity and rest. Brenda reflects, “Prayers never die. They stay alive and active, and they’re sharper than any double-edged sword. If we really understood the power and the principle behind prayer, we would pray with fervency and more often. I often refer back to my breakthrough moments in my ‘Book of Promises’ when life throws me a curveball. Looking back on those scriptures remind me of God’s faithfulness.”   What scriptures would you include in your “Book of Promises?” We encourage you to start writing down scriptures that speak to you in a book or your Bible. God’s word never returns void. Though the crisis in Ukraine is staggering, let’s not underestimate the power of prayer and the greatness of God.

It has been said that no one starts a faith podcast without a great story. Experience the powerful faith warrior journeys of longtime friends and hosts actress-singer-author Brenda Epperson-Moore and Huff Post Guest Writer Shelley Anderson Myers and hear how the “Morning Cup of Faith” podcast was born. Shelley reflects, “God put our feet to the fire, literally, but He always shows you things for a reason.”    “Morning Cup of Faith” started as a Bible study around Brenda’s kitchen table with Shelley and a few friends. Shelley didn’t realize that her faith warrior journey was about to begin when the 2018 Woolsey Fire burned down 24 houses on her street. Her house suffered extensive damage, but it was thankfully was spared. When her family moved back into her house, she felt a darkness that she had never experienced. Shelley reveals, “I encountered an evil presence in my bedroom in the middle of the night. I called Brenda immediately and she helped me turn around the darkness in my house. The enemy is always on the prowl looking for opportunities to take us out. I got very aggressive with the Word, writing down spiritual warfare scriptures and placing them under my children’s mattresses and all around the house. I played Christian radio stations all day. I learned how important it is to pray against spiritual warfare daily. I don’t want anything in my house that doesn’t come from God.”   Brenda chronicles her faith warrior journey in her inspirational book “Rise Up: Move Out of the Darkness and into the Light.” She overcame the death of her father at a young age, a sexual assault and being bullied as a size 16 overweight and out of control youth. She was raised by a single mom who sometimes didn’t know where their next meal was coming from. Brenda reveals, “When my father died when I was six years old, I raised my fist to the sky and I said, ‘I hate you, God.” I believe that is the moment that the enemy came into my heart and put an eight year stronghold over my life. That’s why I’m passionate about helping people break strongholds in their lives that are holding them back."   When lockdown occurred in 2020, Brenda and Shelley both felt a powerful calling on their hearts to use their media backgrounds to reach out and encourage people with a podcast. Shelley shares, “After all Brenda and I had experienced together, God nudged us to start this podcast and to step out in obedience and faith. Learning how to put on the full armor of God and to get to that strength and joy is not an overnight process.”    How has God been nudging you to step out in obedience and faith?

Did you know that resilience is not serving you? That’s right; you heard us!   Phenomenal Warrior Women Coach Liz Svatek explains, "So many people are carrying residual heaviness from 2021. Exhaustion, resentment, bad marriages, fear, weight gain. It’s okay to not be okay. No one is ok. The reason I say, ‘resilience is b.s.' is because we just can’t bounce back. We need to feel it to heal it."   Liz believes women aren’t born warriors; we become them. She runs Mastermind Groups, she’s a Warrior Woman Coach, and she hosts the popular podcast, “Conversations with Warrior Women” where she interviews trailblazing women leaping for greatness! (www.lizsvatek.com) Liz shares, “I tell my clients, 'Don’t believe a thought that you think.' Our thoughts are choices. We can reprogram and rewire our brain. It’s called neuroplasticity.”   We use our subconscious mind 95% of the time and our conscious mind only 5% of the time, which means we’re all sleepwalking. In this episode Liz will show you how to tap into “radical personal responsibility.” Liz started her podcast “Conversations with Warrior Women” to build a community to help her with her daughter who is dealing with ulcerative colitis and her son with learning challenges who just started a new school. Liz emphasizes, “Fear is a blueprint, an indication of exactly what you need to be doing. You gotta get out of the ‘how.’ The how is none of your business. That’s where God comes in. We all have our own divine downloads.” Put yourself back on the to do list again in the new year and join Liz’s Mastermind Class. One of Liz’s life scriptures is 2 Timothy 1:7 “For God did not give us a spirit of fear, but the power of love.” Liz laughs, “I help women break up with fear. He’s a bad boyfriend."

Anyone else forget how to flirt in the pandemic? February is the month of love and we dig below the surface with Dating Coach, Author (“Sexless in the City”) and podcaster Kat Harris (“The Refined Woman”). Kat is all about real talk and straight wisdom about singleness, sex and desire. We talk about life, love, online dating, heartache and how being single in today’s dating culture as a woman of faith can be a real STRUGGLEFEST. Kat shares, “Valentines Day is coming and that can be very triggering. Some people think it’s a marketing scam or Singles Awareness Day, but I’ve always loved Valentine’s Day. I don’t think the timing has ever worked out that I’ve had a boyfriend on Valentine’s Day, but I love love! Sure, I want to be in a relationship right now, but so much of life is about how we choose to show up. What better day to look at what’s possible? Instead of saying as a single person, ‘I’m 36, another Valentine’s Day bites the dust, another year my ovaries are in overdrive,' I can choose to look at all of the love all around me and believe if God can do that for them, He can do that for me." On March 29, 2020, just after the world began to lockdown the popular dating app Tinder broke its record for the most activity in a single day, with more than 3 billion swipes. Online dating is on the rise and Kat talks about her 3 Month Online Dating Challenge, her go-to dating apps and her best advice to be successful with online dating. Kat also shares about her recent break up with complete transparency and vulnerability, and how going through the heartache that her clients experience ultimately made her a better dating coach. Kat reveals, “My biggest breakthrough was realizing that I was honest in my relationship, but I wasn't vulnerable. There’s a big difference. My only regret was that I didn’t love more fully. This break up cracked my heart open. I’m lonely right now. Sometimes I need other people to believe for me. But like scripture says, hope doesn’t put me to shame. Love is always worth the risk.

This is one of our favorite raw and unfiltered conversations! Uninhibited Pat Smith is all things God and family. She’s a speaker, author (“Second Chances”), entrepreneur, minister and mother of four. She was the first African American woman to win the Miss Virgina title. She’s also the ex-wife of former Dallas Cowboys running back Hall of Fame Emmitt Smith, and her son, E.J., is a running back at Stanford. With warmth and insight, Pat shares the truth she has learned on her journey from heartbreak to hope. “My word for 2022 is freedom,” declares Pat. Newly single and spending time alone for the first time in this new season of her life, Pat shares, “To live an authentic life you have to know who you are. Aside from everyone else. Aside from being Emmitt’s wife or EJ’s mother. You have to know who you are, and our identity is in God. It’s been a faith journey. A walk with God, being alone. Who am I today? What do I like? What do I not like? What do I want to do? What kind of music do I like?” Pat laughs. "I forgot, ya’ll, that I like to dance!” Pat is spirit led as she reboots and starts a new decade of her freedom journey. “I’ve always tried to control everything in my life which set me up for a lot of disappointment,” Pat admits. "At first the pandemic felt like a time out, like I was being punished. We all have seasons where we shut down, whether it’s from Covid, heart disease, anxiety. I now realize they were not seasons where I was being punished; they were seasons where God was saying, 'I can do some more work in you.’ When I came out of those seasons where I was no longer doing things according to my own plan, God would propel me further.” In 2022 Pat finds herself asking God, “Where do you want me? What do you want me to do? Whatever road and journey I’m on right now is where I need to be. The worst situations in my life, the experiences I thought would take me out like physical abuse or divorce, are the ones that God has used the most.” Pat is the founder of Treasure You, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting women in financial, emotional or spiritual need. Pat continues, “If you’re feeling like you can’t go on, just give it one more day. If I had given up back then I wouldn’t be talking to you here now.” What’s in Pat’s cup today? “Confirmation and freedom,” Pat gushes. “Go where the love flows!"

Did you know that there’s a podcast called “A Slob Comes Clean?” Dana K. White is the one to turn to this new year if you need to make sense out of all of the chaos around you. Dana is a blogger, podcaster, speaker, and (much to her own surprise) a decluttering expert. In an attempt to get her home under control, Dana started blogging as “Nony” (short for anonymous) at A Slob Comes Clean. Dana soon realized she was not alone in her housekeeping struggles and in her feelings of shame. Today, Dana shares realistic home management strategies with her signature humor and a message of hope for the hopelessly messy through her blog, weekly podcasts, and videos. Dana lives with her husband and three kids just outside of Dallas, Texas. Her first best-selling book “Decluttering at the Speed of Life” was a huge success and her new book, “Organizing for the Rest of us, is kind of like Cliff Notes for her first book. We just love Dana because she’s the first home organizer we’ve come across that brings God into it, and that’s the only thing that is going to help our “deslobification process." Shelley admits, “True confession. It’s January 14th, and I still have my Christmas tree up!” Brenda laughs, “And my husband is a saver with a stack of magazines from 2020.” Dana reveals, “My faith is the number one most important thing in my life. I felt like as a woman who loved God that I should have my house under control, but most organizing advice was like a foreign language to me. That’s not how my brain works. I learned that God wasn’t disappointed in me because I had clothes on the floor. He created me exactly the way he wanted me to be, and He wanted to use my shame and weakness about my cleaning issues to help other people. I had to find my own organizing methods that worked for me, and stop feeling like a failure. That’s why my book is called “Organizing for the Rest of Us." This inspiring episode is filled with mind-shifts and organizing hacks that will get you on your way to decluttering: Dana’s 5 minute pick up, run your dishwasher every day, and declutter your visible spaces first, like your entry way, so you can feel the results and be inspired to keep going. Dana shares, “When people read my book they realize they can start small and not get overwhelmed like I used to be.” Brenda adds, “God will declutter everything in our lives if we just say"yes."

This episode is one of the most important conversations we’ve ever had. We’re talking about burnout. Many of us started January with the hope of a new and brighter 2022, and our tanks are already on empty. Our psyches were not developed to handle this continual baseline of anxiety: a third year of a global pandemic, raging politics and an uncertain future. Our uplifting guest, author and coach Alli Worthington, is all about life, faith, and business. Alli admits, “This is the season where the rubber hit the road." If you don’t know Alli Worthington yet, you’re going to fall hard. She’s a best-selling author, podcaster and business coach who lives outside of Nashville, Tennessee with her husband and five sons in a loud, messy testosterone-filled house with the only golden retriever who refuses to retrieve. Alli was shocked to discover that she was slowly burning herself out over the past couple of challenging years. Alli shares, “I make my living helping others. I was battling my son’s illness and dealing with a world that had just turned upside down. 2021 was a wake up call; I realized I needed to get back in counseling and invest in myself. A good coach always has a coach. The Lord gently told me, ‘you need to invest more in yourself.’ This doesn’t come naturally to women because we give, give, give. We can only give well when we’re okay. Sometimes we have a season where we have to make sure we’re okay." Alli believed she would be a lifelong entrepreneur and business coach and then God moved her into writing books and sharing her story. Alli explains, "My calling is to help women live well, whether that’s in faith, family or business. The message of my book “Standing Strong: A Woman’s Guide to Overcoming Adversity & Living With Confidence" is that every woman has a calling, whether it’s in your home, neighborhood, or your zip code. We aren’t where we are, surrounded by the people we’re surrounded by, by accident. God has important work for us to do." Alli’s word for 2022 is “lead.” Alli reveals, “I’m not playing small. I’m not holding myself back when the Lord tells me to have a conversation or to try something new to expand my territory. My verse for the new year is 'Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just in fact as you are doing.' (1 Thessalonians 5:11) I want to obey.” You’re going to be so nourished, refreshed and encouraged by this phenomenal woman!

Are you still trying to get your mind around January 2022? All of the bold January vision-casting and goal-setting looks a little different this year after pandemic fatigue and the shakeout of 2021. Shelley admits, “The last 18 months have truly taught me that I’m not in control of anything. I’m focusing on being more spirit led in 2022. Following the Holy Spirit and being submissive to His will. Sometimes He’ll give you direct commands. God never mumbles!” Brenda laughs, “He never mumbles, but we’ve become so busy that we don’t hear Him. We miss Him. I don’t want to miss God." One of the hardest ways to live life is to try to plan our own course without bringing God into it. Brenda shares, “Last night I was reading Habakkuk 2:2, 'Write down the vision and make it plain' and writing down some goals. We can make our plans, but the outcome is in God’s hands. We have to be pliable to the work of the Holy Spirit and be obedient to His voice when we hear it." Shelley’s word for 2022 is “risk.” Shelley proclaims, “This year I’m all about risky faith. No one ever did anything for God’s kingdom without taking a great risk. Even faith is a risk because we have to believe what we can’t see. God is able to do superabundantly more than we ask or think. Ephesians 3:20, the ultimate master planner verse, gets me thinking about those big spirit led God dreams. What’s in your cup today, Brenda?" Brenda reveals, “I’ve got “strength" in my cup. Strength to love the unlovely. Strength to love those who are hard to love. Strength to do the things God wants me to do.” Create space for faith renewal. Clean your spaces, your house, your car, your room, your mind, and your heart. New things are coming from God in 2022! We hope you hear a divine “yes” this season!

Have you experienced trauma - the loss of a loved one, divorce or an accident - and you’re trying to find peace and hope again? PTSD affects all ages and walks of life. Dr. Tiffany Tajiri is the author of a new life-changing book “Peace After Combat: Healing the Spiritual and Psychological Wounds of War.” Dr. Tiffany has a heart for people and she helps veterans and their families find hope and healing from trauma, PTSD and the emotional wounds of war and rediscover God’s goodness, grace and purpose for their lives. We want to be clear: this episode is for anyone who has gone through a tragic experience, or if you’re trying to help a family member of a friend. Brenda shares, “Talking about how science and faith work together to heal deep trauma is a real passion of mine. Yes, you heard me, science and faith! I have experienced brain trauma in my family and this episode is very personal for me.” Shelley reveals, “We call Dr. Tiffany a prophetic doctor. She's completely beautiful, inside and out. I talked about my experience with PTSD for the first time after the Woolsey Fire hit my neighborhood in 2018. I had never experienced a panic attack before until I was trapped in that six hour evacuation with the fire above us on the hill, and I was very surprised how it affected me afterwards. If I feel trapped in rush hour traffic, or in a crowded plane, that feeling of not being able to get out, my blood pressure just skyrockets. After talking to Dr. Tiffany I understand more about how I can rewrite my story, and I can also see where God was during the fire and all of the things He did to bring me to safety. I experienced tremendous healing just talking to her.” You’re going to learn so much about how the brain processes trauma and practical steps to heal both spiritually and psychologically in this episode. Dr. Tiffany explains, “I help people see that God was not the author of their pain and suffering. Absolutely not! You didn’t go through this alone. There’s bad people out there; God does not control us. When my patients recognize that God was not the author of their painful event and they can start to see where He was in their story, they can start to see that He is on their side. They feel that protective element again. They start to understand that there’s beauty for ashes.”