On today's episode, Emily gives us a challenge on how to invest in our leadership by investing up, investing in and investing out. Emily shares a great opportunity to invest in yourself by partnering with "Women's Speaker Collective."

To find out more, check out this link https://www.womenspeakerscollective.com/cohorts-and-coaching

In this episode, we have special guest Lorie Hartshorn. Lorie is the co-host of 700 Club Canada and the author of the upcoming book "Found." She talks to us about understanding our identity in Christ and how that is the foundation of everything we do. She shares powerful truths from her book and how we can live as we were created to as image bearers of God.

Our identity is the single most significant factor that determines our leadership potential. It's easy to focus on the 'what' of leadership - the tactical successes, the results you are trying to achieve - but ignoring who we are limits our ability to create tangible impact. Reflecting on ourselves and understanding how our unique perspective has shaped our experience can help us move beyond stagnation in any professional development journey. As leaders, it's essential to recognize that no two approaches will ever be exactly alike; progress comes from embracing your traits and leveraging them to drive effective change. By acknowledging the creativity and value of who you are, improving your leadership can become both a possibility and a reality.

In this episode, Emily discussed how we could lean more into WHO God created us to be as we lead others.

When we look at the word trust often used in scripture, we see a very different picture of what it means to trust in God. For many of us, we think that to trust God, we have to be fully confident in that moment, but we see that our trust comes from a place of desperation so often. It's okay to be in that place and it's okay for us to lead from that place. God wants us to release what we are holding onto and have open hands to hold on to Him.

It's easy to lose sight of God's purpose and promise in our life when we are in the middle of a crisis or chaps surrounding us. In today's episode, we walk through a Psalm that promises that God's purposes will always prevail. When we keep our eyes fixed on him we will see these things come to pass.

There's never enough time to talk about God's love. It's big, everlasting, and so much more than we could ever fully comprehend and yet he reveals more and more of his love to us so that we can receive it, rest in it, and reflect it to others. 

Leadership has so much to do with God's love. It helps us love Him better, ourselves and others. When we lead out of the place of His love there is always transformation. 

Listen in and let the love of God permeate the places of your life that need more of His love.

We all have longings and desires in life, in fact, we were made to crave, to "long for". It's scientific and biblical. It's part of being human. It's purposeful and yet it can be dangerous. If we are not longing for God we fill the desires or longings in our life with other things. Things that distract us and ultimately can derail us. When we live & lead from a place of longing for God we find satisfaction in life. 

Today's podcast will walk us through leading from a place of longing.

Hey friend, it's been a while! Thanks for being here. In today's episode, I share a bit about my journey over these last 8-9 months and what God has done in me. I'm always a work in progress but isn't that the beauty in it? God can make us more like him. Journey with me over 6 sessions as we dive into Psalms and refocus our leadership to those unseen hidden places. The most powerful and purposeful place of leadership is a posture before God! Let's start there.

In today's episode, I have a special guest with me! Someone who I am so honoured to introduce to you and has played a huge role in where I am today because of her prayers - my mom, Karen Clarke. 

I asked my mom to come on and speak on this episode because I have seen how her commitment to prayer has changed her life and the life of those around her. She is a great example of someone who believes in the power of prayer and models a life that lives by that belief. This is such a great way to end this series on Endurance. What better way to build our leadership endurance than through prayer and communion with God.

POEMS MENTIONED: 

"I became impatient when God's answer to my prayer was "Wait!" But He helped me plant and harvest other crops as seasons came and passed, and each left rich deposits in the soil of my life. God's time evolved at last, and the gift I asked for long ago was granted. It flourished now in soil enriched and mellowed through the years. Then I understood why God had answered, Wait."  

"I knelt to pray; head bowed, eyes closed, hands folded, knees bent. But prayer did not come. My proud and independent heart, defying man's humility and need, stood still unbowed in the presence of God. And I could not pray until my heart knelt too." 

- Excerpt from the book "My Heart Kneels Too" by Carolyn Rhea

Patience is a common character trait we talk about but it goes undervalued in its importance on how we live our lives and lead others. Patient endurance is what God calls us to in order for us to receive His promises. 

So often, where God is taking us only comes after what feels like a very long process, but how we respond, and what happens inside of us during that process is crucial for our growth. 

Listen in to today's episode to hear ways we can patiently endure life's most difficult seasons.