Through the Seasons

In this guest episode, we sit down for an honest and meaningful conversation with Brandon as we dive into his story, experiences, and faith journey. Together, we talk about life, growth, and what it looks like to walk through different seasons with God at the center.

From personal insights to encouragement for everyday life, this conversation is filled with authenticity, wisdom, and reminders that God is always at work—no matter the season you’re in.

Whether you’re looking for encouragement, perspective, or simply a real and relatable conversation, this episode will leave you feeling seen, inspired, and strengthened in your faith.

There is an importance in having scripture written upon your heart and life. In this episode, I share the three life verses that have been pivotal in my walk with Christ. I also share the verses I have prayed over my children since I was pregnant with them. My prayer is for God to lay a verse on your heart and mind that can help you navigate the season of life you are in.

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Emily sits down to share a conviction that caught her attention. Diving into the book of Ruth, she points us to the heart of Naomi. As we study this story, we can see that Naomi was too caught up in her bitterness to notice the goodness of God. Emily challenges us by asking, “How often do we do that?” She encourages us to look at everything God is doing in our life instead of what He isn’t. Don’t miss the blessings in your life because of the hard season you’re in. We have to change our focus from what we don’t have, to what we are blessed with. God is always moving but we can easily get caught up in the physical. We miss the spiritual movement because we are too focused on what is physically in front of us. Emily closes by challenging us to choose to magnify Gods goodness and joy in all things.

A Naomi heart can hinder us from seeing the blessings our Father has poured out on us. Don’t miss what God has for you. Find His goodness in every season and remain in His promises.

🤍 Read the book of Ruth

🤍 Check out the study based on Ruth by the Daily Grace Co.

As we are reflecting on the past year, we can prepare our hearts for what He has next. We don’t know God’s full plan, so we have surrender control to Him. This year we encourage you to allow God to move in your life. Be expectant of His power!

🤍 Jeremiah 29:11-13

Seek the Lord with your whole heart.

Mediate on the word.

Deepen your prayer life.

Be intentional with worship.

You will find Him as you seek Him.

Reflection on the past year:

Reflect in gratitude over the past year.

🤍 1 Thessalonians 5:18

Reflect on the hard seasons. Even in our hard moments, God can still move in them.

🤍 Psalm 46:5

Reflect on your year with God. Look at your relationship, see how your trust in Him can deepen.

🤍 1 John 2:3-6

Reflect on your priorities. Evaluate if God is on top of everything.

🤍 Proverbs 31

Reflect on the answered prayers! He is always working, look at the past year and praise Hom for the blessings.

🤍 Psalm 145:3

Verses on being expectant:

🤍 Psalm 62

🤍 James 1:2-4

🤍 Philippians 4:6-7

Be purposeful & intentional. Expect God to do big things. Set realistic goals and work towards them. Focus on your calling. In everything, remember that God is good!

Emily shares a conviction the Lord laid on her heart for the holiday season. In this episode she discusses Mary, the mother of Jesus, and her obedience to the Lord. Mary knew the trials Jesus would face. She knew where His ministry would lead. She knew He would have to die. Yet, Mary chose to trust God and support her son as best she could. Mary believed her son was the promised Messiah and she saw Gods promise in her life fulfilled.

In whatever season you’re in, if you feel like there is no hope, there is. God can heal any circumstance. He meets us where we are and brings great things out of our obedience to Him. We have to let Him in. We have to surrender and let Him make us whole. During this holiday season, may we never lose sight of how it all began. With a simple virgin, who trusted God. With a tiny baby a manger, who was the Savior of the world. Without the beginning, we wouldn’t have the beautiful redemption story.

May your holiday be filled with great joy and centered around Christ.

🤍 If you get the chance, listen to “Welcome to our world” by Elevation Worship, the song that inspired this episode.

🤍 Read the Christmas story in Luke 2

Living in Contentment While Dreaming

I always thought if you ask God to help you accomplish your dreams or ask God for more, it meant you weren’t content – this is not true!

Philippians 4:12 says “ I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little.”

I am very content right now! I may not be Paul but I know if I had it all or if have less of what I have now, I am content because I have the Lord. But we aren’t to stay stagnant – we are to follow Him and all that comes with that. We have to be intentional to further our relationship with Him and further the Kingdom.

 Don’t let your dreams dictate your worth or dictate your relationship with Christ

I have some big dreams!

• Bigger house!

• I want a dedicated office to do my writing, my podcasts and bible study. 

• I want to be a host! I want our families, small groups, friends to all have a place here. With 1200 sq feet that is challenging. 

• bigger car!

• I want to be able to take our family as well as our nieces and nephews and godchildren places. This helps out my in laws and best friends. 

• We want a camper!

• We would love to have a camper for family trips

• I want to see TTS grow!

• I want this ministry to grow and reach people all over not only our community but all over the world! Share this podcast, the website and sign up for everything so you can stay in the loop. 

• I want to see my church grow! 

• We are seeing God do big things in our church. We want to continue to grow and reach people all over our community. 

What is the heart behind your dreams? Think about it this way - why do I want to see my dreams fulfilled? 

• Do you want a bigger house just to brag? 

• Do you want a bigger car as a status symbol? 

• Do you want to have a camper just to show it off? 

• Do you want your ministry to go just for recognition and social media followers? 

• Do you want to see your church grow just for the numbers? 

If you answered yes to any of those questions, time to examine your heart. 

A few words of wisdom…

• Don’t get caught up in all the earthly things - after all, you won't be taking them to heaven

• Don’t put things on hold just because you are in the waiting. I didn’t wait until we have a bigger house to start my podcast. Instead I found an alternative and it works for me just fine right now. 

• Don’t be mad at God for giving you specific things at specific times. Remember HIs timing is always perfect. 

• Are you centered in Jesus? If not, there is no true purpose behind them. It isn’t for show. We need to have our priorities in order

• “Don’t follow your heart, follow God instead.”

• Always consult with God and have wise mentors

It is not wrong to hope for a better life, great things for your church, family, friends – but your heart has to be right!

John 10:10 says “The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life”  

Summing it all up this way - 

Yes, this dream is what I want but even if I don’t get it, blessed be Your Name! 

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5 Tips for studying your bible

1.   Find the right bible for you

a.   My bibles are all on this resource list (INSERT LINK) 

b.   I love a journaling bible because I love to write dates, prayers, thoughts, etc.

c. Use more than one translation

d.   If you need a new bible, start with a study bible

e.   Make it your own!

2.   Find a tool to help with your study time

a.   Proverbs 31 and The Daily Grace Company have great bible studies. Great for all kinds of studies

b.   Word search – but bible verses!

c. YouVersion – online bible and bible study plans

3.   Make it personal

a.   Make your quite time, your quiet time

b.   Don’t get trapped in comparison

c. Do what works for you

4.   Reach out to others

a.   Make sure you aren’t comparing!

b.   Get recommendations

c. Ask about verses for when you are struggling with certain things

d.   Ask the godly women in your life - How do you study their bible, when, where?

5.   Give yourself grace

a.   We are our worst critics

b.   If you miss a day, get right back up and get right back in God’s word

c. Put your phone away and turn off the tv to help avoid distraction

Click here to read the blog post that this episode is based off of.

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HAPPY BONUS EPISODE!

Since today is "Black Friday," I decided to help you build your wishlist (or gift list) with some of my favorite things. I mention books for my children, books I read, journals, Bibles and more!

Click here to access links to all items mentioned!

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Busy isn’t Beautiful

We are in a busy season - the holidays are coming and along with work, family, my church and my ministry, I am busier than ever. I wasn’t planning on doing anything about busyness but it seems to be something that people were interested in hearing more about and how we can find rest in this busy world. 

Even in busy seasons in this fast paced world, we don’t have to fill every empty spot on the schedule. 

Let’s look at what scripture says about busyness and rest…

Matthew 11:28 NLT

Walking this earth is HARD and there is spiritual warfare all around us but GOD GIVES US REST! He will meet us in our struggles and carries this burden for us.

Matthew 6:33 NLT

We need to come to the Lord first, everything else will fall into place. Every month, every week, every morning – seek Him first.

  Psalm 103:1-5 NLT

• Seek God First! 

• When you search God first, with your whole heart, you won’t forget the good that He has done. 

• You know what it feels like when you get that spirt filled feeling! He fills us up! It is a renewal.

• Interact with the Lord

• If we are that busy, we are not interacting with the Lord and we are not seeking Him first. We think we can carry our burdens, we can do it better.

I fail at this too and I am regretful that it isn’t the first thing I do in the morning. I will turn on worship music but I find myself so busy that I am not putting Him first.

We are busy for things that are good and matter but it makes us miss the most important things that we should make a priority. For example, my Photography is something I love and it is important but I don’t want to put that ahead of my kids and not make them a priority. 

Story of Mary and Martha

I loved reading the book Having a Mary heart in a Martha World. It is literally falling apart, I highly recommend reading it if you haven’t. 

Luke 10:38-42 NLT

Mary sat at his feet while Martha was too worried about dinner to spend any time with Jesus. She rebuked her sister and the Lord said, No, she is doing what she should do by being at my feet. 

Does that mean we neglect our chores? No, however we shouldn’t ignore guests to wash the dishes and clean the kitchen. How does that affect your guests? They would feel unimportant if you spent all your time in the kitchen and not spending time with them. You miss out on an opportunity to spend time with your family or friends and that is time you won’t get back. 

If you know me, you know I am ALL about a to do list! I have a planner, more than one calendar, outlines, agendas…. but I don’t want to miss divine appointments with the Lord because I am too busy planning my life out! 

• We need rest! 

Mary sat at Jesus’ feet. I want to sit at His feet! However, I find myself being more like Martha. Interact with my family when they are around me. 

You need to know REST! When your kids are at school, naps, bed time – get off social media and read your bible and pray. Take time to journal while your kids are taking a nap, it doesn’t have to be 30 minutes, start with 5 minutes!

• Establish a Sabbath – Annie F Downs

• Dos and Don’ts

• Don’t fill up your day 

• Do things that fill you up! 

• Maybe you can’t do a full day, that’s ok! Start with half a day or an evening.

The goal is Rest, connection and goodness! 

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3 TIPS FOR THE HOLIDAY SEASON:

1. Don’t overwhelm yourself.

1. It is your choice to be overwhelmed. 

2. Have open and honest conversations as a family on what you will say “yes” to when it comes to the holiday season. 

3. Plan ahead if you can! Write out all the events that are ahead. 

2. Set boundaries. 

1. Take a look at your family (mentally) and see what all they can handle in their schedules. Know what is best for them and you - mentally.

2. You probably need time home to rest. 

3. Boundaries aren’t meant to be bad - they can be from God. 

4. If you constantly have things going on - even if they are - you can often miss all of the special moments. 

5. Protect your sanity and joy.

3. Make the holiday season worthwhile for “YOUR” family.

1. God has placed your little family here for you and that is who you need to focus on. 

2. Make sure their love tank is getting filled (individually) during the holiday season in the way they need instead of making sure you please everyone else with a “yes.”

3. To be close as a family, you have to be intentional as a family. 

4. Be focused on your little family. 

During Thanksgiving, challenge your children to name all of the things they are thankful for! If you aren’t teaching your children to be thankful for the small things then they will miss all of the small things that are so important when the big things aren’t going their way. 

If we are too busy talking about Santa at Christmas then we will miss Jesus. (It is OKAY if you do Santa though!!)

We have to be really intentional to make sure our little families are focusing on the right things this season. This doesn’t mean you neglect everyone else but you are very attentive to the ministry in front of you which is your family. 

You have to choose not to get caught up in the mess of holidays but you also have to choose to find the beauty within the holiday season. 

You can focus on all the things going on or you can ask God to reveal the most important things of these seasons. Stop scheduling so much where you can’t even enjoy life. 

Bring God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit into every aspect of the holiday season because if Jesus isn’t in it, then it is a waste of time. If we aren’t working towards Heaven then what is the point? Bring God and Jesus into any/all conversations. 

Be intentional with the ministry right in front of you!

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