Loving yourself right

Lately I’ve been hearing so much talk about “self-love”… and although I agree we should love ourselves… I think it’s important to know how to gain the right type of “self-love”. Allow me to explain.

Sometimes… we go through situations that make us think, “You know what, I need to focus on ME and bettering MYSELF. I need to take care of ME. I need to treat MYSELF kinder. I need to love ME.” (Not saying there’s anything wrong with that… at all.) But I used to think those statements meant, “If I change my hair or learn how to do my makeup just right, ONLY THEN would I feel better about myself. If I worked out more and ate healthier, ONLY THEN would I feel more empowered,” and so on and so forth. But God revealed something to me… allow me to share.

Often times when we find ourselves in our brokenness (from a relationship, or friendship, or even sometimes from our own flesh and blood) we come to the conclusion, “I neeeed to take care of ME, and worry about ME.” But God so loving shared with me, “Destiny, I want you to be happy with who I created you to be, but you will never find that joy if you don’t first come to me. Remember I say in my word, ‘Return unto me, your first love.’ I first loved you, Destiny. I created you into existence. I AM the I AM that breathed life into you. I know you… so why not come to me with this “self love” you are looking for? Why not let me validate you? Reassure you? Why do you feel the need to love yourself apart from me? Don’t you get it, YOU WILL NEVER KNOW THE TRUE JOY THAT COMES FROM “I AM” IF YOU DO NOT SEEK ME. You must seek me… then you will learn to love yourself as I love you. You will see yourself the way I see you. I plead with you to stop looking for it from the world Destiny. It will only disappoint you. Come to me… no one can teach you about “self-love” better than I can. Enter my presence, find out what I say about you, and believe it.”

My point is… you don’t have to strive. Everything (please hear me…) EVERYTHING you need is found in God, our Heavenly Father. Don’t misinterpret what I’m saying (I’m not saying that self love is not important or taking better care of yourself is not important) all I’m saying is allow God to teach you to gain the right type of self love.

-Destiny Cameron

Laurel

God seems to always speak to me through music. There have been many Sundays where praise & worship was where my message from God was heard. Tonight I was spending some time alone in prayer & reading. I am currently working through the Angela Thomas “Brave” workbook and reading about “thorns” – something that Satan uses to bring doubt, fear, and misery of all sorts into our lives. While I was reading I was thinking about two very opposite things: 1) I was thinking about how good God has been to my family and me. Over the last four years or so, He has shown Himself – His love, His grace, His goodness – to us over and over. We have been blessed in so many, many ways. Yet in all this, the second thing I was thinking about is how unhappy I have been with where I am right now. My job has been so unfulfilling. I feel undervalued, unappreciated, and that what I am doing is truly making no difference.
As these thoughts, my thorn, continued to spiral down into a pit of misery and feeling sorry for myself, I started thinking and comparing myself to others who seem to be doing “their calling.” They love their job, they are doing kingdom work, and they seem so all around happy. Lately, even on my best days, I don’t feel as happy and content with life as they look. At this low point, I decided I needed to turn on some worship music.

God spoke to me through three songs:

“Your love surrounds me when my thoughts wage war.” – ‘Prince of Peace’ by Hillsong United
All of these negative thoughts are pushed completely away when I remind myself how much God loves me! When I look around at all the blessings I have been given despite my shortcomings and failures, I know that I serve a God whose love is boundless. I serve a God that loves me so much He let His Son die for me! There is nothing I could ever do to separate myself from the love of God (Romans 8:35-39). God’s love surrounds me always, reminding me that I am enough as long as I am focused on Him and living my life in a way that glorifies Him.

“I nothing lack if I am His and He is mine forever.” – ‘King of Love’ by I Am They
I have everything I need and I am everything I need to be to do God’s work in this life. In every area I feel that I am weak His grace is sufficient (2 Corinthians 12:7-9). He will give me every tool I need to complete His plan for my life if I will just surrender it all to Him.

Which brings me to,
“Touch the Sky” – Hillsong United
If you have heard this song you are familiar with the title lines “I touch the sky when my knees hit the ground.” These words resonate through me every time I am needing direction. But these words were not the lyrics that God sang to me tonight. Instead, it was the beginning: “What fortune lies beyond the stars? Those dazzling heights too vast to climb.”
I feel on the edge of a revelation. I feel that God is about to reveal to me His glorious plan for my life. Right now, the dazzling glory of His plan is not within my grasp, but soon He will reveal a glimpse of the answer to the question the song lyrics pose. The uneasiness and discontent I have been feeling is actually the Holy Spirit stirring within me saying, “There is so much more you are meant for. GET READY!”

So, I want to encourage any of you that are feeling the weight of discontentment on your life. Discontent means that God has more in store for you and He is letting you know it! See Him! Ask him to revel His plan to you and He will! Maybe not all at once, but he will. All things are made perfect in His time (Ecclesiastes 3:11). But trust that in the meantime, He is using your current circumstances to prepare you for a glorious fulfilling that only He can!

Titus

Don’t say “Father” unless you behave like a son or daughter.
Don’t say “Our” if you live isolated in your selfishness.
Don’t say “Who Art in Heaven” if you are thinking only of worldly things.
Don’t say “Hallowed be Thy Name” if you invoke God with your lips,
but your heart is far from Him.
Don’t say “Thy Kingdom come” if you confuse the material and spiritual kingdom.
Don’t say “Thy Will be done” if you don’t accept what is painful.
Don’t say “Give us this day our daily bread” if you have no care for the people who are hungry.
Don’t say “Forgive us our trespasses” if you have anger towards your brother.
Don’t say “Lead us not into temptation” if you do not avoid the occasions of sin.
Don’t say “Deliver us from evil” if you do not do something to combat evil.
Don’t say “Amen” if you don’t take sincerely the words of the Our Father.

I cannot count the number of times I’ve prayed The Lord’s Prayer. I meant every word. I sincerely praised Him and asked Him for everything in this prayer, yet this reflection of the prayer shows how I got in the way of God’s plan for my life. “Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done, Deliver us from evil”. I said these words many times and all the while I mixed up the material and spiritual kingdom, I didn’t want to accept His will, and I deliberately violated His natural law.
By the age of 21, Jason and I were parents to two beautiful children, Trystan Micah and Tiger Michael. A girl and a boy. Isn’t that the perfect family? We were both in college planning to become teachers. Everyone knows that teachers don’t make huge salaries. We decided that if we wanted to provide comfortably for our family, we should not have any more children.
Without much thought, we looked into sterilization. “Hey, our insurance pays 100%! Let’s do it.” That was a huge warning sign that we blew right by, not to mention the Church’s teaching against anything this contrary to God’s design.
We live in a world of instant gratification. Have a question? Google it. Have a headache? Take a pill. Feel fat? Take a pill. Want material things? You don’t even have to go to a store to find them. Shop while you sit on your couch. Want sex without worrying about having more children? Have a vasectomy. That’s what we did. At the age of 21, my husband and I made the decision to damage his body and worse yet, our souls.
This day changed our lives, only we didn’t realize it yet.
Two months later, our lives were changed again.
Tiger needed a nap but was very squirmy and fidgety, so I put him in his car seat and gently swung him until the rocking motion lulled him to sleep. This was one of our normal routines. However, this time, I didn’t buckle him in. I wasn’t going to put him in the car; he was just taking a nap. I was rushing to get Trystan and myself ready for Easter choir practice at church. As soon as he fell asleep, I jumped into the shower.
His nap didn’t last long and because I left his car seat on the soft bed, when he moved, it fell over.
It’s extremely painful to talk about the nightmare that I lived in those next several minutes or the next few years for that matter.
Those minutes were like horror movie, like a strobe light that wouldn’t turn off, like ears ringing so you can’t hear or think about normal sounds. The 9-1-1 call. The ambulance to the hospital. The emergency room. The paramedics calling Jason at work to hurry quickly. Our Deacon. The begging prayers. The Doctor’s words. The floor. The pain. All I can put together is bits and pieces.
So here we are, bereaved parents at a ripe old age of 21. It was 2003. In my mind, I justified the vasectomy. My grief fired in a way that told me I could never love another child because that would mean that I was over the pain of losing Tiger. I thought that if carried another child, I would forget the way he felt moving in my womb. I thought that if loved another child that would mean that I loved Tiger less.
I know now that the enemy is who puts doubt and fear in our minds.
For nearly 10 years, as our grief progressed through the stages, we lived our lives thinking that we had made a smart decision.
Then God started screaming at us since we obviously weren’t listening to His gentle nudges.
I constantly had these nudges thinking it was time for Trystan to have another sibling but every time those thoughts came up, I batted them away with excuses and reasons that it wasn’t a good idea. For years, the enemy helped me to contradict God’s natural law and fight against what my body and what my God were calling me to do.
Sometimes God chooses really shocking ways to make us listen. It’s shocking that we actually listened and said, “Thy will be done” and it’s almost amusing at who it took to deliver the message.
Jason and I slowly started having conversations about the future. We again made excuses for not having any more children. When the conversation would lead to more children, sometimes even adoption, we would never agree or bring the conversation to a close. At least we were talking about it, but there still wasn’t a solution to the nudge we were feeling.
There wasn’t a solution until God used his messengers, two priests; two male celibate priests. You might ask, “How can a man who is celibate know anything about a married woman’s body or relationship?” Well, I can tell you that our priests study a ton more about marriage and the gift of a sexual relationship than most of us do about the priesthood. I’m glad I listened.
Here’s a little side note: I play the piano at two churches. I play for the Saturday night Mass at Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish and I play for a Sunday morning Mass at Sacred Heart Parish. All over the world, the Catholic church follows the same Liturgical calendar so no matter where you attend, you will hear the same readings and Gospel. After 3 years of attending Sunday Mass and holy days of obligation, we will read the bible in its entirety. So, sometimes, a priest must preach about what God commands that might not be so easy for us to hear. One example is the message of repentance, that calls us to change our ways. God definitely shares so much with us that makes us feel all warm and bubbly inside, but sometimes we hear His message that makes us shake a little. The shaking part only comes if we are not ready to die to ourselves. He doesn’t give us fear, that’s from the enemy.
Since we attend two services each week, we get to hear two different homilies, or sermons from our two priests. For four weeks in a row, Jason and I left Mass asking if the other had spoken to the priest because we just knew that he was speaking directly to us.
We finally heard what God had been trying to tell us all along. There must be two elements present in every sexual act. The act must be procreative or open to life (that doesn’t mean every couple must have 20 children, that’s another conversation about Natural Family Planning) and the act must be unitive meaning the actual physical union of man and wife. Any interruption of these two basic guidelines deliberately takes the Will of God out of it.
Finally, as we were leaving Mass, Jason asked the priest if we could call sometime during the week to speak with him. He said he had some time right now, let’s talk. Jason started the conversation with, “I know God is calling us to do something more, but I don’t know what it is yet.” I told Father that I was having a hard time dealing with the fact that we had a vasectomy so many years before. He counseled us about God’s mercy and forgiveness and how we repent and change after making young and badly informed decisions. Then Jason said it. “Should I have the vasectomy reversed?” Father asked me if I was still in childbearing years. At the time I was 33. Father’s exact words were, “You will never truly know the peace He is calling you to if you don’t.”
I finally knew what it meant to die to oneself. Previously when I heard that phrase, I made excuses for why I couldn’t. Now, I felt the peace that came along with it instead of thinking of a million excuses. It was true. When God calls us to something, He also gives us what we need to work for it.
We went home and Jason immediately researched vasectomy reversals. Within a day, we had a plan.
Remember how we were excited because we didn’t have to pay anything for the vasectomy? Insurance will pay for anything that will prevent a life. A surgery that is intended to create life is quite the opposite. The vasectomy reversal cost us about $8,000.
In 2014, he had the surgery and all went well. For the first time in over 10 years, I truly felt peace.
Trystan was 14 years old, old enough to know the situation. Every now and then, the enemy would try to persuade me again. “Why even have another baby now, she’ll be in college before you know it and she won’t even know her sibling?” But God wins every time. The whole situation has helped us to teach her about our bodies and purpose.
Four months after the surgery we conceived. After 2 weeks, that precious little soul joined Tiger in Heaven. The same thing happened a couple of months later. It was such a roller coaster ride, but the whole while God was there. All those fears I had throughout the 10 years were eliminated. I don’t love Tiger any less. I don’t miss him any less. When he was born, did I have to split my heart between him and Trystan? No! The love just multiplies. Why would it be any different now? God’s peace prevails!
We continued to pray, “Thy Will be done.” This part of the prayer really meant much more than it used to. It’s not easy to be ready to accept God’s Will if it’s not our will.
I do. I do accept His Will. If it is His Will, Titus Michael should be born any day now. Throughout this pregnancy, I’ve prayed for health for us, but I’ve also been ready to accept whatever may come. It’s a totally different perspective in every aspect of life. What I thought would be scary and hard now has my eyes ever more in awe of God’s grandeur.
When Paul sent Titus to Crete to “further the faith of God’s elect,” he was teaching them God’s way. He sent him also so that 2000 years later, Jason and Sara would also further their faith. The book of Titus was not a story from the past. For us, it is a message for today!

3 At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. 4 But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. 8 This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.
-Titus 3:3-8

 

Emilia Love

I  want to share this amazing testimony from my friend. I would say that this is not the typical Emerge testimony that we normally post, but just as this family believed for the impossible…we need to believe for what seems impossible in our lives. You may not think you are able to do the thing that God wants you to do….the thing you know that He is tugging at your heart to do, but with God, all things are possible!! This testimony proves it! If He can do what He did for this precious child…then He can give you boldness…He can give you the ability to do anything He has called you to. Here is sweet Emilia’s story:

I had a great pregnancy, in fact, my best pregnancy, other than gestational diabetes which I had under control. By my calculations I was 41 weeks and 5days when I went into hard labor. My contractions were regular, about 30 seconds apart when I arrived at the hospital Friday morning, November 6th. I began to suspect something was wrong the second I got into a room. Dr. May was quickly on the scene to break my water, when he did the meconium was extremely thick. They rushed me into an emergency C-section. While I was out they had informed Mikel that our baby, Emilia, was born, dead. They had already resuscitated her twice in the delivery room. When I awoke, Mikel tried, emotionally to relay the news. I asked for my mom- they were hesitant but finally let her in to see me. When she arrived it was with the hospital chaplain, and Dr. Harvey, Emilia’s Dr. The Dr. explained to me that her cord was wrapped around her body, and the meconium had put her PH level to a 6.6, he had never seen a baby survive this. He told us she had no chance to live, we needed to say out goodbyes… but before he left, he added that her only chance was a miracle- we hung on to that last sentence, he instructed us to pray. At that moment, a match was struck in us, our family and friends rallied around us, we were asking God for a miracle. They immediately began blood pressure medicine, had her breathing on a vent, and reduced her body temp to 93 with the help of a cooling blanket. She lived, they believed with no brain activity, then she had 5 seizures Saturday morning. This was good and bad- bad because, well they are seizures, good because to have a seizure, you have to have a brain. Strangely, this gave us hope. As her Dr.’s and nurses would give us reports we would write them down and pray for her body to do the right thing, to line up with the word of God. We prayed Psalm 118:17, She would live and not die! She would declare the wonderful works of the Lord! Her kidneys began to work, her liver was damaged far less than they imagined it would be, her PH finally got to 7.4 and stayed there, though we were so excited, they told us, the damage was too severe because of the length of time her PH had been low. God was moving, she was fighting. Sunday evening she was supposed to have an EEG but Dr. Harvey’s shift had ended and Dr. Clements shift began. When I met Dr. Clements, she informed me it wouldn’t matter when we did it, it would say the same thing- that she was brain dead, and could not live without the drastic measures the machines and medicine was providing. Though I knew what she said was probably true, I had heard it before, it threw me, I began to doubt. At the moment I walked out of that conversation, the “Yes Lord” girls were praying for our family in the NICU hallway. The Holy Spirit restored my hope and in my hospital room my family were praying for her and I and Holy Spirit restored my faith. Mikel was back and forth from us to Ben who had also been admitted to BSA for a kidney infection. Monday morning Emilia had her first EEG as they began to warm her body. Dr. Clements, whose words had shook me came to my room to talk to me about our “options”, Mikel came up. She began to tell us what she thought the EEG would say, little to no brain activity, that she did not think Emilia could live without all of the machines, and if she did live it would be a very poor quality of life. She asked us if we wanted a child who made no connection to her surroundings, who ate through a tube and breathed through a vent. Mikel and I were not ready to give up, we said we were going to storm Heaven for 24 more hours. As her body temp came up, she began to improve drastically. When we got her EEG results back they said she had moderate to severe HIE (lack of oxygen and lack of blood flow to her brain and severe injury), but no more seizures or brain bleeds. This was not the perfect report we had hoped for, but there were brain waves. Dr. Clements told us 3 things she wanted Emilia to do in the next 2 weeks. We began to stand on John 10:10, that she would have abundant life in every part of her body. No discord, and no dysfunction. Emilia started doing them in the next 2 days. She became a different baby, she opened her eyes and took her own vent out. She was slowly weaned off of every medicine. They ordered an MRI, their fear being her brain would look like Swiss cheese, and there would be parts missing and severe hemorrhaging. When she had her MRI they allowed her siblings to see her for the very first time as she was wheeled through the hallway to the machines. The MRI showed a perfectly normal brain structure! Her second EEG, just ten days after the first one showed the very mildest HIE, this was a drastic improvement! They let her try to nurse, she did it! Every task they put in front of her she excelled at. Her breathing was still very fast and labored but slowly it improved. They allowed us to bathe her for the first time on no oxygen, she did great. It was so amazing to see her with nothing on her face. They told me on Saturday, November 21st it would be at least 2 weeks until she would be home. The next day, her nurse called and told me to come get my baby. There are no words to explain the joy and relief we felt. Our miracle was coming home on no machines, no medicine after only 16 days! God gets all the glory. He healed our daughter. She has baffled the medical world. They are certain she is only alive, and doing so well by a divine miracle. She has surpassed every milestone to this point. We are so grateful for every doctor and every nurse that stood with us, believed with us. Even when giving us a grim report, they would finish with, “you can believe for a miracle”, so we did! We believe she will excel in every area of her life, and that there will be an avalanche of miracles because of the faith her story has stirred up.

Tina,

As you know, I am a survivor of breast cancer….38 years in April!  Well, for 33 years, I avoided almost all contact with cancer and its victims.  It just hit too close to home and terrified me.

But that of all changed in 2010.  I was out walking one day, despairing over the number of my friends who had recently been diagnosed with breast cancer.  While I was crying out to God, I heard Him speak to my heart.  He said, “Jeanie, there is something you can do to help.”  Well, that “conversation” with God led to the formation of a group we named Survivors Unlimited, an on-line, Faith-based group, organized to help other women dealing with breast cancer.  We started with a core group of 8 ladies.   Recently, we expanded our mission to include ladies who have been stricken with ANY type of cancer.

We have reached upwards of 200 ladies over the years, and we find new ladies (or they find us) weekly.  Sadly, not all of our members have survived, but the vast majority have.  And I have no doubt that this group of ladies has eased the burden for those who fought and lost their earthly battle.  And we sent them on their way with assurances that in the end, they realized the ultimate victory of divine healing and an eternity with Jesus in heaven.    I never cease to be amazed at the strength, raw courage and faith of this group of women.  A lady will write a post, filled with fear of upcoming surgery and/or treatments.  Within minutes, our page is flooded with words of advice, love and encouragement.

I am humbled that God spoke to me that summer day.  We, as a group, have grown tremendously, not just in numbers, but more importantly in faith, love and hope.  What a tremendous privilege to be part of something that matters for all eternity.

If you know of anyone who we might be privileged to help, please put me in touch with her.  It will be our honor to reach out to her with sincere love and compassion.

To God be the glory!

Love, Jeanie

Testimony From Danielle

When people go off to college it’s an experience they’ll never forget, and that part is true. Many make lifelong friends; well in my first year of college I only made one, and it’s name was depression.

In high school, I never experienced this kind of sadness and lack of self worth. I had no motivation to go out and meet people or to get good grades in my classes, I worked out, but never made improvements. This caused me to eat maybe once a day, but what comes with the symptoms of depression are weight gain. I felt so alone and hated myself. It came to the point that when I would just look at myself in the mirror and it would bring me to tears. I hated the way I looked, hated where I was at in life, and just hated myself in general. Throughout my first semester, I began to develop insomnia. Which caused my mind to wander throughout the night on how much my life sucked and how much I hated myself. My confidence completely broke down, I would only wear sweats and baggy shirts and only leave my room if I absolutely had to. I did not want to interact with people.

I went home for Christmas break and had the most wonderful time with my family, like I never had before. It definitely gave me a sort of an eye opener and things aren’t terrible like the devil tried to make me believe. It would make me frustrated because I knew when the devil was trying to deceive me and defeat me, but the facts all seemed there; how can you argue with that? The thought of going back to school scared me, what would happen to me there? I remember just crying in my dad’s arms telling him I didn’t want to go back. But with his tough love said, I needed to and everything would be fine.

It was not as bad as I expected. And although things are not as bad as they used to be, it is sometimes a daily struggle to find a smile or think I am smart or I am pretty. It is something that I have to learn to keep up with. And although I may only have 2 friends in the same town as me, they have been my saving grace and I will forever be thankful for their support. But I know that my mom had been praying non-stop for me, who knows where I would be at this point without her. God knew what He was doing when He decided to give her to me. I am remembering that what the devil intended for evil, God intended for good. Genesis 50:20 I do not look at this as a setback, I will emerge from this and wait for my moment to use this experience to comfort others.
Danielle

Bevin Bold

Bevin Bold

Meet my friend, Bevin Bold. One of the things we want to do in Emerge is  highlight people’s lives and their giftings. God has given gifts to each one of us. Some hide it, and the purpose of Emerge is to encourage you to come into view. God wants us to shine. Our purpose is to bring Him glory. The way we do that is to Emerge!!

1. What is your greatest passion?

Hmmm….greatest passion? I have a few. I am very passionate about seeing nations (especially Muslim nations) experience Jesus Christ – a real encounter with Him that will transform their lives forever. I so desire to experience firsthand what Revelation 7:9 talks about – “Every tongue and every tribe worshipping Jesus!” I am also very passionate about being a mom and seeing my children serve Jesus with all their hearts. But possibly the thing I am most passionate about is seeing women (and people in general) walk out the calling of God in their lives. The tactic that the enemy used over and over in my life was to cause me to believe that God didn’t really have any specific plan for me. What a lie! I am eager for women to know that they are created for a specific purpose and that God desires to use their lives for His glory!

2. When did you realize you were passionate about nations?

For most of my life, I didn’t even have the slightest awareness about nations. But in 2003, I moved to the country of Uzbekistan to live with my sister who had recently birthed my first nephew. My intention in this trip had absolutely nothing to do with missions and everything to do with spending time with my baby nephew. But God was orchestrating things in my life that I was not aware of. During the 9 months I spent living in Uzbekistan, my eyes were opened to a nation full of people who followed Islam, a religion that teaches that Jesus never died on the cross for our sins. After returning to America, I couldn’t shake the things I had seen in Uzbekistan. Year after year my desire to return to the Muslim world increased. In 2008, at a Passion Conference, God clearly called my husband and I to move to northern Iraq. This was the moment, if you will, when I knew that this was what I was created for.

3. How long have you walked with the Lord?

I fully surrendered my life to Jesus after I graduated high school at the age of 17. I am now nearly 35 years old and I will walk with Him every single day for the rest of my life.

4.  When and how did you really understand and grasp your identity in Christ?

Grasping my identity with Christ has been a journey for me.
I think the real crux of realizing my identity happened only a few years ago as I listened to a speaker named Connie Witter. She spoke passionately about God’s good opinion of me, and I caught it! And I didn’t just catch it, but I embraced it. I was like, “Yes, Jesus your opinion of me is so good and I AGREE with your good opinion.” That was the game-changer. Actually agreeing with what He thought about me.

5.  What would you like people to know about their identity in Christ?

I want people to realize that when they ask Jesus to come into their lives that He will do a transforming work. When God looks at them – He doesn’t see them and their failures and their hangups – He sees Jesus. God looks at us and sees Jesus! That’s crazy! 2 Corinthians 2:18 says, “And all of us, as with unveiled face, [because we] continued to behold [in the Word of God] as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are constantly being transfigured into His very own image in ever increasing splendor and from one degree of glory to another; [for this comes] from the Lord [Who is] the Spirit.” That means that as we look at Jesus, we actually start looking like Him. I love that!

6. Describe your typical day?

A typical day in the life of Bevin Bold is not very glamorous. Wake up – Exercise (sometimes) – Make a cappuccino (all the time!) – Get Haven ready for school – Get Haven and Josh out the door – Sit down to try to have some quiet time with Jesus while being wildly interrupted by the little love of my life, Honor (my 11 month old son) – Make Etsy jewelry orders for the day, while listening to online sermons – Work on missions department tasks for the church – Play with a baby – Pick up Haven from school – Spend time outside doing something after Josh returns home – Cook dinner – Pick up house again – Get kids in bed…You know, just normal mom life.

7.  You make and sell jewelry on Etsy. Why did you start doing that? What is your favorite part? How can we find you on Etsy?

For as long as I can remember I have loved to create! As a little girl, I spent hours in my walk-in closet transforming sticks of gum into earrings, pennies into glued-together bracelets, flowers into crowns… Creating is always where I have thrived.

After four years of living in northern Iraq, my husband and I felt strongly that our season of living in Iraq was coming to an end. We moved back to the States, moved our entire lives into a fifth-wheel camper and began traveling from state to state. Creating is therapeutic for me and I needed some therapy during this transitional time We also needed income, so I decided to go out on a limb, open an Etsy shop and just see what would come of it. To my surprise, it took off! I’m so thankful for my husband who was patient and supportive during a season of our lives when every nook and cranny of our tiny camper was constantly strewn with beads and jewelry-making supplies.

You can check out my shop at: https://www.etsy.com/shop/BevinBold

8.  When was the last time you laughed until you cried?

Funny question because I basically cry every time I really laugh. Josh calls it “craffing” (the word you get when you combine crying with laughing.)
There are a few times I can think of…
Josh and I love to unwind at night by watching a TV show together called, “Impractical Jokers.” It is just a dumb show about four friends who make each other do pranks, but I OFTEN ”craff” while watching this.
I just remembered another one. During our last trip to Egypt, Pastor Swann had the hardest time saying the name of a Middle Eastern dip called “baba ganoush.” He kept calling it “baba ga douche.” I’m not sure if it was the word “douche” or possibly the combination of sleep deprivation and extreme heat – but this had our whole team rolling!
I have one more recent laugh-until-I-cried experience to share. My dear friend, Lori Roach and I were recalling a time during our non-married years when we went tracking down a young traveling evangelist who was in our town. He was speaking one evening at a VERY small, VERY Pentecostal church, and we just “happened to show up.” During the meeting there were people running around and around the small sanctuary, which got both of us giggling under our breaths, but then one woman actually ran in so many circles that she puked – RIGHT THERE AT THE ALTAR! We felt as if we were going to explode with laughter, but mustered up all the willpower we possessed to maintain our composures in front of the handsome, young preacher. As Lori and I remembered this night, we laughed until we cried.

Testimony from Kara

 Meet my lovely friend Kara. Before I post her testimony, I want to say that sharing a testimony is not always easy. We share testimonies, not to highlight negative things, but to bring glory to God for what He has done in our lives. That is what Emerge is all about; we want you to be able to move past the things in your life that have hurt you or kept you from sharing your gifts with the world. By sharing her testimony, Kara is coming out from behind her past and coming into view. What she has to share with the world is beautiful! I personally know this sweet lady and she is such a gift. I am so thankful that she chooses to share her light with the world!

Kara’s Testimony

You know everyone has their ups and downs as a kid. No one’s life is perfect, but some people do grow up in better situations than others. Is it the child’s fault? No way! It’s not their fault they were born into junk! However it is their choice to choose a better life.
I grew up with lots of junk! Abuse both verbal & physical. I saw things as a child that not even adults should see.  Things as an adult now, I have never seen again. But through it all Jesus was watching out for me.  Looking back there were so many times I see the hand of God in the situation & I am so ever grateful for His protection.  He guided me to do things, say things, go some place & he even opened locked doors so I could call 911. God’s love for you is so real, he does mighty things for you even when you may not know it.  His protection is real & true.  His provision is always there. He even sends angels to guide you through a rain storm so you can get home when you’re not sure where to go because you had to take a detour.
As a child I have always known who God was. I accepted Jesus into my heart at 12 & my brother & I would ride miles on our bike to go to church. No one forced us to go to church, we knew where our salvation was. However I don’t think we realized the magnitude of God’s love until we were grown.
Knowing who God is & having a relationship with him are two totally different things. When my husband & I were dating, he took me to Faith Christian Family Church in Clovis, New Mexico. WOW! Talk about an eye opener! I was taught the Word of God from a man very passionate about Jesus who had a deep relationship with Jesus.  He taught everyone to read the Bible for yourself. Just because a preacher says something is in the Bible, we still need to look it up for ourselves & read around the verse to find out what is being said. Dig deep in the Bible! Pray the word over your life. You don’t have to make up some prayer. Find a verse that deals with what you are going through & pray that into your life. Build a relationship with the one who died for you. He’s not far away & can’t be reached. He’s here in you & with you & wants to be spoken to daily. No matter where you are in your life, or where you came from, choose Jesus & he will guide you out of the junk. My life is more than I could ever think or imagine it to be & I know God has more in store for me.

Be blessed,
Kara

Emerge

Welcome to Emerge! We are so excited to start this blog! It is our prayer that this ministry will draw out all those who have been hiding themselves behind the fear of not being enough. You ARE ENOUGH!

In October of 2014, I was at a women’s conference. As I was worshiping, I heard the Holy Spirit speak the word “emerge” to me. As I sought Him about the word emerge, He told me that He wanted me to emerge into the woman that He created me to be and to help other women do the same.

So many women seem to believe the lie that they are not enough. The truth is:  You are enough!! God loves you and created you to be YOU. He doesn’t want you to be like someone else. He has specific plans for your life. You cannot carry out His purpose for your life if you are hiding who you are behind fear and comparison. Only you can share the gifts He designed just for you. Maybe you haven’t discovered those gifts yet, because you are always trying to be like or measure up to someone else. I believe God wants you to find your own unique identity by believing what He says about you, by knowing exactly how He feels about you, and by believing that He didn’t make a mistake in making YOU!

I want you to know what “Emerge” means. The definition is so beautiful to me. When I read all of its meanings and synonyms, even more depth was added to what God had spoken to me about becoming who He created me to be. This is not the whole dictionary definition, just the parts that stood out to me:

emerge (verb)

to move out or away from something and come into view

synonyms: come out; appear; come into view; become visible; surface; materialize; manifest oneself; come forth; become apparent, important, or prominent; become known; become apparent; be revealed; come to light; come out; turn up; transpire; unfold

We cannot truly bring glory to the Father if we remain hidden by fear. It’s time to EMERGE. Come into view so the world can see what God has done for you. He gave you Jesus to cover all the things you want to hide about your life with His blood. He washed away the sin, the past, and the inadequacies. Through Him, and because of Him, you are ENOUGH. Without Him, no one would be enough…not even those people you compare yourself to. But glory be to God who looks at us through His Son, Jesus, who makes us enough!

Emerge, beautiful Woman of God!!