about the gate:
I started the gate with one objective: share how life-changing the story and life of Jesus are.
Genesis chapter 28 records Jacob's encounter with God in a dream. In his dream, Jacob sees a stairway to heaven. God speaks to Jacob and, in verses 13-15, gives Jacob a promise: "I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you." Jacob wakes from this dream and, as verse 17 says, "He was afraid and said, 'How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.'"
My wish is that this site would function similarly: as a gate into heaven, testifying to the faithfulness of God and the certainty of His promises. God will not leave or abandon us, as he says, until the fruition of not some, but all of his promises. Despite the often convincing moments we're tempted to think otherwise, God is generous, and God is faithful. My prayer is that these stories - from the painful, fractured world we live in - can allow us, like Jacob, to peek into God's majesty and stand in simultaneous awe and fear as we witness and hear of His glory and goodness.
I hope this site is a dwelling place of the Lord and His wisdom. I hope this site is a vessel of His word and His goodness where you can embrace the grace freely given to us in Jesus. I hope, too, that upon encountering this grace you experience a transformation of heart like Jacob did. In verses 20-21, after waking from his dream, Jacob declares: "If God will indeed be with me and protect me on this journey...then the Lord will certainly be my God." Here's to our God, and here's to turning challenging heartaches into changing hearts.
My story:
My name is Emily. I was born and raised on a peach farm in Western Colorado. I learned from a very young age the importance of hard work, time outdoors, and sunscreen. Like many Coloradans, I love the mountains, especially if I’m exploring them with my husband, children, and our two dogs. I teach high school English, am infatuated with making good-looking charcuterie boards, and aspire to be a green thumb despite the reality of my mediocrity in plant care.
More seriously, I am honored to share with you the challenges, victories, and revelations I experience as I pursue intimacy with the Creator. Here's the truth: I am a broken vessel. My life and its lessons are by no means any more or less valuable than others'. I know, though, that God -in his grace- shines brightly through the cracks within each of us and, as Paul says in 2 Corinthians 12, makes His power perfect in our weakness. We, the imperfect many, are God’s choice ambassador. Imagine how inefficient a lamp would be if its shade was dark and impermeable. Instead, lamps with transparent shades brightly share light. The holes and transparency of the vessel are what permit the light to come through best.
God is a marvelous story-teller. I'm convinced he uses the stories of ordinary people, willing to be vulnerable and transparent, to do extraordinary things. My longing, regardless of where you are in life, is that you would leave this site empowered to share your heart and to share your story. My hope is that this site would assure you of God’s sovereignty. At a minimum, I wish a peace over you knowing you're not the only one struggling, hurting, and questioning the complex realities of life in a broken world.