SWEET FRIENDS!
I am writing in hopes of giving you a glimpse of what I’ve been up to as well as what’s on the horizon.
WHERE I’VE BEEN
As many of you know, I worked with Youth With A Mission (YWAM) in Charlotte, North Carolina from the Fall of 2012 up until this past Spring. During my time with YWAM, I did a Discipleship Training School (DTS), a Worship, Intercession, Spiritual 
Warfare, and Evangelism school (WISE), and a worship intensive school with Burn 24/7 and YWAM Harrisburg. I also staffed a DTS and a School of Ministry Development, lead worship at the YWAM base and at multiple conferences, lead week long summer outreaches for high school students, co-lead a two month overseas outreach trip to Thailand and Cambodia, and that doesn’t even scratch the surface. Those were two and a half challenging, growing, humbling, incredible, life-changing years that have helped shape my character and fine tune my personal dreams and vision. I will always cherish the relationships and memories from my time serving with YWAM locally, nationally, and globally.
Last Fall the Lord started speaking to me about phasing out of YWAM (at least for now), and moving back home to Colorado Springs, CO. At first, I was completely against it. I mean who wouldn’t be? I was comfortable. Living in community made my heart come alive. Watching the lives of my peers radically change right before my eyes because they had a deep, personal, experiential encounter with the only true God excited me and challenged me to seek personal depth with the Father. Training, equipping, and mobilizing my generation to be serious about the work of the cross and the grand story of redemption woke me up from sleeping in apathy. Don’t get me wrong..not everyday was fun, or happy, or good, and just like every season of life..this one was sprinkled with some really difficult moments and days..BUT- I was living my dreams. Quite honestly, I was scared to go back to ‘real life’ and leave the community that had so quickly become my home. Naturally, I did the first thing I could think of.. (I tried to strike a deal with God..) “ALRIGHT FINE- I’ll leave YWAM (for now) and this family/community that I love.. BUT ONLY IF I get to live in Charlotte with my second family, write and record music with my closet friends, learn ballet, and work at Anthropology (maybe I could do more than window shop if I had the employee discount..hahahaha).” Well..the Lord does have a sense of humor, but He did not think that was as funny as I did, and in His loving kindness, He rebuked me. I remember Him saying, “EMILY- I am so much more concerned with the condition of your heart that needs healing than I am about you writing songs. I am so much more concerned about relationships that need to be mended back home than I am about you living in a house decorated in all of your ‘Anthro favs’. Remember my character and accept that moving home is the most loving thing I can ask you to do.” The only response I could muster up after that humbling little conversation was, “Yes, Lord.”
The transition out of full time ministry (going from being submerged in Christian culture and surrounded by God fearing people, back to ‘normal life’, living with my parents, and working 40+ hours a week) was not an easy one to say the least. Sure, I grew up in the Springs, and everything looked the same, but E V E R Y T H I N G was different. The friends I grew up with were all either in school, married, traveling the world, or starting their careers. I cried. A lot. Not to mention the added heartache of an unexpected breakup with my boyfriend just two weeks after I moved back home.. I REALLY cried. I was in udder confusion about the word of the Lord to me just months prior.. “Remember my character and accept that moving home is the most loving thing I can ask you to do.” As tempting as it was to wallow in my tears and listen to the voice of the accuser who was trying to convince me of the ‘false sense of security that lies in being a child of God’, I refused to question the character of my Father. I prayed, and often times begged the Lord to keep hope alive in my heart. And somehow, in the midst of disappointment, uncertainty, heartbreak, and confusion, HOPE had the last word. He filled me with peace that surpasses all knowledge and understanding and He kept my heart tender to His voice. Transition is rarely easy – the good news is that the word of the Lord is as sure in the darkness as it is in the LIGHT.
WHERE I AM
This summer I got a job working as a front dest associate at a Hyatt hotel when I got a call from my best friend and her husband saying the Lord spoke to them about moving back to the Springs. I felt like I could hear the HALLELUJAH chorus!
They were staying with me one night right when they got back and asked me how things were going. I proceeded to tell them how much I disliked my job and how the transition had been really difficult for me. They said, ‘Em, if you could do anything, what would you do?’ Without skipping a beat I responded with something along the lines of – ‘Pray for America and our government, be involved in and influence the (failing) education system, write music, and live in D.C.’ And that’s when the skies broke.
Within a week of having that conversation with Seth and Rachel at my kitchen table, I put in my two week notice at the Hotel and accepted a position working with the National Day of Prayer as an intern for their annual Bus Tour around America. This year’s focus?..Education. HOW COOL IS GOD?! Listen friends, God dreamed a dream before the creation of the world and loved it so much that He waited thousands of years, until just the right time, to wrap a body around that dream and release it on the Earth. We are literally the living dreams of the Father’s heart and He has a purpose and a calling on each one of our lives. Be BOLD with the dreams of your heart, speak them out loud and watch as they go from mere dreams to reality.
WHERE I’M GOING
With all that being said, I wanted to let you know that I am leaving in less than two weeks for the kickoff of the tour. It is so cool to see how all the training I’ve had over the past three years and the seemingly random jobs I’ve done both in and out of ministry have helped to prepare me for my role with the National Day of Prayer and the Bus Tour this Fall. I am traveling with a core team of four people on a 14.5ft tall, 50ft long, charter bus that is covered in this years theme: “PRAY FOR AMERICA – 2015 EDUCATION TOUR – praying for our nations schools, colleges, and universities”. We will be on the road for 56 days, going to 51 campuses, totaling just over 6,000 miles, starting at Harvard 
and ending at the Department of education in Washington D.C. We will be visiting Universities, homeschool groups, Catholic schools, public schools, Ivy leagues, middle schools, high schools, and Indian reservation schools. We are trusting and believing God for an unprecedented move of the Spirit in the Education sphere and we are so looking forward to hearing and capturing video testimonies day after day of how God is moving on campuses all across the nation. Our heart for this tour is simple – to ENGAGE the body of Christ in what’s happening on our campuses nationwide, to EQUIP the body of Christ with ways to pray strategically and intentionally for our students as future generational leaders, government officials, stock brokers, business men/women, teachers, coaches, employees, moms, dads, etc, and to ENCOURAGE the body of Christ with the real testimonies of how the Spirit of God is moving through education.
CALLED TO PRAY
I am thrilled to be apart of this tour and am joyfully inviting YOU to be apart of it, too. I am asking for your precious prayers. I have personally seen deaf ears opened through the power of prayer. I have personally experienced hardened hearts becoming soft through the power of prayer. Of this I am convinced: if we actually understood the power of prayer, we would be on our faces before the Father day and night, fervently asking for His will to be established in every area of our lives and the societies we live in. I understand that most people can not leave their jobs, families, etc., for two months to physically be apart of this tour, but please, JOIN OUR TEAM by investing your time and praying with us and for us as we go. Thank you for loving and supporting this wild journey that I’m on. YOU GUYS ROCK!
So much love, EMILYDEE
If you have any questions or would like to contact me, please shoot an email my way at: emily.tharaldson@gmail.com
For specific questions regarding the tour, (i.e. dates, times, locations) please visit http://www.pray4america.nationbuilder.com
emilydee 