Gloriously Encouraged By Elise Cooper.

This week I started a new series, which will be every Thursday here on this space.
A series where I have asked several beautiful women to share their hearts with you guys.
The purpose being to encourage you all. 
I can't keep quiet about these ladies you guys, they are such gems!! Beautiful inside and out.
I look forward to hearing what each of them shares on this topic. I have asked them to share with you guys every week leading up to Christmas, so you too can be encouraged by them during this season of thankfulness and grace. May their stories point you to the one each of them loves!
I am so blessed to be able to call these ladies friends. I find such encouragement in hearing how the Lord is working in their lives and working through them.
I hope you too will find their stories and hearts to be a blessing with where you find yourself on your journey with the Lord.

Much Love as always!

L

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Hey there! 

My name is Elise and I blog over at Forever Changed. 

I’m a pretty ordinary girl, I have an amazing family, a best friend, a sweet dog, I run for fun (and yes, I rhymed on purpose), chocolate chip cookies are my weakness, I love Christmas, and I have a bucket list that I take pretty seriously. Despite all this ordinariness I have an extraordinary purpose, perfectly designed by God, that has led me to move to Rwanda to work in an orphanage with over 500 children that has forever changed my life.  Blogging is my way of documenting this crazy journey that is my life.

What is your favorite Bible Verse and why?

Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and future.” Since making the leap to move to Rwanda this verse has appeared over and over again and every time has been a comfort. It was never my plan to leave my family, my friends, everything that was familiar to me, but it was always God’s plan for me to do just that, and His plans far exceed my own.

What is the biggest way you have seen the Lord at work in your life?

“God doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the called.” God is using me in big ways, not because I’m anything special, the opposite actually, He is using me so that his power can be revealed and obvious. I came to Rwanda with an idea of what I would be doing based on my gifts and now I am in the process of doing something completely different, something that I know absolutely nothing about and never expected to be doing. I realize that’s incredibly vague but I hope to reveal this “big thing” on my blog in the coming weeks when it's official. What I can say is that it is honor to be a servant of the most high God and see Him working in and through me everyday.

Where do you see the Lord taking you in the future?

Based on the crazy journey God is taking me on now I can honestly say I have no idea what my future is going to hold. I would like to come back to the states, move to New York and work with inner city kids. I would like to still come back to Rwanda a couple times a year. I would like to get married and adopt from Africa. I would like to do a lot of things but I don't know what my future will hold. I do know that as long as I am seeking after God and His will my future will be prosperous, even if non of the “I would like’s” become a reality.

Do you feel the Lord has placed anything on your heart to share with other girls to encourage them?

Don’t limit yourselves to societies standard of a successful woman, rather go to the word of God and search for His definition of a successful woman. Seek after God with your whole heart, not sharing yourself, and He will direct you, He will prosper you, He will use you, He will give you your hearts desires, He will comfort you, He will love you. Seek after Him and you will live a successful life. 

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