About intro pic.png — Hi, I’m Em.

I’m a life coach.
I work with people who want to feel more joy and meaning in their lives. I can help you rise above the gnawing feeling that you’re not doing enough. I can help you let go of clutter or grudges that are weighing you down. I can help you love your teenagers instead of trying to control them. I can help you break down a huge goal into bite size pieces, so you can achieve that big thing you’ve always wanted to do. I can help you incorporate your faith into the changes you want to make in your life. You ready?

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Which resources are you looking for?

Private Coaching Sessions

You’re doing your best to show up for all the people who depend on you, but you’re getting burned out. I’ll help you navigate and reframe stress about your work, home, health, or relationships, so you can enjoy your life again—AND reach your goals. After each session you’ll feel lighter, more energized, and more focused on what matters most.

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Coaching Program

Are you running yourself ragged in a sea of endless demands? Do you long for the rest that Jesus offers, but actually just feel tired no matter how much you do?
Come with me, and learn to rise above people pleasing, perfectionism, and “not enough-itis.” With a different topic each month, I’ll teach you life-changing tools that will help you look to God in every thought, so you can step into more love, confidence, energy, and connection and JOY!

um, yes please

Group Presentations

Do you want to build a more positive culture in your workplace? Do you want to provide resources that will help those you lead to face their challenges and reach their goals?
I’ll come to your location (Denver area) and provide a 1-hour coaching presentation to inspire your office, team, or group.

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Testimonials

“…several leaps forward…in reaching a big, big goal in my life!”

“During my coaching sessions with Emily, we ventured into some personal ‘territory’ that could have easily brought on feelings of vulnerability, on my part. Emily, however, with her calm and clear approach to coaching, fostered a safe ‘space’ for my growth, posing questions that helped guide me in finding my own answers to challenging scenarios, and developing my own concrete goals. Emily cheered me on, providing accountability and valuable feedback, as I made several leaps forward during my time working with her, in reaching a big, big goal in my life!"

-Candace, in Arizona

“…I feel I have more power in my life to choose how I live it…”

“Emily is truly an amazing coach. Actually she’s become a valued friend. The kind of friend who I can share with and open up to without fear of judgment! She is safe! Emily listens with her heart and her brain. She has expanded my understanding of life, scripture, and the misinterpretations I have been struggling with for nearly 65 years. I feel I have more power in my life to choose how I live it. She is a rare combination, of acceptance, insight, intelligence, charity, and…honesty. She works with the spirit. Real change is easier, it’s possible, doable, and I’m doing it!!!”

-Kathy, in Utah

“…learning to control our thoughts can be easy…”

I’m always excited to hear Emily’s presentations at our office. Learning to manage and control negative thoughts creates a much more productive environment at home and in the work place. Her information and interactive exercises really get you thinking about how learning to control our thoughts can be easy, making stressful situations manageable. We can all use less stress in our life!

-Suzi, in Colorado

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Joyful Thoughts Blog

Featured

Overwhelmed about housework?

Do you ever feel like you are drowning in laundry, housework, meal prep, and taking care of your kids??

I’m a mom of 4, and I totally get it. It’s a lot.

If you want a perfect formula to have a clean house every minute…you will need to put your kids up for adoption. Sorry.

But here are 3 principles of home management that can help you create more order in your home and feel more joy in your life.

3 Strategies to Help you Shape Your Thinking And Feel More Joy

Your brain is a lot like Amazon.com.

But instead of books, socks, and vacuum filters (or whatever you buy on Amazon), your brain sells THOUGHTS. Millions of them. And you are the customer. Every day, every minute, inside your mind, you are searching for thoughts, browsing through thoughts, and clicking on the ones you want to believe.

All the thoughts in the world are available to you inside of what I call your “Mindazon.com.”

You have your own Mindazon account. Your own browsing history and purchase history. With one click you can select any thought you want, and with free 2-second shipping, you will begin feeling and acting on that thought instantly. If you believe a thought long enough, your brain will even subscribe to it, and you’ll start receiving auto shipments without even having to order it.

I use this metaphor to help people claim their power to choose their thoughts so they can feel more joy.

Here are 3 strategies that can help you shop for joy inside of your Mindazon.com:

3 Thoughts You Can Choose Instead of “This is Awful” When Life Feels Hard

Have you ever ordered any of these thoughts inside of your “Mindazon.com?

“This is awful.”

“This is totally the worst.

“I/he/she/they shouldn’t have to deal with this.”

“This sucks.”

When you’re faced with a diagnosis, a conflict, a failure, a death, or any kind of unmet expectation, you might think <<this is awful.>>
It can FEEL so true.
Especially if you think it over and over. But is it really true?

Maybe your response is: “Yes, Emily. This IS awful. This is the worst possible thing that could have happened. I would take ANYTHING but this.”

I don't want to minimize your pain. There are so many things we each face that are really really challenging—physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.

My personal experience, though, is that choosing the thought <<this is awful>> actually compounds my pain and adds layers of anger, resentment, and frustration to an already difficult situation. So of all the thoughts available to me in my Mindazon.com, I give <<this is awful>> a 1-star review.

How to feel inadequate and overwhelmed all the time

I’ve got some great advice for you today, to help you feel inadequate, overwhelmed, and stressed. You ready?

If you want to feel uptight and unsettled as often as possible, it’s pretty simple to achieve. Here’s what you need to do: (ladies and gentlemen, drumroll please…!)

Rush around and try to be God.

Wait, what? What are you even talking about?

You know, rush around and try to be God.

Make really long, unrealistic lists of all the things you want to get done.
All the things other people are doing.
All the things anyone says you should be doing.
Say yes to everything. (Do NOT take time to consider what you might be saying NO to, when you say yes to something else. You’re way too busy for that kind of nonsense.)

A Thank You Letter to my Teenager (for teaching me what I didn’t want to know about myself)

Dear Ethan,

Hey.

A few days ago, I read this in a life coaching book:

“Our parents, our children, our spouses, and our friends will continue to press every button we have, until we realize what it is that we don’t want to know about ourselves, yet.
They will point us to our freedom every time.”
(From “Loving What Is,” by Byron Katie)

I’ve been thinking about this a lot, and realizing how true it has been for me. Today, I found myself crying tears of gratitude for the many ways that you have been an instrument to help me learn things about myself that I didn’t want to know. It has been difficult and painful, and there have been a lot of times that I have resented it. Resented you, for it. But today, I feel really, truly, deeply, grateful. So I wanted to say thank you. And share some of the discoveries I have made.

When I Realized What I Was Really Feeling

Last week, we had spring break. Which began with an epic snowstorm. It took all 6 of us over 2 hours to shovel our driveway. It was a lot of snow! We had fun in the snow, and I tried to embrace the benefits of not having lots of places we had to go… But honestly, I was also struggling that we were all home, again, for the millionth time, without a schedule and with lots of limitations (covid and the snowstorm) on what we could really do outside the house. On Wednesday, I woke up excited that it was “weekly job day” and that everyone would be spending an hour or so tidying up and cleaning. I had a utopian vision of everyone working from 10-11am, and of the lovely, clean house we would have at the end. But of course, real life turned out differently. Unexpected needs came up that we had to attend to, and my hour of everyone working got sabotaged.

I handled it really well…until I didn’t. You know those days, right? Here’s how it went:

Stop Trying To Be A “Good Mom.”

I used to want to be a “good mom.” A great mom, even. It sounds like a lovely aspiration, doesn’t it?

Well it’s not.

Here are 5 reasons that trying to be a “good mom” is stealing the joy from your motherhood.

God's Love and A Grumpy 4 Year-Old

In February of 2016, I had a powerful and slightly humorous experience as I fought to absorb the message of a church meeting amidst the grumpiness of my 4 year-old daughter. :) Here is my journal from that day:

Trevva had a rough morning, and was grumpy and defiant about getting ready for church. She went completely limp and refused to sit up to get her hair done, and dug her heels in on a lot of aspects of the morning. She finally let me do her hair, and then 2 minutes later she purposely took the braid out and messed it all up. She flailed her body around all morning and complained and refused to do what was asked of her. At one point she flopped onto the floor and said, "I need a nap!!" Truer words were never spoken, but alas, we had to forge on, and get to church.

So truth is, I was not feeling particularly loving…