Month of Missions Series - The Heart Behind Daughter of Delight with Elle Cardel
1) Tell us about you! ( Family, church, where you live, ministry, job etc.)
My name is Emily Lauren Cardel, but I go by Elle! I am 26-years-old and live with my husband, Michael, and our sweet lab-mix, Tucker, in a historic fixer-upper home in Shelbyville TN- which is about an hour outside of Nashville if you’re familiar.
I graduated from Lipscomb University in May 2015 with a degree in theology. I spent several years in children’s ministry during college and actually graduated with a job as a children’s minister for a church in Birmingham, AL, where I worked for almost two years before my husband proposed and brought me back to sweet Tennessee.
Now, I own my own business and am a certified wedding planner. I do this part time while I focus on pursuing the call to women’s ministry God has laid on my heart through my online women’s ministry, Daughter of Delight.
2) Daughter of Delight is your ministry that is used to speak to the everyday woman, when did you feel God birth this in you and how did you begin walking out that calling?
I really love this question because I honestly don’t share this story enough, so thank you for asking! God planted the idea of an online women’s ministry in my heart during my junior year of college. What’s funny is that I pulled a total Moses on Him. I literally thanked Him for considering me, but assured Him I was not the girl for the job...that there was someone else out there who was more qualified and less sin-filled than I.
Thankfully, the Lord was patient and persistent with me. Over the course of the next month, the see He had planted continued to grow and the conviction to pursue an online women’s ministry continued to sit heavier and heavier in my heart. It honestly got to the point where it was all I could think about.
But I was scared about what people would think and that I was only going to embarrass myself in sharing my voice.
However, one day I found myself in a conversation with a friend and she asked me what my God-sized dreams were. It was in that moment that I connected the dots and realized there was no way I was going to be able to run an online women’s ministry on my own, but that was never God’s intent. He was inviting me to partner with Him in something beautiful. He would see His plan through, all He needed was my trust and obedience.
It was in this conversation that I spoke the God-sized dream of running an online women’s ministry into existence. Up until this point, it had been back and forth battles in my head. It felt so good to let it out and I loved my friend’s response! When I told her, she said, “Well, what are you waiting for? You’ve got nothing to lose!”
And she was right. I had nothing to lose, but so much to gain! So I went back to my apartment on campus and was up until 2 AM writing down the logistics and brainstorming the name for this ministry. I even created the Instagram account for it.
For the first 87 days, it was just me and God. As a full-time, 18 hours a semester college gal, I was showing up and writing devotionals- every single day- as the pen in His hands. It was AWESOME and I know I only pulled it off by the strength and power of His Spirit in me!
But I also felt like there was something more for Daughter of Delight. I knew it wasn’t intended to be just me, so I prayed and prayed for God to share more of His vision and heart for this ministry with me. And on day 87, He did. He opened my eyes to the fact that Daughter of Delight would be a ministry that encourages and empowers women through sharing their voice through their gift of writing with the women who make up the Daughter ofDelight community in order to encourage, challenge and help women grow in their relationship with our Creator.
And that’s where Daughter of Delight stands today. Every three months, I look for a team of women to write one devotional a day for 12-13 weeks (depending on how many weeks are in the quarter). It’s amazing to see what some of these women have gone on to do- some have published books, launched a successful blog of their own, or just walked away with a greater understanding of their purpose. And it’s also amazing to see the impact God is using these women to have on the thousands of women that make up our online community! He has been faithful from the get-go, and I’m just so grateful He used me to birth something so beautiful and special AND that I am still on this journey, five years later!
3) When you find yourself in a season of hardship is there a particular verse you find yourself going back to that reminds you God delights in you!
Yes, absolutely! Zephaniah 3:17 is what inspired the name, Daughter of Delight, actually, and one I take great joy and comfort in.
It says, “The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.”
This verse gives me a wonderful taste of the joy of the Lord. It reminds me of the bigger picture at hand and the eternal joys that await His children. God is glad because we are glad in Him, and when we sing for joy, He delights in us with singing. And it is only in Him we can experience this type of joy and gladness, hence the name, Daughter of Delight!
4) Speaking of delight. This one small word holds so much meaning. Can you share with us what it means to you in reference to how God sees you.
Ah, yes. This small word is jam-packed with truth! This is how I see it:
What God delights in about us is that we delight in him. His Word not only tells us that He delights in us, but commands us to take delight in Him. Psalm 37:4 tells us to delight ourselves in the Lord. So this tiny word of “delight” has a beautiful, life-giving two-fold meaning. When we truly take delight in God, He rejoices because our sight is more set on Him. Therefore, our joy is more complete in Him. So, when I choose to take delight in His ways over the selfish, sin-prone ways of my flesh, I become more complete in Him and in my identity as a daughter of the Most High King. I become His daughter of delight.
5) I know you have lots of younger women who follow along with your devotions, what is it that you want them to walk away with more than anything.
You know, it’s always been my prayer that God would use this ministry to meet women where they’re at & to help fuel their fire to keep going- despite their circumstances. I pray that women would be encouraged and challenged to step into God’s Word and pursue His heart all the more.
There are a lot of people who think they are too ill-equipped to understand the Bible, but I want to push against this mindset and challenge women to step out of it. The Bible was not just made for preachers and teachers to share its truth. The Bible proves this! Look at all the people that couldn’t keep quiet about all the things Jesus did. AND, God used His Spirit to inspire and speak through everyday people like us to write His Word.
Rooting ourselves in God’s Word will help us understand why we believe what we believe and propel us all the more into the identity He has gifted us with as we continue to draw near to Him.
6) Something that struck me about your ministry that inspired me is your sharing your space with other women who love God’s word. What made you desire to create room at the table God gave you too bless these other women.
Oh, yes! I am a strong advocate for making sure people know there is room for them at the table to offer the gifts God has given them. I’m going to be completely honest with you...one of the reasons I was afraid to start an online women’s ministry was because I already knew of some out there and they were doing it what I thought as ten thousand times better than I could. The Lord really had to work on my heart and open my eyes to the truth that there really is room for everyone at the table- which is another reason why I love the vision He had for the heart of this ministry to make way for other women and their voices.
There are over 8 billion people in the world. We need as many ministries and advocates for Christ as we can get- online and offline!
7) I just really feel like the Lord wants me to ask you about waiting. How do you cling to Jesus in the midst of a wait and what truths would you point women to in these seasons?
Oof, what a great question! God has taught me so much about it throughout my Daughter of Delight journey. Truth be told, my desire is to be able to give Daughter of Delight my undivided attention. I really believe the Lord is calling me to do this full-time, but even after 5 years I’m just not there yet. So, there’s been a lot of waiting and frustration over the course of my Daughter of Delight journey. It really is a full-time job and I’m so ready to financially be able to let go of everything else so that I can be ALL IN.
That being said, what I have learned about waiting is ultimately rooted in my being content in Christ. Christian contentment is completely contingent on the all-sufficient resources of Christ.
It’s not found in getting, doing or having. It's found in knowing Jesus. Read what Paul shares with us about it in Philippians 4:10-20.
God knows what He is doing. Even if we don’t, He does. The Creator of the Universe knows me more than I know myself. Because of this, I can rest assured my life is in not just good hands, but the BEST hands- even if I’m impatient with His timeline at times. And you know, when I take the time to look past my impatience and instead focus on the ways in which His sovereign hands are at work in my life, I see the blessings I am surrounded by.
Even in the waiting, God is at work in us. It is not our place to doubt Him, but to trust Him. Trusting Him is the only way.
8) The Living With Less podcast is all about living with less of the things getting in the way of who Christ is calling us to be. If someone asked you what they needed to begin living with less of in regards to this, what would you tell them and why!
I would ask them to make a list of the things they value and prioritize. Then, I would have them reflect and evaluate their list and ask them to decide what needs to be modified or completely removed in order to make room for Christ to reign in their heart.
For example, maybe some of us misplace our worth in people pleasing and therefore lose sight of who we truly are in Christ. Or, maybe we are so consumed with the speed of this fast-paced life that we have come to the conclusion that we are too busy for God, but He knows our hearts. Maybe, we spend ridiculous amounts of time on our phone instead of showing up in God’s Word.
Whatever it is, we have to make ourselves aware of the worldly treasures that have stolen our attention so that we can make room for God and allow Him to be our true treasure. He is the most invaluable treasure and the only treasure that will every satisfy!
9) I know you’re also an event planner! What is your favorite part about being in the details of these days!
This question just made me love my job all the more! The details are definitely my favorite part. Particularly with weddings, I love piecing the details together and then getting to take a step back when I’m done and watch how each detail tells a part of the wonderful love story God has written in the hearts of the couples I have the pleasure of working with. It is such a rewarding feeling!
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