My Story

Welcome! I’m Emily (Seifert Drager) Wharton, and I’m so happy that you’re visiting me here. Let me tell you a little about myself.

First and foremost, I am a believer and follower of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He has rescued and redeemed me. "He satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul He fills with good things" (Psalm 107:9). He has filled up the gaping hole in my soul. And "soul-satisfaction loudly calls for soul-praise" (C.H. Spurgeon). It is my prayer that this be a place of soul-praise.

A bit of my history… 

My first husband Chris and I married in 2002, when I was a 21-year-old, excited, naïve, fresh-out-of-nursing-school bride. And so in love. Our nearly 10-year marriage was filled with great joy and almost unbearable grief (too much to tell here). Yet to have been his wife, I believe, is one of God’s deepest expressions of His love for me.

In 2009, Chris and I adopted our newborn baby girl, Erika Grace, after seven years of marriage. She was a long-awaited gift.  Her spirit and presence brought a bubbling joy to our home that was bruised and smarting from many years of infertility.

When our sweet girlie was just 7 months old, her daddy was diagnosed with terminal cancer. He fought hard for the next 20 months, but he went to be with his Lord and Lover of his soul on March 1, 2012 (for more of that story, see www.caringbridge.org/visit/chrisdrager1).

I started this blog as a place to share how life goes on, how Jesus heals. About how He is so very near to the broken-hearted. And how, when He calls us to suffering greater than we think we can bear, He tucks us under His wing and pulls us close. And a place where perhaps you too might find hope and healing in YOUR story. I felt burdened to proclaim the things He whispers in my ear—in the often very painful darkness. The sweet soul comforts. The healing balm that is far beyond any human empathy or consolation.

What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; what I have whispered in the ear, proclaim on the housetops.  - Matthew 10:27

And life has gone on! The Lord has brought me a new husband—the answer to my prayers. Scotty was widowed in 2012, as well. He had five children. That next year was a busy one for us—we met, fell in love, married, and combined our two families into a new, dynamic, complex, and lovely one. Truly I felt that Erika and I were the ones pictured in Psalm 68: 5-6: “Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in His holy habitation. He sets the solitary in families…”

Nurturing a brand-new marriage and combining a family of 8—each individual with their own grief, personality and spiritual journey—is the hardest work we’ve done in our lives. But the grace from God to do the task has never run dry, and we are counting on the promise, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9).

My new husband and I wondered what the Lord had in store for us together. He and his first wife had lived and worked overseas, bringing Jesus to the world. Chris was an assistant pastor in St. Paul, MN. We waited for direction from God, and He brought six months into our marriage. He called us to minister together in Lebanon (yes, the country).

When we are not overseas, we make our home in Vancouver, Washington.

What else about me? Well, I'm a rather passionate knitter and drinker of excellent coffee. I have been called a "health nut" but really just want to put real food in my body—and to make food my medicine and medicine my food (thanks, Hippocrates). And I do love good food. I also love being by bodies of water—most especially, Lake Superior. But I prefer a cozy cabin over a tent any day of the week. I like folksy music and cute hats. I soak in good books—ancient and modern—and the writings of C.H. Spurgeon touch my soul deeply. My introverted self craves alone time. And I treasure my dear friends.

My family (of origin) all reside in Minnesota, and my husband ensures that I get as many visits as possible to them (since I’m much easier to live with this way). My sister is my closest friend, confidante, cheerleader, and I could not do life without her. My parents are wise and loving (and I think they raised me pretty well!), and they welcome me and mine whenever we show up.

So that’s a little about me and my journey. I would love to hear from you too, my old and new friends. And I humbly thank you for reading. Much love.