“Pray For Me Podcast” Launch!

I am thrilled to announce I launched my “Pray For Me Podcast” after many months of prayer and preparation! It’s finally here! I started Pray For Me Podcast because I am passionate about the power of prayer. Knowing how to pray and having tools to help you build healthy prayer habits are essential for every believer. I believe that it ushers us right into the presence of God. I believe prayer reminds us we are never alone. Pray For Me Podcast, or PFMP, is a place where those seeking prayer can access a digital prayer partner from anywhere in the world, 24/7 265 days a year.

The Vision for Pray For Me Podcast is to provide guided meditation and powerful prayers for those struggling with anxiety, depression, physical sickness, and so much more. Starting with this episode, I hope to provide you with a collection of episodes so that you can use these videos like tools in your spiritual toolbelt to share with friends and family. I personally love praying for friends in and out of my local church. I believe in the power of prayer and have seen it change my life and the lives of so many around me.

In each episode I provide a guided meditation that is biblically based and designed to point you back to the truth of God’s word. Many times when we think of meditation, we think of an Eastern or New Age approach that focuses on the self. True Biblical meditation is the quieting of self and being still enough long enough to hear God’s voice speak. Author Richard J. Foster writes in his book “The Spiritual Disciplines” that “Christian Mediation, very simply, is the ability to hear God’s voice and obey His Word.”

If you want to know more about Christian meditation, you can read in Genesis how Isaac “went out to meditate in the field in the evening” (Gen. 24:36). Or read where the Psalmist says “My eyes are awake before the watches of the night, that I may meditate upon thy promise”. (Psalm 119:124) You’ll see it again and again: Eli, Elijah, Jeremiah, Isaiah, and even Jesus withdrew to “a lonely place apart” (Matt 14:13)

Frederick W. Faber once said “Only to sit and think of God, oh what a joy it is! To think the thought, to breathe the Name. Earth has no higher bliss.”

In the second half of each episode, I design and create prayers around different needs and struggles like anxiety, depression, negative thoughts, unsurrendered lifestyles, deliverance, identity, friends and influences, finances, and so much more.

Be sure to subscribe to my YouTube Channel and leave a comment letting me know how the episode impacted you. I believe we will see powerful testimonies and miracles because of PFMP and I can’t wait to Pray For You!

xxo

-Danielle

Another year, another chance

🎉🎂This is 29. 🥳My birthday is a chance to remember that God has blessed me with another year and recognize that I DO NOT look like what I’ve been through. (Thx to retinols & Holy Spirit🧴). When I think about all that God did in my life at 28 and all of the things that I accomplished (and didn’t accomplish 😂), I am so grateful that I made it this far.

Here’s 10 things I learned at 28 (read carefully for some brutal honesty cause sis we had some brutal moments this year ❤️)

1. Don’t try to impress anyone. Not on social media and not in real life. Pursue integrity and the respect of others will follow suit. Impress yourself with how much you work on your character and how you stuck to your morals in that super tough situation. That tastes better than any compliment someone can give you.

2. Save your money. This is not official financial advice…but…you don’t need that thing in your cart. Spend WISELY. Money comes and GOES, honey. Your girl lovesss to shop🛍, scroll, and just standing in a mall makes me happy… But… when you want/need to buy something, make a wishlist on your phone and leave it for 14-30 days. Check back then and see if you still feel the same. I do this regularly.

3. Life is short. Be yourself. Apologize when you’re wrong. Bite your tongue when you’re right. Choose confrontation over passive aggression. End toxic behavior. Draw boundaries. Tomorrow isn’t promised to any of us.

4. Stop Gossipping🤭. Make it a rule and enforce it. It weakens your discernment. It weakens your ability to easily love other people. It breeds division. It’s not innocent and it’s NOT venting, sis. You know the difference between needing to vent and the urge to gossip, and they are not similar. I am so much happier saying “can we change the subject?” ✌️

5. Do the thing. “Life is not a checklist”, a good friend said this to me the other day. You are your best investment. Fail and fail again. Then look at all the knowledge you gained “doing the thing”! Look at you! 🏆

6. Interrogate your fears. I have cute lil fears and then I have know-it-all, worst-case-scenario fears. I have intrusive thoughts, and they were especially challenging in the last 60 days. Interrogate alllllllll of that. Stop putting your name on negative, unhealthy thoughts and fears. Let them come, pass, and go along their way. See a counselor or a psychiatrist. Reach out to your pastors and church elders. Ask for prayer and let them champion you.

7. On that same note - let people pray for you. In the last 60 days or so, I have gone through some particularly dark moments. Things got so painful that for a few weeks I was mute (in a literal sense and could not speak🤐). I did not wake up and feel better one day. No one came and rescued me. My new psychiatrist was super helpful, but he did not “fix” me. It was a slow, gradual peace that fell over me. One day I asked God if he could show me how he wanted to heal me, and He showed me how the prayers of family and friends were moving and working on my behalf. Ask for prayer when you need it.

8. Wear sunscreen. Outside AND inside. If you need an spf/skincare accountability partner, I got you. In fact, in the last 3 years I have radically changed my skincare game and several people recently have been SHOCKED when I told them my 29th bday is around the corner. Again… all glory to my skincare and the HS. 🕊

9. Rest. That’s it, that’s the tweet. I have found new ways to rest and they don’t include napping. I rest my thoughts, my heart, my frown lines, etc. Read these to find immediate rest: Click here

10. “When in war, create” - Bill Johnson. Write, sing, play, draw, design... just create when you’re overwhelmed. Some of my favorite songs and books come from an artist’s darkest moment. We know heartbreak well. I have repurposed recent pain and hurt in new ways, and I’m so proud of how I’m coming along. And I’ll be releasing some of that creativity for all to see pretty soon 🥳

How about you? What’s something you’ve learned in the last year or some really good advice we all need to hear? What’s something you overcame?

Thanks for reading✨

xx Danielle

Nothing is wasted…

Are you waiting? 🌸

How long have you been waiting? Does it feel like the longer you wait, the value of your time appreciates like gold? Or does your impatient outlook cheapen the time you’ve spent waiting?

How does one know if they are valuing their time spent waiting? It’s revealed in your “today”. Like stocks or trends, the value of your time is found in your daily decisions.

So while you wait today, will you decide to be planted in hope? Will you decide to honor a new day with your gratitude? Will you spend your waiting loving on yourself, even when you get weary?

Or will you cheapen your “wait time” by dreading each decision? Will you give up on yourself? We wait 45+ min for a dinner reservation, watch movie previews and wait months for its premiere, and we even patiently wait in super long TSA lines followed by hours of travel… all because we understand the value within the time each of these things take. But do we apply this value to the more complex areas of our lives?

I’ve spent a lot of energy cultivating negative thoughts around my time. “Was that a waste of time?”, “Am I behind everyone else?”, or my personal best(worst): “The time it would take me would be too much, it’s too late anyway so I should just give up.”…

But my time is my most important currency I own. I’ve decided that my own time will grow in its value and appreciate just like gold. I have recently arrived to a new fixation: ownership. I’m the owner, I decide how I spend my time. I’m the boss, I get to choose the sticker price on my patience. 

I’ve decided that my own time will grow in its value and appreciate just like gold✨.

Was something that I experienced “worth it”? If I spent time doing it, then it was worth it when I decided to do it, not when I experienced the outcome. 

If I decided to spend time doing something that didn’t work out, it wasn’t a bad investment…it was the best use of my time for me to learn that lesson. 

If I’m “behind” or have seemingly “missed out” on something, it’s not time wasted… it’s the signal I needed to find fresh inspiration and explore what brings me joy again. 

And if it’s rejection or heartache… those events don’t indicate that I’m not worthy of love or that it’s time to give up… rather it’s a chance for me to be reminded that my heart loves deeply, and there’s no time like today to decide to love myself better than anyone else can. And I believe that I can. Second, only, to our Father God.

So what about you? How do you value your time? What advice would you give someone who is discouraged about how long they’ve been waiting?

Xx danielle 

New Music Pt. 2

Hey guys! Have you heard my latest single “YLOG”? It’s available now everywhere you stream music PLUS I released my first ever music video on YouTube! I am currently working on more new music I can’t wait for you to hear, so in the meantime, I hope you enjoy “YLOG”!

Over the last 13-14 years, I have been writing songs and collaborating on music with other artists and what a journey it has been! I have had a couple of cool opportunities I seldom talk about where I got to collaborate with some of my favorite writers. I’ve been wanting to release music for some time as my own artist as it’s been around 7 years or so since I’ve done so. I don’t have a really good reason as to why it’s been so long, and I won’t make up any cute excuse except I’m back and I’m happy to explore the crazy artist world once again!

It’s a little scary on one hand to get back out there and release music under my own name, being that I’ve mostly been writing for other artist and other projects for the last few years. On the other hand, I love expressing myself through my artistry and I am excited to share how I’ve grown and evolved throughout this last season. I’ve got so many songs in the thank - about my faith, relationships and love, dealing with imposter syndrome, working through depression and mental health stuff & more…

I hope you like this song and I super hope you dig the video. Putting myself out there was super fun and the entire video process was a dream! More often than not, I’m behind the camera or on set working on creative direction, so getting to be in front of the camera was so surreal and new for me. We went for a bright, live feel with my favorite colors at the moment. Fun fact: I got super sick when filming day came and there’s some deleted scenes where my runny nose got…well real runny. But thank God for great editing and the magic touches that got it to the final product you’ll get to see!

A little about the song… “YLOG” is a mashup of a few songs I’ve written or co-written with other artists. First you’ll hear “My Strength” written by myself, Israel Houghton, Matthew Edwards, Martha Munizzi and Aaron Lindsey and previously recorded by Israel Houghton(Listen Here). Next you’ll hear ‘Home” written by myself, Joshua Washington, Joel Ortiz and Joris Brunot and previously recorded by Anthony Evans (Listen Here). Last, you’ll hear “Your Love Oh God”, the first song I’ve ever written and released, originally released by Martha Munizzi and myself (Listen Here).

This is just a fun blend of songs set to a lofi, mellow beat and I hope you enjoy it! Check out the video below and be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel so you can be the first to know of the new music dropping very soon!

xx Danielle

New Music pt.1

STORY TIME ✏️ Hey er’body❤️‍🔥 I had the privilege of writing Fight For Me with the amazing 🐐 @dlo_the_great last fall (Nov 2020) and the song just dropped as the latest single for @marthamunizzi 🐐. As many of you can imagine, this song was written in the midst of a crazy pandemic and a tumultuous election season. Lord knows when we wrote this song, we needed some VICTORY and reprieve from such a long, hard season.

However, I began writing this song allll the way back in 2019 in a really hard season and *FUN FACT*: I did not originally write it as the bop you hear today! It was actually a very somber worship song (swipe for the making of, it’s rough don’t judge 🥸). I wrote those lines “You fight for me, you turn praises to victory” as a way to encourage myself in a very long & tough season.

I attempted to finish the song a few times and it never really came together. I figured, “this is just a little chorus for me and for my personal worship time”. Fast forward allll the way to Fall of 2020 on one of our writing days and I looked at Dave and said “Can I show you a chill worship idea I have?” And Dave (like the super fun collaborator that he is) says “YES let’s hear it!!” and within the next hour or so SCHMACK the song went to a whole…notha…level…. It was FAST and CRAZY and A PARTY and we knew immediately it was special.

I am so proud of how this song came out, and I love that it took on a whole new life which really paints a true picture of what it looks like to *actually* walk in the victory that Christ has made available to us.

I love how @marthamunizzi says in the reprise “See, you just need to take that STEP”. I can worry and WAIT? Or I can STEP INTO surrender and celebrate God’s goodness ❤️

I pray you are encouraged and we hope you are enjoying this fun, hype, roller-coaster (my fav version is the extended versionnnnnn) and truly let it get in your soul! Thank u to Dave for being one of the most incredible writers and arrangers - u are a true cheerleader with the goods to back it up. And thank you to my mom @marthamunizzi for giving me the chance to record and release this. I only have the gifts and passions I do because of you. I love you ❤️❤️

What have you ruled out that needs to be redeemed?

You have spent weeks, even months thinking about the goal you set. You watch the deadline (that you made) creep closer and closer. You give it a good first draft or attempt, think about it, but somehow it leaves the front of your mind - the same place it was previously running around everyday. You put it to the side for now, but you’ll get to it eventually.

Life happens.

Your deadline passes you by while your priorities, your work, your family and relationships (all demanding and all equally important) pile up.

Time passes.

What was that goal you set? How did you forget?! Now you’re bummed! You may even feel defeated. And a little embarrassed because you shared the goal with a few close confidants and now they know you didn’t meet your goal.

What should you do now?

Hello friends!

Welcome to my brand new website. My name is Danielle, and I hope is that as you read these entries, we all learn a little more about ourselves and LIFE! I love to share about my interests, explorations, and current musings. I’m so excited!

Now, I have (along with so many others) attempted to release a blog, set up a site, and do other little creative things in the past. I’ve ticked every box I presented in my little intro, many times over. Have you been there? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below!

I consider this site more of a relaunch, a rebrand, and a reintroduction. I turned 28 this year and I feel more confident and proud of myself than I ever have. I’m catching up with missed deadlines, picking up the pieces and trying again. And I can honestly say I’m finally ready. I have a few goals I’ve set along with releasing this site, but that’s in a blog post for another day.

I want to end this blog with a little encouragement. Can I tell you a story about me?

Like many of you, 2020 was a hard year. I consider myself to be a spirit filled Christian with a strong support system. What was the hardest part of 2020 for you? For me it was definitely the Summer months. I’m so grateful for this year and all that I learned, but this Summer was packed with devastation and heartache.

I lost relationships. Others were severed for several months. I experienced betrayal. I had several dark days and took several steps backwards in the work I’ve done in my battle against my depression, something only a counselor and close confidants know much about. The longer I was sad this Summer, the more upset I would be. Not upset at anyone else, but myself. I was upset that I was upset, then I was upset that I was allowing myself to be in that state for so long. We lost a family member to COVID-19. Then our family dog passed away unexpectedly. Insert slick/even crass remark pointed at 2020 here -> __________.

“I was upset that I was upset, and then I was upset that I was allowing myself to be in that state for so long.”

I remember there was a 2 week span where I was overwhelmed with so much stress and anxiety that couldn’t keep food down or even in (sorry TMI). I had so many severe migraines and stomach aches back to back and lost almost 10 pounds in a little over 2 weeks. I am so much better now, but I did see a doctor and made a few permanent positive decisions for my health.

I mentioned before that I have a wonderful support system. I have an amazing boyfriend, Joris, who loves me so well and is so encouraging & supportive. I’m also very blessed to have awesome parents, a younger sister, Nicole, and a younger brother, Nate. Unfortunately, my family experienced some of the same hardships as I did, so we ended up taking turns playing the role of encourager vs the role of gloomy Gus. To say it was draining would be a gross understatement.

You’ll hear more about my family in the future, but for now and for the sake of this blog, just know it hit all of us, and it dragged on into the Fall months that followed. I remember one day in September, Joris and I were talking and laughing about how hard the year was. He had 2 major knee surgeries in 2019, leaving him in a wheel chair or crutches for the last half of 2019, so to say the least, we had A LOT to laugh about and reflect on. (Sidebar: This is one of my favorite things about him, we can laugh about anything! I love choosing to laugh in the midst of a not-so funny time. I think laughing keeps you from crying too much, but can help you process the same feelings and thoughts you would while crying. Don’t get me wrong, who doesn’t love a good cry? But I think learning the art of laughing in the middle of your pain is a a good little secret to utilize when you want to lift your spirits but you’re not sure how.)

“Don’t get me wrong, who doesn’t love a good cry? But I think learning the art of laughing in the middle of your pain is a a good little secret to utilize when you want to lift your spirits but you’re not sure how.”

The major details of this story are quite long and SPECIAL, and deserving of it’s own blog post, but what I can say now is that by October, everything changed. It was supernatural. Within the next 30 days, starting on October 5, a lost dream was revived, wrapped in a pretty bow, and delivered right to our doorstep. With it came joy, music, healing, affirmation, emotions, JOY, and so much more. I can’t wait to share the rest of this story and MORE with you, but until then… Thank you so much for reading if you made it this far! And if you’re still reading, I pray you are captured by this thought: no matter what you are facing in your life right now, all of it can be redeemed. The entire thing! Your loss, heartache, depression, financial struggles, shame, ALL OF IT can be redeemed at any time.

So my last question is this: what have you ruled out that needs to be redeemed? What needs to be revived?

I pray that you think over this question and hope that life would begin to wake up those little pieces of your life that have died or dried up. Watch life spring out of dead places and look for the unexpected. Keep your eyes open for the miraculous. You might just be surprised how your outlook turns around.

Be sure to leave a comment below, I’d love to hear your feedback! And let me know if there’s anything you’d to read about.

xxo Danielle