Mrs. Emily Anne Valovich Cofer

This is about a woman who gives.

At 16, she held a lot of her grief in, so that she could be there for her mother and sisters. 

She was there, for every low moment, to cry together, and most importantly to push forward when others only comforted. 

She gave her heart to a young military man, desperate for her affection. He was enamored by her faith, wisdom, and effortless beauty.

Married at 18, she moved away from her home and friends when he was stationed in California, and then she was forced to be away when he deployed for half of their first year of marriage.

She gave up becoming a physical therapist assistant, in order to be able to move home when her husband's service was done and have children.

She gave up her choice of where to live even after moving home, when her husband was accepted to a university in a big city. 

She gave up her sleep, welcoming her first child while helping her husband go to school and work. 

She delayed another dream of becoming a certified personal trainer in order to have another child, and then strived for it even having a newborn, a toddler, a husband at school and work and was still able to get certified. 

She was surprised to learn her husband wanted to become a police officer, knowing his uniform would put him at risk and keep him away at night. Then she had to let him go and train, constantly distracted at how to do his job safely and well.

Now she is giving more of her sleep, and comfort, fighting past nausea and exhaustion while running a home with two toddlers as she waits for her third child.

She gives constantly, always looking for someone to help and someone to befriend. 

She is my wife, she is who I admire most, she is:

Mrs. Emily Anne Valovich Cofer

To My Beautiful Lady

In love though distant

You have held constant,

With a fierce heart of hope

You have never ceased to dote,

Whether phone calls or mail

Your love comes without fail,

I feel like the love you ensure

Could never cease to endure,

Without a doubt these days with you my wife

Have been the most treasured of all my life,

My closest times with you are my greatest treasure

And I can’t wait for the pleasure of being blessed together.

And though this time apart from each other has been so trying

I know that there is a reason God kept us prying,

Deeper and deeper into His life and our love

Showing us who He is with a gentle shove,

Until we see that He shows us His character

Through our own selfless love for each other.

Thank you for loving me this day

I pray you feel my love in every way.

A note

Hello any,

It's been far too long since I last wrote and sitting in my hotel in Pattaya, Thailand I thought I might type out some scripture that has been leading me through the challenges of the deployment and my time in one of the most sinful cities in the world. I pray that they give you strength as well.

• If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

• Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!

• Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, buy only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.

• Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

All of these have been such a blessing to me and have helped keep God in the center of my focus while surrounded in otherwise more than average close proximity sinful behavior.

Have a wonderful day this 23rd of February and know that I am praying for you,

Your friend

He reigns

My name is Evan Cofer, and I am a friend of God.

I who dwell in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of The Almighty. I will say to The Lord, "My refuge and my fortress, My God, in whom I trust!" For it is He who delivers me from the snare of the trapper and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover me with His pinions, and under His wings I may seek refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark. I will not be afraid of the terror by night, or of the arrow that flies by day; of the pestilence that stalks in darkness, or of the destruction that lays waste at noon. A thousand may fall at my side and ten thousand at my right hand, but it shall not approach me. I will only look on with my eyes and see the recompense of the wicked. For I have my the LORD, my refuge, even the Most High, my dwelling place. No evil will befall me, nor will any plague come near my tent. For He will give His angels charge concerning me, to guard me in all my ways. They will bear me up in their hands, that I not strike my foot against a stone. I will tread upon the lion and cobra, the young lion and the serpent I will trample down. "Because Evan has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name. Evan will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him. With a long life I will satisfy Evan and let him see My salvation."

I hope this speaks into your life today. And I pray that you have the courage and the strength to understand and BELIEVE in the promises of God, and that your name fits in Psalm 91 as well as mine :)

Why Rise?

I don't know why I'm writing, except to maybe find some light in the words for myself. I've started to feel, and in such roller coaster ways. I don't know what or how to think, and yet I cannot stop thinking for long enough to hear the whisper I seek. So I simply just keep moving forward, and faster and faster down the hill I am going down, even now I have to seek to silence the noise that is constantly pressing in. This last month I have grown more and more accustomed to the thought that I am alone, and without any true close friends near me, just last night I was reminded of it in the comfort of another over the very same thing. And that is when I realized, and began thinking, and listening, to the fact that, I've become a luke warm Christian, a push over follower of Christ, coward. I go to work and act no different then those around me, complaining about this, laughing about that, and wishing to simply be done while criticizing the very people I am there to serve for causing us more business. I am depressed there, and it has leaked into the rest of my life in places, first the barracks where I live, alone, and under constant control. There are so many things to scrutinize in the Navy that I am afraid I might get lost in them and loose my life and what I love.

I can't stop thinking about how passionately I don't want to be a luke warm Christian, who Christ throws away for those either hot or cold. What do I want though?! Is it a closer relationship with Him? A friend? For me to disappear and He to enter in? All these things have been leading me in to thinking about what my dreams are... why am I here? What have I been doing for the last year in the middle of the desert surrounded by Marines in desperate need? I have no fruit, not outwardly. Sure I help out the fellow Christian man or women, and comfort those I love and serve them how I can. But what do I do to set myself apart? Even sinners love those who love them back, and even the demons know what God can do. But I want to know what God will do. I need His promises to keep me strong, and I need His guidance to lead me toward righteousness. This is a plea, to start again. To give up who I am, and why do I care, me fails so often, why not try You, and just see what happens and where You take me. I will trust You. But in that I need to listen, so challenge me, and make me a seeker of Christ. I have my ups and downs, but I have my foundation to fall unto; and He alone will give me the rest I need to do His will. And rise.

La Primera Parte

It was my favorite holiday of the year, the fourth of july, 2007. It was family tradition to light off fireworks in a drastic measure in our front yard with half the neighborhood block, and with half the neighborhood block chipping in for fireworks, it was quite the show, and I'd grown to love it. And as I got older, it became more fun with my growing participation. But the last year had been a flop, and I feared the same for this year. All the neighborhood's children had grown old and moved out except for myself and two or three others, and most of them went off and did their own firework fun somewhere else, and with the parents growing older, they had lost the fun in it or went off to join their children elsewhere. So my parents and I along with my older sister and her husband had taken to watching different firework displays, and we found the good ones. Our favorite to this day is the July 3rd Emerald Downs fireworks, the show lasts twenty minutes, and the grand finale a good five of that with non stop explosions. We even found the perfect place to view the show for free, and there is quite a crowd there now every year after our spreading the word about the Auburn Airfield. I never thought it would be better. One of my friend's families, the Kieswether's told me I should come with them inside the little stadium, but that meant paying and I needed to spend sometime with my family since the plan was to spend most of the day at their house the next day on the actual fourth. Besides, it didn't get much better than where I was with who I was with. Little did I know the company they had with them, or maybe I would've joined without a second thought....





The next day was all the normal, my sister and her husband came over early to play games and relax with us since they only lived fifteen minutes away. After spending most of the morning with them I received a phone call from my best friend Alisa Kieswether telling me I could come over now. She also told me that Grace's(her older brother Matthew's girlfriend) sister Emily was there and that she was excited to introduce us. So I said goodbye to the family and the brother-in-law harassed me as usual and I jumped into my father's old Nissan and stole off to the Kieswether's. I got there in the late morning early afternoon and was surprised to see everyone so active on account of the family, especially Alisa and Breanna(Alisa's younger sister), being night people and in no way morning people. But I came in and was surprised to see Breanna acting weird, and I assumed it was because of Grace's sister, who I instantly knew she was thinking of trying to get me involved with, which I didn't appreciate, but it made me nervous meeting her because maybe there would be something there. After turning into the kitchen Grace, Matthew, and Emily came climbing in through the sliding glass door into the kitchen all smiling. I caught Matthew's eye and we hugged, as well as with Grace, and then Alisa introduced me to Emily. I was thrilled, my first thought was that she looked very pretty and mature, and Christian, and like I should have no serious relationship with her outside of friendship, because she looked quite a few years older than me, and I reminded myself that I wasn't looking either, not that she'd look four or five years down in age anyway. The Lord was preparing me for the service and I was sure He wasn't going to throw such a giant wrench into my plans as a future wife so early. So we shook hands and everyone started talking and playing as usual. I finally caught up to Ben, Alisa's boyfriend, and we started playing with the two younger Kieswether boys as usual. We were playing a board game on the floor when Matthew came in with Grace, along with Emily and the other two girls Alisa and Breanna, and our game went to shambles. Eventually somehow between Ben and the help of the two boys I ended up getting completely tied up in the strings from a yard toy, and what always follows me being tied up or immobilized somehow was some far too intense tickling. I'm regrettably very prone to it, and extremely weak in the area and it is often utilized to my frustration. I can perfectly recall getting a glimpse of Emily's face and seeing complete distress on her face, and I soon heard her saying for the boys to stop on account of my lack of breathing, but that hope of escape was quickly shut out by Alisa who said, "oh don't worry, this happens all the time, he's fine." But I was glad to be a part of Emily's attention, I was starting to like her against my earlier thoughts. Throughout the rest of the day we played capture the flag with squirt guns, I was happy to be on the same team as Emily and often found myself shooting her instead of the other team. It was then that I started getting glances from Breanna, and I could tell what she was thinking, and I realized that I was definitely flirting, maybe not to the average eye, but the two Kieswether girls knew me better than anyone else, and if they were catching it, Emily might too, so I told myself to calm down...





After cooling down and changing clothes from getting soaked we were doing miniscule things that I can't remember, but eventually came to watching some type of videos on the computer on the internet, and I knew where to get some even better and kicked Breanna out of the chair and sat down, eventually everyone was gathered watching and instructing me what to watch next and Emily sat down on the arm of the computer chair, and after a little while was leaning up against me. And I was rather enjoying it, any thoughts I'd had even minutes before of not flirting or getting closer to her lept from my mind. Soon after we decided to watch a movie, and one I was excited to see again, the Prestige. All the seats were taken (as usual), and I was excited to sprawl on the floor (as usual) when I saw that Emily was on the floor also. I might have taken advantage of it. Needless to say she eventually ended up sitting elsewhere, and I was sad, thinking that perhaps I was wrong to think she liked me also. After the movie everyone went off to bed, and I was lucky enough to catch a hug from Emily before I left, and it was a very good one, she hugged me around the neck, and no one I know does that, and I loved it. After I left on my way home I remember thinking of how to slyly see her the next day, before she left without Alisa and Breanna thinking too much of it. But I decided I needed to let her go, I needed to focus on other things....





A few days later Alisa and myself were running a few errands at Fred Meyer for her family, and while we were pulling in she got that sly aspect of her voice in tune and I could tell Emily was about to somehow enter the conversation. I tried my best to convey no interest, but she saw right through it, and I couldn't help but smile, and admit, maybe I did like her, but it didn't matter, I would not see her again for a long time and we would both be changed by then, not to mention that she wouldn't take interest in me anyhow, she was what 23? And I 18.... And then she laughed, so hard, and disclosed to me that Emily was in fact three years younger than I, not even 16! I was shocked, maybe there could be a future there....

What I long for

Would I entrust my most precious thing in the world to my God? Do I? Do I entrust myself to that same God? Do I trust and rest in His wisdom? In His creative beauty and complete faithfulness? How do I trust God with the care of my sweetheart, what am I doing? How do I trust Him in my life? Am I listening? What next? Always what next? I've been trying to focus on three things outside of these questions lately: prayer, memorizing scripture, and listening to God and following His pull on my spirit through His own Holy Spirit in me. I really want to just talk through and think about how I've been doing with all these questions above and what l have been told by God to focus on, so I hope you stop too, and think, and listen.

It's weird to think about whether or not I would entrust something to my Lord or not, because I have always known that God has power over everything, and I have always assumed that I and everything else were under His direct path or plan, which I still believe. But now I've come to discover that there is influence in what we decide, yes He knows what we will choose but WE still are the ones who choose it, and I believe we have some considerable say in the authorities and who we choose to serve everyday. So would I trust the most precious thing in this world to Him? Completely choose His path in that, and let Him completely have say in everything, knowing and trusting that everything will be taken care of? I know I do even know, but it scares me. It's not the unknown that scares me about it alone, it's the hardship, awkwardness, trials that follow, both in trusting something precious to Him and myself. This now falls into listening to the gentle nudges God endlessly calls upon me. And a lot of the time I am ashamed to say I have not listened and obeyed to what He has asked me to do. And the reason is fear, but in what? Every single time I've ever done something under His calling the result has been magnificent and infinitely rewarding to not just me, but more importantly someone else who needed it too. So why step back? Why even hesitate? I think I've found my answer, it is my pride. But I do not know how to over come it other than by the simple means of time in and time out doing the one thing I don't want to do. Now my only problem is this, beating it when the time comes, and realizing this opportunity and taking it for my Lord. So if you ever are bored, or feeling the fear and draw like I do, please text, call, or leave a message either in encouragement or distress; because I think I need you. Your testimony and your need are what will overcome my pride, for by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony they will overcome :) I just need to be reminded of things, and remember when the time comes, that the Lamb that was slain receive the reward of His suffering. So do I trust Him, yes, and I'm working on it little by little, and I will rise, under Him, because I am listening now.

As for what's next and memorizing and prayer the three are all entangled with what I just spoke. Every time I've come to the Lord with that question, He hounds me about memorizing scripture and praying every chance I get. I hear His voice in my thoughts and I know it to be true. And He has given me such wonderful tools for all of them. My love constantly reminds me to pray, and I'm so grateful, my mentor is most serious about always finding time to simply STOP and listen to God and hear what He has to say, and I have in my pocket right now a topographical memory card that holds multiple pre-made scripture cards in a protective sleeve.

My God has made me ready, now I just have to prepare for what I know He'll lead me to become

Today will be a great day,
In Christ,
Evan