Emily Berning’s Stories, Lessons & Insights

We recently had the chance to connect with Emily Berning and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Emily, thank you for taking the time to reflect back on your journey with us. I think our readers are in for a real treat. There is so much we can all learn from each other and so thank you again for opening up with us. Let’s get into it: What are you being called to do now, that you may have been afraid of before?
In the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination, I’ve felt a shift inside of me. It was a sobering reminder that that none of us are guaranteed tomorrow. For years, I let fear dictate how much of myself I shared. Fear of being wrong. Fear of offending. Fear of losing approval or followers. As a recovering people-pleaser, I often talked myself out of speaking up, constantly analyzing all the ways my words might land.

But lately, I’ve realized that silence is a lie in itself. What I feel called to now is to speak truth to a culture full of lies. And not just truth in general, but the kind of truth that cuts through noise and compromise. The truth of the gospel and of God’s design for life. This is especially urgent when it comes to abortion. For too long, I thought my opinions might not matter, that it wasn’t worth the backlash or the hate that comes from taking a stand.

What I feel called to now is to speak truth in love to a culture that desperately needs it. That doesn’t mean shouting people down or adding to the noise. It means being willing to say the hard things with grace, to hold firm to Scripture even when it’s unpopular, and to love people enough to give them more than cultural clichés. It means risking criticism and backlash to show that God’s design is good, His Word is trustworthy, and His way is freedom.

I’m learning to embrace the cost of that calling. I no longer measure my words by how many people might unfollow me, or how much hate might come my way. Instead, I measure them by whether I am being faithful to what God has asked me to do. What once terrified me—speaking up about hot-button cultural issues—I now see as necessary. Not because I enjoy controversy, but because silence is no longer an option.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Emily Berning, and I’m the Co-Founder and President of Let Them Live, a nonprofit dedicated to helping women in crisis pregnancies so that they can choose life for their babies. My husband, Nathan, and I started this organization in 2019 with nothing more than a burden on our hearts and the conviction that no woman should ever feel forced into abortion because of financial or social pressures.

Since then, what began with us emptying our bank account to help one mom has grown into a national movement. Today, Let Them Live has saved over 1,000 babies from abortion and has walked alongside thousands of women through some of the most difficult seasons of their lives, offering them counseling, coaching, financial assistance, and community support. What makes Let Them Live so unique is that we don’t just say we’re “pro-life,” we meet women where they are, listen to their stories, and address the very real challenges that drive them to consider abortion in the first place.

This work is deeply personal to me. I’ve seen the faces of women who thought they had no hope until someone stepped in. I’ve held the babies who are alive today because their moms were given the support they desperately needed. And I’ve witnessed firsthand how love, compassion, and practical help can change the trajectory of a family forever.

Right now, we’re focused on expanding our reach, growing our team, launching new programs, and strengthening the ways we care for moms long after their babies are born. I believe Let Them Live is proving something powerful: abortion is preventable, and when women are supported, they choose life.

Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. What relationship most shaped how you see yourself?
The relationship that has most shaped how I see myself is my relationship with Jesus. This might sound cliché, but hear me out. For much of my life, I wrestled with finding my worth in what people thought of me, in my accomplishments, or in whether I measured up. But the truth is, those things shift and fade. What never changes is what God says about me through His Son.

In Christ, I’ve learned that my identity isn’t defined by the world but by the Word. Scripture says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17). That means I am not who I used to be, nor am I who the world tries to label me as—I am who He says I am.

Jesus calls me His beloved (Colossians 3:12), chosen (Ephesians 1:4), and redeemed (Ephesians 1:7). John 1:12 reminds me that I am a child of God, not because of anything I’ve done but because of His grace. And Galatians 2:20 captures it best: “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.”

That truth has changed everything. It frees me from chasing approval, from fear of failure, and from the weight of trying to define myself. My life is hidden in Christ (Colossians 3:3), covered, protected, and defined by Him—not by the world’s labels or my own insecurities. And when I choose to see myself through His lens rather than my own or the world’s, life is so much fuller, freer, and better than I ever imagined.

What have been the defining wounds of your life—and how have you healed them?
One of the deepest wounds of my life has been infertility. When my husband and I realized that having children biologically wasn’t possible for us, IVF was suggested to us. But after prayer and reflection, we knew we couldn’t pursue it because of our conviction that IVF is unethical. At the same time, we were burdened for the countless embryos already created and frozen, many of whom would never be given the chance at life. That’s what led us to embryo adoption.

We adopted 25 embryos, and we’ve walked through the heartbreak of three failed embryo transfers and the loss of other embryos that did not survive the thawing process. Each loss was crushing, because these weren’t just “embryos” in a clinical sense—they were our children. Losing them was like grieving family members we never got the chance to hold.

Left to my own devices, I know what would have taken root in my heart: anger, confusion, jealousy of women who became pregnant easily, and bitterness—sometimes even toward the very women we serve at Let Them Live who seem to conceive so effortlessly, and yet are considering abortion. That’s where my humanity would have led me.

But what I could never heal in myself, Jesus healed in me. Scripture says, “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds” (Psalm 147:3), and that is my story. Through Christ, I have found peace in the middle of loss. He’s stripped away bitterness and replaced it with compassion. He’s lifted the jealousy and anger that I thought would always be there. My identity isn’t tied to my ability to have children, it’s anchored in Him.

The wound of infertility will always be part of my story, but it no longer defines me. Jesus has taken what could have left me resentful and turned it into something redemptive. I can now walk in peace, trusting that His plan is better than mine, and holding on to the hope that every one of those embryos is known and loved by Him.

So a lot of these questions go deep, but if you are open to it, we’ve got a few more questions that we’d love to get your take on. What’s a cultural value you protect at all costs?
A cultural value I protect at all costs is the family. God designed the family to be the foundation of society, the place where children are nurtured, where love is modeled, and where values are passed from one generation to the next. When the family is strong, everything else can flourish. When it is attacked, society crumbles.

That is why abortion grieves me so deeply. It does not just take the life of a child; it tears apart the very fabric of the family before it can even begin. The redefinition of marriage distorts God’s design for marriage as a covenant between one man and one woman, and transgender ideology further confuses and mutilates what God created as good: male and female, each made in His image.

These are not just issues to debate. They are spiritual battles over the truth of who we are and what the family is meant to be. And while speaking up about them is not always popular, I believe protecting the family is worth any cost. Because if we lose the family, we lose the very structure God created to reflect His love to the world.

For me, it all comes back to truth in love. I do not defend the family out of anger or fear, but out of conviction that God’s way is better and because I have seen firsthand through my work how much broken families wound women and children. To protect and uphold the family is to protect life, stability, and hope itself.

Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. What do you understand deeply that most people don’t?
What I understand deeply that most people don’t is that this world is temporary. Everything we see and build here, from our possessions to our achievements to our struggles, will one day pass away. Scripture reminds us, “For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18).

The truth is, things do not matter. We cannot take them with us when we die. All the money, success, and comfort in the world cannot follow us into eternity. What does matter is where we stand with God. Now is the time to get right with Him, to surrender our lives to Christ, and to live with eternity in mind.

When we live only for the here and now, we waste our lives chasing what cannot last. But when we live for eternity, everything changes. The way we love people, the way we speak truth, and the way we use our time all take on lasting meaning.

This life is not our final home. We are only passing through, and our true home is with Christ. That perspective gives me courage to live boldly, strength to endure suffering, and peace even when the world feels unstable, because my hope is not anchored here but in Him.

Contact Info:

Suggest a Story: BoldJourney is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems,
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
Highlighter Series
Are you doing what you were born to do—or what you were told to do?

Culture, economic circumstances, family traditions, local customs and more can often influence us more than

Highlighter Series
Are you walking a path—or wandering?

The answer to whether you are walking or wandering often changes from season to season

Highlighter Series
What are you being called to do now, that you may have been afraid of before?

Growth often means stepping into what once scared us. The things we resist can become