Just Simply Amazing

“There was gnawing hunger, unquenchable thirst, unrepressed fear, evident pain. Many sleepless nights were spent tossing and turning. Countless nights were spent praying we would live to see a bright, new dawn. We never knew what to expect, we just had to be ready. One time, at 1:24 in the morning, we were awoken with a call to arms. The enemy was moving and an attack on the advancing nemesis was being calculated. We had to get ready fast, but right before I left the barracks I took the time to write out a very special letter. I addressed the letter to my wife and gave it to a mail boy. All I told him was, ‘Make sure my wife receives this.’ My regiment left soon after, not a word was whispered by anyone.”

The worn and elderly man paused to take a deep, steadying breath before continuing his story. “We dispersed when we arrived at the dark and haunting wood. We had to crawl quietly forward and then wait. I had been lying motionless on my stomach for over two hours. I hoped and prayed my comrades were still hiding somewhere in the moonless shadows, but I had no way of knowing since I hadn’t heard any human noise for what seemed like an eternity. My right leg cramped and I stifled a moan as I willed the pain to leave. I longed to stretch, however I didn’t, for I knew it might endanger me and my fellow soldiers. As I steeled myself against doubts that clouded my mind and heart, an owl hooted once…twice. I heard a crackle off to my left and a whisper off to my right. Men evolved from the shadows around me, their eyes tired and their faces lined with fear and determination.” 

“Two owl hoots was your cue to move forward and prepare to attack, huh, Grandpa?” The nine year old boy knew his grandpa’s story well. He loved chiming in with prodding questions at just the right moments.
 
“Yes, Son, it was. And prepare we did. With silent voices we prayed to God, asking Him to protect us and help us gain a little piece of freedom that we could win for our country. We moved forward knowing that some of us would not return. We advanced knowing we might leave loved ones behind. We fought, dodging fire, bombs and bullets, for sons and daughters that we might not ever see again. We battled for wives who were forced to make a living out of nothing. We hurt for the safety of our people. We died so that others may live.

The soft, loving voice of an elderly woman picked up the story. “I was working hard at home hoping for a letter from your Grandpa. I, and many other wives, never really knew if our husbands were dead or alive. One day, as I was working in my little garden by the front fence, the mailman came and delivered a letter. I dusted all the dirt from my hands before reaching for the letter; I didn’t want to smudge it. I opened the envelope and inside there was a piece of scrap paper folded in half. The shaky handwriting read, ‘My dearest love, I just came home from a long battle. I am fine. The thought of you kept me going strong. I miss you and hope to come home soon. All my love, Dan.’ Right as I finished reading your Grandpa’s letter, I heard a wail from next door. It was Mary. Her husband would never come home again. I wept with her for her loss and silently hoped I would not be the next one to receive bad news.”

“But you never did hear bad news, because Grandpa came home.” The young boy beamed at his grandparents.

“That’s right, Michael. After months and months of fighting and war, I finally came home. We had won the long hard battle, but not without many, many losses.”

The boy sobered up, stared at the space where his grandpa’s right arm should have hung, and whispered, “You lost your arm while pushing your friend away from an exploding bomb, huh, Grandpa?”

“Yes, I did, but there are others who lost more than that. Michael, freedom is not free. It is costly because of lives lost. It is priceless because of sacrifices made. It is precious because of love and dedication shown by individuals. It is invaluable because it represents a glimmer of hope. It is cherished because of commitment shown by people young and old. But,” the old man looked at his grandson with tears softly streaming down his cheeks, “it is worth fighting for.”

“I know Grandpa. Thank you.”

**********

I wrote this fictional story hoping that each of you would be reminded that the freedom we celebrate today is not free.Thank you to all who have served, are serving, and will serve…it means a lot.

~Brianna

Family, Sunshine, Life, Smiles, Friendship, Blue Birds, A Breeze, Kodak Moments, Love, Flowers…Slow down, take a deep breath, and receive the gifts God has given you today.

This may seem like a silly question, but how many of you worry about “tomorrow” (a.k.a. the future)? In life it seems that there is always something that I am worrying about – school, relationships, my future, and all the other what-not flying my way.

God gives us hard situations in life not to see how far He can push without making us ‘go over the edge”, but to strengthen and build our relationship with Him. I love Matthew 6:34 where it states, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Can you believe it?! God says right there in His word, “Don’t worry about the future!”

When I was about seven years old, my dad and I went out early on a Saturday to run some errands together. The day was great, we did everything on the “To-Do-As-Soon-As-I-Have-Time-To-Do-It list, and we were making our way back home. Well, about halfway home my dad received a phone call from a friend of his and we just happened to be making our way through a busy intersection. (I want to stop right here and add that my dad is a very good multi-tasker.) Being the brilliant seven year old that I was, my mind concluded that was dad was too busy talking on the phone to pay attention to his driving so I decided it would be a good idea if I took over the steering wheel for him – not for a long time, but just until I made sure we had gotten through the intersection safe. Well, after coming to this brilliant conclusion I reached over from the passenger side of the car and attempted to steer my dad and I safely through any hazardous material. Little did I know that leaning over the middle of the car to actually reach the steering wheel would leave me staring cross-eyed at the coffee stains all over the carpet of the car and inhaling dust like a Dirt Devil instead of allowing me to see clearly out of the front windshield at the traffic flying by all around us. So, as dad chatted into his phone and stepped on the gas, I grabbed the steering wheel and directed us who knows where. (I certainly didn’t know where I was going, I was only glad that I was in control and completely capable of taking us to safety.) Well, I won’t tell you exactly what happened to us, but I will add that I did NOT hit anybody or anything and we both came away physically unscathed. (I can’t say we came away emotionally or mentally unscathed…I’m pretty sure my dad was on the verge of a heart attack.)

Now, how many times in our life do we let God take the “steering wheel” of our life and then whenever we think He is too distracted to take care of us, we go ahead and take control of a situation ourselves? How many times do we “wreck” because we can’t see or understand what we are doing? Have you ever given God a heart attack with some of the choices you’ve made in life? Well, right now, I want to challenge you to let God take care of everything in your life. He is the only One who can steer us in the right direction. There may be times in your life where you feel like God is busy talking or helping someone else, but that’s not true. God has His full attention focused on you and the plans He has for you. (Jer. 29:11) Sometimes, you may feel like God isn’t providing you with everything that you need or that you could do a better job at driving down the path of life, but God doesn’t call us to go and see if we can make sense of our lives. No! He is right there always guiding always directing; we just have to seek Him first. Psalm 37:4 says, “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.”

God knows what you want. Give everything to Him and stop worrying about whatever you are worrying about…He is in control!! 

In Christ,

Brianna

“Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday, and all is well.”    ~Unknown

“Purity is not a destination – it is a journey.”

~Brianna

See the Bright Side of Things – A New Perspective

Date: Today

From: The Boss

Subject: Yourself

Reference: Life

I am God. Today I will be handling all of your problems. Please remember that I do not need your help. If life happens to deliver a situation to you that you cannot handle, do NOT attempt to resolve it. Kindly put it in the SFGTD (something for God to do) box. All situations will be resolved, but in MY time, not yours. Once the matter is placed in the box, do not hold onto it by worrying about it. Instead focus on all the wonderful things that are present in your life right now.

If you find yourself stuck in traffic; don’t despair. There are people in this world for whom driving is an unheard of privilege.

Should you have a bad day, where problems just seem to follow you around; think of all aborted babies who never even had a chance to breathe, let alone live long enough to have a bad day.

Should you have a day where it seems that your family is constantly in your way or things aren’t just going right between you and them; think of the person who has never known what it is like to love and be loved in return.

Should your car break down, leaving you miles away from assistance; think of the paraplegic who would love the opportunity to take that walk.

Should you notice that new grey hair in the mirror; think of the cancer patient in chemo who wishes she had hair to examine.

If hundreds or even thousands of miles selfishly separate you from dear friends and/or family; remember that some people in the world do not even know the whereaboutsof the people they love, because those individuals are serving our country somewhere.

Should you find yourself at a loss and pondering what life is all about, asking “What is my purpose?” Be thankful. There are those who didn’t live long enough to get the opportunity.

Should you find yourself agitated, depressed, hurt, upset, sad, lonely, or lost; remember things could be worse. You could be one of “them” who have it even worse than you do.

Don’t ever forget to thank God for what He has given you and don’t be afraid to look at hard circumstances from a new perspective-God’s perspective.

~Brianna

     During the last few months of my life God has been teaching me so much. I have just finished my third intership session and now I am supposedly going back to “normal life”. Normal life is great and all (it’s a little slow at times, but nothing I can’t handle), but now I have been asking God, “What do You want me to do next?…Finish school? Look into college? Be an intern again in the fall? Go on an over seas mission trip? What?”

     Have you ever felt like you’ve left God a “message” on His cell phone? Well, I have and sometimes I also feel like He takes FOREVER to get back with me. And then when He does finaly answer my call all He says is, “Wait.”

     A couple of months ago God brought this poem to me and now I want to share it with all of you who are also hearing God answer “Wait.” or are wondering what is the next step of faith to take in your life.

In Christ,

My Answer

Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried:

Quietly, patiently, lovingly God replied.

I plead and I wept for a clue to my fate,

And the Master so gently said,

“Child, you must wait.”

“Wait? You say, wait!” my indignant reply.

“Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!

Is Your hand shortened? Or have you not heart?

By faith, I have asked, and am claiming Your word.”

My future and all to which I can relate

Hangs in the balance, and You tell me to WAIT?

I’m needing a “Yes”, a go-ahead sign,

Or even a “No” to which I can resign.

And Lord You promised that if we believe

We need but to ask, and we shall receive.

And Lord, I’ve been asking, and this is my cry:

“I’m weary of asking! I need a reply!”

Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate

As the Master replied once again, “You must wait.”

So, I slumped in my chair, defeated and taught

And grumbled to God “So, I’m waiting…for what?”

He seemed, then, to kneel

And His eyes wept with mine,

And He tenderly said, “I could give you a sign.

I could shake the heavens, and darken the sun.

I could raise the dead, and cause mountains to run.

All you seek, I could give, and pleased would you be.

You would have what you want-

But, you wouldn’t know Me.

You’d not know the depth of My love for each saint;

You’d know not the power I give to the faint;

You’d not learn to see through the clouds of despair;

You’d learn not to trust just by knowing I’m there;

You’d know not the joy of resting in Me;

When darkness and silence where all you could see.

You’d never experience that fullness of love

As the peace of My Spirit descends like a dove;

You’d know that I give and I save, for a start,

But you’d not know the depth of the beat of My heart.

The glow of My comfort late into the night,

The faith that I give when you walk without sight,

The depth that’s beyond getting just what you asked

Of an infinite God, who makes what you have last.

You’d never know, should your pain quickly flee,

What it means that, “My grace is sufficient for thee.”

Yes, your dreams for your life

Over night could come true,

But, Oh, the loss! If I lost what I’m doing with you!

So, be silent, My child, and in time you will see

That the greatest of gifts is to get to know Me.

And though oft’ may My answers seem terribly late,

My most precious answer of all is still, “Wait.”

Brianna

I have been fortunate to have opportunities to obey God’s hand of direction in my life.  Most often, I have obeyed and yielded to God’s call.
Occasionally, I have turned the other way.  Much to my regret.

Most recently, on the way to Wal- Mart, I prayed to the Father and once again gave all that I have to Him;  my money, my time, my desires, my fears, my problems….my life.  I asked Him to intercede and resolve some very difficult challenges that I am faced with at this time.  I meant it.  He is the only one who can resolve them.  I wanted freedom from the worry and fear to focus only on His kingdom.

I completed my small purchase and was walking out of Wal-Mart as I noticed a large lady standing in the parking lot with a basket of groceries.

As I glanced briefly at her, she called out to me and asked if I were going downtown (that was exactly where I was going)or anywhere near.  I avoided her for a moment and she called out again.  I thought of everyone waiting for me to return and the inconvenience of giving this lady a ride.  I answered her and said “No, I am going the other way” – I had lied.

As I walked another thirty feet to my car,  it dawned on me that God had just given me an opportunity to join Him in meeting a need and walking in obedience of my re-committed life.  I then changed my mind and decided to obey,  but it was too late….the lady was gone; vanished.  There were no cars driving away nor any sign of this lady in the parking lot.  Just me, and my lost opportunity.

To trust and obey,  for there is no other way,  to be happy in Jesus,  but to trust and obey.

Robert

Hello Everybody!

For those of you who know (and for those of you who don’t) my family and I are still in Oklahoma City and starting Tuesday I will be teaching character in OKC’s public schools once more.

For the past week, this semesters’ Character Coaches and I have been on a retreat where we were receiving training on how to teach character and minister to kids. We were way out in the “boone docks” of Tulsa, so I wasn’t able to blog because there was no internet connection. (sniff…actually, to tell you all the truth, I did miss having internet,  but it was nice to just be away from the world and focus on what God wanted to teach us. And He taught us all so much!)

The two main things that God taught me while I was out there were…

1) I need to be ready to answer His call to “build a wall and stand in the gap.” I need to be ready to build up the wall of God’s truth. I need to be ready to stand in the gap of society and dare to be different for Him. It’s hard to do that and I had to ask God multiple times while I was out there to take away my fear of what other people would think, fear of being “inadequate” in the world’s eyes, fear that my pride would be crushed, fear that I would never get to go to college or have a family or live in a house again. I had to ask Him to take away my fear of the heights He could take me to if I answered the call and told Him “Here am I, send me.” (Isaiah 6:8)

and 2) God doesn’t “mess up”. Everything that happens to us is not an impromptu part of a sporadic plan, but a small, well-thought out piece of the bigger picture. God will do amazing things through you and me if only we would let Him have complete control. Chad, our main director, challenged all of us one morning, during a Bible study, to sign a contract with Christ. He gave each of us a piece of paper that was basically blank except for a place for us to sign our names on the bottom of the page. He told us, (I’m paraphrasing ok) “God doesn’t give us all the specifics of our life. He doesn’t give us the “to-do-in-this-lifetime” list for us to look over and approve of, because we probably wouldn’t approve of everything on there. I want you to go for a walk and talk with God and then if you trust Him to be in charge of your life I want you to consider signing your piece of paper, symbolizing that you want to do what God wants you to do instead of what you want to do.”

And that was only a fraction of the things I learned, the rest I probably couldn’t even start to describe. Oh, and there’s one more thing I wanted to share with you. While I was out there God led me to write a poem…I call it, “New Heart”.

A cool morning, a cool breeze,

a feeling of awe sweeping over me.

We walked down a path beneath a clear blue sky,

I gasped and I told Him I couldn’t believe,

He had just opened a new world for me.

As I looked around I had no words to say,

He lovingly told me, “Just start to pray.”

I fell to me knees and started to say,

“Dear God, I’m sorry I’ve been away.”

I had fallen from truth and now I was back,

words poured from my heart, I held nothing back.

“You are Creator and Lord and Love of my life,

Salvation, Redeemer, Restorer of Sight.

God please forgive me I’ve done nothing but wrong,

give me a pure heart so I may sing a new song.”

As I finished my prayer I looked all around,

 I then saw His eyes as He knelt on the ground.

He said, “Oh, how I’ve longed for this day to come,

I couldn’t wait ‘til you found me and accepted my love.

I now want to give you what your heart desires,

 a clean and pure heart that rejoices all hours.”

I accepted His hand and was pulled to my feet,

then as the breeze danced around us He disappeared so complete.

I had thought He was gone then I heard His voice say,

“Do not fret, dear one, for I am with you alway.

We are closer than ever for I am now in your heart,

O child of the King, I will never depart.”

The Heavenly Man
Discovering the true story of Chinese Christian Brother Yun, his actual name being Liu Zhenying, has been like a good look in the mirror.  His story has forced me to look at myself and assess my faith in God and willingness to follow Christ, no matter what the task.

I hesitated to start reading his biography because I knew just enough of what it was about….suffering and sacrifice.

All of my life I have been very uncomfortable around funerals, hospitals, poverty, prisons and most anything that represents the worst aspects of life and anything resulting in discomfort.  I cannot imagine that I am the only one that has sought to avoid these types of environments.  I’m sure many of you that read this might feel the same.  Why?  For me, it is the presence of pain and suffering and the thought that I may experience one or more of these and will absolutely have to attend my own funeral one day.  It all means pain.

We are all called as Christians to experience suffering, though not in all the same forms.  Without being tested, our faith cannot grow.  To suffer is an opportunity.  in fact, the opportunity to suffer for Christ is to be given the opportunity for God to do a work through us.  Now that is what we all hope for and live for….only, could we do it without the suffering?  “For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him” – Philippians 1:29.

As I started reading this book, I could not put it down.  In just a few moments, I had already read five chapters.  Now, after twelve chapters, God is clearing speaking to me through this book as I am sure he will do for you.

I know that anyone that has received Christ as savior will be persecuted and experience suffering.  He clearly states this in his word.  Personally, I want to avoid this like the other pains of life.  So, what if we have not experienced persecution or suffering?  What does that mean?  Are we not living a life for Christ.  Is our time coming?  Perhaps.  What will we have to endure?  Only God knows.  I know that whatever the plan is, God will also provide the faith and strength to endure it.

As believers, we are all called for a purpose.  Every man or woman grows in our faith in God by encountering hardship and suffering.  It is at the point of our helplessness and inability to solve our situation that we find ourselves turning to God.  Only at this point do we trust God to provide for our need and solve our problem. 

Brother Yun has a magnificent reward waiting for him in heaven.  We will not all be called to a life of such pain and suffering, but if we are, there will be an great reward for us as well.  The question is are we choosing every day to be available for God to do His work through us?  For it is not what “we do”, but what “God does through us” that will be counted unto us in heaven.

We must be willing to submit ourselves to the will of God and for whatever His plan is.  Deny our selfish ambitions.  Put away our desire for glory, success, fame and riches.  Be willing to lose the comforts of life.  Only at this point, are we ready to grow in faith and experience the fullness of God.  It is a process of becoming….

Run to win,

Robert

Wow, this year has just flown by! And, I can’t believe that today is the first day of the new year…2009!

If you had asked me on January 1, 2008, “What do you want to do this next year? What do you pray God will do this year? What kind of year do you think this year will be?  My answers would have been very different from where I am right now. In fact, I probably would have told you I had planned on staying in Texas, doing school, attending co-op, volunteering at the local library, attending piano lessons, going to my church, enhancing my photographic skills, spending time with my family, and hanging out with my friends. I might have thought and told you that I planned on serving God wherever He led me, but in my heart what I really kept saying was, “I want to serve God…as long as its in Rockwall.”. And basically I would have told you I was going to live another long, normal year in my long, normal life.

But now, since God has totally changed my perspective on life, since He has lead me down a totally different road, I can say that this past year was harder, better, more exciting, and life-changing than any other year I have lived through…so far.

I look back and realize that God has taught me so much over the past year. He has taught me that…

1. There is no greater feeling than to have complete trust in Him
2. His shoulder is there to lean on in every circumstance; good and bad, joyous and sad
3. Family is one of His greatest gifts
4. He has a divine reason for everything that happens–no matter how small and insignificant or huge and life-changing I think it is
5. Every moment is to be cherished like its my last
6. It doesn’t matter how tall I’m not.
7. I can love and grow wherever He has planted me
8. In order to gain more I have to give more
9. Real beauty comes from my heart
10. True friends will always stand by me, no matter the distance between us
11. Ice cream, Starbucks, laughter, and special moments are better shared with others
12. There is always a silver lining, sometimes I just have to look a little harder to find it
13. My parents are usually right…they kept telling me flip-flops and snow don’t mix
14. Chess is a very depressing game *grin*

So, as for this new year..the year 2009…I pray that God will continue to open doors that no one can shut and close doors that no one can open (Rev. 3:7,8). I pray that He would continue to mold my heart to be more like His, to give me love and understanding to encourage those who are tired and hurting, and also that He will give me wisdom and knowledge in how to help further His kingdom.

A friend of mine once wrote and said, “Pray not for tasks equal to what you can handle, but pray to be equal for the tasks God has for you.”

Also, remember, the important thing is not to live a long life, but to live your life well…live for eternity!

Embracing the new year 2009,

Brianna