Grand Announcement or Life is About to Change...a lot

Just a few days ago I got a call that I had been praying about for a few months now.

"You've been accepted!"

What!!!!...

Okay, let me back up.

At the beginning of this month I applied for a mission trip called The World Race. I wasn't really sure what I was doing, but I knew that God was asking me to take a step of faith (remember this post?).  So I stepped out and waited to see what God would do (here).  Little did I know this is what would happen.  I was hoping but...

So as it stands now I will be leaving in September 2014 for eleven months and each month will be spent ministering in a different country.

Here is my tentative route. To learn more hit the banner above.

Haiti




Bolivia




Peru




Ecuador




Malawi




Zambia




Zimbabwe




Thailand




Malaysia




Vietnam




Cambodia

To say I'm excited is an understatement!

I am still in shock at times and yet my brain has kicked into overdrive. Yes I have a year but that's really not all that long to get ready for a whole year of travel!

I wish I could say more but time constrains me at the moment.  I will say that in the coming days I will begin blogging on the World Race site.  As soon as I get that set up I will post the link here so you can keep up with me.

For now I ask for your prayers as I start this process.  I do, as any other missionary, have to raise my own support.  This trip will cost roughly $16,000 plus the gear I will be needing. And I know there will be a lot of changes in store for me and those around me.

I cannot wait to see what God does in the coming weeks and months!

Through Chirst,

Lady B

(Brooke)

Encouraging Thought from Jim Elliot

In a letter to his parents (August 8, 1950).

“Surely those who know the great passionate heart of

Jehovah must deny their own loves to share in the

statement of His. Consider the call from the Throne above,

Go ye, and from round about, Come over and help us, and

even the call from the damned souls below, Send Lazarus

to my brothers, that they come not to this place. Impelled,

then, by these voices, I dare not stay home while Quichuas

perish. So what if the well-fed church in the homeland

needs stirring? They have the Scriptures, Moses, and the

Prophets, and a whole lot more. Their condemnation is

written on their bank books and in the dust on their Bible

covers. American believers have sold their lives to the

service of Mammon, and God has His rightful way of

dealing with those who succumb to the spirit of Laodicea."

Emphasis added

The Voiceless Part One

At the beginning of this year one of the ladies in my church approached me and my friend about volunteering at our local crisis pregnancy center, of which she is the assistant director.  Little did I know that by saying yes my heart would be opened up to a world I only thought I knew on the surface and something new would begin.
God is amazing in how He plans all things.  My mom has been trying to get me to volunteer there for years (since I was 12 I’m sure), but I think God knew my heart was not ready.  So as I walked into that office God began His work.  Little did I know how my heart would break for these- the children and mothers both.
To be honest I was an uninformed Christian just spouting what I had heard but never really learning about these that have no voice of their own. It was often by my own choice too, sadly to say, but when God began revealing the plight of unborn babies and scared, hurting mothers I could be blind no more, nor could I be silent. 
I’m not even sure where to start; how to be a voice for these forgotten, silent ones.  Some are silent because their voice has been snuffed out too soon.  Some have no voice because they are hurt or frightened of what may happen if they speak.  Some even have a voice it would seem but that is not their real one,; no, the real one has been buried too deep because of the guilt and pain it brings about.
I do not feel qualified to shared all I have learned…
Two events that stand among many from the past few months are what taught me the most.
One was watching a video with the team in which a doctor met with different women desiring an abortion, all at differing stages of pregnancy, and explain to each what the process would be for that pregnancy at that stage. It was awful.  That’s all I could think of the rest of the week.  How could anybody choose that? How?
The second, a seminar by Abby Johnson, author of unPLANNED. She shared how she rose through the ranks of Planned Parenthood until the day she watched, Watched and helped with, an abortion via ultrasound.  It changed her whole life.  What she shared was heart stopping. 
I wish I could share so much more and truly be the voice crying out for this to stop.  Pleading with Christians to stand up and fight for what is right.  To nobly save the lives of the innocent! To stop the needless holocaust of our day!  What is the difference? Hitler said the Jews were not even people. Is that not what we are being told about these babies?
I also desire to be the voice of those women who have had an abortion.  The ones silently pleading for forgiveness and healing.  The ones lost and confused.  The ones thrown by the wayside and forgotten.  They need a Savior just as we do.  They need and Love deeper than we can give.  They need and Healer of the past and Mender of the future.  They need Jesus Christ.  Should we not reach out?

The Voiceless Intro

This year has been so hectic and crazy; I cannot believe it is already May. It seems just a week ago we were celebrating New Year's. But here we are and God has certainly been teaching me new things and working new things in my life. One of those being opening my heart more and more to those who have no voice. The ones who cannot speak up for themselves, cannot protect themselves. They are many and as God has been revealing more nad more my heart breaks that much more. What can I do? I must do something I cannot sit silently and just watch these things happen. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said it this way, "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."

I do not consider myself a vocal, activist type person, but the time has come to wake from my slumber, to shout from the rooftops what is spoken in secret. I want to be able to say as Job:

I delivered the poor who cried out,
The fatherless and the one who had no helper. I put on righteousness, and it clothed me;
My justice was like a robe and a turban.
I was eyes to the blind,
And I was feet to the lame.
I was a father to the poor,
And I searched out the case that I did not know.
I broke the fangs of the wicked,
And plucked the victim from his teeth.
Job 29:12, 14-17

And follow the command:

Defend the poor and fatherless;
Do justice to the afflicted and needy.
Deliver the poor and needy;
Free them from the hand of the wicked.
Pslam 82:3-4

Who are these voiceless that God has placed so heavily on my heart? That is a question I hope to answer in the posts to come but the short answer is slaves, orphans and the unborn. These people are not able to speak up or defend themselves. I pray God would give me the voice to speak for them in whatever capasity He chooses. Today it will be here...

Through Christ
Lady B

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.Edmund Burke

Waiting- A Verb

Waiting, it seems to be my lot in life or so it feels.  I have often struggled and at times still do with waiting, but I have learned something recently and straight from God too (those are the best lessons)- waiting is a verb!  Before I could learn this lesson, though, I had to be broken; more broken than I have been in a long time.  See I was complaining to God about having to wait, “I’m tired of waiting, God.  I want to do something.”  And many such pleadings, but then in that moment when I ran out of things to say God whispered to me, “Are you willing to do nothing for my sake?”  That stopped me; was I?  I pleaded, I thought, I cried and then, oh so sweet, I surrendered.  Was it hard? Yes.  Do I struggle?  More than you can imagine, but I know where my peace is and it is to Him I turn.
As I said I have learned waiting is a verb. It is not just about sitting around twiddling thumbs.  The years of waiting are a time to do.  These are the years we have to learn and serve freely.  Here are a few things that God has provided for me in this waiting period.
Recently my church has started an emergency response team.  We are in the training stage right now, and so far I have been able to get my First Aid/CPR, chainsaw safety, and power line safety certifications.  I am also working on the FEMA IS classes (well, I’m supposed to be).   Who knows how this will be used in the future, but it is definitely good to know!
God has also given me the opportunity to volunteer once a week at our local crisis pregnancy center.  I absolutely love it!  Being a part of saving the lives of many innocent children and helping many women/families that have no where else to go is a blessing.  To see the faces of the girls and women that come in, some are heartbreaking and some are so full of joy.  Also in my free time I have been able to read some of the curriculum for the parenting classes we offer. 
Of course I have been working also.  As of right now I am working at Allstate and cleaning.  I rather enjoy both and I most definitely am learning from both jobs.
Another opportunity God has presented to me is being a part of coordinating our local father/daughter dance.  My dear friend asked me at the beginning of this year to come alongside her and another lovely friend as the third person on the “team”.  It has been so exciting so far and a little daunting, but this is God’s dance and He has everything perfectly planned.
Of course what better to spend my time of waiting than with my family.  I have had the delight to visit with several family members just in the past weeks.  And there is the perk of being a homemaker in training (if that is the path God takes me down). Being able to hone my gardening skills will be fun this year (some day I will be like my Nana)! And as always there are the kids at church I can pour more into. 
As you can see waiting has not caused me to become lax or lazy, but just the opposite.  By surrendering all my time to God (moment by moment preferably), He has opened up many opportunities to serve Him, serve others, and even learn new skills. 
With all of this going on it is sometimes hard to stop, but the sweetest part of this period is by far my time with God.  Spending time with my Beloved Bridegroom could never be matched.  Though I am often distracted, using this time to know Him more will carry me so much farther than any other skill I pick up through life.
In what ways is God asking you to wait? How have you been using the time?

Wait on the Lord;
Be of good courage,
And He shall strengthen your heart;
Wait, I say, on the Lord!
Psalm 27:14

This Morning

As I sit here I'm not sure what to do or think. My mind is in a daze and my stomach can't decide if it's in knots or going to let me eat. How can evil carry on in the world and no one say anything about it or try to stop it. Where are the men and women of God who will stand against the enemy and rescue the innocents?
Last night I stayed up late reading The Slave Across the Street. It was not until I awoke this morning, not until I began to retell her story that the full impact of what I had read hit me.
What can I do? What is my voice among the many? There are many speaking up, aren't there? I tried listening/singing worship music to take my mind off of it and focus more on Christ but that only seemed as though I was trying to block it out, like it was too loud. That made me feel worse. What can I do?!?
Maybe there are many speaking out already. Maybe adding just one more voice won't do anything. Maybe. But what if it does? What if one more voice is what it takes to end slavery? Ten more? Twenty more? What if my one, small, insignificant voice is what God uses to "let His people go"? Will I choose to sit quietly and let that pass? I cannot be blind any long. My eyes have been opened and now I have a responsibility.
I will be a voice to these Voiceless in whatever way I can!

My god…a confession

¹ And Moses called all Israel, and said to them: “Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your hearing today, that you may learn them and be careful to observe them. ² The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. ³ The LORD did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, those who are here today, all of us who are alive. ⁴ The LORD talked with you face to face on the mountain from the midst of the fire. ⁵ I stood between the LORD and you at that time, to declare to you the word of the LORD; for you were afraid because of the fire, and you did not go up the mountain. He said:
⁶ ‘I am the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
⁷ ‘You shall have no other gods before Me.
⁸ ‘You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; ⁹ you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, ¹⁰ but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

~Deuteronomy 5:1-10

How many times have I read those words and just moved right along saying- of course.  How many times have I told myself- You have no other god.  It is not a verse I often take into account but the other day God kind of knocked me up side the head with it.  As I read it, I was ready to move along as I always do but there was something holding me back.  So I read it again and tried to move on and still I could not.  I finally stopped and took a minute to think on those words and when I did my life was laid before me to search and I found something I did not like.  I had another god.  I had bowed down to another and had been for a very long time. 

What is this god?  My computer; namely Facebook.  Facebook is not bad but it is addicting and distracting.  I have noticed my “addiction” in the past and even taken time away from it but at the end of the week or month or whatever it is always the same. 

Facebook has consumed my life.  It has taken away my time from my family, it has reduced my communication with family and friends to mere jots on a “wall”, most of all my relationship with God has suffered to the point that I feel as though we barely ever talk.  That is a scary, horrible feeling and I do not ever want it to become a hold in my life.  I have struggled with giving it up which in turn tells me that it has become entirely too important in my life. 
Yes. I do like to keep up with my family and friends but I would rather have a deeper, more meaningful relationship with them than what I get from Facebook. 

I am ready to get away with my Bridegroom!

Striving to live the Normal Christian life!

Through Christ,

Lady B

As the Snow Falls

‘Tis snowing again.  The ground was white within twenty or thirty minutes once it really started and it is still snowing.  I am not one who gets upset and wishes all the snow away, normally, but for some reason this year I am ready for Spring.  Papa and Edwin are sure it is going to come soon and I hope they are right.  I want to learn to be content in whatever season I am in; I guess that means literally as well.

Also, I have taken on menu planning and couponing.  It has not been that hard except for people changing my meal plans after carefully planning them.  Ah well, I must learn to be flexible. 

Yesterday I was listening to some music on youtube and the song In Christ Alone came on.  This has been one of my favourite songs for a few years but yesterday it really stood out to me.  Mostly it was this line-

There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again

And as He stands in victory
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me
For I am His and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ

It just grab me and I had to listen to the song over and over.  Sin has no hold on me because I am bought with Jesus Christ’s blood.  How awesome.

Another song actually seems to be the topper to how my year is beginning is Great Adventure by Steven Curtis Chapman. 

You know how people will often, at the beginning of the year, choose a word for their year.  Well, I have never done that before;  I thought about it last year but never did it.  It seems this year I have had a theme chosen for me.  Adventure.  Ever since seeing Voyage of the Dawn Treader the second time, I have been basking in the fact that I am living my own adventure, only I know Aslan’s true name.  I cannot explain it, but I feel as though I could conquer anything.  Really, as long as I am following God I can.  He is my guide and leader. 

This is the life like no other,
This is the great adventure

Through Christ,

Lady Helen

P.S. You may notice some changes around here so do not be surprised, especially if my name changes.

Thoughts for This Season

1.  I have been on the defensive.  In my spiritual walk, I have waited for satan to strike and then fought back in prayer.  I realized this Thursday, when I found out Grandpa had died.  I knew him for eleven years, yet I never once fell to my knees begging God to turn his heart to Him.  Not once did I ask him if he knew Christ, and then I found out he was dying a few weeks ago.  Then I prayed; then I tried to speak to him, but was it too late?  Has satan already struck the ending blow?  Not just with Grandpa but others, I have waited and now I wait no longer.  I want to be on the offensive.  I want to be there attacking satan (with God) before he even gets the chance to choose his next target.  It will take practice but no soldier goes into battle without some training.  Sometimes the battles even make him stronger.

2.  I want a man who will cherish me.  I want a warrior-poet.  Often I dream of the warrior side as just fighting for the things of God.  Yes I do want that to be my husband’s focus, but I also want him to be my warrior.  I want a man who will stand before me, God and the world and proclaim, “I love you.  I will fight for you; I will die for you!”  And, yet I have already found the perfect One who says, “I love you.  I am fighting for you; I died for you!”

3.  I did, in fact, watch Prince Caspian tonight for the first time in two years (since the day I watched it in theater).  Honestly, it is a love-hate kind of thing.  I hate it because it does not follow the book!!!! (what can I say, I am a purist)  But I like it because, well, it is Narnia.  Just do not expect anything more from me or I might go into a rant.  (very spiritual, I know)

4.  I will get my school work done so I can get to working on my Christmas presents and other projects.

5.  I will finish cleaning my room when I wake-up.

6.  I need to stop staying up so late and implement the schedule I wrote up Friday nigh…er…Saturday morning.

7.  This Thanksgiving when you think about the first celebration, remember the tragedy those Pilgrims went through before that day.  When you see the family of four think- the husband recently lost his wife (perhaps in childbirth), the wife was widowed the previous winter and the children lost their parents to some disease.  Yet they all came together to make a family and give thanks for this new country.  A country of freedom.

Through Christ,

Lady Helen

The Close of a Season

Now, this actually does not have anything to do with the end of summer and come of autumn.  The title is because of the end of a short chapter in my life (”a time and a season for everything”).  The chapter of daycare worker. 

As I was leaving work this afternoon my boss asked to speak with me.  They had to let me go.  It was not something they wanted to do, but they need someone who can work until six in the evening.  When I first started working there we had talked about my hours (11am-4pm), and I told them I could not work until closing, because I needed to be at home to help Mama with supper and such (here is where I blush because honestly that did not always happen).  Anyway, the two hours between when I leave and closing are the roughest part of the day and when they need the most help.  They found somebody who can work those hours, everyday too, so they had to let me go. 

The worst part of it for me was not so much being fired (for lack of a better term) but that I had grown quite attached to the kids in these past few months.  I really thought I would be there for a while and watch the kids “grow up” in a sense.  I also felt like a was just getting to know the other girls and enjoying their company.  Mrs. S may call me every now and then to substitute, and I know where to find them, but it is still quite a shock.  I cried all the way home, and when I got home I went immediately to my prayer journal.

I know God knows His plans and He does not have to reveal them to me.  I know He is in control.  All I can do is seek Him and wait “in the silence until [He] come[s] and sit[s] awhile with me.”

I will leave you with this quote from Ms. Jane Porter (author of The Scottish Chiefs) that I came across just last night (what great timing!):

The mourner banquets on memory; making that which seems the poison of life, its ailment.  During the hours of regret we recall the images of departed joys;and weeping over each tender remembrance, tears so softly shed, embalm the wounds of grief. 

Through Christ,

Lady Helen

My first day in English Literature

I thought I would share a little of my literature class with you.  These are mainly some quotes and points I found interesting.  I also wanted to give you all a little peek at what I am going to be reading this semester (because of this class).  I am looking forward to learning more about English literature! 

I hopefully can fit some of my own leisure reading into the semester but if I do not it will not be too bad a loss.  Happy Classes to those of you still in school!

Through Christ,

Lady Helen 

 

“The unexamined life is not worth living” ~Socrates 

“How do I know what I think until I see what I say?” ~E. M. Forster

 

The Four Marks of an Educated Person
Grayson Kirk

1. Speaks and writes clearly and precisely.

2. Has a set of values and the courage to defend them.

3. Tries to understand those who are different and views others with compassion and respect.

4. Looks squarely at the world and all of its problems, but always with hope.

 

The Books

--The Middle Ages

--The Dream of the Rood

--Beowulf    

--Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (I have to do a presentation of this)

--Geoffrey Chaucer and The Canterbury Tales

--Introduction and Prologue

--The Wife of Bath's Tale

--William Langland and The Vision of Piers Plowman

--Julian of Norwich and A Book of Showings

--Margery Kempe and The Book of Margery Kempe

--Sir Thomas Malory and Morte Darthur

--The Sixteenth Century

--Edmund Spenser and The Faerie Queene, Book I

--Christopher Marlowe and The Passionate Shepherd

--The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus

--William Shakespeare, Hamlet

--William Shakespeare, Sonnets

--The Early Seventeenth Century

--John Donne, Ben Jonson, George Herbert, Robert Herrick, and Andrew Marvell, Short selections TBA

--John Milton and Paradise Lost, Book I, continued

--The Restoration and the Eighteenth Century

--John Dryden and Mac Flecknoe

--Aphra Behn and The Disappointment

--Jonathan Swift and A Modest Proposal

--Alexander Pope and The Rape of the Lock

--Samuel Johnson and The Vanity of Human Wishes

--James Boswell's The Life of Samuel Johnson

--Thomas Gray and Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard

Summer Break is Coming!

I am so very behind on my reading, but there is hope! I see a light on the horizon; summer is almost here!
So in honour of the end of this semester, I thought I would share with you my list of books to read. Hopefully I can knock out at least half of these while on holiday.
Crazy Love by Francis Chan
How the Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill
Meet Mr. Smith by Eric and Leslie Ludy
The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks (per request)
The Green Pharmacy by James A. Duke
Through the Gates of Splendor by Elisabeth Elliot
Do Hard Things by Alex and Brett Harris
Quest for Love by Elisabeth Elliot
Going Rouge by Sarah Palin
The Joyful Christian by C. S. Lewis
Fire on the Mountain by Norma R. Youngberg
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Persuasion by Jane Austen
Emma by Jane Austen
Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
Lady Susan by Jane Austen
To Train Up a Child by Michael and Dabi Pearl
Why God Birthed America by Don Pinson
Preparing to be a Helpmeet by Debi Pearl
When the Enemy Strikes by Charles Stanley
A Chance to Die by Elisabeth Elliot

These are in no particular order and I would love your suggestions on what book to read next!

A Lesson Learned...I Hope!

I learned a lesson today. One that I have always known and "said" I believed.
God can be trusted with everything!
For several weeks I have felt God telling me to go to work at a daycare here in town (one I had previously worked at)and I kept questioning Him about it. When I finally decided to call the owner someone pointed out something out that started all the questions again. Needless to say I did not call S for several more weeks.
All this time I had these "What if" and "What about" questions going through my head. Finally, and I really don't know how, God just really changed my heart and yesterday I called S and spoke with her. I can't say that I felt relieved or happy or anything because, well, I didn't feel anything. I guess you could say I felt- peace.
Well, today was my first time back as an actually employee, and you know what? I was excited! Yes, excited. Excited to go work with kids I have no control over, excited to clean and give teachers breaks, excited to go ahead and ruin my hands and nails with bleach solutions again, excited to work. I relized then that God had truly called me to do this. I may not know why but I don't need to. All I need to know is God is in control and if I will obey Him, He will not fail me.
So that was my lesson today, or part of it. The other part- God will work all things out, and I need not fret over anything. Those questions, "What if?" and "What about?", vanished completely. Another lady is sharing the job I have so we can switch days when ever either of us needs to. See, God is so great and He deserves all our trust and more. Why don't we give it to Him though? I can say that today I have learned to trust Him, but I pray that it is a lesson I never have to learn again!

P.S. I am going to attend Kids Kollege this weekend so I hope to have something to share about my experience. If you want to learn more here is the ministry that started it Cool Kids Ministries.