Fridnship: God's Secret Weapon

Today I was showered with an outpouring of love.
My wonderful friends threw me a surprise tea party for my upcoming birthday.

{Source}

Let me set the scene for you:

          I was home all morning then my sister came over after she was done work. We were plannign to go on a family dinner in celebration of both of our birthdays that are taking place next week. But suddenly she had this unexplained urge to have ice cream, and seeing how the ice cream we had at my house didn't suffice, she wanted to go into town to get some.

Now usually my sister and I are very "Mary-Kate and Ashley", but today she was just plain weird.

         Over the course of about 1/2 hour I found myself driving my sister to get ice cream at a location that was yet to be determined. My bestie Bre (of Meet the Marshalls) was texting me asking me to meet her at her parent's house to pick up a t-shirt she had of mine from 2 years ago (clearly it was a t-shirt I didn't even know I was missing). So somehow my sister and I ended up at her parent's house to pick up this shirt.

         Breanna ushered us inside, and as I walked through her kitchen into the dining room I saw some of my wonderful friends and a lovely tea party spread.

         I am truly and abundently blessed to have such wonderful friends. Friends that love me so much, that they would spend a month planning a tea party (I don't care what you say - that's true love in my books).

“Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art… 

It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival.” - C.S. Lewis

So in the end there was no ice cream.
There was no lost t-shirt.
Ther was not dinner with my family.
But there was a gathering of the people I love the most.

{Breanna, Elisa et Moi, 2010}

"There are 'friends' who destroy each other, but a real friend sticks closer than a brother." 

- Proverbs 18:24

Faithful friends are a rare treasure. And I have two!

I am a lucky, lucky girl. 

full circle.

           Last August I was asked by my bestie Bre (of Meet the Marshalls) to guest blog on her site. Today I was cleaning out my documents on my computer and came acrossed this post. So...I thought I would dust it off and re-post it for my wonderful singal gal friends.

____________________________________________________________

I struggled all throughout my early school days (didn’t we all?!). Like many young people, I was bullied – not to the extent where I went home and cried about it every night, but enough for it to slowly eat away at my self worth. So often, I was deceived into thinking that I wasn’t good enough. I constantly believed what others labeled me as: too fat, too tall, too ugly, the list goes on and on. The labels stuck inside my head for so long, that I began to believe them myself.

 

90's Brooke.

Flash ahead several years. For so long I thought of myself in terms of how other people saw me, so when I got to a place where negative labels ceased, I had trouble figuring out who I was. It wasn’t until I learned to discover myself through the eyes of Our Lord that I found (or started to find) who I was designed to be. Now, don’t get me wrong, I still don’t have it all together. Who am I? I’m still trying to figure that out. But I do know who’s I am, and that has made all the difference. As I dove into God’s word and learned more about our Creator, I found myself becoming more and more confident in who I was, because true self-esteem comes only through our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

2013 Brooke.

“You are altogether beautiful, my darling, there is no flaw in you.”

Song of Solomon 4:7 (NIV)

____________________________________________________________

            Last year, I was honoured with the position of designing and leading a girl’s empowerment group at a local pregnancy centre. When the position was initially offered to me, I almost declined. How could I teach girls about self-worth and loving themselves, when it’s something I’ve been struggling with for the past 21 years? But I must have had a mini brain lapse, because I said yes. To say I was nervous would be an understatement. I was terrified. But, in spite of that fear, I took this project to the Lord. I wanted Him to optimize this experience, not only for the girls, but for me as well. And did He ever?! I had three lovely teens (no, you didn’t misread…..there were 3 girls in my group) that signed in to do this 10 week journey with me. We may have been small in numbers, but we were mighty in power. At first I was disappointed that God only sent 3 girls my way, but in the end, it turned into a total blessing.

The Lord made something beautiful come out of those 10 weeks. He took all of the pain and ugliness I endured as a young kid, and turned it into something empowering for those girls. This experience was probably one of the most challenging in my life, but from what I got out of it, and what I hope the girls got out of it, it was definitely well worth it. The Lord is so good, so, so good. 

God makes things come full circle, and for that, I am truly thankful. 

true beauty.

        There is this video thats been trending on facebook these last few days. It's another video by the Dove Real Beauty Campaign. If you haven't seen it take a look now:

    

         Such a powerful video, right? 

       Our perception of beauty is so distorted;  especially our perceptions of ourselves. In fact, only 4% of w men believe themselves to be beautiful. Isn't that sad? I can hontesly admit that I am hard on myself; I am my own worst critic. We try to "compensate" by wearing fancy clothing, doing our hair, wearing make-up to make ourselves more beautiful to the world. But God [luckily] offers to us the importance of inner beauty over external looks.

"Charm is deceitful, and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised" 

Proverbs 31:30

"Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight."

1 Peter 3:3-4

We should always take comfort in knowing that we are made in God's image; his perfect image.

"You are altogether beautiful, my darling, there is no flaw in you."

Song of Solomon 4:7

You are more beautiful than you think.
(If you don't believe me - believe God!)

 

"Expert" Advice on Women

So who exactly are these experts?

These guys.

{Source}

 

 

 

No, I'm not kidding you.

\Well.....maybe "experts" is a strong term.

Ever heard of the tv show called Duck Dynasty? If not, you're missing out!

       Duck Dynasty is about a family down in West Monroe, Louisiana who made a multi-million dollar company making duck calls. They are hilarious rednecks who love the Lord. 'Nuff said.

And they have some wonderful jewels of wisdom for the gentleman seeking "womanly advice". 

{Source}

 

{Source}

{Source}

{Source}

bahaha! They just kill me!

What am I watching as I write this? Why Season 1 of Duck Dynasty course!

If watching Duck Dynasty is wrong...I don't want to be right!



She gone!