Never Forsaken.

         I've recently gotten back from spending a week serving at Joy Bible Camp; my home away from home. A couple girlfriends and I went up to be apart of Girl's Camp; a joy I look forward to every single year.

         The girls in attendance were blessed with a remarkable worship team who shared with us God's love for His children. One of the songs particularly struck a chord with me; it is called Not For a Moment (After All).

After all You are constant
After all You are only good
After all You are sovereign
Not for a moment will You forsake me
Not for a moment will You forsake me 

        I think we all tend to feel that at times God has forgotten about us and our needs. Recently I've read a blog post by a friend on her blog In The Clay, she used the passage of Mark 4:35-41 to describe her own struggle with this. At this time Jesus is about to take a boat trip with His disciples. The weather gets bad and His disciples begin to freak out, saying "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?" Don't we love to ask God that question? We're in the middle of our own personal storm and it appears as though God is no where to be found. Doesn't He care? But just like those disciples in the boat, Jesus calms our waters and says to us "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?"

          "...God has said 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you'" (Hebrews 13:5). What a beautiful promise our Lord has made to us. Through the thick of the storm He is carrying us. 

He is constant. He is only good. He is sovereign.

Princess: a Daughter of the King

Let's think what it means to be a princess?

A princess is the daughter of the king.

She's a pretty important person, but her worth does not come from her (meaning how pretty, smart or capeable she is), it comes from her relationship to the king.

As a child of God, you are also a princess. You are a daughter of the King and your worth comes from Him. It's not self-worth that's important, it's what you're worth to God.

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He loved us so much that He has adopted us as His children.

"God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son."

Ephesians 1:5-6 (NLT)

What a blessing it is to serve a King whose grace allowed us to become part of his family; "...this is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure."

 He knows every single thing about us (Psalm 139); better than we know ourselves. That's love.

The bible tells us several things about who we are in Christ.

We are:
- Justified (Romans 3:22-24)
- Sanctified (Hebrews 10:12-13)
- A new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17)
- God's Masterpiece (Ephesians 2:10)
- Set free from our sinful nature (Romans 8:2,9)
- All spiritual blessings are ours (Ephesians 1:3)

Great is Thy Faithfulness

Hey Friends,

This week I had one of those days where I felt totally hopeless; totally lost and alone. You know what I mean?

         Thankfully I had enough sense to get out of this funk with some Jesus tunes. Driving home from work takes me about an hour, so for that hour I gave myself to the Lord to turn my attitude around. And boy did He ever. On of my favourite hymns is Great is Thy Faithfulness by Thomas Chisolm; so it is this song which I played on repeat for my hour-long ride.

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This song is based on the composer's favourite bible verse; Lamentations 3:22-23.

"It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is Thy faithfulness."

I read the story behind the song here; and would like to share a piece of it with you now:

      "While away from home on a missions trip, Thomas often wrote to one of his good friends, William Runyan, a relatively unknown musician. Several poems were exchanged in these letters. Runyan found one of Williams' poems so moving that he decided to compose a musical score to accompany the lyrics. Great is Thy Faithfulness was published in 1923.
       For several years ,the hymn got very little recognition, until it was discovered by a Moody Bible Institute professor who loved it so much and requested it sung so often at chapel services, that the song became the unofficial theme song of the college.
       It was not until 1945 when George Beverly Shea began to sing Great is Thy Faithfulness at the Billy Graham evangelistic crusades, that the hymn was heard around the world" 

This story is such a testimony to God's compassion and faithfulness during our times of struggle. This song composed in 1925 has truly stood the test of time and has become a timeless worship song for the followers of Christ.

Great is Thy faithfulness!
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see.
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided;
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

“I will sing of the mercies of the Lord for ever: with my mouth will I make known Thy faithfulness to all generations.” (Psalm 89:1)

        One of my favourite things about this song is that you don't have to be cured of a severe illness to appreciate the song's beautiful lyrics. You can simply look at creation and know that the God who saves is responsible for creating the whimsical clouds, the leaves falling from the trees and the rays of sunshine falling on your cheek.

Do you have a song that pulls you out of a funk? Please share, I would love to know!

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.

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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)

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            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!)

 

lead me to the rock

Hello friends, it's been a while.

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        This past week I started my LAST semester of my undergrad. Oh. My. Stars. I can't believe it, four years have flown by. But can i just say...this past week has slapped me across the face.

It's been tough. 

It's been stressful.

It's caused me to cry.

It's caused me to scream.

It's caused me become more organized.

and above all else,

It's caused me to pray.

        Friday was especially rough for me. Things did not go my way, and when I tried to roll with the punches, it still was not turning out how I planned. Driving to school that afternoon was frustrating to say the least. The whole way there I bawled my eyes out.

Why am I telling you this? Because God placed people in my life that day that blessed me - whether I knew them or not.

      So there I am driving to school and I had to stop to get gas. Still upset and with tears in my eyes I got out of the car to begin filling the gas tank. An older, kind woman, seeing that I was crying, came up to me and asked if I was alright. She was so lovely about it. She did not know me, I did not know her, but she saw a person in pain and chose to show God's love towards me. I may never see this woman again, but I am thankful for her kindness.

   Not that I do this often (and I'm sure no other student out there does this either), but while in class on Friday, I may or may not have been on Facebook -- anyway, a friend of mind posted something that I desperatly NEEDED to hear. She said:

"...When my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the rock that is higher than I..."

       That is exactly what I needed to hear. After reading that I fell to God in paryer, and almost immediatly He settled my heart.

What do you do when you have bad/stressed out days?

All Things Hold Together

"He is before all things, and in him all things hold together." 

Colossians 1:17

What does that mean to you?

It may seem pretty straight forward, but do we fully comprehend all that is being said in that tiny sentence?

                I consider myself pretty privileged to live in  a country where I have the opportunity to study at a Christian university. To have a place where you can openly talk about God, start every class with a word or prayer, have chapel once a week, have access to spiritual advisors/counsellors, etc. - I don't know about you, but that doesn't seem like a typical North American university to me! We are truly blessed.Anyway...I'm getting a little off course. This verse, Colossians 1:17 is our theme verse for this academic year. And what a fitting one at that!

          
                 I have heard this verse since I was a young little tot, and never before have I really comprehended it's meaning, especially those last seven words - "and in him all things hold together." Did you catch that? ALL THINGS! Really? This doesn't just include our families, our marriage, our relationships, our jobs, our finances, our ____________ (you fill in the blank)....it also includes the stress, the madness, the confusion and the chaos of everyday life. I don't know about you, but I would gladly give that to a God that promises me that he will hold it all together.

                 So why do we worry so much? Well partially I think it's just human nature to worry, and partially I just don't think we've grasped the Supremacy that God has. God has told us time and time again that he will hold onto us; he is the glue that keeps us in tact. His reign is so supreme, that we shouldn't have to worry about any of that stuff.

Are you thinking a little bit differently about this verse?

Yeah, me too.

I'll Wait

Yet another little gem of wisdom from Spiritually Single (Unequally Yoked).

 

Lord, I will be patient because I choose your timing.
Lord, I will trust you even if people say I'm running out of time.
Lord, I will listen to your voice over my loud thoughts.
Lord, I will believe even when I don't understand.
Lord, I will wait because I know you love me.

Help me Lord for I can't do any of these without You. 

Can you say this?
Can you say this with confidence?

              This most definitely does not  just relate to singleness; it can connect with anything really. Is there something in your life where you feel as though others are on the "fast track" and you're simply on the sidelines watching? Maybe it's having a successful job, buying a home, having children, getting married, the list goes on and on....

Are you able to trust in God's timing?

"Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for him to act." (Psalm 37:7)

Letter from the King

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You are worth the wait. 

It's true - Jesus says so.

Prayers

          "God's answer to your prayers will not always be what you expect but keep in mind that it's perfect. It's not easy to trust the Lord when He negates to give you what you so want but it's during this time that Jesus asks, "Do you love me? " Prove your love and trust Christ even if it doesn't make sense. Praise Him through your anger, through your frustration, through the confusion. Don't second guess His work or His plans for you. Trust Him... you will soon see His purpose for your pain. 

"He is working in you. God is helping you obey Him. God is doing what He wants done in you." (Philippians 2:13 NLV)"

That little blurb was posted on a facebook group page that I follow. They always have little gems of encouragement that always help brighten my day. Check them out here: Spiritually Single (Unequally Yoked).

This slapped me in the face today. Wow. So challenging. 

Can you honestly say that you will trust and follow the Lord, even if He doesn't give you your heart's desire?

My Love Story

Hello Friends!


          I have this group on my Facebook called Women after God that posts blog posts, pictures, sayings - you get the idea. Anyways, I saw this picture that they posted recently, and it really made me think....

          I may not have dating experience, but I DO have a love story of my own. In fact, I was shown the greatest, most romantic act of love that this world has ever seen. I am loved so much, that He performed the ultimate sacrifice on my behalf - He died for me.