Losing, Forgiving, and Car Radios

I never listen to the radio.

No really. Whenever I'm driving in my car, I listen to my favorite CDs. But would you believe that one day God made a bunch of different things happen so that I would listen to the radio?

I was going through a very difficult conflict with a close friend. Hurtful words had been slung; I was frustrated, angry, and beyond hurt. On this particular day, I had to go into town to teach a few piano lessons. But my car was at the shop getting some new tires. So I had to drive my mom's car. Since I was in her car, I decided to just listen to the radio. Which I rarely ever do.

As I was driving, a song came on I had never heard before. It was "Losing" by Tenth Avenue North. (If you haven't heard it yet, go listen to it. Right now.) As I listened to the words of that song, I started to cry. It was as if the writer had written it specifically for me and the situation I was going through. As the tears came, I realized that God had sent me that song right then because it was exactly what I needed to hear.

Slowly, I went through the journey of finding forgiveness towards the friend that had hurt me so. It was not easy. But I firmly believe that song was one of the biggest factors in helping me move towards forgiveness. I listened to it over and over again over the next few weeks. But looking back, I cannot help but be amazed in God's provision, and how He worked everything out just right. First of all, the day my car was going to be in the shop had been picked weeks before, before anything had even happened between me and my friend. Then I had decided to drive my mom's car, then I had decided to listen to that particular station at that particular time. Then that song had just happened to come on at the moment I needed it most.

God always knows exactly what we need. And He always gives us just what we need just when we need it. He loves you so much He will rearrange things to give you the comfort, peace, and provision you need! 


Even if it takes making your car go to the shop so you'll listen to the radio.

Being a Stay-at-Home Daughter Means...

Being a Stay-at-Home Daughter Means:

Doing laundry. Lots of laundry. In fact, doing more laundry than you thought 4 people could generate.

Sometimes trying to help with the cooking. Even if it does take you twice as long as your mother, and you make even a bigger mess than your father.

Cleaning: Vacuuming, polishing, and dusting. And trying not to break anything in the process.

Driving your brother around when your parents can't.

Spending time writing that story that you just know will be a national bestseller someday. ;)

Teaching lots of piano lessons. And realizing the interesting ways God answers your prayers for patience.

Babysitting & nannying for church families. Getting invaluable experience for when the kids you spend time with are your own. : )

Playing the piano for an hour at a time...just because you can and you love it.

Getting to know Jesus more and more every day.

Realizing that God's plan and timing are PERFECT.

Making new friends and cherishing old ones.

Realizing that no family is perfect, not even yours, but yours is pretty amazing anyway.

Diving deeper into God's word.

Communicating with God daily through prayer.

Realizing that as great as your dreams and plans are, it's not about you. It's about bringing glory to God.

Happy Thanksgiving

Good evening readers!! I realize it has been a very long time since I posted here for you. Things are going well in my life. I am enjoying the cooler weather of fall. One of my favorite things is to stare up at the clear, star-filled sky at night. Being out in the country, I have a wonderful view of the amazing works of God's creation. I'm even secretly anticipating the first snowfall, which I'm sure will come sooner than any of us would like. :) Well here we are with Thanksgiving almost upon us. It's a wonderful thing to be thankful and count the blessings that you have. In the spirit of the season, I decided to list the 10 things I am most thankful for.

1. My Saviour; His love, grace and mercy. I am so thankful that God sent His son to die for me. I am thankful for the relationship that I have with Him-I am growing in Him each and every day. I love Him so much.
2. My family. I have a wonderful family. I am so thankful for them and the continuous love and support that they give to me. I don't know what I would do without them.
3. My friends. The Lord has blessed me with some wonderful, amazing people as my close friends. They love me, support me, encourage me, and pray for me. God has pushed many of my older friendships deeper, and given me many new friends. I don't know what I would do without these people!
4. My karate family. I'm thankful for the people at my karate club- my karate "family." They have always been supportive of me and are just great people. I am so thankful to be able to continue my martial arts training.
5. My piano studio. I have my own piano studio, and I am so thankful for that means of earning some money and being able to teach some children the beauty of piano music!
6. Writing opportunities. Recently I have been blessed with some different writing opportunities, even winning a writing contest. I am so thankful for these opportunities to continue to develop my writing skills.
7. My church family. I am blessed to be in the same church for all 19 years of my life. There are some really great people there. I am thankful for the opportunity to be a part of them and serve the community with them.
8. My health. I recently had a very bad cold, but it made me realize how thankful I am that I am healthy and how blessed I am with good health.
9. My pets. We have 3 funny dogs, and I love having them around to play and cuddle with. :)
10. My material possessions. I am so blessed to have a house, a bed, a car, and sooo many other things.

May you all be blessed with a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with family, friends, and contentment.

Blessed by Beautiful Friends

Hi readers, I know I've been promising posts about camp...and here I am about to go to camp again and I still haven't told you about the last time! Well I will tell you soon...but not today. Today I just wanted to write quickly and say: I am so blessed. I'm not talking about things- though the Lord has given me every earthly thing I could ever need and then some- I'm talking about people. He has put such beautiful people into my life. Sometimes, in ways I could never guess or imagine. He has put me in a beautiful family- I am SO blessed to be a part of them. He has given me a wonderful church family that I am blessed to have grown up in. He has given me some really great, amazing, wonderful friends. Some old friendships and some new friendships. I'm the kind of person that doesn't have a ton of friends. But the ones I do have...I am extremely thankful for. I would do almost anything for them, and I know they would do the same for me. I am so thankful for my friends!! I don't know what I'd do without em! :) The Lord has brought these friends into my life in such beautiful ways. I can only praise Him for them. Do you have a really good friend you just love? Praise God if you do!!

~Brooke 

19 Years of Blessings

Recently I turned 19. I had a great birthday. I spent it at camp (which I still promise to tell you about). Before I left for camp, we celebrated with my family here. We went out to dinner and had cake that my mom drove 2 hours to pick up, homemade by a good friend of ours. The next day my brother and I left for a week at camp.
THEN on my actual birthday at camp: My day started by my best friend waking me up and saying, "Good morning and happy birthday!" =) Then at breakfast my brother and 2 friends sang me a birthday song. :) Of course, there were all the happy birthday texts and comments throughout the day. It was a wonderful day. :) I'm so blessed to have the wonderful family and friends I do. God has truly blessed me in many ways, and I am grateful.

~Brooke

Out of Thin Air

This is the first blog post I ever wrote. :) Hope you enjoy it.
God’s timing is perfect. Sometimes we might not think so, but it always is. It can be hard to wait- whether it is for a husband, a child, or anything else. We don’t like to be patient. We think we need it now, or at least in our own time frame. But the truth is, the world operates on God’s time frame. Which, by the way, is much better than anything we could come up with. Again and again he has demonstrated his perfect timing.

I was about 14 or 15 years old. I had very few friends, was rejected by kids at church because of my beliefs, and felt very alone. Then one day, almost out of thin air, God sent me a friend. She lived in a totally different state, but we became close friends through email. He actually provided me with 2 close friends- at the very time I needed it most. His perfect timing.

Sometimes I wonder where God is going to find a husband for me. Will he just pull one out of thin air? He could. He provided friends for me seemingly out of thin air. Why not a husband? This is the God who made the world in 6 days- out of thin air. He saved me through his grace and mercy. He planned out the salvation of the world. Do I really think he can’t plan out my very small life? I must trust him. Trust that his will, his plan, and his timing are perfect. Because they are.

And once I truly trust him, he will make things happen in his time. Even if he has to pull someone out of thin air.

~Brooke

Kansas City Convention!!!

The view of the city from the 32nd floor. :)

This past weekend my family and I, along with about 30 other people from our church, were blessed to attend the Leadership Training for Christ (LTC) convention in Kansas City, Missouri. We had a wonderful, fabulous time, and the Lord was certainly working! The kids did events such as Bible bowl, Bible quiz, Bible reading, speech, poetry, Live Drama, song leading, photography, scrapbook, and more. They were awarded either a bronze, silver, or gold medal. I don't think anyone got lower than a silver! Well the Live Drama was what I was so nervous about. I had been working with the kids on it for months. I tried to give them some last minute tips, and then just prayed that they could do their best. They were amazing!! They gave a wonderful performance for the judges, and got a gold medal for it. And as if that wasn't enough, their drama was chosen for the encore performance!! They got to perform it for over 1,000 people!! I was so proud of them. :) Not only did the kids all do very well, they spent a lot of time in God's word to prepare for the conference. I know they have done a lot of growing. That is a great thing to see.

Well if all that wasn't good enough, I also got to spend a lot of time with some of my best friends!! We stayed up into the wee hours of the morning talking, telling silly jokes, jamming on the keyboard, singing, and just enjoying each other's company. I have come back so encouraged. :)

So I hope this encourages you, and if your church is not involved in something like LTC, look into it!!

~Brooke