Flourish

It has been a full few months but I am so thankful for everything God is doing!

One of the things I’ve been most excited about this semester is our monthly women’s gathering and Bible study called Flourish. We’ve been meeting once a month on the first Wednesday of the month since September. I have loved watching women gather and connect, I’ve loved getting to share what I feel God has placed on my heart for you, and I’ve loved partnering together to bless our community! {find out how you can get involved here}

If you haven’t been able to attend, I want to extend a special invitation to you, please join us in December! We’ve been talking about what it means to flourish in all that God has for us. This past month I shared on growing in grace and gratitude. I’d like to share it with you. You can watch the message here:

Hoping you are having a wonderful week so far!

Much Love,

Brandy

Summer Splash 2011

Love, Sweet Love

Love is in the air!  There is just something about Valentine’s Day that makes you nostalgic about the sweet, lovey-dovey times gone by and makes your heart beat just a little faster for your love.  In anticipation of a romantic, candlelight dinner, chocolates, and hearts and flowers, you go to great lengths to prepare for this one day of the year.

Even the kids join in with the fun…I know I’ve been helping my kids make Valentine’s for all of their friends, baking pink cupcakes with sprinkles, and making sure their teachers have treats, all in the name of love and friendship!

And, I must admit, I love Valentine’s Day….so much so, that Jeff and I usually go out the day before Valentine’s Day together and then stay home and have a special dinner with the kids.  The boys dress up in their nicest suits and cook dinner for the girl’s and serve us on our finest china by candlelight.  Oh, how I love to be pampered by my boys!

However…it does make my stop and think…What if we went to great lengths all the time to show people (our family, of course, but also others) how much we care about them?  What if we actually walked in Biblical love consistently?  Why do we need a special holiday to show people how much they’re valued (don’t get me wrong, I love the holiday!)?

The Bible goes to great lengths to explain what love is and how important it is in our lives….It says in 1 Corinthians 13 (the message version)

“If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing. If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.”

The Bible goes on to give a description of love….”Love is patient, Love is kind…” and then finishes with “Love never fails.”

I like that phrase…”love never fails.”  When all else fails, love never does!  So even though you might not see the fruit of it immediately, planting seeds of love in someone’s heart, showing them the heart of God and His love for them and toward them will never be empty or in vain.  So, the next time you think about that person or relationship that you think there is no hope for, remember that love is the key to unlock their heart!

Today, I hope you know how much that YOU are loved and valued, most importantly by God, but also by me!  You are a beautiful, precious and amazing daughter of the King (and that makes you a Princess!).  I also hope you know that, though we adore the Godly men that God places in our lives…no man determines your worth or value, only God can do that! (And He thinks you’re pretty amazing!)

Here is my prayer for you- Eph 3:14-19

When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

Much love,

Brandy XOXOXO

P.S.  Don’t forget to tell someone how much you love them today!

Love God. Love People.

As we have been preparing for our spiritual emphasis series at church, it’s been easy to be distracted! This month has been full. As a church we’ve had Prepare 2011 with some great speakers as well as fasting and thinking about the year, praying over what God has and the people He has placed in our lives. Personally, basketball season has filled our schedule with practices and games. All of these things have been so good! I love spending time with my kids and watching them grow and I love investing time in the church.

Somehow, amidst all of the activity the new year brings, I did manage to get a copy of “The Relationship Principles of Jesus,” our 40 day devotional book and start reading on time! A line from the second chapter stuck out to me and has stuck with me:

“God does not demand of me that I accomplish great things. He does demand of me that I strive for excellence in my relationships.”

I love the truth of this statement but it hit me pretty hard. So often, I turn what God has graciously placed on my plate into a list of things to accomplish. I get focused on doing. While doing isn’t bad, in fact getting things done is great; but, it isn’t what is demanded of me by God. In other words, doing cannot take the place of what God has said is important. He has clearly laid out in the Bible what is important. It doesn’t get much clearer than Matthew 22:36-40:

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied:“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Love God. Love People. That is what is demanded of me. So simple and yet so easy to forget! You know what, I think God knows how easy it is for us, as women, to get distracted. He actually put a story in the Bible about it. I love the reminder Mary and Martha give us in Luke 10:38-41:

As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me! “Martha, Martha,”the Lord answered,“you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

Here again, we see Jesus emphasize relationships over tasks. He gently reminds us as he shows Martha that only one thing is needed. Love God. Love people.

I am so thankful we are going through these 40 Days of Relationships together. There is always more to learn and more to grow in, I cannot wait to see what these next 36 days hold!

As we go through this series, I would love your questions. This blog is meant to encourage and equip you in all God has for you. What is it about relationships that is hard for you? What has stuck out to you in the messages, small group discussions, or readings?