The Laymans wife...

I am about to share my heart with you. Not sure why. But I really feel led by the LORD...

Many of you know that my sweet Joshua is a United States Marine. To him I have been happily married for seven years now. Not that we have the perfect marriage by any means. But I like to think that we are at the utmost of happeiness. I have a deep love for our military being that my father was also a former Marine himself (I know once a Marine always a Marine...). I grew up having a certain respect for the men and women that serve our country. After salvation though I have often wondered why Joshua would not just surrender to full time ministry. Now more then ever I have asked my self this question. Not that I feel that we would even be the best pick from our Heavenly Father. I have a real burden to serve the LORD. I have such a burden for home and foreign missions. And I know that Joshua also shares the same burden. I have often questioned if he is not following the LORD, and if he is just making his own decisions.

Over the past few months the LORD has really shown me some things. I have seen the Lord's hand in a mighty way. For this I am thankful. I have complete peace with what ever the Lord would have us to do.

I do not know if any of you whom are married to a Laymen have ever had the same thoughts. Maybe you have but are a little leery of admitting it. Trust me I am even now as I right this. But in my daily devotions and through preaching I have seen how much the Lord needs good lay people. Not every man will be called to full time Christian service. But they are all called to full time ministry. There are many ministries in the Church that can only be done by the laymen. There are many people to be reached that only the laymen will reach and there are many battles to be fought for the Christian Faith and for the freedoms that we have that will only be fought and won by the laymen.

I have been so convicted about how I need to encourage my Joshua more. We are young and have a lot of people that have tried to tell him that the right thing for him to do would be to get out of the military and surrender his life to full time service weather it be to the mission field or to be a preacher. And I sadly admit that I have hinted this on more than one occasion.

After confiding a little in a fellow more mature military wife who is married to a wonderful Godly man, the advice she gave me was stop listening to others and just follow. That my husband will be led by the LORD and that I need to encourage him and follow with a happy heart. Some of the best advice I have gotten. And yet so simple.

I started reading about men in the Bible that were great men of God and that were also Laymen. Many of them even Warriors... (I say Warriors because Army men are called soldiers and Marines are Warriors =)..) Joshua and David were a few men that I looked at. I have come to be content with being a layman's wife. I do not say it as if it were a bad thing. I have found the beauty in it that I have not seen before. When you are young and around many people your own age whom husbands are being called to the ministry, you start to wonder is there something wrong with my husband. Is he not listening. But I have found the contrary. He is listening loud and clear. He wants nothing more than to be in the will of God. He knows that the LORD would have him right where he is and he is totally willing that if one day soon or far off the Lord would call him to full time service he says he is ready.

All the time I should have been thankful for what the Lord has made my husband. But when I step back and take a look I have been so discontent with whom he has given me. Not in Joshua himself but in the vocation that he has been placed. I love the military life. There are so many benefits, along with the negatives. But there would be negatives if he were a preacher or a missionary also.

I know that there are some people who are questioning his decisions and are not fully supporting him. But I will not be one of them anymore. I will be happy with being a layman's wife and see the joy that there is serving along side of such a great and mighty man. Why do we as wives always have some great idea for our men? I do not think that it is a bad thing. I think that we see them at there best and know what they are capable of. But when I started thinking that everyone else must be right I was saying that he was not spiritual enough. Shame one me.

After re-reading "Created to be a Help Meet" By Debi Pearl. Specifically chapter eight I realized where I have fallen short. I acknowledge that I will never be perfect until Glory. But as Cindy Scapp often says. I sure want to try. I am so thankful that Joshua is patient and is slow to make decision. i am so thankful that he waits and listens and that he wants to hear. I could be married to a lost man. Which I was at one time. But praise the LORD he is now saved and following his Lord. I have really come to not see the term laymen as something that is not a good. Sure ladies would jump up to say "yeah my husband is a preacher or my husband is a missionary" But few jump up and say "My man is a Laymen in the Church and the Lord has called him to be a such and such."

As a layman's wife I want to encourage all of us to take a step back and make sure that we are really loving the men that God has given us the way we ought to. And make sure that you are his number one supporter. You should be his biggest Cheerleader on the sideline of life. Making sure that whether he is a Preacher, a Missionary a Military man, Plumber, Computer engineer, Doctor, or what ever he may be that we encourage them to be all that they can be for the LORD. For it has often been said that a wife can make or break her man. I hope that some day it will be said of me that I loved and supported Joshua and that he was a strong man of the Faith because of it.

After all we move so often to new places I love what Bro.Williams said, "You have to love the military who are saved after all they are government paid missionaries. What a good way to look at it. We are all married to a missionary of sort or another... =)

Thanks for letting me share,

Brittany

Do you know my LORD???

Happy Mother's Day to all of you Mothers out there. I hope you have a blessed day and as you look ahead at the greatest responsibility in the world, that you are humbled with LOVE and Compassion toward your Children and see there need to know the Lord Jesus Christ.

This Mornings sermon was amazing and so convicting I just had to blog about it. I was so convicted on how casual our culture has become to the LORD Jesus Christ. The savior of the World. Yet He has not Changed. He is the same yesterday an today. The Bible clearly teaches this. So why is there so much Carnal Christianity in our Country? It is because we have taken our eyes off of Jesus Christ and directed then towards man. We have become so concerned about what others think of us that we have changed our ways of worship to fit the ways of the world. So we now have one foot in the Bible and the other in the world. However that is not true Christianity.

Jesus Christ is Righteous and we often forget this. We often paint his picture of what we think He should be and really we are just molding him into what we want so that we are comfortable with our life and our pet sins. God does not laugh at sin and he does not find any joy in it. In fact where sin is He wants no part of it. That is why when we come to Christ for Salvation we must first see ourselves as LOST. No person has ever gotten saved by just asking Jesus to save them and come into their heart. There must be repentance. All repentance is, is a change of Heart. Finally seeing how wicked you are before a Holy God and that you in no way can work your way to Heaven. That Jesus Christ had to suffer and shed is Holy, sinless blood on Calvary so that you and I a vile sinner could be made clean. Oh, you may want to get your Bible out. Just for reference!

In Matthew 21:12-13 we see the rebuke of Jesus. He took care of the sin that was being committed in the temple. He does not kindly tell them that he does not agree with what they are doing in His Holy place of worship. We see Him driving them out. If you read on you will see that he made a whip to chase them out. There are so many false profits. Which God warned against. I know it so hard to believe that anyone would lie. But so many Pastors have compromised. Why, I am not sure. They all have there own reasons. Maybe it was for numbers or they were just not having young people interested. But the Bible talks about how God does not change his methods. He is not going to be listening to Worldly music to bring people in. Why? Because that is the Beat of the World. And Jesus Christ can not yoke up with things of this world. He came to seek and to save that which was lost. (Matthew 10:16)(Matthew 10:24) He came to teach others how to enter into the Kingdom of God. Yet we see this ecumenical movement that says "We will just be like the world, and use worldly methods to bring people to Christ". But if there is no difference why would you or I even need it. One thing that I have learned in my 6 years with the LORD is that if the Bible sets a standard I do not have to be convicted about it. There is no praying about it. If God said it then that is how it is suppose to be. Therefore that is why my Family is trying to live as close to God's word as possible. Sure we have been called legalistic. But those who use that word fail to realize what it means. It means that you believe in working your way to heaven. Basically that my righteousness will get me there. Let me say we do not believe this at all. In fact we believe quite the contrary. My Righteousness is as filthy rags in the sight of my LORD and Saviour. Yet after I got saved I saw a ton of things that needed to change in my life. If God says it then I want to do it. I believe that Christians should have high standards. After all Christ did. And we are suppose to be Christ like. And there should be a definite different between you and the world and how you worship and how the world worships. If someone came to me and showed me that I was wrong because the Bible said so then I would gladly listen =)

Our Country is on a downward slid away from God. Christians have sat back and let the government run everything. We have not stood up for what God's Moral laws say. We have quietly watched our freedoms that were so hardly fought for be taken and yet we still do nothing. There are babies by the millions being aborted, fornication is laughed at, immorality is at an all time high. We need to take a stand for what the Bible Say's. Not for what some man tells us but for what God our creator tells us. If you are in a Church that preaches all feel good messages and nothing on Hell and SIN then you are probably sitting under a false profit. Sure God is Love and merciful, but God is jealous and will one day judge our sins. We need to be faithful to God and God alone. Joshua and I have often said if our Pastor stopped preaching the word of God then we would leave and find another Church. If he was preaching something contray to the word of God then we do not want to raise our Children there. I believe that everything that we believe we need to know why we and our families believe it. Not because someone told us, but because THUS SAITH THE LORD. We need to take a stand. We need the world to see that we have something they do not posses. (Matthew 10:34-39) If you have been duped by cultural Christianity then look to Jesus. He will carry you through. There should be a evidence in your life that you have been born again. It should be so evident to the people around you that they should say "wow, what happened to you." I remember, this was how it was after I was saved and then after my husband was saved. It is not something you grow into. It is something that happens immediately. And you will know. It is the most blessed comfort you will have in the depths of your soul. And you will want others to have it to.

One of my favorite parables is about the Christian realm. You can find it in Matthew 13:24-30

He is talking about the wheat and the tares. he goes on to explain what the parable means. I am sobered by this thought. For I know that there was a point in my life that I was a tare. That I thought I was a Christian, I went to Church I tried to be good. I knew about Jesus Christ. But on that night in September when I saw that I did not have a relationship with Christ and that I needed to be born again. It was like blinders were taken off my eyes. I saw my sin for what it really was and I saw me how God saw me. A wicked Hell bound sinner that needed him and the blood he shed on Calvary. Praise the Lord I yielded to his call and have never been the same. I do not desire the old life. For the Old is passed away and behold all things are made new. Joshua and I have some very strong stands that we have taken with our family, in dress, music, worship, movie houses, dancing, a mans role and a wife's role, schooling our Children and so on and so on. But these are not to show what kind of a Christian we are or to impress God. He is not impressed that we attend Church every time the Doors are opened neither is he impressed by the standards we have. Why, you ask. Because he expects them. He expects his people to have a certain walk and certain standards.

Pastor Scheving used an example of a frog. There was a man out camping and he stared a fire and put a pot on the fire with some water while he went out to gather some more sticks. A frog came along and jumped in the pot. At first it was chilly, and cold. Then the water got a little warmer and the frog liked it, then a little warmer and the frog was really enjoying himself. Then the water came to a boil and the camper came back to a dead frog in his pot of water. Isn't that what is happening in so many Christian circles. The gospel has gotten so watered down. There is no preaching on sin and separation. We have changed our stands so that we will be more readily accepted by the world. And are comfortable. We are not viewed any different. What would are fore fathers who died for the faith think of our Christianity. We think that we are persecuted because someone says something about the way we live. But we do not know the half of it. We have not had to watch loved ones be burnt at the stake or tortured or fed to lions. We need a real reality check. I am talking to myself on all of this also. Yet we are pushing further and further away from our Creator and our God.

I was so humbled this morning as I listened to the message. I thought what are we teaching our Children? How is this country going to be for them to raise their Children. What kind of Christian heritage are we leaving them. You know we are to be separated unto Christ but live in the world. If we are just staying one step behind the world and think we are okay because we are just tailing them, we have missed the point. Because God never moves. So if we are tailing the world we are not separated unto Christ. We have already moved. I want to live my life for the LORD. I want him to be seen in me. I want most of all my Children to see that if God's word says it then that is how are family is going to do it. There is no compromise. God's way is always the right way. OH how I pray that we as Christians would open our eyes to the battle that is ragging about us. That we would take our stand and hold our banner high. That we would proclaim to all the world the LOVE of Jesus Christ and the Blood he shed on that old rugged tree. May we all be challenged (MY SELF) included to look at why we are living the way we are living. And make sure that we line up with the Bible... The Bible say's that there will be a great falling away before the return of Christ, and to always have a ready answer. Stay strong in your personal walk with the LORD and make sure that you are solely seeking to please and worship him in your everyday life...

p.s, I know some of this may seem kind of harsh. But please know I say it all out of LOVE...It was just as hard for me to be reminded. But faithful are the wounds of a friend =)

Because of Christ,

Brittany

Take a Journey with me...

One of my desires of starting this blog was to discuss health and beauty in God's eyes. I as many Christian women have struggled with my weight. Most of all I believe that I have struggled with my appearance and what others think of me. How do I look, am I pretty enough or am I thin enough. I think that if most of us were honest, we could say that we have had these thoughts in one form or another. But does it even matter what man thinks of us? The Bible says that we should not seek the approval of men but of God.

When I was a teenage girl, I struggled with a serious eating disorder. I saw dietitian after dietitian and doctor after doctor. What none of them ever told me was that it was a sin to be the way I was. That my eating disorder was an abomination to the God who had created me. I was counseled on what had happened to me in my childhood and what I could not control in my life. I was never told that gluttony was a sin. and that being so wasteful of the food that God had given me could be so wicked. I was so caught up in how skinny I could become and what others thought about my appearance. I was so focused on myself and the real need I had was for the Lord to free me from my pride and selfishness.

I was not saved until I was nineteen. When I got married I had stopped binging and would only vomit on occasion. I thought I was doing so much better. Until I saw my sin for what it was after I received the LORD as my savior and gave my life to him. Only a few times after that blessed night in September did I gorge and vomit. I was so convicted each time of how sinful it was before my GOD.

Now I have three beautiful children. To which I would not trade anything for. However through my pregnancies I gained an enormous amount of weight. With my first daughter Tatum I had preaclmapsia and gained 80 some pounds. As you can guess I really struggled with this because of my past. But I knew I could not go back to where God had brought me so far from. Then 3 months after I had our beautiful daughter I found out that I was going to have another precious child. I bet you can guess that I had not even lost half of the weight I had gained. Nope I put another 45 or so on top of it. Then with Titus I did pretty good at only gaining around 30 pounds. However I still weighed in at 212 every time I went in to deliver my babies. Mind you I am only 5'1... After I had Titus and I knew that I could not have any more children I knew that something had to be done. When I started my journey on weight watchers I weighed 180. I had already lost 12 pounds on my own. I knew that I was going to need help, and I had some friends that did weight watchers and it worked so great for them I thought that I would give it a try.

When I started my goal was to be skinny again. I wanted to look like I did when I got married and before I had children. Little did I know I was not seeing the big picture. After a few months I learned that this was going to be a life long commitment and it was not to being skinny it was to being healthy. That is when the LORD showed me some amazing things. He showed me that it is not his will for his children to be over weight or to have the health problems that we could prevent if we remember why we were created. We were created to serve the LORD and so many times are health cuts our journey short. I am not saying that you can not be overweight and be used of the LORD. I am just saying that it is the LORDS will for us to keep our bodies as healthy as possible so we could have a long journey and a good run before Him. I saw that I needed to make some permanent changes for my family and my self. I needed to be healthy for my family that the LORD has given me to take care of. I was looking at my journey in a whole new light.

But how quickly we sometimes loose sight of what the LORD has for us and slip back into our old ways. As I reach my goal weight I have struggled more than ever. I know that it is because I had taken my eyes off of Christ in this area. I once again was worrying about how I appeared to man and not to Christ. I was focused on self instead of others. I started to obsess again over my weight and what I looked like. I am so thankful that the LORD has given me one friend who will be completely honest with me about things. She mentioned to me one night when we were out to dinner that I constantly was talking about how much I weigh or how many calories are in what I am eating, or that I should not have eaten that. It was hard to hear. But it was what I needed to hear. I have two beautiful little girls who I do not want them to ever struggle with what I have struggled with. I want them to not view food as their enemy but I do not want them to learn just to eat for pleasure either. I believe the LORD gave us food to eat to live. It is okay to enjoy it but it is another thing to be totally consumed by it. It can become an idol. I know, kind of a crazy thought, but true.

I am stepping back where I started when the LORD showed me that there is a weight that I should be at that is healthy and pleasing to him. That there is a way that I need to eat and feed my family that is pleasing to him. I am excited about the beginning of my new journey. I want to help others that may struggle in these areas that I struggle in. I want us as Christian women to set the example to the world not them dictate and set our examples on what beauty is. There is no beauty that is more beautiful than that of a Christan woman, wife, or mother that shows that she walks with the LORD and is seeking to please him in every aspect of her life.

Now to me I see that what I put into my body will affect my service for the LORD. There is a cause and affect for everything. If I am constantly focused on my self then I will not be able to give my self to others that are dieing lost with out a saviour. And if I am not healthy then how will I be able to raise the children that the LORD has given me or take care of my sweet Joshua. I am praying that the LORD will help me on this journey as I seek to beautiful and healthy before him and him alone. And as I turn away form Satan and this world and what they say to us, (even as christian women) is beautiful. I do not want their beauty. I want so much more. I want a beauty that shines far above all others one that the world will look at and say "that is the essence of beauty I want what she has". I want everything that I do and everything I am from my inner most being to my otter layer to point back to my LORD and savior Jesus Christ.

Thanks for letting me share my heart.

Brittany

Prayer Request...

I have two big prayer requests. The first one is for our friends Beth and Jeremy they have a sweet little baby who is two months old. He will be undergoing a surgery in the morning that they say is pretty risky. After all any surgery on such a precious little one is serious. Please pray that the family will have strength in this time of difficulty and that he will come out of it doing great and that the doctors will know what is wrong. Most of all that the LORDS will, will be completed, whatever it may be.... Thank you...

My second one is that The LORD will clearly show Joshua what to do as far as re-enlistment is concerned. That Joshua will be sensitive to the leading of the LORD in whatever path he has him to take and lead our family down. Please pray that the LORD will give me complete peace in whatever the outcome is and that I will stay completely focused on Him through it all... That I will keep my mouth shut and allow the LORD to lead my husband =)

Thanks for praying....

I will post soon...

Because of Christ,
Brittany

Spiritual growth...

Okay, I am finishing up my book from Elizabeth George called "A Woman After God's Own Heart." Amazing by the way. I have been using it as a devotional. I can not say enough about it, but that I recommend it to all Christian ladies who are seeking to be more like Christ.

In the book she talks about how to have spiritual growth, and I wanted to share it with you... It is such a great idea. You need to get 5 manila envelope (Or do what I did, I got 5 super cute folders!) Then you are going to pray about 5 areas that you want to have the knowledge of the LORD in. Make sure that they are spiritual things. They could be anything form, Patience, virtue, parenting, being a help meet, womanhood, health, prayer, faith, discipleship, soul winning, Time management, you name it. What ever area the LORD has laid on your heart.

I have only chosen 4 so far, Mine are, wife/ help meet, parenting/ spiritual growth of children, prayer, and Biblical Health.... Still praying about the fifth =)....

Once you have your 5, then you start praying and reading your Bible on these areas. You also find every good Christian book written on the subject and read it. Remember that the most important of the books though is the Bible. Make sure that everything that you are reading lines up with God's word! You also pick an Int ital to mark by each Bible verse in your Bible that relates to the subject that you are studying. Example for Parenting I put a (p) and for help meet I chose (w) , prayer is (pr)... That way as you study your Bible you can look back and know that these verses pertain to that which you are growing in knowledge.

Also do not read at random. Only read those things that pertain to your goals of spiritual growth. She gives a statistic that is quit scary... That only 5% of Americans will go out and buy a book this year and that only 5% will read a book this year.. Yikes... What are we filling our minds with, junk that is on the TV and video games, etc.... We need to be filling our mind with good wholesome things of our LORD and saviour Jesus Christ.

Mrs.George mentions something I think that every Christian woman needs to think about. What do people know you as and what are they going to remember you as. Are they going to say I know that I can call Brittany she is a prayer warrior, or she has a lot of Biblical knowledge on health or how to raise children or how to be a help meet? Or are they going to say she never grew very much, she was a shallow Christian, or what a gossip. I hope the later ones will not be so.

We are all filling our minds... But with what? And our job as Christians is to minister to others. We are saved to serve. So as we grow in knowledge of Jesus Christ we should be using it. We should be a doer not just a hearer. After all that is how we have these great Christian women of whom we Can follow their examples. They have studied to show themselves approved and are trying to teach others. And this is what the Bible teaches us to do as women (Titus 2).

Let me encourage you to take this challenge. Even as you may only study one topic a year or all 5 at time, we are all different and all have a different amount of time. But who knows you may wright the next amazing Christian book to encourage or help other ladies. Or you may even be asked to speak at a ladies event on some topic. The Bible tells us that a heart that hath understanding seeks knowledge (Proverbs 15;14)...

Start praying, what does the LORD want you to be able to share with others. And remember that a heart that is devoted to God and his word and is growing in Him will be overflowing and will not be able to contain itself...

Because of Christ,
Brittany

Love Divine so Great and Wondorus...

One thing that I have personally struggled with since being saved is truly comprehending the love of my Lord and savior that He extends toward me. I love the old song Love divine so great and wondrous. My heart fills with joy each time I hear it, even as it is going through my mind it brings a sweet peace to my heart.

God's love is so profound, yet so real that all who are in Him may taste the sweet savor of it. It is not to far away, not hidden not even somewhere un attainable. It is right in front of us if we chose to see it or not, now that is a different story.

Many of us our troubled by our past. By what our lives used to be. We know that he has saved us and made us whole thought the shed blood on Calvary. Yet we feel that he could never love us. This is a lie from the pits of Hell. The Lord Jesus Christ loved us so much to give his life for our sins. Don't you think that this would be enough to show us. However we still wander through this life with a heavy burden of the way our lives used to be. God says our sin is as far as the east is from the west. He has blotted them out, and to him they are no more. That is why when we come to him for forgiveness of a sin that we may be dealing with over and over we are to mention it by name. Why? Because he has already forgotten it. It has already been covered by the crimson flood.

I thought I had conquered this feeling. I was wrong... I have been doing this devotional on Gods love. It has been amazing. I believe the more and more that you contemplate it the more and more you feel his tender hand. I believe that I have only tapped into the surface of my saviours love. What a spring that is ever flowing. Most of us have always heard that you grow more in your valleys then you do more on your mountain tops. He is ever sweeter and even more nearer. Yet there is still much to be learned on our mountains. I just don't think that we listen as well. We are much more humble when we are on our knees in a cold dark valley with no way out, but to come to Christ to show us the path.

His love is ever present. I know that I tend to over look all the little things that he has done for me. Well what I think are little really are small miracles =) In the devotional guide that I am following she suggests that you keep a praise journal and record every day what the LORD has done for you that day. If you have never tried this, I highly recommend it. IT IS AMAZING. When you really stop and think about all of the things through out the day that the LORD has done, big and small. The first day that I wrote I got my pen out thinking okay I will jot down a few things. Much to my surprise I found my self writing on a page and a half. My heart was jumping for joy as I praised the LORD for all of his answered prayers, the way that he intervened in curtain situations, and just his goodness to me and and my sweet little family. It was great. When you do this you can not help but feel how close the LORD is and his powerful love towards you.

I have struggled with this doubt of does God really love me as much as he loves his other Children. Though I very rarely acknowledge it. If you have never read the book "Lies women believe" I highly recommend it. The lie was given to me as I was having my third child Titus. I knew something was not right as we went to the hospital. I kept asking my husband do you think everything is going to be okay? I just want to go home and see the girl's again. He just kept re assuring me that all would be fine and that I needed to trust the LORD. However I was having that woman's intuition. A God given feeling I believe. I just knew that something was not right. I had had problem pregnancy's with both of my girls. But this one seemed a little better, not quit as bad.

After about a hour the doctors realized that it was not his head in the birth canal but his hand, so they took me for an emergency C section. I lost it, until Joshua asked everyone to leave so that we could pray.

The C section was not normal.. They ended up having to cut a cross on my uterus to get Titus out and he still came out breach. He did not breath for two minutes. I had no idea what was going on.. It had taken them a little over 45 minutes to get him out and they had about 5 doctors in there.

As I was laying there on the table and the chief doctor looked down at me and said " Mrs. Brown I know that you are only 24 years old, but I do not think you will have any more children." It tore me in two.. Joshua had been saying that he wanted to be done after Titus for he was worried about my health with future pregnancies, but I was just not havin' it. I prayed and prayed that the LORD would show me a for sure that he was right. I was so wrong for not trusting his leadership. But I was 24 and had always dreamed of 6 kids running around. Funny how Gods plans are not always the same as ours. But they always end up being better. At that moment I thought God does not want me to have any more kids. I am not a good mother. I do not deserve to raise Children for the LORD. Now when I look back this was nothing of the LORD. This is so hateful and spiteful. Not a Character of our loving Jesus.

Later on I learned that it was a miracle that I had, any of our children. I had a ring in the center of my uterus, one that caused me to have two sides to it. Hints the problem pregnancy's. This was not God showing me that he did not love me it was quite the opposite. He answered my prayer and showed me why I was not going to ever have a precious baby to carry for 9 months again. I was blessed far beyond measure. The doctors were amazed that I had ever had a vaginal delivery and my girls were big girls. 8.14 and 9.6.... Titus was my littlest one.

Even though I know that God loves me and that he has allowed me to have three children on loan to raise to honor and glorify him. I still long to feel that wonderful feeling of little feet kicking around inside. Thus I believe that I have struggled with Gods love. I know that this is not the only reason. But one of the bigger ones. And yet again, I say who am I to ever question my savior. He knows better than I...

God's love is so accessible. Are you willing to give him the love he deserves. When I was struggling with this right after the birth of Titus I have to be honest I was not as faithful to prayer and reading my Bible like I was before. Thank the LORD that Titus will be two in June and I did not stay on that detour very long. A few months was long enough for me. Don't get me wrong I know that there are days when I stray and do not give GOD the time that he deserves and wants from me. And for this I am truly sorry. For I know that I am the one missing out.

If we are not faithful to him then the further away he will seem. Yet he is still there, always calling us to come home! When you want to be close to him, he will never say no....You will feel his love for you I guarantee it....You will feel the joy the peace and the love that only He can give. His love is real. And must never be overlooked. Most of the time I think this lie is struggled with because we have not forgiven ourselves. So we feel like he has not forgotten it. This is just a lie, that old devil is sneaky. Make sure you kick him out and listen to what God says. He has forgotten, it is forgiven as long as you have asked and it is over. Stop dwelling on it and move on. There are great and mighty things that the LORD has for each one of us to do. Though they may seem little. All things are of value for the kingdom of heaven..

So do not forget that Jesus loves you. That is why that is one of the first songs we teach our children, is it not? "Jesus LOVE me this I know for the Bible tells me so". We need to sing that to our selves from time to time.

Always remember if you are doubting Gods love then you will never be able to tell others about it. Which is a shame. There are so many hurting people on a destructive path who need to hear the LOVE of our savior and what he did for you and me and them on the cross of Calvary.

I pray that we could all see Gods love the way that he would have us to see it and that we would go and tell another about his love for the lost and dieing world....

(Text to read... Psalm 139:17-19...Romans 8:38-39...Jeremaih 29:11...Zephaniah 3:17)

Because Of Him,

Brittany

Please remember that you will never know God's love until you have been saved by the blood, through repentance and Faith plus nothing minus nothing...If you have questions please let me know.... =)

Contentment...

"But godliness with contentment is great gain" 1Timothy 6:6

I love this verse. And I am finding it to be more and more true the closer I come to the LORD. Sure I am like every woman, I love to shop and decorate and shop =) However I have learned to do all of these things on a budget so that I can stay at home with my three beautiful children. I would not trade that for anything in the world. I have also found much joy in this verse over the past 6 months. Most of you know that we moved from sunny San Diego to Fargo North Dakota. This was a huge change. At first I questioned God. I knew that it was his will for us to be here and I also knew that it was wrong for me to even ask such a question of my loving saviour who knows what is better for me than I do.

As Joshua prepares to re-enlist it is becoming more and more real to me that we will some day in the near future have to pack up our home and move on to our next journey in the LORD. Where ever he sees fit for us to go. I have found my self sadden by the thoughts of this. If you would have asked me a year ago if I loved it here I would have probably answered "no. But I know this is where the LORD has brought us." But if you asked me today I would have to say "YES" I know that I am not found of the winters and I love the beach. But the LORD has given me a real heart for the people here, and for the area. I am so blessed to have been allowed to come here. And grow in grace and in truth. Y'all know I am partial to the south....hehehe.... But if I knew that we were going to settle here and raise our family I would be perfectly happy with that.

As I look back over the past two years I see so much of what God speaks of in this one little verse. He is not only talking about being content with the things that we have. He is talking about being content with the life he has given us. From things like where we live, who we are married to, what Church we go to, who our friends are, the things we have, the finances that he has given us or not given us. I have come to learn that contentment is just sitting back and enjoying the life that God has so graciously blessed us with. Every aspect. It is putting complete trust in Christ and knowing that he knows better than you... It brings to mind a song that some dear friends of ours sing....Their children wrote it...

He Knows better than I

"Sold into Egypt to be a slave for all his days Joseph was forsaken, in it seemed in every way.
But the deeds they had meant for evil, God meant for his good. When the days seemed so long and dearer he remembered on who he stood.

For he knows better than I , He knows the path I take, his plan is perfect in every single way, So I'll trust him to lead me day by day, My LORD knows better than I.

Many times I don't understand the trials I must face, But in every situation he's given me his grace, so I'll just trust my LORD to guide for he always knows whats best, when I humble my self within his word he takes care of all the rest.

For he knows better than I , He knows the path I take, His plan is perfect in every single way, So I'll trust him to lead me day by day, My LORD knows better than I.....

This is so relevant. He does know better that I. He has proven this to me time and time again. Then why oh why do I see such short sighted. I want to open my heart and eyes and see as far as he does in my life. I know a lot less time would be spent in discontentment with current circumstances. And much more praise would be given to my LORD and Saviour for his goodness and love and for his provision.

After all, Who am I to ever question what God is doing in my life? He is the giver and the taker of all things. He has given me the very life that I sometimes am not content with. I should be ashamed. But praise GOD... He is so patient to show us his will and his truth. He is so gracious to wait for us to comprehend him and all his ways. In this I am truly thankful. What a loving and mighty God we serve. Yes sometimes things can be hard to see through Gods eyes. The whys and the whats of life. But there is so much beauty in the opportunities he gives us. If we spend our life questioning or in discontentment then we will one day look back and tell our selves that we missed the whole point of life. To give God the honor and glory that is do unto him. And he gets this most when a Christian is living in contentment with the circumstances the LORD has given him. Remember that your life is a testimony to the lost around you.

I believe that we will never reach this kind of contentment in the LORD, unless we are coming to him on a daily basis in worship and in praise. Only then will we know the true joy of the life God has given us. When we seek to do all things through him and him alone. When we cast aside the weight of the world and take on his vision. Then will we see his hand in all we do and in all we have. To God be the GLORY!!!

It is amazing to me how some of the shortest verses in our Bible can be filled with such strength and power. As you go about your day I challenge you to think on this verse. And seek after the contentment that the LORD speaks of here. For the Bible says this kind of contentment is great gain....

Because of Him,
Brittany