Taking My Own Advice

"So where do you see yourself in 5 years?  Brittany?"

I took a breath.

I was far from comfortable, but this was my time.

This was my time to face my fear of judgment and rejection,

my time to stand out from the crowd,

 to show God I was trusting him, and I was ready.

All the other girls had given wonderful, ambitious, details of well thought out plans.

They spoke of colleges they wanted to go to, exact courses they would take, jobs they would start to gain experience, exact plans.

They knew exactly what they wanted to do.

Did I?
 

Exhaling, I began.

"God's been working on me," I said.  "In the past I've needed to have all the details of everything I was going to do planned out.  I needed complete control over my life.  I needed to have my plans under my power.  But that wasn't good for me.  Now God's showing me that I just need to trust him.  He's calling me to mission work, but I don't know exactly what that will look like yet.  I think he's shown me some of what I'm called to do, but the for rest he's just called me to just trust him."
 

For a moment the room was silent.
 

Some in the group didn't know how they were supposed to react to my idea, but Alison, my youth leader, spoke up and encouraging me.

I smiled as she began to share some of what she's learned about trust.

 That opened the door for some of the deeper, more meaningful conversations I'd always longed to have within a small group setting.
 

I hadn't done much, but it had been hard to do in the beginning. 

But I had obeyed, and that was enough.
 

Weeks later I sat thinking and planning and, well, Pinteresting. 

As I pinned DIY ideas for homes and children's rooms, I thought and thought about my life and my future.

So many unknowns, so many possibilities.

I simply have no idea of what exactly (within missions work) I'm called to do.

My ideas go back and forth depending on my mood, but I just don't know.

 Once again I try to figure out everything in my mind, tangling myself up in the unknowns.

And then God reminded me.

Trust.

That's all I need to do now.

Trust and wait.

And I will try, it's hard, but I'll try.
 

"Wait on the Lord, be of good courage, and he will strengthen

your heart." ~ Psalm 27 : 14

I Wish I Knew

I look around a room full of faces.

Faces of those more confident and graceful than me.

Faces of people who are not plagued with social insecurity.

I look around and see those faces and in my mind's eye I see my own.

A face too round.

A body too wide.

A forced, uncomfortable smile.

And a mind who's longing for someone to understand.

I scan the room and my eyes land on a girl who smiles and chats gracefully.

Who embraces her body.

Who grins naturally.

I want to talk to her, to ask her to understand.

I wish she knew.

I wish she knew how much I need a friend who cares.

I wish she knew that I'm hurting and need to talk it out.

I wish she knew that I'm too shy to ask her listen.

I wish she knew how much I want to apologize for my awkwardness.

I wish she knew how much I admire her ease around people I'm terrified of.

I wish she knew.

And then I turn and see a girl a little younger than me.
She sits silently against the wall, her eyes averted, her hands fidgeting nervously.

I slowly take a step forward and sit down next to her.
She looks curiously at me and I smile.
All of my awkwardness melts away as our eyes meet.
We start chatting and laughing, best buddies after two minutes.
As we talk I see my reflection in her eyes.
I look happy, and suddenly I wish I knew.
I wish I knew that I can be the girl who smiles and chats gracefully,
 I can be the girl who embraces her body,
the girl who grins naturally.
I can be the girl who others can talk to when they need someone to understand,
I can care,
I can be there for someone who needs to talk it out.
I can be that girl.

Weeks pass, much changes.
I no longer need to put on a brave face when going out in public.
I am becoming more and more like that girl.
That girl who smiles and chats gracefully,
that girl who embraces her body,
that girl who grins naturally,
and that girl who others can talk to.
I am now far on my way to becoming the girl God designed me to be.
And I no longer need to wish that I knew,
because I do.

The Power of Prayer - Pray with Me for the Mac Family!

I'm a work in progress, people. 

So often I think I've finally learned something and then I turn around and God's like, "Wait!  I have so much more to teach you about that!"

So I'm taught more by the master teacher.

One little glitch I have is that I'm a forgetter.  I'll memorize something for school, and then when the test is over, poof!  It's gone.

But not when God teaches me something. 

I carry the lessons he's taught with me all the time.  And right when I need them the Holy Spirit brings them to mind.

Lately God has been teaching me a lot about prayer.

I've kind of always done it, but it's been only recently that I've really seen the power of it.

And that's been incredible.

To see God work and feel like I'm a part of it is amazing!

 

And I want you all to experience that too!

In 4 days (Saturday, April 4) the Maciaszek's are leaving for China to bring home their oldest daughter, Joy.

 

 

This family is one of the best you could ever meet.

They are genuine, keep it real, love hard and follow wherever God leads. 

In only *four* days they will leave for China to meet and bring home their 13 year old daughter, Joy.

My sweet friend, Ashleigh Stem, and I are organizing people to pray for them while they're gone.

We are asking each of you to sign up for at least one 15 minute time slot and pray for them during that time.

We have a list of things to pray for for  anyone who wants to see it on the site.

Please, friends, lets step forward as the body of Christ and pray for this precious family!

 

Please sign up here: Prayer for the Mac Fam.

Thank you!!