Walk on that Water...

Do you have a dream? 

Do you have something so heavy on your heart, that you lay there dreaming about it as you fall asleep each night?

Do you ever wonder if that "one thing" you have always wanted to do just might ever becoming a reality? 

I sure did. 

And my dream is slowly coming true. 

For the last few months, this song has resonated with me every time I hear it. The first time I heard it, was actually on The Biggest Loser as funny as that may sound. But honestly, it made sense right then as I heard the lyrics for the first time. 

Walk on the water. 

Just like Jesus told Peter to do. Just as Peter knew in his heart he very well could do, should do. The story is unique, and it is utterly beautiful now that I look at it.

 ²⁹"Come," he said.

   Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. ³⁰But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!"

 ³¹Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?"

Right now, I have only taken that first step of walking on the water. I have only begun my journey, of creating a group, a program, just something for every beautiful young girl, young women, mature women seeking to find the truth. 

It's beautiful really. God has given me a dream. And I intend to pursue it until I feel that I have lived up to what I feel called to do.

But it hasn't been easy, and I am battling those doubts daily. "What if no one shows up? What if girls don't want any help? What if I get too overwhelmed that I can't speak anymore, that I can't even think? What if...?"

I've had a few plans already fall through, I've already felt the water start moving up my legs as I started to sink, but I've gotten back up and took that next step. And I am continuing to walk. Each time I start to feel the water creep up, I am going to remember that this is the dream that I believe God has put on my heart. It is as though I was the one hearing, "Come". And I am getting out of that boat and taking those steps towards the Lord, towards the calling I believe I have. 

And I believe. 
Do you?
Do you believe that what God has put on your heart, can and will come true? 
Do you believe that you can do this? 
Because I sure do. 
I believe in you, and I need you to believe in me to. 


Britt

 

A Struggling Life. A Loss of Another.

Life is so short. Life is incredibly precious.

Yesterday morning, a friend from high school lost his life. Today, a baby boy is trying to hold on to his. What do we make of this? Even though I am not closely tied to either of these beautiful souls, my heart goes out to their families.

Orrin Coates. A friend of many from high school, a best friend today, a brother, an uncle, a son. Orrin brought life to those he spent time with, this I do remember even though it's been a few years. He knew what his plans were, and he was full of joy because of that. Orrin, life took him too soon.

Baby Bowen. He was born with a heart that was under developed. He has a Mommy and Daddy that love him so much. Two big sisters that can't wait to play with their little brother. Bowen, a life that is fighting so hard to keep going.

God, we question why things like this happen. We don't understand why anyone has to lose a life so young, or be born with burdens that are at times physically impossible to bare. This reminds me of our little Carter that passed away a few months ago, that fought an incredibly long and grueling fight with cancer. Lord, why do they have to face this?

Loss is never something easy to grasp. Even when my precious GrandFather died Christmas day three years ago, it was still heart wrenching and life changing even though he had lived a long and beautiful life.

I'm reading through a book for one of my classes and these words resonated in my heart when thinking about loss. "Loss, any kind of loss---rejection, abandonment, divorce, death---is a shocking, numbing, gray thing that at the outset, at least, freezes the heart and slows the mind. Loss changes life at the root. Irrevocable. What was once the center of life--the person, the position, the plan, the lifestyle---is no more." (The Story of Ruth)

 Loss freezes the heart and slows the mind. 


So how to we grasp this? I'm speaking for those of us on the outside looking in. We may not have been in the direct line of this loss, yet we still experience this sadness and utter shock of the preciousness of life.

I don't know about you, but I have to run to God. I may not understand why things are happening the way they are, but I know that he does. He's the one that brought life into Orrin the day he was born. He's the one continuing to breathe life into the lungs of little baby Bowen.

We may not be experiencing loss the same as those who have lost their son, their brother, their best friend. But our lives have been shaken a bit. Our eyes have been opened to the reality of life, and the shortness of it at times.

This morning I woke up with a heavy heart. I was sad for Orrin's family. I felt for his close friends. I was wondering how baby Bowen was doing, wondering how his new Mommy and Daddy were handling this challenging time. So I chose to open my bible, and seek some encouragement, some comfort from my God.

" Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary, and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not be faint." Isaiah 40:28-31

Then I skimmed further and found this,

"So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:10

Guys, God is holding onto us. He is taking care of Orrin's family, he is holding the hand of Bowen. No matter where you are at in life, no matter what types of loss you have experienced, God is holding your hand. He wants you to know how much he loves you. So cry out to him, pray to him. He is listening.

My challenge for myself, and for you today, is to remind your family that you love them. Tell your closest friends how much you cherish them. Hug those you love, and kiss your children goodnight. But most of all, pray for those who are experiencing the loss first hand. Pray for those who are hoping for a life to just hold on.

Life is a beautiful thing. Don't take it for granted.

Waiting for Something Beautiful

Yep. I'm listening to that amazing song by Needtobreathe called Something Beautiful.
And once again, I'm inspired.

The past few weeks have been just wonderful! I finished my job with the college and was able to do some last minute deep cleaning before my busy final year at CBC started. It was so nice to have a few weeks just to myself cleaning, and enjoying time spent with good girlfriends and family. Jason and I went home for about a week and spent some quality time with my family and that was such a gift! Everytime I get to see them, I'm reminded of how blessed I am to have them. They bring such refreshment into my life, and I thank God for that every day. Wish you could have been there wish us big brother!

So, I've actually begun the process of gathering info and what not for The Beautiful Truth. It's been such a fun beginning to this journey. I was able to get my mission statement put together, my vision, and the things that I value in regards to this dream. Thanks Cyndy for helping me with your expertise in getting this stuff out!

                              Here's what the walls looked like while we were doing the vision cast!

To you guys, this looks like a jumble of color. But to me, it's ideas, dreams, and goals that have been written on my heart for months and are finally out on paper! It's been so fun beginning my research and getting some foundation set. The Beautiful Truth is BEGINNING! I have a lot of work to do, lots of prayer, and boy oh boy I'm excited:)

If any of you know someone that's passionate about making a change in the hearts and minds of our young women in the way they see themselves. If you want to help, email me! If you want to be a prayer warrior, I REALLY need it.

I'll keep you all updated on what's new with The Beautiful Truth.

I'm waiting for something beautiful to start rolling on into my life....:)

Operation Beautiful

Operation Beautiful. 


What a blessing it was to see the one woman who started this thing speak about it on The Today Show a few weeks back. One morning, this woman came to the realization that she was sick of trying to live up to an impossible expectation of beauty. So she decided to make a change. She started putting sticky notes on the mirror in public bathrooms and hoped to make one woman smile. This continued on until thousands of women started sending in pictures of the places they had left a note and then a book was born. Every time I watch these type of videos I am once again reminded of the need to get The Beautiful Truth going. It's just so exciting to see the many different things women are doing to take a stand and remind each other how beautiful we are JUST THE WAY we are! It's inspiring, encouraging, and boy it is affirming. 


For those of you that are aware of this dream I believe God has put on my heart called The Beautiful Truth, I am in the early stages of getting this started! I've been meeting with some people and discussing the possibilities for this next year in using the internship hours I need to obtain in order to graduate, to gain a stronger foundation of what I want to begin. I am hoping to spend three months doing research and polls and interviews and studying in order to gain a better grasp of what it is young women are in need of learning. I want to talk with those who have done things similar to this, or just been involved in the lives of those that struggle with self confidence. I also want to begin meeting with girls and really getting to the heart of this issue, and seeing how to make a beautiful change in the way we see ourselves. I'm hoping to officially start this program, or group during my second semester of school. It will be like my little baby, so I want to see how it goes on the campus of Columbia Bible College. This is all if my prof allows me to use this as my internship which would give me 8 hours for sure a week of research research research until I dive right in. Say a prayer! I sure hope this works out for my internship. 


Other than that, it's been exciting seeing how God has brought specific people into my life at this time with gifts that can be used with The Beautiful Truth. How exciting!! I'm noticing that there's a big target on my back and the devil is sure heaving some huge challenges my way lately. But I will overcome each and every challenge and fear. When I say challenge, I mean my own fight to see God's true beauty in myself have grown more difficult. I've noticed old battles poking in more recently, which leads me to draw even closer to the Lord in order to gain strength and beat down those lies. The battle sure continues, even if you are trying to make a difference in the lives of others. Yet, my Mom has always said, if you don't feel the devil trying to bring you down, then you're not too big of a worry in his eyes, and boy we WANT to be a worry in his eyes...that means we are really doing something incredible for our God! I'm just thankful to have God on my side, holding my hand, and walking me through those dark moments. Lately, all I have been hearing and reading about during my God time is GREAT IS HIS FAITHFULNESS! So thank you God, for that reminder that I need every single time I'm down. 


Well, now that I went from passionately sharing Operation Beautiful, to updating you on The Beautiful Truth, and finally sharing some of the deepest struggles going on in my life, I guess I should end this tangent:) 


Time to go to sleep....


Britt

Yummy Fresh Smootheeee:)

Just had to share this royal yumminess with you. I found it in my wonderful Better Homes and Gardens mag...(aka- the housewives best friend) and today I finally tried it out! Here it is-

1 medium banana-    (mine was mushy at the bottom so I only used half and it was still perfect)
3/4 cup of fresh rasberries-  (mine were frozen because we were given such a GENEROUS amount of rasberries from some friends of ours. Thanks James and Amy!
1 tbs sugar
3/4 cup of 1% milk
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract


Mix together in your blender, and drink until your heart's delight! Or, until your heart is delighted...really, that saying doesn't make much sense, or else I don't quite have it right;)

Have an beautiful Saturday evening and I will blog again shortly.

Britt

My Something Beautiful

Something beautiful. Something exciting. Something breathtaking and life changing. 


These are all things we all desire. We desire to see something so breathtakingly beautiful. If you don't, then my goodness you need to! For the last few weeks I have heard this song on the radio and felt incredibly inspired to write, to blog. This morning I watched a short series called Breakthrough by Tony Robbins and the song Something Beautiful by NeedtoBreathe is their theme song. Not only does it fit, but millions of viewers are being blessed with one persons cry out to God, that turned into a song, that stirs our own hearts for "something beautiful". 


So what is it?


What is that something beautiful?


What are you wanting to see, to experience, to witness? 


As for me, this song stirs so many different emotions in my own heart, and I felt like sharing some of them with you. May it be a challenge to you to think of some of that "something beautiful" you desire to see. 


My Something Beautiful-
    -Even though I've seen many sunsets, I want to sit on some high mountain, hill, or cliff at the beach and watch our main source of light, energy, and heat fall beneath the ocean. 
    -In time, I want to experience the moment we first find out we are going to have a baby. I want to see the baby's first kick, first smile, first step. 
    -I want to be in conversation with someone and pray with someone as they accept Jesus as their Savior for the first time. I desire to see those tears of joy pour from their soul. 
    -I want overlook a beautiful canyon, or mountainous area and journal, worship, and talk with God. 
    -I want to see a room full of women being reminded of their TRUE beauty. I want to see the look in their eyes when they get it, when they realize that THEY ARE BEAUTIFUL.
    -I want to hear stories of men and women who have struggled with years of fear, anxiety, anorexia, bulimia, and everything else, and hear how GOD HELPED THEM OVERCOME
    -I want to be back where I was the last night of our senior float trip where we sat on top of a hill underneath the stars and just soaked in the beauty of no city lights, no noise, just pure nature. Just God's creation. 
    -I want to feel the joy of running and completing my first fun run.
    -I look forward to my 25th anniversary sitting next to my husband smiling at the fact that we thought one year was amazing, yet, we had no idea what wonderful things were to come. 
    -I want to experience whatever it is God is going to do with The Beautiful Truth. Just seeing the look on young women's faced when they are reminded of how TRULY BEAUTIFUL they are will bring tears to my eyes.

To me, my "something beautiful" is personal. It's my dreams, my hopes, and my desires. The list could go on and on, and to be honest, I hope that it never ends. Why? 


Because GOD IS BEAUTIFUL. 


GOD is my "something beautiful" 


GOD has put these dreams in my heart. 
GOD has written my love story with Jason.
GOD knows when my precious little babies will enter this world. 
GOD loves me. 
And GOD wants to bless me. 


He wants to BLESS you. He wants to ROMANCE you. He wants to COMFORT you and SHOW you something beautiful. 


So what is it? What is that "something beautiful" you want to see? 


Here's the song that inspired me. Look at all the different people in this video that also desire to experience something beautiful. We are all alike, and God created us. So pray, and ASK Him to SHOW you SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL. 




Check it out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yq1H3l7kyYU&feature=av2n

Cast of Characters: Max Lucado

Beautiful. Intriguing. Inspiring. Uplifting.

I ordered this book from booksneeze.com a few weeks ago and am already inspired. Of course we all know how wonderful of an author Max Lucado is, so that would be one of the reasons why I am touched. Yet, another reason is the reality that the stories written in this book, are taken directly from the bible. They have been a part of our inspired word of God, and changed in a way that we can relate and grasp the reality these people faced every day of their lives many years ago. Cast of Characters is a book written about 22 individual lives we read about in the bible. Some of them would be Esther, Moses, Joseph, and even two criminals. I would totally recommend reading this book if you are looking for a light read, yet something that will also move in your heart. It's important for us to constantly gain a better understanding of how God has called us to live. Often, the best way to grasp these things, we can look at experiences of other people and see what they learned through out their lives. What a blessing it is to receive this book! Read it!