Update on Ethiopia Trip and Some Thoughts

It is hard to imagine that in just under 4 months I will in Ethiopia.  I have been planning for this trip since last December and am once again amazed at how quickly the time is passing.  I have always believed that the older I get, the faster the time seems to pass.  I'm sure everyone can agree with me on that.  Sometimes I wish that i could make time slow down a little so I can catch my breath, but that doesn't seem to ever happen.  No, there is little we can do to make time slow down.  This is why it is so important to make the time that we do have count.  I believe that it is right for me to serve the church, but often let opportunities pass me by as quickly as the time passes by.  Our time on this Earth is limited so let's use our time wisely.  Serve the Lord and do whatever work the Lord gives you, where ever you are in life.  I cannot wait to travel to Ethiopia to serve the Lord, but my work here is important too.  Here is where I live and therefore this is the mission field that God has given me.  Friends, please pray for me as I prepare to serve orphans in Ethiopia and as I work with 8 sweet first graders this summer.  Both tasks are equally important to the Lord because all children are in need of His love.  I pray that you all will use your time wisely also as you seek out ways to serve the Lord.

As far as my trip to Ethiopia goes, plane tickets have been purchased and I meet the rest of my team member next week.  I am still in need of people who are willing to pray for our trip for the next 4 months and while we are there.  If you can be a prayer warrior for my team let me know!  Financially, I am still in need of about $600 to cover the cost of the trip.  If you can support me financially please let me know as soon as possible.  Thank you so much to those who have already given!  I could not go on the mission field without your love and support!

Getting There

Look at the nations and watch—and be utterly amazed.  For I am going to do something in your day that you would not believe, even if you were told.  Habakkuk 1:5

Every time I read the words written above I am filled with wonder and curiosity.  In this passage we see the Prophet Habakkuk talking with the Lord and questioning the Lord about the state of His people Israel.  Habakkuk seems to be in a state of despair as he calls out for help.  How long will the Lord allow such injustice to prosper?  The Lord does not get angry at Habakkuk for his questions, but simply tells him to wait and to watch.  The Lord will do something in his day that is simply unbelievable.  What a wonderful picture of our daily walk with the Lord.  We call out for help and the Lord doesn’t say ‘Oh here let me help’ but simply reminds us to just be patient because He already has it under control. 

For many years I have been following the struggles that children living in poverty face.  I am by no means an expert in this situation but I do understand that these children need our love and prayers and feel compelled to help them.  This call to action mixed with my church’s desire to help orphans have led me to take a mission trip to Ethiopia next October. 

In order to take this trip I need your help.  First and foremost I need your prayer.  I would not feel confident in my ability to take this trip if I do not have people here praying for me and the organization with whom I will be working.  I also need support financially.  As a fundraiser for this trip, I am making and selling Lavender Sugar Scrub.  I am selling these for $12 each, however feel free to give more if you want to! If you would like to order some sugar scrub you can contact me through facebook or by emailing me at noel_06@hotmail.com.  All of the money will go to offset the cost of the trip.  Currently, I have 22% of the funding that I need.  I fully trust that God will help me raise the remaining 78%.

As I prepare for this trip, I am preparing myself to be completely and utterly amazed at the work that God is going to do in Ethiopia while I am there.  Thank you times a million to all of my friends and family who continue to support me while I go wherever God leads me!


ps. I have pictures of this on my facebook page. I have tried everything to upload a picture and I just have not been able to. Sorry guys!

Obsessed with Love

As a sixth grade teacher, I am all too aware of the fact that Valentine’s Day is just around the corner.  My school is planning a small Valentine’s Day dance and my students have lost their minds.  As I teach math their minds wonder to the subject of dates.  When it’s time for English I find them absentmindedly doodling names onto their notebooks.   They are so young, and yet the obsession with finding love has already begun for most for most of them. 

What is love and why does it matter?  It is inevitable that some will doubt my ability to write on this subject because I am single, but being single gives me the ability to focus not on my own definition of love for another person, but on the definition of love that God gives.  Yes it is almost Valentine’s Day, but I have chosen to focus on God’s love for us.  I believe that God’s love emanates through us.  God love saves us from the depths of Hell.  It gives us the glorious hope of Heaven.  It makes our lives worth living and propels us to show His love to others. 

Think about your life.  Think about your actions today.  How many of your actions today were out of love?  If you packed your child’s lunch today, then it was probably out of love for them and the desire for them to be well fed.  If you called your mother on your way to school then, it was probably because you love her.  If you shoveled the snow from the walk this morning, it was so that the family you love will be able to safely leave your house.  You didn’t think about how much you loved your family when you did these things, but as you think about it now, you realize that love brings you to action. 

It is the same with God’s love for us.  Consider this: But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8.  Jesus has died for us because He loves us and desires to spend eternity with us so that we can forever worship Him.  He loved us while we were still hard to love.  He loved us when we were still in sin.  Now don’t get me wrong. God does not love our sin.  He is a just God and will punish us for our sin.  But He also loves us and His love caused action so that He allowed Jesus to die for our sins so that we could be saved.  I just can’t get over this verse.   I have a very hard time visualizing myself looking at something that I hate, that is covered in sin and loving it still.  But that is why I am just a person, incapable of understanding the nature of our divine God. 

But back to the point, love causes action.  God saved us because He could see our potential when we were still sinners and loved us.  As humans our sinful nature teaches us to love ourselves above all else.  But God’s love is not like our selfish human love.  God’s love teaches us to love others above ourselves.  As Christians we act in love because God loves us.  He is our God and is worthy of our love and of our action.  Most days, I don’t want to act out of love.  I want to act out of selfishness.  I want what I want.  This is something that we all have to deal with and fight against daily.  We act because we love and are loved. 

But what happens when we act without love?  God commands us to feed the hungry so what if we go and feed the hungry.  That is good enough, right?  No, unfortunately it is not.  Just about every person that I have ever met agrees that we should help the poor.  Lost and saved alike fight for the needs of the orphan and seek to bring peace to the war-torn nations.  So what is the difference?  Well, again the difference is love.  The greatest need of all is the same for everyone.  We all need Jesus.  We need to be saved by His love through faith by His grace.  So action out of obligation, simply because there is a need, is not enough.  It must be powered by God’s love so that we will also meet spiritual needs, namely the need to trust God as our Lord and Savior. 

So as we celebrate Valentine’s Day, remember that God loves you.  He has blessed you beyond all measure simply because he allowed Jesus to die a horrible death on the cross so that we can be with Him forever.  We are sinners, but have been saved by grace through our faith.  Thank you Jesus for saving us!  Allow this knowledge to move you to action this week.  Don’t waste your time.  Allow yourself to be obsessed with love, but let that love be for others!  Let God’s love consume your life and change it for the better.  Love others and tell them about the wonderful Love that Jesus has for us!


                                                       

A Long Awaited Journey

                                               

Three and a half years ago my life was changed forever after I spent 52 days working with orphans in the Philippines.  While preparing for this trip I knew that my life was going to change, but I wasn’t prepared for the extent to which it was about to change.  The Bible teaches us that we are to care for orphans.  I read these verses and felt convicted to help.  Perhaps I had always felt this way, but I didn’t know what it really meant to love the brokenhearted and care for the orphan.  But after my 52 days in the Philippines I understood good and well what the Bible was talking about and what God was teaching me.  The message is simple: There are children in need; Go help them. 

                This simple revelation, go help them, changed my life and propelled me to move to Louisville where I could learn more about missions and what my options are for service to God.  Along the way I discovered Ninth and O Baptist Church, which has helped me to grow in my faith in ways that I had never grown before.  I would not be where I am today without this church.  Louisville also brought me to Southern Seminary, where I was blessed to spend a year studying under some of the best professors in the world. 

                After a year of full time studies, I stepped away from Southern and began teaching full time.  At first I was uncertain of this path, but now I know that it was the right one.  I felt that God had called me to work with orphans, with the poor, with those who so desperately need God.  So why would God put me at Valor? And why am I working with children who are living in abundance?  Well, their abundance is nothing without the wonderful salvation that God brings.  My students are a blessing to me and I hope that I am a blessing to them as well.  They are my mission field.  It is my job not only to teach them geography and grammar, but how to live lives that are pleasing to God.  Furthermore, I can tell them about the things that I have seen and the lessons that I have learned in hopes that someday they would be inspired to help others in need.  I need to remember that God is my focus and bringing Him glory is my foremost task no matter where He has put me. 

                And so here I am, 3 ½ years later, living in Louisville, feeling completely blessed, surrounded by loving friends, and learning as much as I can about God.  For the past 3 ½ years I have also been praying that God would provide me with another opportunity to work with orphans.  I don’t really care if this opportunity is here in the states or overseas, short term or long term, as long as I am going.  And now God has answered my prayers.  In November Ninth and O announced that our church would be taking a short term trip to a ministry in Ethiopia called ‘Eyes That See.’  And about 5 seconds after the trip was announced I knew that I was going.  I was an answer to my prayer.  I just knew right away that I was going.  The trip is in October and will require me to take about 2 weeks off work in the middle of the school year, but I am going.  The trip is really expensive, and is far beyond my means to go, but God will provide. 

The trip is 8 months and 6 days away and I am impatiently awaiting the day when the plane takes off.  I am praying for the kids, the workers, and the country as I wait.  I am praying for me.  I am praying for my team (whom I have yet to meet).  I am praying for my parent’s nerves. I am praying for the funding to come through.  I am praying for my class next year that I will have to abandon for 2 weeks.  But mostly I am praying that God will use this opportunity for His glory and that He will use me in whatever way pleases Him and that He will give me direction for my life after this trip.  I am praying that God will intervene and use me because I am nothing without Him.

So here we are at the beginning of a new story.  Which will be so brief, yet requires preparation that will take so long.  If you love me and would like to be a part of my story, then please pray for me as I walk this road.  I am not afraid to go overseas as long as I know I have people praying for me here.  So please, if you want to be a part of my journey, pray.  My journey will truly be impossible without prayer.  I don’t know many details about my trip yet, but if you want to know more keep checking this blog. 

-Brittany

“Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the Fatherless; plead the case of the widow.”  Isaiah 1:17

                                                    

All I Need

This poem came to me the other day and I thought I would share it with you all.  It kinda goes along with my last post.  In life it feels like we have to constantly fight to follow God's will and not our own wills.  Enjoy!

My dear, sweet Jesus
Finally it is plan to see
My desire to follow this selfish hear,
And not the path ordained for me.
My poor heart is full of hope
For things the world will offer it.
But what are those things to me?
If it's You that I must forfeit?
Often I wish to cling,
To my childish pursuits of happiness.
But if my desires are not to serve You
Then they are pointless. 
As a child I sought the things of a child
And You blessed me anyway.
But know I know the truth;
I want my life Your way.
Lord, I pray that You would come
And change my decietful heart.
I want to be close to your side.
Let us never be apart!
My desire is to follow you.
Let my joy come from you,
Let my heart long for you,
Let my life be sustained by you,
For you are all that I need.

Follow Your Heart...Or Not

I was thinking recently about the phase, “Follow Your Heart.”  How many times in my life have I been given this advice?  It has become a catchphrase for our generation.  I am afraid that perhaps a misconception has formed because of this mindset.  The world tells me that if I follow my heart I will be happy, but the Bible tells me that I should follow God if I want to be happy.  So maybe we shouldn’t be so concerned with following our hearts.  Our hearts are deceitful and will guide us to what our flesh wants.  We need to give God our hearts and seek to follow Him wherever He leads us.  God loves us more than we can possibly understand and when we choose to give Him our hearts and follow Him, we will find that what our hearts desire is Him.  When we give our hearts to God we will begin to seek what His heart seeks and then we will be given a peace and joy that only God can give.   Life is a journey and we all need a little guidance.  If our goal in life is to be more Christ-like, then we need to give the desires of our hearts to God and trust Him to lead us on the path to Eternal life. 

“But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,
whose confidence is in him.
They will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit.”

The heart is deceitful above all things
and beyond cure.
Who can understand it?

“I the Lord search the heart
and examine the mind,
to reward each person according to their conduct,
according to what their deeds deserve.”

Jeremiah17:7-10

Hope in the word of God

Tonight I was reading from Psalm 119 and came across a passage that I have not considered before, though I am sure I have read it many times.  Psalm 119:147 reads, “I rise before the dawn and cry for help; I have put my hope in your word.”  The final phrase, ‘I have put my hope in your word’ seems so simple, but in reality it holds a lot of truth and quite a challenge. 

                What does it mean to put your hope in God’s word?  Yes, we trust Jesus and make things like, ‘Jesus is our rock’ our motto.  But we have to be careful to make sure that we are living as if our hope is in the Lord, and not just proclaiming.  If our hope comes from the living word of God then we have a living hope.  A living hope is one that is vibrant with the truth that is set forth in the Bible.  Our hope in the Lord is a result of the way in which we live our lives. 

                If our hope is in the word, then we should be convicted to live our lives as biblically as possible.  This always reminds me of prayer.  Look at how prayer is described in the Bible.  Jesus taught us how to pray.  When he was on the cross, some of his final words came to us as a prayer on behalf of his enemies.  Hannah prayed for a son and received one.  Daniel prayed for help and the lion’s mouths were closed.  These things were done through petition to the Lord.  How much do we miss out on because we do not pray?  And if prayer is what the Bible claims that it is, then why aren’t we spending hours each day praying for the souls of unbelieving friends?  If our hope is in the word, then we should be living as if the word is our only hope.  And when I look at the world, I fear that prayer is our only hope. 

                Hope in the word also means that we have hope in our future salvation.  I know that my time on earth is limited.  The Bible has taught me that no matter what this world, which is under the control of Satan, may throw at me I can persevere and I WILL spend eternity in Heaven with my God.  What truth is better than this?  There is nothing more that I can say in regards to hope in God’s word.  His word is true and His word is good.  Hope in his word is the assurance of my salvation through my faith in his word, through His is forgiving grace.