Hello! Anyone still out there? I know I hardly blog anymore and I'm ok with that. I use to stress out if I didn't blog fearing I would lose any readers I had, but it just doesn't bother me anymore. I came to the realization that this time I have with my kids I will never get back and so blogging took a back seat. I don't plan to give it up, but it's also not top priority. I know there are a few families in Crossett that still read our blog and like to keep up with us and I think that is special! Hi Richardson's and Outlaws! :) Those are the two that email and message us about our blog and we love it! We miss y'all! Come visit us!
Anyone else out there still reading? Leave us a message and say hello! We would love to hear from you.
I titled this blog post focused because that is my one word for 2012. FOCUSED. As we are nearing the end of 2011 I'm full of joy, but I'm thinking about several things that I want to see happen in 2012 and the word FOCUSED keeps coming to mind. I'm still trying to decide on a verse for 2012. I know the Lord will give me one and I can't wait to see what it is.
There is something so exciting about a new year. With it comes a fresh new start, a new calender/planner that is a blank canvas, new goals and dreams, the anticipation of what this year will hold. ALl of these things are exciting to me. I've got my new calendar/planner and I'm praying that I fill my days and year with things that matter. Things that bring me closer to God and things that are in line with His will for my life. I want to look back next year at this time and say that I was FOCUSED and did what God called me to do as a wife, mother,daughter, sister, aunt, friend and minister's wife.
My prayer as I close out this year and celebrate Christmas is that I stay FOCUSED and keep my children FOCUSED on the reason for Christmas. Brian preached a great message to the students last night at church. He nailed it....or so I thought....I may be a little biased. :) The main point he drove home is that while Christmas is about a baby in a manger it is also about serving a Lord that came to save, serve and die and now HE is in all His glory seated on the right hand of God waiting to bring his bride home. That is what we celebrate.... a Saviour that is waiting to come for us. What are we doing until that time comes?
There are some very creative people out there.....Enjoy this video! Merry CHristmas from The Brooks Family
Luke 1:31-33 You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever: his kingdom will never end.
Below is a short highlight video from our mission trip to Laredo. We had an amazing week. I told Brian In 15 years of ministry this was the smoothest trip ever. The youth were so willing to do whatever they were asked and many went above and beyond. It was so HOT and yet there were no complaints. God worked through our students to help change Laredo. I'm so proud of our youth. Next trip Student Life Camp!! :)
One of our former youth tagged Brian on facebook with this video attached. Our fellow minister friends will get a good laugh out of this. This is a perfect song telling the story of youth ministry. Lol! They play this song every year at Student Life camp during youth minister challenge and I crack up every time!!
I especially love the end where he says, "have you ever noticed youth ministers have beautiful wives...I don't understand it." Hahahaha!
Seriously this song cracks me up, but maybe that's because it's our life....a life I truly LOVE! I feel so blessed to minster along side one of the best youth ministers I know! ;0)
I'm posting this from my iPhone using iPhone pictures. When I get home I'll post all the pictures from my camera.
We are having a great time! It's HOT, but our team here is doing great. The youth are doing a wonderful job with the soccer camps, VBS and our adult team has been busy painting and building a playground.
We have groups at 6 different locations! Wow! We have one group down by the river on the Mexico border.
Laredo has been impacted this week! We are carrying The name of Jesus to this city! Our team is amazing and working so hard. I'm so proud of our youth!
While attending Passion 2011, they introduced us to a new ministry "Do Something Now" and it's been on my heart ever since.
I don't know why I've waited this long to blog about it. I believe and have been convicted strongly that we are should be helping the poor and needy not only spiritually, but also physically and financially. If not us then who?
God tells us in His word "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.' Mark 10:21 Jesus makes it boldly clear that if you follow him you abandon everything------your needs, your desires, even your family.
I love what David Platt writes in his book Radical. "Let's put ourselves in the shoes of these eager followers of Jesus in the first century. What if I were the potential disciple being told to drop my nets? What if you were the man whom Jesus told to not even say good-bye to his family? What if we were told to hate our families and give up everything we had in order to follow Jesus? This is where we come face to face with the dangerous reality. We do have to give up everything we have to follow Jesus. We do have to love him in a way that makes our closet relationships in this world look like hate. And it is entirely possible that he will tell us to sell everything we have and give it to the poor. But we don't want to believe it. We are afraid of what it might mean for our lives. So we rationalize these passages away. "Jesus wouldn't really tell us not to bury our father or say good-bye to our family. Jesus didn't literally mean to sell all we have and give it to the poor. What Jesus really meant was..." And this is where we need to pause Because we are starting to redefine Christianity. We are giving in to the dangerous temptation to take the Jesus of the Bible and twist him into a version of Jesus we are more comfortable with. A nice, middle-class, American Jesus. A Jesus who doesn't mind materialism and who would never call us to give away everything we have. A Jesus who would not expect us to forsake our closest relationships so that he receives all our affection. A Jesus who is fine with nominal devotion that does not infringe on our comforts, because after all, he loves is just the way we are. A Jesus who wants us to be balanced, who wants us to avoid dangerous extremes, and who, for that matter, wants us to avoid danger altogether. A Jesus who brings us comfort and prosperity as we live our out Christian spin on the American dream. But do you and I realize what we are doing at this point? We are molding Jesus into our image. He is beginning to look a lot like us because, after all, that is whom we are most comfortable with. Did you catch what Jesus said when he told the rich man to abandon his possessions and give to the poor? Listen again, particularly to the second half of Jesus in the Gospels and begin to thing that he does not want the best for us. But he does. Jesus was not trying to strip this man of all his pleasure. Instead he was offering him the satisfaction of eternal treasure. Jesus was saying, "It will be better, not just for the poor, but for you too, when you abandon the stuff you are holding on to."
That last statement is key! Abandon the stuff I am holding on to. I don't want to be so attached to stuff that spreading the gospel is secondary. Following Jesus means radical implications on our life, but oh the joy and comfort of being in the center of His will.
As Christians it should peirce our heart to see those in need, hurting, suffering, or hear about the unreached people groups all across our world and even here in America. I know for me, it stirs up feelings that I can't explain. When Louie Giglio told us about the Do Something Now center at Passion and then, when I walked through it I was gripped by the reality that there is so much to be done for the Kingdom's sake. So much!! It takes each of us. For me, I have and still am taking a hard look at what it means to live a radical life giving up stuff! There are changes we have made as a family and many more we need to make. It's a daily surrender to self.
There are so many ministries and organizations that need our help not only financially, but physically. So my challenge to you is to join God where he is already at work. It may mean giving money to a ministry like Do Something Now or a ministry your church is passionate about. It may mean giving of your time and going on a mission trip serving others. What ever it is you will be blessed.
If you are looking for a place to give I encourage you to take a look at the DO Something Now website and pray over the needs. For some reason God keeps placing it on my heart and I knew today He wanted me to share.
Here is a video that was played at Passion. Though no longer in the media spotlight, our hearts are still overwhelmed for the people of Haiti as they attempt to rebuild their lives after the devastating earthquake in 2010. Many issues that plague Haiti's rebirth are complex, yet rubble removal is not. That is if the proper equipment and team are available! We are partnering with Samaritan's Purse to purchase much needed heavy equipment and fund a rubble removal team for a year. Join the movement at www.Haiti-Rising.com
I want to leave you with some food for thought...
Today more than 2,200 people groups around the world DO NOT HAVE SCRIPTURE in a language they can understand NOT EVEN one VERSE.
Millions of people are without the WORD of GOD.
Together, we can do something now to provide scripture for the unreached people groups.
Why? Because we long to be a generation of believer who love GOD by loving those in need in Jesus name.
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; love and faithfulness for before you. Psalm 89:14
There are some great pictures of the Do Something Now center at Passion on Facebook. Go take a look!
I love music! It speaks to me in different ways and keeps me in the mindset of worship. Passion CD's are my favorite and are played in our home daily! Since canceling TV we play music even more. I love that my kids sing praise and worship music. It's so important to fill their minds with things of eternal value. Memorizing scripture, reading from God's word, listening to christian music are all so important. Kids pick up on every little thing we do and say....they are always watching and listening. I was reminded of this, this morning when I heard Garrett singing in his room. It brought me so much joy to hear him sing Waiting Here For You. Below is the song....Christy Nockels sings it and I LOVE IT!
What an amazing worship service we had Sunday. The staff decided to have an overflow service in the gym and call it AMPED! Same service just LOUDER! HA! The student ministry band did a fabulous job on the music. We watched the pastor preach via simulcast and it was just so cool. Our sanctuary was packed and we had a full house in the gym. An all around great day!
Brian even wore a suit for the first time in a year! ;)
I hope y'all had a wonderful Easter celebrating our RISEN SAVIOUR!
"The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing" Zeph3:17
Jesus, the King. Jesus, King of the ages. Jesus, King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
The Royalty of Jesus - the only Son of God - the firstborn over all creation - is woven into the very fabric of the scriptures. He is a lamb with the lineage of a lion. He is a pauper with the unsearchable riches of an inexhaustible Kingdom. He is a Man with no home whose Eternal Throne rests in the Courts of Praise. He is a teacher with no formal credentials who is the Creator of all Knowledge.
No one can ever lay claim to His unique station as Savior of the World.
And yet, Christ Jesus.....
Who, being in very nature God, did consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death - even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in Heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:6-11)
This is the story of our redemption. This is the story of the miracle of our moving from bloodline of Adam to the bloodline of Christ. Only one figure in all of history could have accomplished this.
This is His story...........Jesus, No Other King !
