My Vision Statement.

Where's your heart? Where's your passion? Why aren't you going after the things you are called to do? 

These are the questions I've been asking myself lately. It is so easy to get caught up in life that we put our hopes, dreams, and passions to the side. Let it never be said of me- that I didn't fight for my passions. This is a vow I make to you, I will fight for my passions. I will pursue my Lord and Savior and follow Him wherever He leads me. And I will always fight for what He put in this heart. 

My heart is full and expectant for what the Lord is calling me into. I may not know the exact step I am to take- but I know it doesn't include me putting my passions on the sideline. 

My dream of becoming a wife to a honorable and holy man of God will be covered in prayer and fasting. My hopes of being a published writer on a realistic, down-to-earth, say it like it is- Purity book will be covered in hard work and direct downloads from my Abba. My life-long passion for children will be cultivated until the day that I have my own. My pursuit of being a friend- a good friend- will be spent over good food and talks about what really matters. My dream of speaking and teaching on purity and holiness will be prepared and cultivated by a life at the altar and in the secret place with my Father. It will be prepared through the small one-on-one opportunities I have to pour into others. My love for overseas missions will be a priority in my life. A priority of putting God first and others second. My heart for seeing Heaven invade earth will include boldness and living a life of prayer. My heart to see the church be the church will be soaked in a desire to break the life of mediocrity and to step into the fullness of who He is. 

This life is not my own. I plan to change things and be the best Brennen that I can be. When God speaks, I will obey. I will protect and honor the things He has placed in my life and in my heart. I will fight for the things He longs for. I will stand in the gap. I will intercede. I will love. 

I share my heart with you to urge you. Where's your heart. I want to hear it. I want to see you live it out. I want to see you fight for it. 

There is something beautiful about people attempting the impossible. There is such beauty in the attempt. Sure we may mess up and fall. Heck, I've been writing this book for a year and only have 4 pages written. That doesn't mean I throw in the towel. That means I start writing. That means I pick myself up, dust myself off, and keep walking. He's calling you forward. He's calling you to more. Where's your heart? 

I wrote this without realizing that it's my vision statement. I have sat down before to write out my vision statement and it never came out. Not until I began to write about my passions and desires did my vision / mission statement come out. Put the pen to the paper- and write out your goals, passions, and desires. You just might end up with your Vision Statement written out. 

Faithfulness & Perfect Timing

     My heart and mind are full this afternoon. So many thoughts run around in my mind. Thoughts of confusion, thoughts of clarity, thoughts of worry, thoughts of joy..... some things in my life I am so certain about and others I'm praying I've made the right choice. This morning the Lord spoke a promise over me that he's spoken several times over me. "My faithfulness is your shield and rampart." It comes out of Psalm 91:4. At the beginning of the year Pastor Jeff asked the staff to read Psalm 91 every day, I'll admit I've been slacking the past month but this morning I set aside some time and dove into the Word.
     The Lord knows exactly what I need. And Psalm 91:4 was it this morning. His faithfulness is unshakeable. It can't be shaken. Can't be broken. It has no breaking point. He will remain faithful. He has remained faithful. He has done so much for me and you that proves this point. He has never left us. Even when I've run away, when I have turned my back to the whisper of his voice, He was still there. He remained the same.
     A rampart is a defensive wall. The Message translate the verse that His arms are protecting me. It's the truth. I am smashed into the love of my Savior and surrounded by His arms. The arms that hold the universe. I am loved, protected, and watched over.
     I know that no matter what happens in my life, the Lord is my shield and rampart. He will be faithful. Through heartaches, worries of life, times of extreme trust, times of sorrow, and times of joy- He remains faithful. He protects me. He knows what is best for me. Just like a mother knows what is best for their daughter or son, He knows what is best for me. Don't loose hope. Don't loose your trust in Him- He is holding it all together. He withholds nothing good from us!
     One of the things that I love to do is babysit. I get to pretend that I am a mother for just a few hours. I was watching one child once and had heated them up some dinner. Since I am just a pretend mother I didn't microwave it to the perfect temperature. It was a little too hot. So the poor child was forced to stare at me holding their yummy food while it cooled off. I'm sure they were thinking, "Does Bren Bren not think I need the food? I am so hungry. I need that in my life. It will make me full. It will make my tummy stop hurting. Why won't she give me that, it looks so good." But you see, I knew that it was exactly what he needed, but I also knew that if I gave it to him at that moment that it would hurt him. It would burn his tongue. So I waited for it to cool off and then I was able to feed it to him.
     I tell you this for a reason. Don't loose sight of the promises the Lord has given you. He knows the PERFECT timing to give it to you. Yes, it is exactly what you need. Yes, it will propel you into your calling. Yes, it will make your heart skip a beat. Yes, it will be so yummy and awesome. Yes, it will stop your heart from aching. But right now might not be the perfect timing. He has it in His hands. He will release it into your life at the perfect time.

    And until it happens, rest in the fact that his faithfulness is your shield and rampart. Faithfulness. Not going anywhere. It's always there. He is faithful. He will never cheat you. He will never loose sight of His beloved. Rest in that and the worries of the world will drift away. Claim the verse over every worry and step back and watch what the Lord will do.

Insignificant Purpose.

I am to a point in my life where I'm ready for things to be worth it. I'm so tired of pointless homework, meetings, relationships, etc. Everything that I do- I want to have purpose. I write this as I sit in Panera Bread procrastinating homework. I know that the way I handle my homework will correlate into how I handle other responsibilities in my life. However, I am still ready for them to have purpose! Most of my homework assignments have purpose... the specific one I'm not doing right now... does not.
     I'm not 100% positive on how to get to the place where things are significant. And I should probably smack my hand and correct my thoughts.... because what I do today does have purpose. The way I handle the seemingly "insignificant" things in my life right now- builds discipline and character for the things I will handle in the future. Press on brothers and sisters. For there will be a rainy day when I'm watching my kids and being the wife that I am called to be when I'll look back and be thankful that I was obedient today for the things God is calling me into.
     How you handle today will be a building block on how you handle tomorrow. Deal with today's problems with diligence.... Prepare yourself today for the things you'll face tomorrow.

     And the life I dream of will come.... the life that only the Lord could bless me with.... is in the making. It's in the building process. The foundation is being laid..... I'd never want a house without a foundation just like I'd never want a family, husband, relationships, job, and other things the Lord will bring into my life wihtout a strong enough foundation (character, determination, will-power, wisdom, etc) to support it.

Build a foundation today..... even with the things that seem so meaningless and insignificant.

Choosing to Choose.

     There is so much truth to the ol' saying, "Life is what you make it." You will get out of life what you put into it. If you don't pursue life and the source of life then you probably won't like life too much. But when you choose to enjoy life, no matter what the circumstances are, then I bet you love life or are beginning to love life. I am by no means saying that life is bed of roses and nothing is ever hard. No, not at all, I know this by first hand experience. Life is not easy. But you can enjoy it in all circumstances. 
     It all comes down to choice. Who you are today was made from a series of choices that you have made. Who you will be tomorrow also will be the outcome of your choices. It is time to quit blaming your troubles on "life". That is demonic and not Godly one bit. That is one step closer to satan than it is to God. Choose to love, give, serve and pursue God. Choose to find something sweet in everything. Choose joy, peace, and patience. What you choose determines your outcome. Choose life, and life in abundance.
     You living a mediocre life doesn't do you any favors. Branch out, live out your dreams, be who God has made you to be. Be intentional. This is the phrase that God has been speaking to me the past month. I need to be intentional.  I need to be concious of the things that I choose to do throughout the day. Once again that determines my productivity and the joy that I experience that day.
     When I wake up and I choose to love God, love people, and love life then I am determined that nothing, absolutely nothing, no power of the enemy, no stumped toe, no long line, NOTHING will change that. I choose to have a good day. To have a good life.
     One of the things that Pastor Jeff preaches is Proverbs 27:7- One who is full loathes honey from the comb, but to the hungry even what is bitter tastes sweet. What does this mean? That in every situation you can find something that is sweet. We are to never become cynical and judgmental with nothing being good enough. That means that today when Chelsea brought me my McDonalds (yep, this is after I worked out) that even though it was cold I was still thankful that Chelsea paid for it! It's simply being able to find the good in every situation. 
     I know that life does get hard, and that things happen to good people. But God is still God, His word is still sovereign. And He still has the most best plans in the world for you. He desires for you to be prosperous, enjoy life, love Him, serve Him, see and bring people to encounter God's love. You are the head and not the tail. You are highly favored. You have a reason to choose joy. I promise. 
     It may be 3 years after something horrible in your life happens where you see the purpose in it all. But for those 3 years- find something, anything and be thankful for it. Thank God. Just think of the things that He HAS protected you from that you don't even know about. 


Choose life. Choose Him. Choose joy. Choose peace. Choose happiness. Choose the higher road. Choose serving. Choose giving. Choose loving. Choose life. Choose a happy life. Choose to not loathe the honeycomb. Choose to find something good no matter the circumstances. 






It's your choice. ;)

Providing Daddy.

     One of my favorite things to do is to play cards. Most favorite game is Nertz. A fast paced game of a mix of solitare and suites.... super fun. (If you wanna play- we'll let ya!) And it is best when played with the Kees brothers, my twin, and my mother. We play every few weeks, but I play Nertz on an app on my iPhone. With playing this I have noticed something. Most of the time you notice that you need a card, and that one card will give you a huge play. (Example you need a 6 of hearts to come up in your deck of "flipping cards" since you have a 7 of hearts and 8 of hearts in your 4 playing cards. Then you would get 3 cards out in the community area where everyone plays. )
     So that one card will open up so many opportunities for you and possibly let you get Nertz. When this happens I always hesitate to keep moving in case someone else puts the card out there and I miss it, or whatever. What I have noticed though.... is that sometimes the card you need or a card that might be better is coming up in your hand.... it's on it's way, you just have to keep moving the cards and keep moving forward.

     I hope you are seeing the parallel in your life. Sometimes we want something so bad that is already in our hand. It's right there. It's just coming up. You have to keep moving, keep pressing, and it'll come up. Instead of waiting for someone else to hand it to you, or just standing still scared to move. You have to keep pursuing being intentional in everything that you do. Making progress with every part of your life. And sometimes while we are moving forward someone puts "it" into play. And onward you go. Bam, bam, bam. Life is moving quickly. Just like in life how God will put things in our past that will score us our next "big run". Or He will give us something that will set us up for a big success.

     So many times, I want to get something new instead of getting creative and using what I have and what is right in front of me. But in all reality, God already has "it" coming up.
     Prime example: I've been praying/looking for a desk for my iMac..... the day my iMac came in (which the iMac was also an answered prayer... I did not have enough money for it, but God provided), God provided me with a desk..... for free. Not only that.... but a free meal to go along with it. And I forgot the desk lamp and chair. God is good. He provides.

     It's all in His plan, beloved. He's got it all under control. Live out your life with God first and you are the apple of His eye. He takes care of His children. He sees your needs. He sees your wants. He desires to fill both. He is a gooood, goooood daddy.

Fun Alone.

     Snow day bliss. I'm not even in school- but I did get a snow day today. We closed the coffeeshop so I have been enjoying a day of nothing. Literally. I'll be totally honest- It's 4:30pm and I'm still in my pajamas. I've watched 2 movies and some tv. And have had a coca cola classic by my side. (I'm horrible at not drinking cokes when I say I'm not going to do it.)  It's been great. When I first woke up and realized that I didn't have anything to do- I started getting a little sad- because I wanted to do something. I wanted to be with friends- playing in the snow. But then I changed my mind. I decided it was time I had fun by myself.
     Yep, it is possible to do it. And I have had a BLAST today all by myself. After the second movie- I started craving ChexMix.... not the kind you get out of the bag- but the real deal- baked in my own oven Chex Mix. So that's what I did. I documented the entire process with my cool camera app:

 

 

Not only did I make Chex Mix.... but I also made "Muddy Buddies" Looking at the recipes on the box- I decided to try it out.... YUMMMMMY. 

 

     And I have had so much fun. I found myself smiling and enjoying myself. I even cleaned up after myself ( mom, aren't you proud). I found myself lost in Brennen land and loving every bit of it. And I think it was a healthy- good- and needed day. We all need time where we enjoy ourselves. We have to do something that makes us come alive. Or if we are so busy- and have lots on our minds- then we need to escape and get lost in a movie. (or 2, and I'm sure 2 more later tonight). 

     The thing is, God is soo good. After I made all of this yummy snack food I found myself in the Word. Soaking up who God is and realizing his love for me. He delights in me. He is enthralled by my beauty. He honors me. He LOVES me.  And He loves YOU as well. God will do the things that he has promised you. He wants you to be happy and fulfilled. He wants your desires to be filled- and he wants your love. He gets jealous when you don't love Him. He paints the most beautiful pictures for you. He has the bestest plan out there for you. And He wants you to be the best you out there. If your name is John- then be the best John. If your name is Suzy- then be the best Suzy. My name is Brennen and I want to be the best Brennen. And today- I've enjoyed me, myself and Brennen. 

Glimpses of Life

      Today is the day. Our 24 hour prayer day at Promiseland Metro Church is on it's way! We are 2 and a half hours into our 24 and I am already being changed and renewed. I explained this whole process like a mother being pregnant. I feel like I'm pregnant. And that today is delivery day. I'm not the only one either that feels this way. I believe whole heartedly that this prayer movement is birthing something special.
     So, here I am. In the delivery room. Watching a couple cling to each other while in prayer. Watching another young man sold out the Lord seeking his will. Glory! I am seeing glimpses and signs of life. :) It's already been conceived. And I'm beginning to feel the heartbeat of it all. I'm beginning to feel it kick. And I am so excited. I don't know what exactly God is going to birth during these 24 hours, but I do know it's going to be many things. Things for individuals, couples, families, church families, this city, our state, our nation, and people all across the world.
     I posted on my facebook that people could send me texts with prayer requests. I've already received over 10. I am blown away. The time is now. People are hungry. They want more. They know that there is more. Prayer is the avenue of change. Prayer is the road to freedom and breakthrough.
      What are the glimpses of life that you've seen in your own ministries? In your life? Seek after it. And walk into it. The glimpses are beautiful things. I pray I never take it for granted.



So Jesus, thank you for this beautiful day of prayer. Fill up this house with your glory. Overflow our lives. Speak to us. Give us the ears to hear. Give us the obedience to obey. Thank you Jesus. I love you Lord. Amen. 

Worldy to Godly.

     Live, Laugh, Love. Follow your heart. Only your heart can tell. Trust your instinct. If someone's on your mind then maybe they are supposed to be. 

     I mean, come on, you know you've heard these tidbits of advice from some people that mean a lot to you. Am I right? What are some other ones that people use often? That have some truth in them- but have a lot of truth that is missing. This morning I read John Paul Jackson's update and this is what he said:

"You cannot depend on your eyes when your spirit is out of focus."

     This is so true. It's the same thing with your heart. You can't depend on your heart if it's not "solely" His. You can't trust your instinct if your instinct is messed up by the world. You can't trust your mind if it is bombarded by evil/demonic/worldly thoughts. Can I get an amen?

     

     But so often in this world we are bombarded by this advice. Especially in my generation. Go where the wind takes you. Move with the flow. Follow peace. You know, all of that good stuff that makes me think of people dancing in an open field to the sound of the wind. Ya know? 

     Follow your heart. I so struggle with this. It is so easy to follow your heart. But my heart can be off sometimes. I mean if I followed my heart I'd be eating brownies for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. But just because my heart says it's okay doesn't mean it's good for me. Right? Beth Moore was the first one that really introduced this truth into my life. Our hearts have to be wholly and holy His. It has to be a heart that is completely surrendered to His will for our lives. Personal story? My dream and desire in life is to be a wife and a mother. And if I am honest- within 5 minutes of meeting a handsome young man that loves the Lord I have the two of us married, old, and gray watching our grandkids play soccer. (Please still be my friend, and don't get freaked out- lovely men in my life.) But I constantly have to take those thoughts captive and turn it to, "Lord, you have the perfect match for me. And only You can bring him to me at the right time. So I trust you..." and then I always add, "and give the poor guy some courage to marry me." :)

     Funny huh? Well, that is the realistic Brennen Gaddis. I will admit it. If you hang around me too long you will know that I have parts of my wedding already planned. (You're right, I don't even have a boyfriend.) There is nothing wrong with being prepared! :) 

     The thing is- I can't always trust my heart. My heart can lead me to some places that I am not supposed to be. I have to really search out what the Lord is telling me. I have to be sensitive to the things the Lord is showing me and see how it relates to scripture and obey what He says. So what am I trying to say?

     Get your spirit in focus. Get right with God. Quit wasting time, following your worldly heart and get it where it's supposed to be.  Look at what Philippians 4:8-9 says;

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me--practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

     It's the same thing I said a few posts ago about our desires.

Psalm 37:4 says Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.

     What we sometimes forget is that- whenever we are truly delighting ourselves in the Lord, His desires actually become our desires. Just like with my crazy desire to be a wife. Yes, I want to be a wife, and I believe that it is a God-given desire, but it has now changed to "I want to be a wife when YOU want it and with who you want me to be married to." It's a daily decision I have to make to trust that the Lord will provide. 

     Obey the scriptures. Trust what the Lord says. He will bring it to completion. Just like I believe 100% that the Lord is giving my future husband courage right now. (In Jesus Name!) And just like I believe that the Lord will guide me into the next steps in my life- weather it's as a student, missionary, servant, or wife. Whatever it is, I have faith that the Lord will lead me to it. 

     Feel free to go where the wind takes you. If it's the Holy Spirit's wind. Go ahead, and trust your heart. If it's a heart that is wholly the Lord's. And- Live. Laugh. and Love. It'll make your life more enjoyable. Just take those tidbits- and add some Jesus to it. :) Change it from worldly to Godly. 

-B