Brandi's Lifesong
Sunday, August 13, 2023
Saturday, March 27, 2021
Grow Through Study
***I went looking for this talk that I shared in 2017, but couldn't find it so here I am years later, making sure I have a digital footprint of it. I went digging because today I finally watched "I Still Believe" about Jeremey Camp and his first wife, Melissa. Right before my talk that is listed below, I had Jeremy Camp's song "Living Word" play for all to hear. As you listen to the song, keep in mind that when I had it played, it was around 8 or 9 something in the morning, and no other talks the previous day included music....especially not this upbeat tempo.
****A template for several points was provided so the format and flow is not my own. Some of the steps and excuses were generally provided and I added my own spin on things.
- Study is a constant part of our life
- Children are busy studying the world around them, figuring out how things work. We pick up newspapers or watch the news to study what's going on in the world. We study a new skill we are trying to learn. We study how to get better at something. We study for our job....so we can get better at it.
- But how much time do we spend studying our Christian priority? Are we maturing...growing...in our understanding of Christian faith and life?
- Study is spiritual discipline that involves seeking understanding for one's faith; exchanging old thought patterns for new, life giving thought patterns.
- Growth through study involves our being informed of the truth and being formed in the truth. Let me say that one more time... Growth through study involves being informed of the truth and being formed in the truth.
- Finally, Christians must study so that we are equipped to share a Christ centered outlook and realistic faith with a complex world. We must study so we are equipped to share. Think about it this way...what if I told you, that you had to come up here next and teach all of us how to play the violin? Or you had to come up here and teach us about biometrics and why we should care about it? Now unless one of you knows how to play the violin or one of you studies biometrics, you are probably thinking I'm crazy and there's no way you could do that. You're probably thinking you would need to do a lot of STUDYING first and even then you aren't sure you would be able to do it. The same holds true about sharing Christ with others and not just share Christ, but share a Christ centered outlook. Big difference there. It's going to be very difficult to do this, if you don't spend time and GROW through STUDY.
- The good news...Know the Good News. God freely gives grace to everyone in Christ Jesus. Seek and ever deepening understanding of this mystery and LEARN to SHARE your faith in a way that is authentic and true.
- Scripture...Study scripture to know the heart and will of God. The central purpose of scripture study is not religious information or doctrinal purity for its own sake. The central purpose is for inner transformation. (See 2 Timothy 3:16-17)
- Yourself...Know yourself. Sounds odd? It's not really. God made each and every one of us uniquely and for a purpose. You need to know that you are a child of God and He equipped you with special gifts for the purpose of sharing His grace in your particular situation. Seek to know your gifts, your purpose, your motives, your needs, your weaknesses. I tell you, this is an area that I'm only just now starting to really understand and be confident in...and it's only through study and faith in God that this transformation is occurring.
- Others... Get to know others. Listen to them. Hear their stories. Ask God to help you see them as He sees them. Seek to know their needs and how the Christian message can reconcile and make their lives new.
- Spiritual Classics...Study the lives and wisdom of saints, the writings of masters of the spiritual life, and the experiences of great people whose lives exemplify true humanity.
- The Church...study its history, its role in society and the ever recurring challenges and controversies. Study your own denomination. Now that's a "fun" one for me. I grew up back and forth between Baptist and Methodist churches. My mom grew up Baptist, my pop grew up Methodist, and my grandfather on my dad's side was a Freewill Baptist Preacher and I LOVED going to church with him when I visited them in Virginia. I've had to do some studying just to understand what goes on in my own church...and I've still got a lot to figure out. Especially now that I work so closely with our youth. Become an informed member.
- History...Studying history helps to give us perspective, helps us to be humble, helps us to see God's activity over time, and helps us avoid making the same mistakes over and over.
- World...Study current events, human issues, and the state of humanity today. God loved the world so much that His Son died for it, for us. So we must love and seek to understand our world because God calls us to ministry in the midst of it.
- "I don't have time..." There's a quote that pops up on my Facebook page from time to time reminding me that we make time for what's important to us. I promise I struggle with time too. I have 3 kids, 2 of them with medical issues. I have a full time job and a part time job. Depending on the "season" of life at the moment, I can go days with barely anytime at home...eat, sleep, rush back out the door. So I get it. Life can pull us all in a million different directions, everything and everyone vying for our time. It's up to you to decide what is worth your time and what you are going to prioritize doing.
- "I don't know what to study..." It's okay, I used to think there was only the Bible and attending church. But there's more than just the Bible! Seriously, remember how we just learned you need to study yourself? Think about what you are most interested in, or about an area of life you want to work on. And then talk to your pastor, other church leaders, a person at church whose opinion and insight you value, share what you want to find and seek their advice. Check out your local Christian bookstore. Turn to technology....do some Google searches. Find a Facebook group. Simply put the question out there on social media and see what your friends, family, followers have to say. I've gotten some great recommendations that way.
- "I don't like to read books..." Okay, this one is hard for me to swallow, I'm at a teacher at heart, but I understand. And sometimes it's not so much reading a book that's the problem, it's that you don't have much time to read a book. There are alternatives...join a small group study, read articles, follow some of the authors who write books on social media or find out if they write a blog regularly, watch videos....there's YouTube...and there's also God Tube. Find something you can listen to as you drive to work. There are plenty of options these days. Find what will work for you.
- "I don't understand parts of the Bible..." Guess what! Neither do I! It's okay! There are resources out there to help with that too, from books that help you study to online tutorials. There are commentaries and study Bibles. One thing I've found I love to do especially for a verse or section I am having trouble understanding, I go and read 2 or 3 more translations of the same scripture. Notice the words that are the same and those that change. Sometimes it's a simple change of one or two words...or the slight change in sentence structure and suddenly the passage makes much more sense.
- "Theology confuses me..." Don't worry about that at first. Theology is nothing more than the study of God.
- Decide to make it a priority.
- Carve out time for study.
- Do what works for you. If you are not a morning person, don't force it. Do it at a time that works for you.
- Find the right place.
- Find a place that is comfortable, quiet, with minimal distractions. Have your supplies there or in a container that can easily be brought to your study space.
- Choose a balanced diet of study materials...Bible, books, devotions, etc.
- Keep a reading journal...write down quotes, summarize, write your questions, sketch....
- Find a way to SHARE...we learn the most when we share with others.
- If we are to grow and be effective, we can't stop studying.
- Also, we cannot be mature Christians in our thoughts and actions if we stopped our Christian study with a confirmation class or a Sunday School youth class.
- Remember life brings change. But we must not let the world determine how we will change.
- We must be intentional if we are to grow with grace in the image of God and the mind of Christ.
Monday, March 22, 2021
There's Hope...part 2
Overcome with sleep, she nodded off while waiting in the car for dance practice to end.
Okay, I really set up the jacket between the driver's side window and the visor so the sun would be blocked, kicked off my shoes, reclined the seat back and purposely closed my eyes...
What I thought was only a few minutes of sleep actually ended up being closer to an hour. Ooops.....
The past couple of weeks, I've been hit with sudden tiredness and a strong desire to take a nap. Nothing regular to it, no rhyme or reason. It's the tired I remember feeling at the end of a school year filled with teaching and participating in my own classes. Since March 2020, life has been "on" and there has been no off switch. No down time....not even when forced to stay at home. Hello...INTROVERT HERE! I need to be alone to recharge.
I knew a couple of months into the pandemic that this introvert's batteries were going to deplete and I know that's part of what's happening right now. The batteries are almost dead. Or are they?
You see there's something else behind the tiredness. The desire to take a nap while waiting on my dancer. When I shared in part 1 of "There's Hope" that there would be a part 2 that would include my story, I didn't realize God would use the very next day (today) to give me the start to part 2, but it makes sense. "Here you go Brandi, you need to talk about being tired. You need to talk about rest."
You see with Mark going to church now and setting the expectation for the children to attend, there's been a shift in how we worship. That's really what I thought this would be about....stepping back, letting my husband take the lead. It's no longer me "forcing" the kids to go someplace when "dad gets to stay home." It's no longer me "carrying the load" of leading my family while desperately praying for my husband. It's no longer me holding onto frustrations of 'doing it alone'.
This tiredness, is from trying to do it all. Trying to do more than I should have. God carried me through it all and He's reminding me to stay in prayer. God's letting me know that the shift that's taking place right now was no small feat. He carried me, He equipped me, but now He's saying to ease up, let go, let Mark take on some of the load. He's reminding me to TRUST HIM! to keep my eyes on HIM! to REST in HIM.
I share all this with you because none of this is what I expected. When I felt the weight lift from my shoulders several weeks ago, I was overcome with peace and relief. Years of faithful prayer being answered!
And if you are anything like me, you want to be in control. You want to make the decisions....just not the decision about "what's for dinner?" You spend so much time being "in charge" of certain things, that when things suddenly change, you don't know what to do.
Thankfully God knows me so well, He knows how I operate and so He's quick to provide me with just what I need. I was so busy focused on Him and working things out for myself and what I needed to walk away from, that I almost didn't notice the shift in dynamics for our family unit. I kinda was not even home to be part of Mark getting everyone ready for church because I was working at one church then rushing to the next church so I could be with my family.
Then it hit me one day, "My husband is leading the family to worship together." And the weight lifted even more.
Is it perfect?.....Absolutely NOT! But that's not what it's about.
When I shared in part 1 that a change would happen, I meant it. God knew how to ease me into the change so I wouldn't take control. I trust He will do the same for you. I know He has me sharing with you now because of all that I didn't expect. So when your help arrives or steps up to lead, let him. Be willing to step back just enough. Trust God and take advantage of resting in Him. Keep your eyes focused on Him. And then listen, because God is going to whisper your name.
Y'all I don't know where all this is going to lead. What I do know is God has been here every step of the way....even when I get in the way. He has a purpose and a plan for each of us. We may not see it or understand it, but we need to step out in faith. We need to trust and obey. I can't help but be excited for all God has planned.
Sunday, March 21, 2021
There's Hope...part 1
Not a really creative title, I know. But God has been onto me all year about getting back to writing. I preach and preach about needing to share our story. I question if you are using the gifts God gave you. Yet, here I sit once again having to admit that I don't always use what God has given me.
So here I am....a little rusty, but with something that He says I must share and that I need to stop waiting until the "right" moment.
You see those journals in the picture? Those are the physical evidence from 2017 where I wrote prayers and praises almost daily from March 11 to December 30, 2017. Prayers and praises to God for my husband.
Through this prayer time I grew and changed as a prayer warrior. My prayer language changed. They weren't the most eloquent prayers....and guess what, they didn't have to be. Sometimes they were short, sometimes long and detailed. I tried to read through some of them just now, but can't without a ton of tears.
Tuesday, November 12, 2019
Operating on Data Mathela: Who Says Kids Get to Have All the Fun?
I have been a P.I.R.A.T.E most of my teaching career and just didn't know it until reading Teach Like a PIRATE many years ago. Over the years I have had many ups and downs with how much of my "PIRATE" approach shows up. I have allowed others to silence me, I have not done the out of the box things I have wanted at times, and there are times I have stepped really far outside of the box.
The past 2 years have been a great adventure and struggle at the same time. I've been blessed to go to Ron Clark Academy and see so many engaging ways to work with students in a way that they reach high levels of learning. The problem....I don't have my own classroom to go back and implement these great strategies in. I am an instructional facilitator so much of my time is spent working with adults. I knew that in order for me to be fulfilled in this profession and not be burned out, I had to find my PIRATE self again. I had to figure out how to try out some fun, engaging ideas with the adults I work with.
Now that all that
Then around 3 or 4 in the morning on a FRIDAY, the idea sprang to life. I knew what had to be done. We were going to operate.
You see I knew that I needed a way to engage myself in the process and therefore engage the teachers in it as well. Every had those moments in the classroom? In a staff room?What better way than to have them scrub in for surgery! Friday morning I scoured our science kits and pulled together most of the materials I needed to create our operating room. Then I set to work printing the needed data for the teachers. Between classroom visits and teacher meetings, I worked on turning the data room into an operating room. I didn't quite have everything I needed so I did pull a few medical supplies from home and made a quick $10 trip to the local dollar store.
An operating room was now ready for patients and surgical teams:
On operation day teacher teams had to scrub in before entering the operating room:
They listened to a quick briefing on our patient, Data Mathela, then proceeded into the OR.
Once in the operating room, teachers had to extract all the foreign objects that seemed out of place (the wadded up pieces of paper with grade level item analysis data on them); everything else could stay. Afterall, everything else was the learning that "stuck" with Data Mathela.
Once all the foreign objects/specimens were collected we made our way to the analysis room to determine a treatment plan for Data Mathela moving forward.
We removed items from the collection trays, unwrinkled them, and studied the data. Teachers shared what they noticed overall and we referred to the benchmark assessment questions for further discussion. After discussing overall grade level results, teachers received their individual lab reports (their class data). Teachers then used this data to determine a "treatment plan" for their patient (class).
My biggest goal for the day was for teachers to spend time actually analyzing the data and not focus on comments about the benchmark assessment. Based on discussion, I feel this goal was met.
My other goal was for teachers to have discussion on ways to incorporate days like today's operating room for their students. Most teachers had numerous ideas on what they could do and the pleasant surprise for me were the confessions from teachers who said things like, "I have really been wanting to try _____" and "I've seen ideas where teachers turn their classrooms into _____". I am encouraged and excited to see what our teachers actual try out in their classes to increase engagement and get our students wanting to come back for more.
As with many things I am a little hard on myself so I did not walk away feeling as energized and excited as I expected. I saw so many ways I could have done things better. Next time I know I will stand and stay in "character" as the clinical professor. I know that when I sit among the group, my interaction level and energy levels drops off in a drastic way. Next time, I would definitely try to transform the room vs. limiting myself to a tiny space within the so that the atmosphere is throughout the workspace.
In the end, I must say that I would do this again in a heartbeat. I've learned a few things from this first attempt and I look forward to the next one.
What have you done to transform your classroom? Your meeting space with teachers? Your PLC? What have you turned these spaces into? How did it work out?
Tuesday, July 9, 2019
Footprints and Relationships
This is one of my favorite poems and reminders that even in our deepest, darkest times; God is right there. If you have read any of my early blogs you know that I often refer to the song, "By Your Side" by Tenth Avenue North. Very similar concept throughout the song and especially the chorus:
Colossians 2:6
1 John 2:6the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.
Monday, February 18, 2019
Lessons from the Dishes
The dishwasher has been broken for 2 months now. That means for 2 months, I have had the joy and privilege of washes dishes by hand...and that broken dishwasher is serving a new purpose...drying rack.
Joy and privilege! Yes, a chore that must be done and is supposedly so much more conveniently done via a machine...washing dishes can be joyful and a privilege.
For the past few weeks as I stood there at the sink I realized I have time to think. Okay, so many of you may think "oh boy. As if she didn't already think too much, now she's rejoicing over even more time," but hear me out.
When using the dishwasher, I was always in a rush, rinse them, load them, add detergent, turn the machine on....wait, wait, wait, and wait some more. Clean dishes. But having to wash them by hand, I realize I have time to "think". Even more time than say...hiding in the bathroom. Cause let me tell you, the kids find you in the bathroom, the husband finds you in the bathroom, but the kitchen while you are washing the dishes? Well, let's just say for the most part everyone disappears. Now don't get me wrong, I love my family, but sometimes I just need a moment to process the day and that's where the dishes come in.
Tonight, as I stood there, I started thinking about school stuff, but then I started thinking about God, my Bible studies, and it just all started coming together. You see Jesus washed me clean a long time ago. He died for a sinner like me. A sinner like you. He took on the dirt and grime of our sinful life so we can be made clean. But just like I'm reading in my study about righteousness, there is the right there immediate kind of righteousness that is found when we accept Jesus as our Savior. This is imputed righteousness. This is something we can only have through Him and it's immediate.
But you see it doesn't stop there. Just because we accept Christ doesn't mean we can just go out and live as freely as we want to. You now comes work and transformation.
As I went to set a dish on the rack I realized I had missed a spot. I missed it because the lighting at the sink isn't the greatest and so I had to wash it again. There are many times this happens in our Christian life as well. We were washed clean; however, that isn't the end. We keep living and we keep having to make the choice daily to follow God. Sometimes that gets tough. Sometimes we slip, we fall, we make decisions that cause us to get dirty. And sometimes we allow that dirt to prevent us from believing that God still loves us, still gives us grace. You see, this is where practical righteousness comes into play. It's the day to day, moment by moment actions and decisions we make. We have to choose to fight the darkness with light, we have to choose to put on the armor and stand at the ready for when the dirt tries to enter in.
So like that dish where I missed a spot because it was too dark to see it, my life and yours can easily get turned upside down if we spend time in darkness. And at first it may be a little spot, but if it remains in the dark, it has room to grow and build over time. The only way to fight it is with the truth, with the light, with the cleaning that only God provides. So I encourage you to be in the word and to be in constant prayer, constant conversation with God, walking with Him daily. And remember: Just like I didn't toss the dish just because I had missed a spot, God won't toss us aside either. Take it to Him...no matter what the 'dirt' is, repent, give it up, and DON'T try to take it back.