Choices

I am so grateful to God for His goodness! He's so amazing and wonderful, it blows my mind. This Autumn has been so beautiful, it almost takes my breath away every time I step outside the door. The crispy cool air, and the leaves, awaken some indescribable excitement inside of me. There is so much joy and beauty in life, if we only force ourselves to see it. It lies in simple things like a beautiful song that stirs your soul and brings tears to your eyes, or in a multi colored flower. Beautiful thoughts and joy are personal choices, especially in this age of evil and horrifying circumstances. God gave me a real life example today of how we choose our emotions. Today, a friend of mine told me that he trys not to listen to the news because it's so depressing, and the state of our world is so messed up. He went on to explain that there are generations of people that aren't even living their lives because they're debilitated by the fear that they sense through the media. Instead of pursuing joy, they continue to let themselves be dragged down. So instead of focusing on the darkness, he devotes his time to improving his mind and playing / creating beautiful music. It's a choice that he makes every day, a choice that all of us need to make. Life is so full of small choices that we don't give much thought to, but they end up affecting our lives forever. Choices affect not only our generation, but the lives of generations to come. I want so desperately for people to see Christ in me, and to live my life totally devoted to Him. It's like a hunger, and there's so much to do that I can never satisfy it. There's so many dreams and desires that I have, but I really just want to love God and seek joy and beautiful thoughts. That's the choice I want to make, for the rest of my life.

Springtime and Brooke Return to the Blog..

Isn't that hilarious that back in February I apologized for "not having written in a LONG time" when it had only been 3 weeks between posts?? I mean, come on!! It has been almost 6 MONTHS since I last wrote! :D But seriously, if you all are sad about the long silence, you should really feel pain for my dear pen-pal Rebekah. She has patiently waited for an un-countable number of months for a letter. And it is finally being written and sent as well.

There's just something about Spring time that breathes hope and life into everything. It charges one with energy, and makes you want to press forward and finish unfinished tasks that have slept all winter. This has been a busy spring, but then again, I guess that every spring is really busy! I recently started a Life Guard course at Discover Aquatics (the pool where I work), and it has been very taxing. Somewhere in all the craziness I've been trying to find the time to pick up writing again... henceforth this blog entry.

Because of my Life guard course, I am out of the house swimming, approx. 6 days a week, and two of those days I swim at our local high school pool. It's very fun, because all the senior citizens turn out for water aerobics, and I have made fast friends with several of them. After just two days of swimming with them, I have received two job offers (life guarding / teaching at that pool), and a movie on swimming like a fish. Actually, the video is coming to me next week, but you get the idea.

Well, I have to get up early tomorrow and teach, so I need to depart. But hey, maybe I'll keep up with y'all more regularly. By the way, did you notice that my blog has changed it's face a bit? The old look was so last year. :D

Have a jolly day!!

Love, Brooke

Hello World!!

Hello Everyone! So sorry that I haven't posted in awhile!! Anyway, I wanted to share with you all something really neat that my friend Lauren wrote on Valentine's day. Even though it's a bit past the date, the message still definitely applies. So, read her post, be inspired, and I promise to commence writing again soon! :)

Love, Brooke

Thoughts On Singleness and Contentment This Valentine's Day

By Lauren Torres

As each passing February day has brought Valentine's Day closer and closer, I will admit that I have been thinking a lot about love, romance, and relationships. I am what you would call a "hopeless romantic". I sigh over romantic movies...whether the hero of the day is Mr. Darcy or Gilbert Blythe. As the movie credits roll and some inspiring film score plays, I am filled with hope and excitement for the future. While I don't believe that it is wrong to look forward to that time in our lives, I do believe that oftentimes singles are guilty of wasting time. And I am including myself in this! I have noticed that we as singles are often looking to the next big thing in our lives to bring us happiness and contentment....finishing school, getting that job, starting a career, beginning a relationship, etc. We focus our time and energies towards that point in time and forget to invest in today.

This can also be applied to the romantic relationships area of our lives. I have known many young people who are so discontent with their lives simply because they do not have that special someone in their lives. They feel incomplete with the intimate companionship of the opposite sex. And yet, when they are finally in that much-desired relationship, they are rarely truly happy, because either the relationship should have never began, or it was started for selfish reasons. Don't waste time! If God has marriage in your future, then this time is precious! You will never have this time back again. This is preparation time for us. There are so many things that you are free to do while you are single that you may not have the opportunity to do once you are married, if God so desires. Don't waste time longing for the future to come--it will come soon enough. I encourage you to use your singleness to serve God with passion. Use your singleness to serve others....family, friends, and church. Focus on growing and building godly friendships with other singles, and encouraging one another in their relationship with Jesus. We as singles will never be truly content in any relationship until we have an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. And no, I am not talking about going to church on Sundays, or reading our Bibles for a few minutes and then mumbling a prayer for the day. I am not even talking about missions trips and ministry. I am talking about a intimate, personal relationship with the Creator of the Universe, the One who's mighty hands formed us. The One who knew us before we were even a thought in our parent's minds. Paul writes in Philippians 4:11, "...for I have learned to be content with whatever I have." This is so true. For those who long for romantic relationships and marriage and are not content with their present situation, they will likely be discontent in a relationship or marriage. The romantic earthly love of another person can never compare the love of Jesus. He is the Lover of our souls. He desires to be close to us! We don't deserve His love, yet He longs to be one with us. Jeremiah 31:3 says "I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself." I love that! His unfailing love draws us to Him! His love will never fail and never end. Even in good, godly relationships, we will face disappointment at times. Those we love will let us down and hurt. But God promises unfailing love. Let's not be discontent this Valentine's Day! I would encourage you to get alone with the Lord, spend some time talking the King of your heart. He is the greatest romantic...He died so that we might know the beauty and hope of His unfailing love. Draw near to Him and He will draw near to you (James 4:8). -Lauren

Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year, everyone!! Won't 2009 be simply splendid??

We started off the year with 3 feet of snow, which has now melted down to about 11 inches.
As the snow continued to fall, the 'phone rang off the hook, canceling all my plans for the week.
For example, the phone rang, I answered. "Oh, the pool is closed due to snow, so don't come to work? Okay, bye,"

Two minutes later, the phone rang, and again I answered. "Oh, the Christmas party is canceled, due to snow? Okay, bye." An hour later, the phone rang, I answered - and knew before I picked it up that somewhere, something was canceled due to snow. "Hello! Oh, the choir concert and church are canceled due to snow? Okay, bye."
This pattern continued for a couple of days, until one Christmas party, several days of work, church, a Wilderness Northwest meeting, and a choir concert was canceled, while one was still being decided about. What had started out as a horrendously crazy week, quickly turned into a very quiet, stay-at -home week, due to snow. Needless to say, we are all so tired of the snow now! God's creations are always so beautiful, but sometimes he sends a little too much of them. :)
So, the New Year has started out cold, snowy, and a little quiet, but the joy of a fresh New Year is warming our hearts. There is something so exciting about a New year..it's like tomorrow - fresh, with no mistakes in it yet, as Anne of Green Gables would say. :0) Have a wonderful, blessed New Year everyone!!

Love, Brooke

Merry Christmas!

(Be sure to click the "pause" button on the music player located to the left of the blog, before listening to the music videos.)

Merry Christmas Greetings from snow bound western Washington. (Check out my Mother's blog for some snow pictures!) I've been pretty busy lately, but will (Lord willing!) get back to blogging about my Tennessee adventures soon! For now, I'll leave you with a tidbit about what I've been up to lately... A couple of weeks ago, I was blessed to go the the Fiftieth annual Julfest (featuring the Swedish Lucia Bride Service) at First Covenant Church in Seattle. The Shoemaker family took me, and we had a wonderful time!! The Julfest was so Christ centered and uplifting - truly an exciting pre-Christmas experience! The short clips of the service below are just a sampling of how awesome it really was. For a special touch to the usual program, a Swedish choir came all the way from Sweden to sing for the Julfest!! I really wish that I had more pictures, but it wasn't one of those situations where it was appropriate to be a 'shutter bug.' :o)

Next year, my parents and I are hoping to attend "Handel's Messiah" also in Seattle... wish we could have made it this year, but things were way too busy!


I was hiding behind a pillar, so the view isn't that terrific. In person it was breathtaking!

And just yesterday evening we attended the Shoemaker Brothers concert in Shelton. It was held at the Shelton High auditorium, and about 300 people showed up despite the crazy snow! The concert was amazing, the boys did so well, and we were quite proud of their sucess. Mrs. Shoemaker and I supplied the refreshments and it was a huge answer to prayer when my friend Lael showed up with a bunch of cookies. Thank you so much Laelann!! We were worried there wouldn't be enough, but God was in control and it all worked out beautifully! By the way, for anyone that's interested, the next local concert is January 9th, at Charles Wright academy in Tacoma, WA - 7:00 p.m - $12 at the door. Below are pictures from the concert and the boys' recent youtube video.

Samuel, Nathanael, Daniel, & Gabriel

Be sure to check out the Shoemaker Brothers Website for tour dates - they're embarking on a national tour and may be coming to a town near you...

Shoemaker Brothers - Dancing Girl

A Thankful Thanksgiving To You All!!

Enter into His gates with Thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful unto Him, and bless His name. For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations.

Psalm 100: 4,5

Thanksgiving is a day when we come together to be reminded of God's many blessings to us throughout our lives and throughout the year. God is so good, and has richly provided for us as his children. I am so thankful for the freedom to worship and serve the Lord, a freedom for which our forefathers fought and gave up their lives. Freedom, and the chance to worship God was the reason that the little band of pilgrims set forth on a perilous journey to a new land. Now, almost 400 years later that group of less than 60 people have become a great nation. We have the freedoms we have, because many before us sacrificed so they could save the love and hope of their life: FREEDOM!

I am so thankful for God's gift of freedom, and for His never ending mercy and love. I recently read a really neat quote by Robert Strand. It goes as follows: "Those whose lifestyle is marked by thanksgiving will enjoy a sweetness to life uparalleled by any other."

May we be encouraged to give thanks to God in every circumstance this year, finding that a thankful heart is the secret to a happy life.

Thanks be to God for His indescribable gifts!

Love, Brooke

God Bless America!

God Bless America! May He stand beside our nation and guide and protect her through the following years. Who knows now, how long it will be that we are free to write, and speak, and publish what we really think.

Obama will 'change' America, yes he can and he will. But not for the better. America as we know her, has come to an end. At the end of Barack Obama's four years, so much liberal legislation and socialist agenda will have been put in place, that we will not know our free country any more. And we have stood by and let the communists put the nails in our coffin. It is true, our country has made history as they say. But the sacrifice of our freedom was a high price to pay.

May God have mercy on our nation, and forgive her, for she knows not what she does.