Make up your mind

Ok, so it's been a while.

Yes, it's been over a month, and I apologize! I got married to the love of my life on July 12th so cut me a little slack. In case you don't believe me, here is a picture.

Wow she's beautiful!...Now that you believe me, we can get on to the topic of choice.

Make up your mind. People in today's world are indecisive. We all are this way from time to time. My wife asks me what I want to eat and my answer is most always "I don't know". The are some times where it's not a big deal to not know, and there are other times where you need to know. Is it a big deal whether or not I know what I want to eat? Of course not! But there are times where it's important to know what you want.

I took the picture on the left a few days ago while coming home from work. It actually was the inspiration for my article. The top no parking sign is always there, but the bottom temporary sign obviously isn't. So is it temporary or not? Someone should make up their mind.

We all have to make choices in life. Some minor, some major, but all are choices. God created us with the ability to choose things for ourselves. We have to make up our minds about certain things. Adam had an option to choose to sin with Eve or follow God. Abraham had the option to choose whether or not to sacrifice his son. Lot had a choice of which field he would take. We know what results were wrought because of their choices. Listen to what Joshua said in Joshua 24:15

"And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord , choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."

Do you think it was an easy choice for him to go against the crowd and pick a side? He could have just not made a choice right? Wrong! He had to choose to either follow God or not. God doesn't leave room for a "maybe" answer. You're in or out and there's no middle ground. So why as Christians do we think we can straddle the fence between worldliness and godliness?

We all know people who have left church recently. Teens who decide that they don't want to "play church" anymore, adults who don't have time, families that say they spend Sundays "as a family" rather than attending. Why? Because they finally chose a side.

The barrier between sides is more like a gate than a fence. It's always an option to go from one side to the other. There's a gate and you can either cross the gate and leave it open behind you, or you can close the gate and give the key to Christ to hold. If you leave the gate open behind you, then someday you'll cross back over. If you lock it but don't give the key to Christ, then you'll unlock it someday. But if you give it to Christ then you'll have to steal it back to cross back over.

Make up your mind. Where do you stand? Are you leaving the gate open just in case you want to indulge yourself? Are you holding on to the key to that one thing you won't give to Christ? Or have you given Christ your all?

I don't pretend that I've given everything to Christ. I would like to, but every day he shows me a key I still have in my pocket. Search yourself. Ask Christ to search you for keys you haven't given him. Then chose you this day whom you will serve.

Married but Lonely

   I can hardly believe it; Simeon and I are 3 weeks away from our wedding day! We are so excited not only about that special day, but also about the days and years to follow as we live our life as a married couple!

   The pastor that is performing our ceremony lives 8 hours away, so marriage counseling has been a little different for us. Pastor Brown has sent Sim and I a total of four books. We were to read them, discuss them together, and then write him and let him know what we learned from each book. So, we have spent the past few months reading through these books together and gleaning wisdom from couples who have gained a lot of  life and marriage experience. I know that I personally have learned many things from these books!

   One of the books we read was about communication. Something in the very beginning of the book caught my interests. The author wrote about how people often experience loneliness in marriage. Now he was not referring to couples who were unequally yoked, distant, or not as in love as they once were. He was talking about couples who were Christians and were deeply in love! My immediate thought was, how on earth could I be lonely when I have a wonderful marriage to my very best friend?! That just didn't make sense to me! The author went on to explain what he meant by that statement. Every human being is created with a void inside them, and we all have a desire to have that void filled. We seek for true love, total acceptance, and a relationship that will be our rock through all the up's and down's of life. Most people, myself included, would first think that this is found in a spouse. While you can find all of those things in your life's mate, they will never be able to fill that void in your heart. God didn't create that void in a way that could be filled by a person. The only one who is able to fill that void in your heart is God Himself! So yes, if God does not have his rightful place in your life, and if you are trying to have that void filled by your spouse, you will face that loneliness!

   Simeon is above and beyond anything I could've dreamed for myself! I love him with all of my heart, and I know he is the man God created me for. He is my true love and my rock, yet he cannot fill the void in my heart. We can have a heavenly marriage, but God has to be my first love! Only then will everything else fall into place!

    Now I know some of you are probably thinking, why is she writing about marriage when she hasn't even experience it yet? And to be honest, you are right! But I do know from other areas of life, that we all must put Christ first! He must be the one to fill the void in our hearts! Not a spouse, money, things, family, friends, etc. This principle can be applied to all areas of our lives!

   So friends, as Sim and I are beginning to enter into this new stage of life, please pray that we will always keep Christ first! And I challenge you to do the same! We need never be lonely when we have such a wonderful God and Savior! Deuteronomy 31:8 says, "And the LORD, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed." God promises He will always be there for us! What a precious promise!

All for His Glory,

Brettnay

Where are the brakes on this thing?

School is over, but I am not really any less busy! What's going on?

Well, I have no furniture in my bedroom now because I spent all day last Saturday loading it into my dad's truck and dropping it off at my future house. Brettnay is currently living there until we get married. We've been decorating and purchasing necessities for weeks now. And I thought life would slow down a little!

Maybe life will slow after the wedding, and maybe not. I learned a while ago that life isn't about wishing things would come sooner or wanting time to move slower. Some people spend their days wishing it was tomorrow, and some people spend them hoping tomorrow never comes.

God says in Ecclesiastes that there is a time for everything. He mentions several things like a time to laugh, cry, go to war, have peace, etc. The point of the passage is that there is a time for everything in life and all things are under His control. People get all out of whack when things don't happen exactly as planned or when something bad happens. They fail to realize that everything happens right when God allows it to.

Have you ever heard someone say, "When it rains, it pours"? The phrase means that everything seems to happen all at once. I have my own theory about that. I think we tend to make a bigger deal about minor things when we are already stressed about something else. It seems like everything is going wrong at once when really most of the time, there is only one major thing and a few minor issues.

When things don't seem to be going our way, we wish the whole thing would just be over with. Sometimes we know something is coming up, so we wish time would just stop. Christ wants us to live in the time we are in. He gives us the trials we have to teach us. Sometimes it's to give us the ability to influence others for the better. So stop and smell the roses from time to time and allow yourself to enjoy today!

I can't wish that life would slow down because there is much I need to do between now and the wedding to prepare myself. I'm also looking forward to my wedding and sometimes it seems I can't wait for it to be here, but I have to make sure that I don't miss today. God may have something special for me. I don't want to rush right past it.

Keep thinking friends,

Simeon Brazzell
I Tim 1:12