Day 29

I have very big news!!! Ava and I found out where we will be going on outreach in January!!!

BRAZIL!

I am super excited, and know that this is the right place for us. At my parents' church this Sunday, I began praying for the nation of Brazil, and God placed a burden on my heart for them.  Please begin to join me in prayer for the women and children especially in Brazil.

I have so much more to tell you all...but have to retire to bed!

I love you all!

Day 24

Ciao!
Today was a beautiful Fall day, with red golden leaves blanketing the hills in front of the "Big House".  The maintenance crew trying desperately to rake them up....only scattering them in the wind.  Ava plays with her friend Luke everyday, who is the same age as her.  She is having so much fun, and learning just as much about love as I am.  I can actually hear God whispering to me His thoughts about me!  He is romancing me, becoming my father, and the director of my life, all at the same time.  I am dropping the suitcases of my plans, and boulders of my burdens left and right just to be in Christ's presence.  I just can't seem to find anything in life as important and phenominal, luxorious, and magnetic as His love.  I am only just beginning my journey in this incredible thing called life.  I have realized within the past few short weeks that my future has open ended possibilities with Jesus.  Now that I have finally stopped planning my life out the way I think should play out...God is free to orchestrate and compose a heartstopping melody of my life.  I am more than overwhelmed and excited about what mine and Ava's future holds!
I love you all!
But especially I love...Patrick, Caroline, Tiffany, Alexis, and Elissa tonight! :)

Day 20

Hola friends!
I hope this post finds you all doing wonderfully!  I just had a skype chat with my parents...so I am doing wonderfully too.  I hope you don't feel abandoned by me.  I have been swamped with homework this week.  We made it back to the YWAM base in Adams on Wednesday, and we all have been busily writing, printing, stuffing and stamping our very first newsletter.  In addition, we have a big Bible project due on Monday.  Thankfully I am almost done, and you should all be recieving your newsletters sometime in the next week! 
This morning a few of us students got up early to do some fundraising.  Somehow all the younger than me students put me in charge...so I rounded everyone up early and we set off to rake some leaves for donations.  We drove for miles, and what felt like hours...but we only found a handful of yards with enough leaves in it to merit us asking if we could rake them!  Most of the people were uber friendly, and it made the excursion delightful.  The weather was gorgeous, and we were all in great spirits!  We stopped midway to make egg salad sandwiches in the parking lot of an empty church...still not having raked any yards.  Just before our giving up point, we found success!  A very large yard with two elderly ladies said "Of course! We always need help raking leaves!"  Without expecting any payment, we got to work.  One hour, a pick up truck filled to the brim with bags of leaves, and thirty dollars later...we headed home.  The boys all rode on top of the bags of leaves in the pick up of course!  It was my most favorite Saturday morning in Adams yet! 
Tomorrow we are trying a different church...the Vinyard in Clarksville.  Please be praying that we find a church that we fit into while we are here...I really don't want to be a church hopper for the next 9 weeks! 
Love and Blessings,
Brooke

Day 16

Hey friends!
So this week we are staying in a church auditorium in Nashville....I feel like I am at a youth group lock in!  It is bringing back great memories!  :) We are also hearing Andrew Reese speak about Identity in Christ.  It is some amazingly deep thoughts.  (I will add some bullet points of what we are learning about in the near future).  The best part is that we are prophesying over and edifying each other as well.  It has been a time of learning and healing...and crying! 
In the past I felt so distant from God, but these past weeks I am feeling Him so much nearer to me!  It is so amazing how well I can hear His voice...and I am baffled as to why haven't heard Him like this before! 
I was reading over my journal from this summer, and can see the progression of God's presence in my life.  I really can't even put how amazing I am feeling into words.
I hope that you all are well, and I will pray that God speaks to you this week in an undeniable loving way.
Please continue to pray for Ava and I for strrength, and good health.

Day 14

Okay, so TODAY was actually the day marking two weeks since we have begun our journey here.  Friday's ministry team outreach was wonderful.  Ava and I sat at the playground on the Riverfront in Clarksville, and did our usual thing.  We played on the slide, met some kids, and climbed on the climbing tower.  However, THIS time was different.  This time I was making a conscious effort to love people and pray for them.  I immediately saw two girls playing in matching outfits...and noticed their mom sitting to the side studying what seemed to be a gigantic Biology textbook.  I casually sat beside her and made small talk.  Then I strolled back over to Ava and a smaller boy who was laughing, and chasing after her.  His mom looked very tired, and so I started encouraging her and making small talk with her too.  After about 20 minutes, I asked if I could pray for her.  She seemed surprised and even hesitant, but said okay.  After I prayed for her she began to tell me about her son and how he was her miracle baby.  I then ventured over to the other woman who was studying for her Biology class.   I asked her if I could pray for her...she actually acted like she hadn't heard me.  She seemed very hesitant, but then agreed anyway.  I finished and went back over to Ava....and she followed me over.  She opened up and began to tell me how she was struggling in her class, and pondering over whether she should actually even be pursuing her nursing degree...or if God had something else planned for her. 

In both cases, after I prayed with both of the women, it seemed to release something in the spirit.  They willingly shared part of their lives with me.  It was a more than fantastic experience, and I only wish I had been praying for ALL the moms at ALL the parks I have ever been to with Ava. 

Be encouraged in this story to be bold and pray for strangers you meet in your everyday lives!  This might not be a new concept to some of you, however when you experience it...it is rejuvenating and reminds you how great God really is!

Tomorrow we will be traveling in to Nashville to stay for 3 days.  We will actually be camping out in the church that Ava and I have been to for the last two Sundays.  Our speaker for the week will be coming there to teach us about our identity in Christ.

This is a picture of our second speaker, Troy Sherman.  He taught us amazing things about hearing God's voice.  He brought his wife and son too...which is who Ava is hugging in the second picture!

I miss you all, and hope that you are enjoying my blog as much as I am!  I might not have an entry for the next few days, but I'll catch up at the end of the week.  I love you all!

Day 12

It has been only two weeks since Ava and I began this journey of learning and love.  It is unbelievable and almost impossible the amount of transforming that Jesus has already begun in our lives.  It feels as if I am meeting Jesus for the first time.  I am learning who He really is...instead of who I think He is.

In just 5 minutes, Ava and I will go out with our team of people, to the riverbank in Clarskville.  There we will love people, tell them how God has loved us in our lives, and tell them how much God desires to love them.  I am really excited, and can't wait to see how this play all about God turns out today!

Talk to you all soon!

Skip to Day 9

One of my VI (Very Important) friends asked me to add onto my blog what I have been learning here at YWAM.  It was a very smart request.  So, here are some bullet points of truths that God has been revealing to me:

• I must begin studying the Bible in more depth, so that I will know what God is saying, and what His character is really like...not just what I think His character is like.
• I can always trust that what the Bible says is true, and that it is God speaking to me.
• There are many verses that I have created a meaning for that is not the correct meaning!
• I need to meditate on who God is, and how big and all-knowing, and creative He really is BEFORE I start praying meaningless words to Him.
• I need to think about what God wants me to pray before I begin praying.
• In the Bible, God doesn't talk about how majestic He is...He mostly talks about how creative He is...that He created us...that He is the father of Abraham...and of us!
• The very first thing God did was create...He didn't speak audibly...He created.
• The LEAST creative way for God to speak to us is audibly, but it is the most important way to us (for some reason).
• God wants to speak to us by giving us romantic experiences!  What an idea!
• So, we have actually been hearing God speak to us a lot more than we think!
• If I truly love God, then I will love what He loves.  He loves people and the Nations.
• God's name, "Yaweh" is actually pronounced without vowels....thus making it sound like a breathe in and a breathe out.  So every time we breathe in and out, we are saying God's holy name!

I pray that what I am learning creates insight and revelation to you all!

Days Five and Six

I definitely know that I know that I know I was meant to come to this DTS!  Friday afternoon we shared our testimonies in our small groups...which consists of me, four other young girls from my DTS class, Annie (who keeps Ava) and our leader Emily (A YWAM staffer who is in her mid 20's).  It was the coolest experience!  A lot of the girls are going through similar things that I have been through in my life, and are really looking forward to learning from me.  However, I was so humbled by what the young girls shared with me.  They are very respectful towards me, and treat me like I have wisdom!  That in itself is humbling!  I am learning about compassion and passionate love towards God from them already.  Our small group leader is such a cool person too, and hears very well from the Lord, as well as seeing things in the Spirit.  I am so excited just to be around her!  I am going to go to her church tomorrow....Grace Center, which is in Franklin TN....just south of Nashville.  I will let you all know how it goes!