Merry New Year!

Aloha from the Big Island of Hawaii!

Finals Are Here

It's finals week! This means my first semester of college has come and is just about gone. I can't believe it. It flew by.

This last semester has required a lot of change. And I am not the same Brittany that walked onto campus 4 months ago, that is for sure. My mind has been stretched, my heart has been enlarged, and my hands have gotten dirty. I've been apart of some really amazing things. The process, the in between, the messy, the tension, the struggle, these are the things I embrace, the things I love. The days when I didn't want to be here, when things didn't make sense, that's when I was able to lay back in the arms of God and know that I was where He wanted me to be.

Following Jesus is an adventure, a really beautiful adventure.

Thanks for all your love this past semester, I am ridiculously thankful for you guys.

The Vase

Turkey Day in AZ! What a rad family.




Lately, I picture my life. Where will I be, what will it look like, what will I be doing? And in my hands, I now have my vase. It is shaped to my liking, it has sweet designs carved in, and holds really vibrant flowers. It is an excellent piece of work I have to admit. Very fancy shmancy. Everyone will be super impressed. And that's really the scary part. Because it's pretty good. So, I'm content.

And in the next sentence I bow my head humbly and say, God, not my vase, but yours.

Here's the thing, while in my mind a "good" vase might look like very tall, smooth, and useful, God is on a different page. He is thinking something else. Because my vase, as "good" as it might be, was still created by me. And there lies the problem. I want a vase created by God.

Check out these crazy verses.
"Of what value is an idol, since a man has carved it? Or an image that teaches lies? For he who makes it trusts in his own creation; he makes idols that cannot speak. Woe to him who says to wood, 'Come to life!' Or to a lifeless stone, 'Wake up!' Can it give guidance? It is covered with gold and silver; there is no breath in it. But the LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him." (Habakkuk 2:18-20)

Seriously, as shiny as my vase is, it can't breathe, it can't speak truth, it cant guide. But to sit at the feet of Jesus in complete silence, this is where my vase is brought to life. It moves and lives when I stop being the creator and let the God of the universe do that. Pretty scary, really. Because more than likely my vase is going to look kinda small and kinda lumpy. It will probably keep changing, while God keeps molding. It's going to be a process because I might start to add my own pieces some days. And that might mean God will have to wipe out what I made and start over. Nobody likes to see their work of art be destroyed, so I'll probably be pretty stubborn about it. When I give in, it's probably going to hurt. But when I sit with Jesus everyday, more than anything I want Him to see His beautiful work of art, not mine.