No Regrets

           With a little baby here at home it has been lots harder to update this blog. She is napping now and I am going to write...


         Have you ever had an opportunity to tell someone how you feel but instead of taking advantage of that moment you watched as it passed you by? Yesterday on the news they shared a story of how a troop from Afghanistan made a youtube video asking a famous actress to be his date to the annual military ball in North Carolina. The video was shown to the actress and she was touched and much to the trooper's surprise she agreed to be his date. I guarantee that he has no regrets for making the video. Now if he had thought about making the video and then never actually done it he would probably be full of regret.


      Over the fourth of July weekend we received news that Brian's grandad had taken a turn for the worse. The doctors were predicting he had 48 hours to live. Brian's parents were in Colorado when they got the news. Since they had their camper and truck they had no choice but to drive back to Tennessee. During the days that they traveled back Brian would go and visit his grandad in the ICU and tell him how far they were how much they loved him and then he would report back to his parents how his grandad was doing.  On Friday night his grandad was doing pretty bad but he was still able to make eye contact, shake his head yes or no and he could squeeze your hand. Brian waited until everyone else had exited the room before he shared his heart with his grandad. He told his grandad how wonderful Meritt is and how sorry he was that his grandad wouldn't get the chance to meet her, he told his grandad how much his parents loved him and how much he loved him. He also told his grandad that whenever he was ready to go because when his eyes closed he would hear the words that we all long to hear when we die "Well Done My Good and Faithful Servant" he told his grandad that he had lived a good life and that he had served his family and God so well. He promised his grandad that his grandmother would be taken care of. During this talk Brian had tears rolling down his face and his grandad squeezed his hand and fixed his eyes on Brian. No Regrets.

    Sometimes it is so difficult to dig deep and to share those raw thoughts. It is so hard because we might cry, the person might not like what we have to say but you have to ask yourself...will I regret never sharing how I feel. So many leave this earth suddenly and we don't have some time to prepare ourselves and to say the things that we are feeling. That is why we should share how we feel everyday.

   May we all live lives purely and full of No Regrets.

P.S.  Meritt is pretty great and I want to do a blog about her soon :)

So Hard to Say Goodbye

         For those of you that don't know Jeff and Ashley Brown they are the pastor and pastor's wife at our church. They are a young couple with the world at their fingertips. Up until 6 months ago they were able to go on a date night whenever they wanted, pick up and go for a weekend getaway whenever the urge hit them and besides caring for themselves they really only were responsible for their 2 dogs. That however was a little over 6 months ago. These past 6 months have been quite the opposite. They have been foster parents to two kids that are around 10 and 3 years old. These two kids have lived in lots of homes in a very short period of time and they have been dealt a card in life that is much harder than most.


        Since the children have moved in with Jeff and Ashley their lives have all changed. Jeff and Ashley suddenly had 2 kids that needed love and attention. They have given up date nights, weekend getaways and nights lounging on their couch watching their favorite tv shows. Instead it has all been replaced by caring for two kids who have never experienced the love and attention that most of us have been blessed with knowing. A 10 year old boy with no emotion, no excitement a wall has been built so that he doesn't have to be hurt anymore. When opening Christmas gifts at Jeff and Ashley's he showed no expression, said nothing and he was opening some really cool gifts! At a recent church league game Jeff came off the court when it was over and was greated by 3 year old Jaliegh she ran with her arms open wide yelling "DADDY" and Jeff said "well hey there beautiful." In that moment I was struck with a thought; I wondered if she has ever been called beautiful or told she was beautiful before living with the Brown's.

    As an outsider I have watched two children be transformed. I have witnessed them open their hearts and personalities because they were being built up and loved by the Brown's. I have also seen Jeff and Ashley give up their free time to love some children that otherwise would get no love. It hasn't all been fun either, they have patiently dealt with temper tantrums, cleaned up messes, and gone to multiple court hearings. I have seen Jeff and Ashley be transformed and fall in love with these two kids and this past Sunday at church when I saw Jeff and Ashley with the kids I couldn't help but tear up knowing that June 1st will be much harder on them than any of us can begin to imagine.

    A judge ruled that on June 1st the kids will move out of state to permanently reside with an aunt and uncle. This is good because they have an older sibling that they will be able to be reunited with. It is sad because Jeff and Ashley have an undeniable bond with these kids and it is going to be so so hard to say goodbye. My prayer for the kids is that no matter how old or how far they go they will never forget the love that the Brown's have for them and the love that our Heavenly Father has for them. I pray that the Brown's will have a peace during this transition and that even though it is going to be very hard I pray God will bless them with a comfort that can only come from Him.

   Please join me in praying for Jeff, Ashley and the kids. I also pray that God will create all of our hearts to be more like Jeff and Ashley's. I pray that we will all have hearts that long to serve God more than serving ourselves. Thanks to the Brown's for the lessons that you have taught so many!

Our Prayer for Meritt

"May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully.  Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God." Ephesians 3:19



       We have searched, talked and prayed for a verse that we wanted to be our prayer for Meritt. A verse that has words much wiser than anything we could write, something we could pray over her long before she herself ever learns to read.  We have found many verses that pricked our hearts both for her and for us as her parents. We discovered that Proverbs has all kinds of wonderful wisdom for parents and there have been many other powerful verses that touched us more than we might have thought.  It was when we came upon this verse, Ephesians 3:19 that we knew this was the verse that we wanted to pray over our daughter for the rest of our days.

      I have been touched by knowing how blessed Meritt is to be born into a family that cannot wait to teach her the love that Christ has. It is humbling to think that there are children in this world tonight that do not know the love of Christ. It breaks my heart to think of the void that is within so many that have never met or will never know the love of Christ.

     21 days left in this pregnancy and we have spent so much time getting prepared. Decorating the nursery, washing all of Meritt's clothes and reading up on as many baby books as possible . We have prayed for Meritt everyday, we have prayed that our marriage will not falter, that our faith will not waiver during this new phase in our life.  The preperations are almost complete, it will soon be "go-time" it will be our time to learn, love and most of all get to teach this being the love of Christ!

   Thanks be to God for the gift of His love! Thanks be to God for entrusting us with this little Meritt Grace! We are so honored to be her Mom and Dad and we will continue to pray for her and do our best to show her the love that God has for her. Our prayer is that Meritt will grow with a desire in her own heart to share the love of Christ with all that she meets!!

Lord for Your Glory

             Ever since we opened our office in 2009 we have had the same UPS delivery driver. He comes in almost everyday at about 1pm to make a delivery. At first it was a simple "Hi/Bye" conversation between the two of us but since then we have talked more about his kids, about my pregnancy, where he goes to church, where I go to church, etc. Yesterday he came in and I asked him if he was tired from Tuesday night's storms and he shared a story with me...A few years ago when the tornado hit Union University he was in Union's parking lot fixing to make a delivery. He looked up saw how bad it was and started to get out of his truck to run into married housing. Before he could make it out of his truck the tornado picked up his truck slamming it down on its nose then picked it up a second time and spun it around and slammed it on its nose again. His elbows and back went through the windshield. He said then everything was quiet and dark. The next noise he would hear were the ambulance, police and firetruck sirens approaching Union's campus. He walked away completely ok. He told me he didn't know why God chose to save Him but from that moment he knew that he would share this story to give God the glory in hopes of growing His Kingdom.

         I was touched by his story, amazed that he walked away ok, and astonished that he still drives a UPS truck ( I think I would be traumatized to ever get in one again) ha! The words he said made me think...do I use the blessings that God so generously pours out on me for His Glory? The success of our business, the happy marriage that I am apart of, this baby that is coming so soon, the healing of my dad, as you can see this list is endless. My blessings or stories may not be as intriguing and exciting as the UPS drivers but they are real and they have been poured out on me even though I don't deserve them.

         My prayer this morning has been to use it all, to use the exciting stories, to use the ever so small, to use the astonishing, to use all the blessings that have been given to me for God's Glory.

13

                13 years ago alot happened. I started highschool, my brothers 4-wheeler got stolen (they were devestated), the movie THE TITANIC came out, I knew then that I would be going to college at Pepperdine in Malibu, CA (didn't happen), I got a phone call that changed my life, and I kissed a boy that turned my world upside down. 13 years ago...1998 it seems like a world away and then it seems as if it were only yesterday.



              On March 27, 1998 my parents yelled upstairs "Brooke you have a phone call." On the other end of that phone was a boy, Brian Pearson. We had talked a couple of times at school but really not a whole lot. As I talked to him that night my stomach was doing dances and to think today that we have a baby inside my stomach doing dances...who would have thought? This past Sunday was March 27 and as I wrote my check out at church and dated it I realized it has been 13 years. Wow!


            On April 4, 1998 we went to see THE TITANIC it was our first date the movie lasted 3 hours and everyone talked about how long it was but me I was wishing it would've lasted a little longer. He was the highschool quarterback, played basketball, baseball everyone in highschool knew him. I couldn't believe that he was interested in me.

          I remember our 1st kiss was at Ashley Warren's parents house in the playroom. It was my first kiss and it was wet and sloppy and nothing like I thought. Since then our kisses have vastly improved but to this day I remember that kiss as if it happened last night.

     I can remember praying to God asking Him to please let me marry Brian Pearson. We had some bumps along the way but in the end we did marry and I can't say thank you to God enough. Thank you for the blessing of a husband that is a true spiritual leader, thank  you for letting me marry my best friend and thank you for now expanding our family.

     13...thankful for 13 years with my best friend and love of my life!

Blessings, Gifts and Talents!

      She has been blessed with many talents but most would argue that cooking is the best of these. She doesn't reserve her talents for herself instead she shares with everyone and anyone who is hurting or anyone that she loves.  When my dad was hospitalized for a month she brought multiple wonderful meals to my parents and get this...every single day she brought fresh coffee to the hospital. She doesn't do this because she has more free time than you or me, she doesn't do this to receive something in return. She does this because she is thankful for the gifts that God has blessed her with and the way she says thank you, the way that Jesus lives through her is by the sharing of her talents.

     A couple of weeks ago I was at home sick with a viral infection I got an inbox message on facebook saying "I am bringing miracle soup to your house I will leave it on the front porch."  The soup tasted awesome (especially to my sore throat) but the miracle wasn't in the soup itself. The miracle was in the hands that prepared it, the serving heart that brought it by out of the blue.


      Her name is Margaret Morrison and if you know her you have probably tasted some wonderful delicacy that she has made. Either a cake ball, soup, her salmon...truly this list is endless. I have loved everything she has made but even more than the taste I have loved the reminder that she gives to me and to so many others. The reminder to be thankful for the gifts and talents that we have been blessed with and to use them to the Glory of God and to bless others. Thank you Margaret for the willingness to bless others with your talents!

The Depth's of His Love

      For anyone that knows Brian at all one thing that can be said without argument is that he Hates to go shopping. If given a choice he would choose almost anything over shopping. That is why this weekend was so surprising and sweet to me. This past weekend we went to Chicago for the mid-winter dental meeting. Brian had classes to take on Friday and Saturday so Thursday was just a fun day for the two of us. After we ate lunch we went for a little shopping. We went into a department store and as soon as we walked in we were greeted with a very large shoe department. This of course stopped me in my tracks and I stayed occupied in this department for the next 30 or so minutes. When I got done in shoes I noticed that Brian had wandered off so I went to look for him. I figured I would find him sitting in a chair playing on his phone but I was wrong. I found him in the baby girls department with several outfits that he had found for our little girl. I almost started crying on spot...partly out of shock, partly out of messed up hormones, and partly b/c I thought maybe someone had stolen my husband and switched bodies with him. When he looked up at me he grinned and said "Come here I want your opinion on these" I am telling you now it wouldn't have mattered if it were the ugliest outfit in the world at this point because the gesture was so genuine and so sweet.


      While walking to dinner that night I still had a grin on my face. I was smiling because I couldn't help but think how lucky this little girl is to have a father that loves her so much he would do the thing he hates the most to show his love for her. Then I was struck with an even more powerful thought...the love Brian has for this girl it can be described by stories like this or by sweet things that he says but the love that our Heavenly Father has for this little girl and for you and for me...well that love is so Big, it is so Deep that the smartest of minds cannot begin to comprehend the depths. I am so thankful for a Heavenly Father that's love runs so deep I cannot see where it begins or where it ends. I am so thankful for a Heavenly Father that loves me just as I am. His love is Big, it is Merciful, it is Deep and I pray that I will appreciate the love that my Heavenly Father has for me a little more everyday.