words of a true friend

Gosh, my eyes are getting teary as I write this.  I just want to record this somewhere.  I've been reluctant to call any of my friends "best friend," because with that comes a 7th grade girl definition which says that means I only have one best friend.  But, I'm a grownup now, and I do have a best friend.  Sadly she lives on the other side of the country.  She was in town a couple of weeks ago.  She came to my house one day after work.  I was emotionally drained that day due to recent life events, but I sat and listened. I really had very little to offer her that day in the form of encouragement, words of wisdom, etc.  Then we went to the Y together, with the intention of going to a Zumba class. We ended up lifting weights instead. The other day she told me on the phone something to the effect of, "I knew you didn't have anything to offer, and that was ok.  It honestly didn't matter much to me what we did, whether sit and talk, weight lift, or zumba, but I just wanted to hang out with you."  Well, gosh-golly-gee.  What a friend.

not running the peachtree but a different kind of race.

Hey folks.  I know it's been awhile.  I'm going to use this tiny platform to tell you how excited I am about walking the peachtree road race this year.  It will be my 3rd year participating in the race. Here's a little more about why I'm walking.

While I would love to shoot for another PR this year in the race...Christopher's insight into his experience of carrying the jerry can last year (filled with 5 gallons of water at the halfway point)- how difficult it was, and how it totally changed his perspective on the need for access to clean water everywhere- was both challenging and gut-wrenching.  Challenging because, these days, I am thrilled at the idea of physically challenging my body (my sore muscles hate me for this right now).   Gut wrenching  because I think of children having to make an Xmile round-trip every day to fetch water (dirty, disease ridden water).    

I feel a little selfish about posting those two reasons, because one of them is about me...and this whole thing is so obviously not about me.  But maybe God will use this to take my eyes off myself for just a hot minute (literally HOT minute) when I am walking.

I'm joining in with Christopher and approximately 60 others (as of this past sunday) to raise funds/awareness for CharityWater by walking the race carrying a yellow jerry can.  

You can join too.  Registration for the race is by lottery, and it's open March 15-22.    If you would like to join is, you can email me at gtbrookie@gmail.com or Christopher at wewillnotstop2012@yahoo.com.

2011. a synopsis in photos and bullet points.

• Dad came home to ATL
• Car paid off
• Credit Cards paid off
• Turned 26 (went to Helen to "shoot the Hooch" with my roommate Jessica)
• Took part in Sarah's wedding
• Travel to Seattle, Oklahoma (2x), Orlando, Portland, Chicago, Florence (SC), Muncie (IN), Louisville, Denver (also Colorado Springs & Fort Collins), Richmond (VA),  & NYC
• Met Trent through my dear friends, the Norman's.  Emails, phone calls, texts, skype conversations, g-chats, hand written letters, and a few treasured visits.  What a man. So thankful for Him.  #James1:16and17
• Christmas- Dad helped pick out and set up my tree/Trent helped me take it down.
• I'm more aware than ever that my understanding of the gospel is opposed by the enemy of souls (John 10:10, 1Peter 5:8)
• took 9 of 12 months of 2011 to read Knowing God by TI Packer.  Whoa.  What a great book.  One of those I could read over and over again in my lifetime.
• I had a list of goals for 2011...of which only half came to completion.  Namely the financial ones (God is soooooo good.  Also, let me just take the time right now to record that a few years ago as  I was waking up to the seriousness of my debt, I told God that I would pay it off and then, I would be open to wherever/whatever He had for me.  The very morning in June that I made my last card payment, Trent had emailed me.)
• Spent my summer Mondays with my sister Cameron, who is growing up so quickly
• Attended probably about 10 different Braves games.
• 1:04 in the Peachtree and 2:20 in the Publix GA half marathon (FKA the ING half marathon)

And now, ladies and gentlemen, for your viewing pleasure...

Sarah's wedding rehearsal

Abby's "Peanut" and I doing the scrunchy face

Braves game!

26 years old. 'Bout to 'shoot the hooch'

Beautiful sky over Midown!

Disney World!

Crater Lake Nat'l Park with Maura

Jonathan and Leslee got hitched!

my dad said this is "almost sacriligious"

In other news, NYC was fantastic.  Rockefeller was my favorite part.  Erin Leigh and I almost got to see SNL dress rehearsals.  Contrary to my hopes and expectations, taxis do not just come screeching to a halt next to you when you wave your hand.  Also, the big ball at time square is smaller than I thought it'd be.  Finally, Gimbel's no longer exists (you know, like in Elf).  I knew these things may come as extreme disappointment to some of you, so I included the video above. You're welcome....and Merry Christmas.


"Pleased as man with men to dwell , Jesus our Emmanuel."

a here we come a-christmasing

This past weekend, for the first time in my adult life, I purchased a real live Christmas tree.  My dad helped me get it to my house and standing in my living room.  It still seems almost surreal that he's back in Atlanta now.  I was so glad to have him around to help me with my tree.  It looks a bit like Kevin's did in Home Alone...sans creepy Joe Pesci peering in the window.



Many of my gifts this year are going to be paintings, because I want to share this recently discovered love with those I love the most.  I'm pretty excited about it.  This past weekend was spent running to and fro doing the most christmas-y sorts of things- a parade, shopping, mixing a christmas cd, and attending a christmas party....all the while feeling so much pressure to get stuff done and be productive with my time.    The season of Advent is about the coming- Christ's first coming and the anticipation of His second.  I feel this year that most of my heart's time in the past few weeks has been spent in anticipation of Trent's coming.  It's been a full 6 weeks (I think...and I'm not going to count) since we've seen one another.  This period of time has been particularly hard, but the Lord told me last night that this is meant to be a very sweet season in our relationship.   It is sweet, to be sure, but it's hard to remain content and keep myself from thinking how much better it would be if we lived in the same city and saw one another all the time.  God has orchestrated every other aspect of this.  I keep asking and hoping that the Lord will tell me the purpose of this distance and waiting season.  It does make the heart grow faint.   God has not given me a concrete answer yet, but right now it's taking everything within me to wait on His lovingkindness, which I know He does not withhold from me.    A verse which Trent shared with me a few weeks ago, and now resides on a post-it next to my computer screen...and in my heart is

“He does not delight in the strength of the horse; He does not take pleasure in the legs of a man. The Lord favors those who fear Him, Those who wait for His loving kindness. (Psalm 147:10-11).

Also,  this weekend, I'll be traveling to New York City to see a dear friend, Erin Leigh. This trip has been planned for months and months now.  I'm so excited to go, spend time with her, and experience NYC during Christmas (and hopefully SNL?!).   Here's a skit from this past week's show which made my sides hurt I laughed so hard.

a bullet'd update post.

Ok, I'm home sick after a fantastic thanksgiving trip to Oklahoma to see my family.  It's not debilitating illness, but enough to keep me home from work (pretty sure it's contagious), and I'm thankful to spend a day at home on the couch recovering...and for those windows of time when I get to breathe through my nose....like right now.  ahhhhhh.  Here we go with an update- bullet style.

• Denver was good.  I've come to call Trent's friends, Jonny and Shannon, my own.  Their community exhibits a refreshing amount of candor, and we consistently asked one another, "How's your heart doing?" We were quick to pray for one another and offer words of encouragement.  Coming home from Denver was difficult, as the next time when Trent and I would see one another next was unknown at the time.   
• Going to Oklahoma for Thanksgiving was not something I had anticipated.  When I expressed the possibility to Mallory, her excitement made it impossible for me to refuse.  So, I was able to find a flight.  
• On this note, I think I should share how thankful that I switched over my finances a few months ago to a credit card, which allows me to earn travel points.  If you had told me that I'd be doing this last year, I would have slapped you.  Shortly after Trent and I started dating, I considered it for a couple of weeks...and now looking back, I can say that I'm SO glad that I did!  I'm almost to a free flight, and it's much easier than using cash to keep track of spending (mint.com).
• I do feel like I should put a disclaimer at this point.  Credit cards can be very dangerous.  I'm being vigilant over my spending, and making sure that I pay my balance each month.  The last place I want to go is back into consumer debt, especially after getting out of it earlier this year.
• I've also taken a trip with Joel to Richmond, VA to hang out with Jonathan and Leslee, who got married in September.  I really liked Richmond for the following three reasons-
• Joel, Jonathan, and I ran races on Saturday morning.  I ran the 8k and J&J the half marathon.  The awesome part was how gloriously flat the course was...and the giant downhill at the end.  
• The architecture of the buildings and homes.  Richmond is so charming.
• Jonathan and Leslee were GENIUSES in choosing an apartment right across the street from the Virginia Museum of Fine Art.  It's free. I went there 3 times in 4 days.  There was so much more in the museum that I didn't get to see.  I just love art museums.    
• I feel like so much else has happened in the past month which I've skipped over...which I'm ok with right now.  I will share with you one thing which I feel that the Lord has said to me over and over recently- "I want all of you."  
• I had a particularly hard weekend a few weeks ago, and consequently spent the majority of a Sunday afternoon pouring over old journals, trying to find some kind of anecdote to help myself feel better.  Looking back now, I see that I was looking for something other than the Lord.  
• Matthew 11:28-30 has taken on whole new meaning these past few weeks.   All that He asks is that we simply Come.

more changes!

Well, my cousin Joel actually emailed me last week about my silence in this space.  It's true.  My posts have been few and far between lately.  I'll try to give a bulleted synopsis of what has been happening in life.

• The first thing I will mention here is that God has blessed me tremendously by allowing me to meet Trent.   We have been officially dating now for 3 weeks.  We have some mutual friends, Abby and Christian, who introduced us...which turned into a few weeks of emailing, a few weeks of phoning and skyping, and a visit to Atlanta (Trent lives in Indiana).  I'm so incredibly thankful.   When friends and family ask about him, I tell them that he is a high school spanish teacher, he lives in Indiana, and, most importantly, he loves God a LOT.    There is a small handful of people on this earth who make me want to love Jesus more.  Trent is one of those people.

• I went to Disney World for a week with my Dad, ALL my sisters, and my brother in law!  It was fantastic just hanging out with everyone for the whole week.   It was such a treat.  Disney world was the happiest place on earth, but only because they were there....*delilah moment*

                     My sisters and I took to the frequent practice of hugging one another, saying with appropriate (intentional) speech impediments, "seeeeesturrrrrrs."

• The day after we got back, our dear friend Sarah came for a visit!  I just adore this girl!

• My dad closed on a house this week!  He moved in today, right next door to my good friend from Georgia Tech, Lance!    It's so good to see my Dad settle somewhere for awhile.

• This is not necessarily a 'happening,' per se, but it is something that God revealed to me a few weeks ago while driving- while the Bible describes the placement of anything in the place of God, or a functional savior, as idolotry, if God is in his rightful place in our lives, we cannot love Him too much, worship Him too much, adore Him too much, cling to Him too much.   He is worthy of all of it.  Let us learn to worship and love Him well, for no matter the stage in life (single, married, college, high school, retired, empty nesters, parents, etc), as believers in Christ, we will always be worshipers first and foremost.  This is where life (the abundant kind- John 10:10) is found.

• I'll be back on Monday with a list for 52 lists in 52 weeks!  I have fallen off the wagon a bit!

• Also, if you're reading this and you used to procrastinate, can you tell me your secret?  I want to rid myself of this terrible habit

A brief hiatus. I'm coming back soon!

Ello, friends.  I've had a lot going on lately.  There's a lot for me to catch up on here. A lot of stuff to post.  I meant to post last week, but didn't make the time for it.  One thing I've learned about this little space on the interwebs is that I must make time for it if it's going to be any good.  That said, I've got some stuff up my sleeve for this week.  Get ready!  And, as to bridge the gap, I want to share with you this prose which I read in a book last year. 

Have you ever stood on a point where you could see a number of sailing ships heading in to port? Sometimes standing on a dock at a marina you will get this same impression. All the boats coming in have a number of things in common-- a compass to steer by, the port in view, and general rules of navigation that are the same for all the pilots.


They also differ. No two of them would meet the same proportion of wind and weather at the same moment. Others would have favorable wind one minute and, just as they think they are almost home, the wind will shift. Some are really threatened by wind and wave, and just as they think they are about to go on the rocks, they escape and get home safely. Some meet their greatest difficulties at first. They put out in a storm and are often beaten back. Finally, things calm down, and they go and come without further mishap. They return to port with a rich cargo. Some are hounded by enemy ships and must fight their way through. Still others have a routine voyage with nothing unexpected occurring.

Our lives as believers are just like that. Forgive my simile here. It’s just that I have had a long time to think about such things. All true believers walk by the same rule and pay attention to the same things. The Word of God is their compass. The Lord Jesus is both their polar star and their sun of righteousness. Their hearts and faces are set heavenward. They are one in Body. One Holy Spirit lives in them. Yet their experiences, based on these same principles, are far from identical.

The Lord knows the situation, the temperament, and the talents of each one, as well as the particular services or trials He has appointed for him. Some pass through life more smoothly than others, but everyone is tried at times. But the One “who walketh upon the wings of the wind” (Ps. 104:3) and measures “the waters in the hollow of his hand” (Isa. 40:12) will not allow anyone in His charge to perish in the storms, although some might at one time or another be ready to give up hope.

We must not make the experiences of others a rule binding us, nor make our experiences a rule for others. My own history has been extraordinary. I do not think I have met a single person who has a testimony like mine. Very few have been retrieved from as wicked a state as I have lived in. Those that have been come through deep conviction, and the Lord has given them peace and a future more zealous, bright, and inspiring than is commonly the case.

-John Newton 

running chronicles // Peachtree RR 2011

Atlanta's famed Peachtree Road Race took place this past Monday morning in historic fashion.  Up until this year the cap was set at 55,000 runners.  In 2011, it was set at 60,000.  It is the largest 10k in the world.  This was my second year running in it.  While it was almost unbearably hot, I really enjoyed it.  It's like a big 6.2 mile party!  I trained for a couple of months in prepartion for the race, and learned a few things in the process. 

1. I can run in the morning!  I used to despise morning runs. I've learned this time around that I CAN and actually enjoy running in the mornings.  While it can be considerably more humid, the temps are much more merciful!

2. It is wise and good to plan my long run routes with a pit stop somewhere in the middle (e.g. gas station where I can buy some kind of sports bev.)

3.  If you've been a runner for any period of time, you might have heard others raving about those technical socks that "are SO worth the thirteen fourteen bucks!"  It is true that on any run longer than 5 miles, it's very easy to get blisters (sweaty feet + cotton + friction = painful blisters).  I find it absurd to spend that amount of dollars on socks, so I've learned a very cost-effective solution to this.  Layer your socks!   On my long runs I've been wearing a thin pair of socks underneath my normal running [non-technical] socks.  Works like a dream!

4. An Ipod shuffle taken on a long slow run (7+ miles) is priceless -thanks to my sibs for that one!.

I ran the Peachtree this year in 1:04:25.  While it wasn't under an hour like I had hoped, I was satisfied, as it was a tie for my 10k PR (my time included about a 1 min potty break, so really I ran it in about 1h3m!).  I am confident that I can break that glass ceiling this fall.

One last thing.  I think I learned about runner Ryan Hall through Runner's World.  He's ridiculously fast (ran the Boston Marathon in 2:04 this year, fastest ever by an American) and He's a Christ follower, which he is very vocal about (see here and here).  He's definitely an inspiration to me as a Christian who happens to be a runner.  I saw on twitter last week that he would be competing in the Peachtree (also the USA Men's 10k championship) and I prayed that I would meet him.  Low and behold, he was at the Expo for the Race (#claustrophobia #swag) and I got to meet him!!  I was totally starstruck!!

xoxo,

You are making me new.

This song keeps showing up. 

Also, I keep coming back to James 1:1-7 lately.  Be blessed today. 

26 years // 312 months // 9490 days // 227,760 hours

In my 25th year I have taken 2 trips to the lake, 1 trip to Oklahoma to be a part of Sarah's wedding, 1 amazing road trip with some amazing friends, a trip to Gainesville, FL to see Erin Leigh, and one trip to Seattle.  I ran my first Peachtree roadrace, 1 additional 10k, 2 5k's, and a half marathon.  For a period of about 6 months, I talked on the phone to both my sisters every day.  Maura lives in Portland now.  Erin Leigh lives in NYC now.   I have fallen in love with the Atlanta Braves.  I lost count of all the games I've been to.  I went to all but one Georgia Tech home football game.  I went to the last ever Georgia Tech basketball game in AMC.  My dad moved back to Atlanta. I gained a new amazing roommate.   I've gotten to know my office-mates, who never cease to get a giggle or sigh from me.   This past Thursday, I paid off my credit cards completely!


God is so good.   There have been some sad and happy moments this past year.  Because my birthday is in the middle of the year, it's good to re-evaluate where I am on my goals.  Right now, I know that I am doing abysmally on the Bible reading plan...but I HAVE been flossing!  :-) 

MILESTONE // Ebenezer

I was going to wait until my birthday on Saturday, but my paycheck came yesterday and I absolutely could not wait.

Today, I paid off all my credit cards.  So now:
Car - check
Credit Cards- check and check
Student loans- keep moving!

Thanks be to God, from whom all blessings flow!!  I was looking back through some blog posts from months past today and I realized how great a blessing this outlet has been to me.  So, in 2011 fashion, this is my virtual Ebenezer.   "Thus far, the LORD has helped [me]."

 Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer,saying, “Thus far the LORD has helped us."  -1 Samuel 7:12

runningrunningrunning

In the past week, I have learned that even in nasty weather, I'm going to have to run outside if I'm going to train well for the Georgia half marathon.  Last wednesday, the only day that it wasn't raining last week, I chickened out because of wind.

I read an article on runner's world about running when the mercury drops.  One tip was that even if it's ridiculous weather (cold and/or rainy), make yourself go outside for at least 5 minutes, and if it's terrible, you can turn around and go back inside.    I've been blessed to have amazing sunny 50+ degree sunday afternoons for long runs.   I hope and pray that this trend continues...and also for sunny 50+ degrees on race day.  That'd be fantastic. 

Another note is that during this training, I'm learning to push myself again.  My time goal for this half marathon (13.1 miles) is 2h15m.  My last time was 2h21m.    If I can run at just over a 10min/mile pace, I'm confident that this can happen.  However, my long runs so far have been hovering around 10:30min/mile pace, so I've got some work to do.  I rememeber 2 years ago when I first started running 4x/week to stay in shape, a 4 mile run was a huge feat for me.  These days, not so much.  I feel like I hit a plateau for a while.  Now, running 13.1 miles at a 10 minute pace will be a huge feat. 

I'm toying with the idea of a marathon later this year.  I plugged my data into the runner's world training plan maker extraordinaire (that last part was mine), and it told me that if I train from now until november, with proper speedwork and tempo workouts, I can run a marathon (that's 26.2 miles, people) at an 8:50 min/mile pace.    Seriously?  Now, it is a computer it does not know my body like I do, but I'm convinced that even 9 min/mile for a half marathon would be my max level.  Maybe I shouldn't place limits on myself like that.    

I was hugely encouraged last week when I started reading through Ryan Hall's website.  He's the current US half marathon champion, and more importantly, a believer in Jesus.  I've yet to figure out how to use my running time to focus on Jesus.  If I start praying when I am running, I am inevitably distracted by that huge hill coming up or my pace, you name it.   Any fellow runners out there who have suggestions?

Some questions to sit on...

My sister Melissa sent me this excerpt from a Mars Hill Church (Seattle, WA) blog last year: 

"You should end every day, friends, you should sit at the end of every day, you should just sit down and take a moment to reflect on the evidences of god’s grace in your life in that day. Jesus, where were you? What were you saying? What were you giving? What were you taking? What were you doing? How were you encouraging? How were you exhorting? How were you correcting? What are you doing in me? What are you doing through me? … How are you going to use all of my life to work out for your glory and my good?”

passion, emotions....

So...Jesus was about a cause- people were His cause- loving people enough to die for them. Lots of people on earth have died for lots of different causes. I remember watching a video last year in a modern US history class that showed film from the civil rights' movement. We talked about how passionate MLK was about nonviolent protesting and one image stands out to me in my head: a young black girl who was being savagely beaten, who just laid there and did nothing to defend herself or her cause. Do I believe in something that much? I'd like to be able to say that I do.

Back to Jesus. Last night at the BCM meeting I was challenged to read the sermon on the mount (Matt. 5-7), Jesus' first sermon. The fact that this was His first sermon got me thinking. It had been 400 years since the last prophet, Malachi. This was God in the flesh. It makes me think that He may have had some things to update them on- things that He was just itching to tell them. Not only this but also, the fact that He had come in the flesh to live among them (1 Kings 8:27) in order to give liberty to the captives, bind up the brokenhearted (Isaiah 61), and to give hope to the hopeless.

What about the emotions that Jesus experienced as a man? obviously He experienced them (see gospels of Matt, Mark, Luke, John) and obviously He never sinned (Hebrews 4:15). I wonder if Jesus ever felt inclined to act on His emotions- right then and there. What role are the emotions of happiness, fear, anger, or lack thereof, etc. that I experience supposed to play in my daily life? When did Jesus know when or when not to act on those emotions? As He walked down the street, looking into the eyes of those He passed, not only seeing their person but seeing into their hearts- what did He see there? what did He feel? did He try to contain those feelings? did He ever hold back? why?