Challenge to Mothers

In whatever you do, whether changing diapers, cleaning up spit up or vomit, cleaning up messes for the 50th time that day, feeding your children once again, responding to your husband, cooking and cleaning the kitchen another time....... DO IT ALL heartily as for the Lord rather than man, knowing that it is Christ you are serving. (My adaptation of Colossians 3:23)

And let your words, your responses to crying and fights and whining and complaining and other difficulties of daily life be seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.
(My adaptation of Colossians 4:6)

I don't know about you but I am SO grateful for the Word of God that speaks directly into my heart, no matter what I am going through. Recently as I was reading through the book of Colossians, I thought about what an incredible truth and challenge these principals are to everyone, especially to mothers. Hope you are encouraged and challenged too!

Mommy Guilt or Pride?

People using the phrase “mommy guilt” are ever present in this culture as a feeling of guilt when they perceive they aren't being the best they can be, or are doing life differently than other moms. I was having a conversation the other day with my husband about this; he simply said, “that’s not guilt, that’s pride.”  Ouch! That was painful and convicting for me to say the least. There is SO much pressure on mothers today, to be a domestic goddess, to be gorgeous and fit, to have an incredible social life, to volunteer for community or church events, and not to mention just to be an overall creative and sensational wife and mother. The problem that lies with our mentality is the comparison and pride. We desire our life to look perfect and when we have illness, financial difficulty, a hard pregnancy, or other difficulty we feel guilty about not having it all together. It stems from one thing--PRIDE. We want to have it all together. 

Where are the women of today who will be honest enough to say, "I don’t have my life together but I am trying each day to be the best I can be with the Lord’s strength and direction"? Stop feeling guilty over the pressure of “requirements” from other people, and start savoring in the goodness the Lord has given you today and not wallowing in the guilt of expectations from others. When we expect too much of ourselves or of others we get caught in this “mommy guilt” nightmare and can’t enjoy the wonderful things we do have. 

Remember that each family has their own unique convictions and direction they are going in. Instead of comparing yours and feeling guilty that you aren't doing the same, take pleasure in the way God is leading your particular family and bask in His blessings as you walk in obedience.

Perfecting Motherhood

Perfectly manicured hands, pre-baby body back and feeling good as I finish up my hour-long workout before my baby wakes up. I’m so glad that my husband and I have trained our baby to sleep through the night so I can have time to work out, take a shower, and do my hair and makeup all before the baby wakes up. With a clean house, laundry done, stocked fridge with all organic and healthy food, and meal prep done for the new recipe I’m trying off of Pinterest, I have time to play with my baby. While he takes his nap I have time to sit down for a cup of coffee, have my quiet time, catch up on blogs, and read some of my book. After a three-hour nap he happily wakes up and then contentedly plays with toys while I put dinner in the oven. My husband walks in at 5:00pm (like he does every day) and pulls out flowers from behind his back and says “So glad to be home, babe, you’re looking so beautiful today! Dinner smells great!” and picks up our baby and plays with him. Then it’s bath and bed time and finally time to spend with my husband before we go to an early bedtime so we will be refreshed in the morning.

 This is a perfect life, or at least our mental image of a perfect life. THIS HOWEVER IS NOT MY REALITY. Our life could look this way on the outside but in our hearts we could be self righteous, sinful, prideful and judgmental. The Lord is teaching me that A PERFECT LIFE DOES NOT MEAN A PERFECT HEART. It’s in my weakness that He can perfect HIS mighty strength in me.

Through the sleepless nights, no-nap days, blow-out diapers, spit up on my clothes, messy house, simple meals, husband working late, empty fridge, hungry teething baby, and sweatpants the LORD IS PERFECTING MY HEART. He has been patiently teaching me that it doesn't matter what my life looks like on the outside if my heart is not yielded to the sanctification of sweet Jesus. In the days of crying out to the Lord for strength, fighting constantly against flesh, and choosing joy, these are the days that Christ is working in me. This display of dependency on the Lord is more fruitful then having my life together and having no need for my Savior. The 4am prayer/nursing sessions, responding with kindness to a screaming and teething child, confessing the sin of self pity, not comparing my life to my friend’s perfect Facebook status, worshiping through washing the toilets, looking at my body as a tool the Lord has blessed to bring about a baby and not as a stretch-marked milk producer, stopping to pray for patience and control of my tongue; these are moments in my imperfect life that the Lord is perfecting HIS grace and humility in my heart. I have learned more than I have ever imagined through this journey and it’s just the beginning. I am so grateful that God is daily cleaning out the selfishness in my heart and ridding me of my pride through His daily work of sanctification. THIS IS MY PERFECT LIFE IN CHRIST!

The gift of new life

From the onset of the Lord making our family of two we have asked the Lord to guide us and make it known when it was His timing for us to start expanding it. Early in January we discovered we were given a precious gift of life, I was pregnant. When we saw the results we looked at each other in disbelief and shock then continued to cry and pray together thanking the Lord for this new life. The Lord's timing could not have been more perfect. We were in the heat of a difficult trial and the Lord breathed a new life. We were amazed at God's timing and the sweet healing and joyful anticipation it brought. His timing is truly perfect. We are not out of our storm the Lord has us waiting in, but we are joyfully walking through it holding His hand and resting in the fact we know He is at work. Our little boy is a treasure, and when I think about the timing that the Lord chose to place him in my womb I cry and think every good and perfect gift is from above. The Lord knows what we need and how He can refresh our hearts in ways we couldn't imagine. We are so grateful for Lord willing, the privilege to raise a warrior for Christ. As the Lord is forming our little baby we pray that his whole body would be used to bring God glory. Our prayer is that the great Counselor the Holy Spirit will guide us and teach us how to be parents and lead our children in Jesus. Once again another season of waiting and preparing. Grateful that we have the Lord who has blessed us with His word and Spirit.

Life is blowing by fast

Haven't updated this in forever! My life has changed drastically in the last 7 months. Every day is still a journey of waiting on the Lord. This season has been so sweet but difficult too with many trails the Lord has been using to yield the peaceful fruit of righteousness in our lives (Hebrews 12:11.) I feel like I have been learning in a very real way what trusting, depending and waiting on the Lord looks like in this season. No matter where you are in life we are called to have faith in the Lord and trust that He knows what is best.

Here is a summary of the last several months.

Uniting in Covenant Marriage




Honeymoon



Then learning how to be a wife, helpmate and homemaker, its a constant learning experience :-)

Been a sweet season of the Lord sifting out selfishness and using marriage to sanctify our lives. More to come..... stay tuned.

Waiting on the Lord in Engagement

Wow! I can’t believe this is the season of life I am in. It is fun, stressful, busy, sweet, challenging and filled with growth. During this season of waiting I have been learning about myself, serving and learning what scripture teaches on being a wife. My love for the Lord and for my future husband is growing deeper each day, I just long to be his helpmate in life.

This is QUITE the season of waiting on the Lord while experiencing the desire for marriage that is so deep. I think the Lord allows engagement to make me appreciate marriage even more, and the gift and treasure it is. Just like any other season of waiting I am trying to not give into the flesh and instead ask the Lord what I am suppose to learn in the here and now, which most days is very difficult.

I need to remind myself that no matter what season, God is kind in all His deeds and He is near to all those who call upon Him in truth (Psalm 145:17-18.) No matter if you are single, engaged, or married, life is full of seasons of waiting on the Lord and trusting in His character that He knows best. Rest in the truth that God is kind in everything He does and He is near to us as we are in His Word in truth.

I just want to be real and genuine in all of life’s joys, hurts and difficulties. We are all in different seasons and are called to be real with each other and encourage. Remember that no matter what your circumstance and how overwhelmed you may feel the Lord can use you to be an encouragement if you give Him the opportunity.

Hebrews 3:13 ”But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.”

Engagement Story

My heart had been so heavy and my journal filled with emotions of desire and yet instructions from the Lord to wait on His perfect timing. My affections were so strong towards Patrick, and Christ kept confirming this love, causing it to grow stronger each day. Waiting had never been so hard. Thursday night, when our nightly conversation ended I felt tears swelling in my eyes; I just knew it was going to be many more long months of waiting. I was temped to give into my flesh like I had done many times by crying, waiting seemed like a long painful season, but the Holy Spirit took over and I decided to just cry out to the Lord, and once more give that desire for Patrick to Christ.
On Friday afternoon we were planning on going to dinner, and spending some quality time together before joining my family for fellowship. My mother being unaware of what Patrick was planning, had chosen that evening because my relatives from up north were visiting, and it was going to be a perfect set up ☺.
We arrived at Carrabas, the location of our first date. He chose this location so we could revisit the beginning of where the Lord had begun our journey seven months prior. Several months ago he shared with me that he had been journaling about our relationship and some day I would read them. After ordering our food, he began to read a couple of those letters just “for fun” These were the most precious things I have heard. They were letters telling me what the Lord was doing in his heart regarding our relationship and how the Lord was fostering a love towards me. They were PRECIOUS! By the last one we both were crying and it was just amazing to see the fingerprints of the Lord and how He had lead Patrick in his pursuit of my heart.
Next he told me that he had to swing by his house and pick up a tool that my dad had loaned him, and this was not suspicious to me. When we got there he said there was something in the back yard that he wanted to show me but I needed to close my eyes, at this point I am still clueless! When I opened my eyes our favorite music began to play, it was dark and the stars were out and there was a flood light on “our swing”. Now this swing was the one from my parent’s house that we had swung many miles on and lots of milestones in our relationship, and it was very special to us. There were rose petals everywhere and one single rose on the swing. He grabbed my hand and said he had one more letter to read to me. This was by far the most precious and meaningful, it spoke of when the Lord confirmed that I was going to be his wife, his helpmate in life and the mother of his children, the letter went on about some other incredible things and then ended with “I am ready to make that step in covenant with you” as soon as he said covenant I knew. ☺ Then he said “Brittany Brummel will you marry me” I said yes and then said oh my word and is this really happening?’ We enjoyed swinging on the swing afterwards and talking about marriage and our house and our swing (my dad had given it to us) and then enjoyed dancing to a special song.
We left there and were able to go to my house and tell all of my family in person and that was such a sweet memory for me. I was so grateful that I could tell the people that mean the most to me in person. Then his parents came over to see us and we all enjoyed the sweet time together.

As I was lying in bed that night, tears rolled down my face as I recalled the Lord’s amazing faithfulness to me. How He had directed each step of the way and blessed and grew our hearts together as we sought His face. He blesses exceedingly and abundantly more than we could ever imagine. I had a new excitement in my heart as I was thinking of all the preparation that lay ahead of me to prepare for marriage. Then it occurred to me what a picture of Christ. Christ is my groom and I am His bride and I need to have this much excitement towards His coming, and work diligently preparing for that time. All I can say is that the Lord is SO faithful and if you trust Him with your heart He will lead it according to His will.