Dear God,
Sometimes we forget two simple words…
Thank you.
And so, today, I would like to say thank you for these…
My husband and daughter that are on the other side of the world.
My baby that you gave us yet are keeping in your care.
My son that taught me about surrender, grace, and miracles.
And my belly that bounces!
For these, I thank you.
Yours gratefully…
Brooke
I don’t love Jesus. Can we still be friends?
Dude! Do you even know me at all?
Wait…technically, since this is a cyber world, it is possible that you don’t know me.
So let me introduce myself and answer that question for you.
My name’s Brooke, and I’m like a big polar bear. But cuddly. Not attack you type bear. And actually not that big. Unless a preggo belly counts?!
Anyhow, back to your super question, “I don’t love Jesus, so can we still be friends?”
And my answer is simple…Yes.
And this is why. WWJD, man? WWJD?
But hey, since you’re here, at least let me introduce you to Jesus that you don’t love.
Jesus was a man’s man…All tough and cool. They depict him all wrinkle-free and pretty in pics, but let us not forget that he was a carpenter for 30 years. Well, probably not 30. But when he left his daddy’s workshop and went to work for his Father, he was 30.
Therefore, it’s safe to assume he was at least a bit weathered and worn. And strong.
Richard’s grandpa was a carpenter. And his hands showed the art of his work. They were gnarly and tough. And as strong as nails. Yep. There’s no mistaking the strength of a carpenter.
Much like Jesus.
But, you see, Jesus had this presence to him (let’s call it what it is—God) that drew people to him.
The interesting thing you should know, however, is that Jesus never forced a conversation, never threw a stone, and never backed away from being seen with people that others might deem “questionable”. You know. People like prostitutes and thieves.
Guess what else. Jesus never demanded you listen.
He spoke words of wisdom and truth. He shared food. He performed miracles. He loved. He healed. And he taught. But the crowds always came to him.
One time he even went all Indiana Jones (except 2000 years ago) on the people in the Temple that were swindling the innocent by collecting money and “selling” religious sacrifices. Turning tables and whipping a few.
And, oh yes! Jesus could hold his own when it came to a verbal smack down. But guess whom his debate adversaries were—those that found themselves most religiously righteous. Yep.
Jesus didn’t come to seek and save the righteous. After all, they don’t even think they need saving.
He came for the doctor. And the lawyer. He came for the tax collector and the fisherman and soldier. He came for the healthy. He came for the sick. He came for the prostitute. He came for the criminal on the cross.
And never once did he bind and gag someone, demanding they listen.
Nope.
Again. He walked. He talked. He taught. He loved. He shared. He healed. He lived.
And, through it all, God was glorified.
I think Jesus is plain and simple AWESOME! He’s my savior. And I’m thankful for him.
But one of the greatest lessons I learned from Jesus was this: he didn’t force anyone to love him. He invited them to. If they did. Great. If they didn’t, he didn’t chase them.
And that, my friends, is how I live my life.
I do, however, invite you to find out about this awesome Jesus—start in the New Testament.
But, if you don’t, I’m not going to tie you to a chair and force read the Bible to you.
That is definitely not “WWJD”.
Jesus is enough to stand on his own two feet. He doesn’t need me to take karate chop action on people to introduce them to who he is.
In the end, you may not love Jesus, but he loves you. Nothing you can do about that. And, if you ever decide to have a conversation with him, I’m telling you now, he has time for you.
So do I.
In the meantime, big polar bear hugs and 3 Polish kisses thrown in for good measure. Because hugging and kissing are always good things! Like Jesus.
When Maxwell nearly died last year but lived, we decided to have some fun.
Our photo shoot theme, “Jesus is our Superhero!”
Richard, Brooke, Adelyne, and Maxwell
(c. photo Erin DeZago)
Pregnant Brooke and My Guest Blogger…Richie!
I’d like to take today’s blog time to share with you the EXCITING news that next week we will have our first official Blogging Guest. He’s my husband, Richard!
I can still call him a Guest, right? And not make it sound like he was forced to do this or something…Right?
Well, that’s what I’ll call him, then…My unforced (wink) Guest Blogger.
I can’t wait to see what he comes up with—although I should probably be very, very afraid. After all, you have read my past posts, right?
Yikes!
Before we get to the future, though (which means next Monday-Friday), I want to bring you back to our present.
We have been married nearly 13 years.
And, if you meet my husband, you’ll practically see a halo around his foreband (it’s what my daughter refers to as forehead).
And then you’d meet me.
And then you’d especially call him a saint.
But, I am here to tell you the truth…
My husband is very, very human.
Our marriage is very, very real.
In fact, our marriage is so real it’s a miracle that in a month we’ll be celebrating 13 years.
We’ve nearly ended our marriage twice. Not once. But twice.
There was one point in our marriage where I only saw darkness. I saw no sliver of light. I saw no hope. I was certain that our marriage would become a statistic.
And yet, when the tunnel of darkness seemed endlessly long, we found a sliver of light. We survived.
For many more years, that is.
And then I was certain that our marriage, no, that we, had come to the end. The Final End.
I am not going to share the details of our relationship—because, if you are married, you know.
You know that marriage is about two people.
And neither person is perfect.
What I would like to share is this—we serve an awesome God. And he has taught us endlessly about love. He has shared with us endless grace. He has given us endless mercy. And, in our marriage, he has extended to each of us unfathomable forgiveness.
And because God did this for us—we, after a very long and painful road, came to realize that we too could offer this gift—forgiveness—to one another.
And, oh man! Our marriage has never been more glorious.
Our relationship has never been more honest.
Our lives, as individuals and a married couple, have never been so free.
Not free to run and do as we want. If you have kids, you know automatically that’s NOT a good idea.
Please, if everyone ran around doing what they wanted—instead of what they should—it would be a painfully destructive world.
Instead, we have discovered that we are free. Free to do what is best for one another. Best for our family. Best for our lives as people that love God to the very core of our being.
Today, I am here to introduce you to my husband.
And I want you to know he is a GREAT man.
He appears saintly.
He appears angelic.
He appears to have it all together…
But he is a real as you can get—and we fight hard for our marriage.
Daily.
Together.
Because of the grace of God-and the beautiful, unbelievable gift of forgiveness.
Friends, I hope that you will realize that when in darkness, there is light. It is found through the amazing grace of Jesus. And, with Him, you can overcome.
We did.
See you next week.
(As a Reader—because next week I am not the Writer)
Ciao!
And 2 Makes Crazy 