July 2020 Update
This is our FIRST OFB Newsletter! Please take a moment to share your feedback from the link at the bottom after you’ve read. Thanks so much for making this community happen!
FAMILY UPDATES
Brigitte:
Still working at the hospital full time. The economy has caused this to look a little different with my schedule but we are both super thankful to still have jobs! I’m loving editing when I have a spare moment (when kids are sleeping and I’m already tired from work lol).
Brandon:
Working away from home more now that things are starting to reopen so schedules are getting a little more difficult but he’s glad to be out of the house a little more - pastoring online is a little different but our church is large so we have to be cautious.
Kids:
They’re back in school! Well, daycare since they are under 5. They will be there for the remainder of the summer and this has really allowed us to work more efficiently at home. They are enjoying the learning and play time so we are thankful for that!
COMMUNITY UPDATES
YOUTUBE SUBSCRIBERS: 3,440+
YOU GUYS?: AMAZING!
GOALS:
Our big goal right now is the road to 10 Thousand Subscribers. Here’s how you can help:
Share our videos with people you think would enjoy them.
Comment and share your feedback - what do you want to see more of?
Click the survey link in the email or at the end of this page to share some feedback!
VISION FOR THE FUTURE:
If you pray, please pray with us! We are starting to get some vision of what this could look like long term and it’s not about us. We believe there is a large group of people around the world looking for like minded creators who want to cultivate a culture of encouragement, wisdom and kindness. Many are Christian. Many are not. Some have many kids and some have none. Because of their differences there seems to be little glue that binds them… we believe that somewhere in the thing God has called us to we can find the ingredients to the glue that can bind all of these together.
Ask yourself this: what if more people could overlook their differences and come together in community around sound biblical wisdom and a desire to live a life marked by love and personal growth?
This is all still so fuzzy but we think there is something BIG there. Your encouragement and support are helping to lay the foundation of whatever this thing is that God is building.
ON OUR HEARTS AND MINDS
DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
YOU ARE ENOUGH. This is something I’ve been having to remind myself and I want to remind you. If you are committed to growing closer to God and living with integrity then you are doing an amazing job at LIFE. Momma, wife, dad or husband; employee, student, teammate… Even when things feel like they are coming apart, it’s just a season and it will pass. Every morning is a new start and we are all in this TOGETHER. You do not have to do life alone. God is with you! When you think about the next day, or the next month or the virus or the unrest in our nation… remember that none of this is a surprise to Him and He has a had a plan for it since before He said “let there be light.”
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?[g] 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
-Matthew 6:25-34
PRACTICAL TIP:
Something I’ve been doing lately is evaluating how my house runs. I’ve been taking note of what we do naturally (where do I reach for that cup, that rag, my shoes?…) and adjusting the way my house is set up to make things easier and more efficient! For instance, I hung some baskets on the wall in front of the sink and filled them with my rags (instead of sponges) and this has made it so easy to grab a new one!
So what area in your house just isn’t clicking? Where do you drop your purse, the diaper bag, the mail, the kids artwork.... See where those things end up and try a new system! The cool thing about trying something new is that, if it doesn’t work, you can change it again! Life is changing so let’s roll WITH it and find the best system for RIGHT NOW =)
