The simplicity of life.....

Simplicity.
I hear it echoing through the crevices of my heart....
what does simplicity look like?
how about a simple life?

More than ever my life has been narrowed down to one thing...
Him, and His presence.
I realize it all comes down to that in my life.
I fear less...
I worry less...
when it is as simple as me and Him.

I have this peace that He is going to open so many doors in my life,
doors I wouldn't have even thought to open..much less try.

His goodness has come to overwhelm who I am.
Everyday I find myself enraptured by who He is.
I don't want to spend time with Him because I need something from Him (although He does provide for my needs),
I spend time with Him because He is oh so lovely.
He is brilliant.
He is gracious.
He is GOOOOOOOOD.
I just love Him.

And, that is the simplicity of my life..
no matter where I go in my lifetime,
or what I do...
it all comes down to me and Him,
and at the end of my life...
I want to have the greatest history with Him that I can possibly have...
that is my pursuit in life.

"If you miss the small thing, you'll miss the big thing. Life in the Spirit is about the simple things."

"Greatness is really doing the simple things well-to the point of excellence."

Both of those are quotes from Graham Cooke....and both are immensely brilliant.

Peace. Love. Joy.

The beauty of not proving oneself.

I've been thinking....
yes, I tend to think quite a bit....
I have been thinking how much humanity uses talents, things, materials etc to validate who they are.
We do it more than we think....I think. :p

We try to validate ourselves with who we know,
what we are good at,
what we have...
the list goes on.

And, I am not saying I am exempt,
in fact, I think the very reason I have been thinking about it,
is because God has really been teaching me about the brilliance of not have to prove anything.

I have found, its so much more amazing to just be me.
Me without my gifts put on display.
Me without my connections known to all....
and so on and so forth.

I am pretty amazing just because I am me.
Not because of who I know, what I am good at, or what I own.

It's beautiful to not have to prove anything.
And, so that's what I am going for in life....
just simply being....
me,
Brianna Shea Geeslin.
Nothing more, and nothing less.

Peace. Love. Joy.

Being drawn away.

I find my Abba drawing me away....
more and more He beckons me to come...
"Brianna, let's go on an adventure", He whispers.

He brings me to this place,
just me and Him;
a place of extravagant beauty and peace.

A place where His love for me unfolds
and begins to wash over me.
Wave after wave of His love hits me,
and I feel my heart begin to come alive.

My heart begins to dance inside my chest,
pulsating...boom, boom, boom.
Next thing I know,
it's as if my heart is being ripped from my chest,
and being put in Abba's hands.

And then as quickly as He took it from me....
He places it back.

What is this sensation?
What am I feeling pulsating through my veins?
Ahh, thats it...
I feel restoration
I feel peace,
I feel love.

I don't try and make my brain understand,
I just know I am different now,
and I always will be.

Suddenly, the world is a different place.
People are different.
Everything is alive in my eyes.

Could it be that one enounter changes everything?

Peace. Love. Joy.

I am sitting in my kitchen, sipping a nice cup of joe :) mmmm...that alone can put a smile on my face.
Gong through my mind?
Doed God KNOW me?
In the sense of wanting to be known by Him...
not simply that He knows me by name and knows all the hairs on my head (as the Bible says)....
But, have I, Brianna spent time with Him ALONE enough to be actually known by Him.
Have I created my own history with my Abba?
or is it about everything else we do in the Christian world?

I've been thinking lately about all the giftings we are given as Children of God,
and they are truly awesome....
but what happens when that is stripped away,
what is lying in the depths of our heart?
Is it void, or is there an outrageous love affair taking place?

To be super honest with you, I think in the hustle and bustle of just being here at Bethel, and learning so much and being stretched etc. etc.....
it can be hard to get that secret time with Jesus in.
And, I am so convicted....
All I want to be concerned with is Him...
everything else will flow out of that.

What is going to change the world above all else?
I believe it's when we consistently have encounters with the Heart and love of God, and then share those encounters with the world...and live from that place...
and that is place where the world sees Jesus for who He is, and come running into His arms.
That is my theory of sorts. (which I believe to be quite right :p)

I encourage you guys, spend that alone time with Jesus.
Just YOU and HIM in the secret place.
Allow Him to draw you away.
Where His thoughts become Yours.
Where His secrets become Yours.
And live life from that place.

"But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."
(Matthew 6:6)

Peace. Love. Joy.

I find myself in this place of, what I like to call, victory.
Yes, you heard me--I feel victorious.

Here I am, January 2011.
Freer than ever.
I have to admit, although I hung on to hope for a long time,
there were many times I doubted if I'd ever see it play out in my life.
I am here to tell you, I certainly have.

I find I am in this place, where the battles of my past, day by day are becoming so distant.

There is this rebuilding stage in life..
after usually, an all time low.
It's when all you have is hope.
It's this place of perseverance, even when it's so hard to see the light at the end.
Often times, I had to simply use my imagination and hope it would one day become a reality.

Then, out of no where you wake up and you feel alive..
not simply, out of imagination..
but literally your soul is bursting through your chest.
Every part of your being is alive.

You look back on your past battles, and you realize the fear, the anxiety..
the challenges you faced day to day; it seems so distant.
"Was that really me dealing with that?"
It feels almost like it was all a dream.

I am finding day by day, the things that kept me back from destiny seem so distant.
I will always rememeber my story though,
because in the story lies the promise.
In the promise lies my destiny.
I do think the "feelings" of my story diminish though,
because its not longer a reality in my life.

But, it is my story...
an important one too.
God is so faithful..
that He would being me to a place of victory in areas I once saw no hope for.
He is goooooood.
He is brilliant.
I am so thankful for His grace and mercy in my life.

I am thankful for the journey ahead,
and all I will accomplish and grow in day by day.

Peace. Love. Joy.

Me VS. Grace

Why Hello World.
It's been a couple weeks since I have posted.
And, sheeeesh God has been teaching me soo much.
I love that He is so patient, I can tell you that much :)

This whole idea of "rest" and living from a place of "rest" has been on my mind for quite sometime now. I feel like it's this big mystery I unravel day by day. I find new aspects of it continuously I feel. I suppose everything is a process, eh? ;)

The other day in church one of the leaders here at school got up and was sharing a word the Lord has given him. He began to speak about how we are God's work and how can work work? We are the clay and He is the potter. We simply need to yield to Him and allow Him to make us into the very thing He has desired since the beginning of time. All of this "work" we try to do to get His attention, or to be a better person...it's really worthless. He simply wants to mold us and make us. I don't know about you, but that completely freed me in such a new degree.
I took it and stuck it within my heart to ponder (I tend to do this a whole lot...ohh deep thinking).

A few days later in class, another leader got up during worship and began to share about "grace" and how He gives us the grace for the mountain(s) we are facing in our lives.
It really hit me strong (as I do have my mountains).
I realized a) I never think about His grace. Almost never. b) I had been trying in my own power (haha..what a joke) to defeat the areas (ermm mountains) in my life that I was aware of. It left me in such a humbling place.
Oh, how freeing to know God has got all the grace I need for my mountains.
I don't have to work to try to defeat it, I simply just abide in Him and allow His grace to wash over me.
Ahh! It makes my heart so happy just talking about it.
He is all I need. He has got me in the palm of His hands.
He is molding me into the exact person He created me to be.
How exciting.
And, all I have to do is say, "here I am".
Seriously, that is phenomenal to me.
He is so outrageous, my friends.

I hope this brings hope and freedom to your heart.
Rest in Him, and allow His grace to be enough for you.
Quit "working"...it's not part of your DNA. :)

"So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace."
(Romans 11:5&6)

Peace. Love. Joy.

Norman Rockwell.

Over my Christmas Break I got to go see a collection of Norman Rockwell's paintings that George Lucas and Steven Spielberg had collected.

1) It was in D.C. probably my favorite city in the world.. :)
2) I was pleasantly surprised by what the paintings would do to my heart.

When I was around 10ish my family actually went to Rockwell's home in MA and saw some paintings, but of course at 10 my interest level was pretty much zero.
I remember walking in and knowing I was about to view something really dynamic because I overheard all the grown ups talking about the significance of the art...but, still at 10 I didn't have much appreciation for what I saw.
I was most likely thinking about going to kick my soccer ball (because, soccer was my "world" then haha).

My oldest Sister told me there was this exhibit in D.C. and so we went.
I can't say I was anticipating much, I was much more excited about being back in the city I love after being away from home in California.
I was in desperate need of some east coast sophistication if you know what I mean. ;)

We stood in line waiting to get in for quite a bit (much of that time was spent people watching might I add), but once we got in, I read the first little plague about exactly who this "Rocwell" was, in summary of course.
And, it hit me...he was pretty talented, and pretty important to the history of my beautiful country.

As I browsed through the paintings on the walls of this crowded exhibit,
I realized something, Rockwell was much more than simply an artist who drew a painting.
He told a story with his art.
He insprired hope with his art.

He was able to take a simple canvas and transform it into this live picture motion for all to see, and all to interpret. How profound? How gifted?

As we walked into the little cube of a room to watch a 12 minute clip of Spielburg & Lucas discussing the paintings and why they collected the ones they did,
something Spielberg said caught my attention.
He said this,and of course I am paraphrasing, "Rockwell could have been a filmmaker, probably a very good filmmaker. But, he painted and I am so happy he did because now he inspires the filmmakers to make better films."

What an impact this one gifted man had on the world around him..
not just during his era, but even today effecting the very "art" we see.

I think the thing the most impacted me was the fact, this man, Norman,
had a gift.
But, he saw beyond it.
He could have just painted to paint.
But he painted to tell stories.
He painted to inspire the people around him.
He painted to spark hope in a time that America, let's be honest, was pretty much out of it.
He painted to make a difference and to transform the way the people saw the world.
He made an impact with his gift.

I love that.
I want to do that.
I don't want to do things to simply do them.
I want to inspire.
I want to tell stories.
I want to transform the world.

Here are a few of my favorite paintings: