Brianne Henry

What a good time of year to sit and reflect over the past twelve months. My life is pretty normal – to me. But I really do believe that other people view it as…not quite so normal. Just in the past twelve months I have had three addresses, moved to a different state, sold a house, and bought a house. Luke and I strive to follow where God leads us and that isn’t always easy. Today I would like to share the toughest thing that happened in 2014. I do know that our biggest blessing piggybacks on my toughest situation. Isn’t that how it usually works? Hard. Tearful. Embarrassing. Mortifying actually. That is how I would sum up 2014’s toughest situation.   This is difficult for me to type and I know will be even more difficult to actually post, but I believe it’s all part of the healing process. Let’s just rip the Band-Aid off here – In April, I was told my contract at the school I was teaching at would not be renewed. Whew, glad that’s over. I’m swallowing my pride and there’s a bi...

My Facebook feed is filled with hate - mostly about people. Ranging from articles bashing the Ferguson protestors (and no, I'm not on their side) to articles bashing the Duggar's for the number of kids they have (and yes, I secretly love the Duggar's) to posts ranting about a teacher or coach to someone complaining about their significant other. Some may see it as sharing a viewpoint or voicing their opinion, maybe even sharing a funny story. But, let's be real. It's hate. Plain and simple. If I had the courage, I would remove the Facebook app from my phone. But the withdrawal may just kill me. I would unfollow people who spread hate like wildfire, but then I wouldn't know it was happening. And my heart wouldn't break for it. Someone's heart needs to break for it, may as well be mine. 1 John 4:16..."so we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him....

I have had an old prayer journal sitting on my nightstand for weeks. I think we came across it when unpacking boxes and it’s precious to me so I put it there. Today, I cracked it open and skimmed over it quickly. It covered from early 2012 until about the time Cooper was born. It’s full, but apparently I got busy with a baby and didn't start a new one. It’s time to start journaling my prayers again. Want to know why? Because as I read through that book filled with my handwriting, I noticed it. Over and over again. Answered prayer. Answered prayer. Answered prayer. They weren’t answered at that moment. But in God’s timing, they were made perfect and complete. Here’s one entry that I wanted to share… 4/7/13: “I yearn to stay home with my baby…Lord, I asked that you please provide me with this opportunity. I know it may not be now, but you know my heart and how much I want this.” I would have been about six(ish) months pregnant here. Even then, I “yearned” to be h...

I love to write (as is obvious by the length of this post). It's good for my soul - quite literally. But I haven't written hardly anything of substances for well over a year. Working full-time, having a baby and moving will do that to you I guess. But writing...it's good for me. I could choose to write in a journal and keep it all locked up to myself, but I think it's good to share. Maybe not many people will read it, maybe some will be put-off by the topics I choose. But maybe one person will be touched and think, really think hard, about their walk with Christ because of my writing. That's my prayer. Here's my attempt to get back into the world of writing about what God lays on my heart. For the past six weeks, I've been immersed in the book of James. I am facilitating a high school Bible study on Wednesday nights and attending a Bible study on Thursday mornings covering James also. I am by no means an expert, but studying it at the same time two differe...

I have written a blog post or two before about how I wanted to be bold for Christ at the school I worked at in Kansas. Now I'm 275 miles away from that place. I am friends on Facebook with a few students from there. It seems as though some of them are having a hard time right now, from what I can see, someone passed away. A person who was young. Who had a lot of life ahead of them. And the people left behind are struggling. Struggling to find hope in a tough situation. I stopped. And I prayed. "God, please give _____ hope. Show them Your grace, peace and love." And then I thought about who was going to share this hope with them? How would these young people hear the Word of God? Mostly likely, they won't. I wasn't immersed in this community, but I knew those kids. Many of those kids did not know Jesus. And I am feeling broken for them. I have been reading the book of Acts the past couple weeks. Those guys were bold. Real bold. They prayed for boldness in Chapt...

Let's just start this post by saying...it's not over yet. The moving saga, that is. However, I want to share my story so far. It's a long one. Don't worry, I've been keeping detailed notes. Monday, June 16 Used Budget Van Lines...Moving truck scheduled to come between 10am-Noon...Delivery on Monday evening... *9:45am...Dann Moving calls. That is who will be moving us. They are running an hour late. *11:15am...Dann Moving arrives. They tell us the truck is too small. We look over the inventory estimate they have. We filled out two estimates with Budget Van Lines. On the second estimate, we changed the delivery address and also added more furniture that I had forgotten the first time. Dann Moving had the first estimate. Wrong delivery address. Less stuff. Already have a load on the truck. Truck might be too small. Freak out #1 (of many). *1:30pm...after a long lunch (that I paid for), I finally go to the garage and ask them how much longer. Two hours, they say. ...

What will we miss the most? Easy answer…Providence Baptist Church. Luke began working at Providence Baptist Church as the pastoral intern in September 2012. We were weary of getting into ministry again because our experiences hadn’t been great in the past. However, Providence was truly exactly what we needed. Luke began his ministry focused on the youth and worked alongside the pastor to do administrative tasks as well. Providence has been supportive of our family since Day 1. We have been loved on and encouraged for almost two years. We’ve made lifelong friendships with the great people who serve and attend there.   Our two years at Providence have been a time of restoration and healing for us. As we leave, we are excited to take the things we’ve learned there and use them to minister to others. Luke was ordained in this church at the end of March. By this time, we were in the thick of interviews and getting responses from churches. While we knew we...