A Tribute to Mor-Mor

Mor-Mor used to always tell me that she was like Nicodemus in the Bible. It was one of my favorite things that she used to say to me. The reason she said she was like him was because Nicodemus always came to Jesus in the night,in secret. Nicodemus would always come full of questions for Jesus, and Jesus would gladly answer them. Nicodemus had an authentic hunger for Jesus.

Mor-Mor always did all of her counseling in the night time, at least when it was with me or my friends. I can't tell you how many times I went over to Pop and Mor's house in the night, taking different people with me who were immensely struggling. Mor-Mor wasn't afraid of messy or raw. She wasn't afraid of the gray areas of life.

I would call her and say:

"I need to bring someone [or myself or multiple people] to you who need prayer." She would always respond by saying, "Bring them tonight."

I would arrive at her home, and she would sometimes tell me to stand outside the door or in the living room when she was talking to the person or persons. She would tell me to pray, but sometimes I would fall asleep as I waited. I always wanted to go in to hear the conversations, however, she was teaching me. It wasn't about knowing every detail about what was going on. It wasn't about knowing the latest struggle or hurt just for curiosity's sake. It was about praying that their hearts would have an encounter with Jesus. I became like her secret prayer partner, and oh did I love it.

Now, I am beginning to think that I could be like Nicodemus too. Oh, I hope I can be! Coming to Jesus in the night. Not being afraid.

Besides, I am writing this blog currently at night, so perhaps it's already started.

This is the poem that the Lord gave me the day of Mor-Mor's funeral. Be blessed as your heart becomes inspired by the legacy that she left behind.

A Life Lived
By Lauren Branz

A life lived for the cause of Christ.
A life lived knowing that Jesus paid the highest price.

A life that was fully and wholly surrendered.
A life that didn't let a disease come in and hinder.

A life lived in prayer on her knees.
A life that made the creator oh so pleased.

A life that stood in the gap for the weak.
A life that gave words to those who couldn't speak.

A life that was never weakened by fear.
A life that knew her Jesus was near.

A life that loved her family and friends with all of her heart.
A life that made you feel like you were apart.

Apart of something bigger.
That you were more than a hand on a trigger.

She spoke of how you were not your past.
How Jesus saw through that mask.

How He knew the depths of you and still loved you.
She would smile as she told you that she loved you too.

Mor-Mor lived a life abandoned for God.
She never did it for an applause.

She did it because she was brought back to life, out of trials, heartache, and strife.
Into what we would call a Marvelous light.

She wanted others to join her on the path.
As she reminded us to never look back.

She has now passed the baton to us,
telling us that we are more than enough.

The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few,
and this was a truth that she very well knew.

It's time for us to rise;
and stop believing the enemy's lies.

Mor-Mor planted a seed,
Because she knew that we must fill a need.

She knew how to pick up the staff and lead.
She and Pop's always poured into you and me.

Her joy will never cease,
As her heart is with Jesus, forever at peace.

Thank you, Mrs. Vallone, for knowing Christ at your core.
You loved us all so much, but we loved you more.

"What are you doing with your Future?"

Currently,

I am watching Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, while I should be working on a paper for my Social Deviancy class. I just paused the movie because my eyes can't leave my white, floral coffee mug that is right in front of me. My mug contains hot tea, because those who know me know that I can't drink coffee unless I want to be awake for the next 3 days. Literally.

The hot tea inside of my mug has been cold for over 2 hours.
This is the fear that I have for so many of my dreams for my future.
My fear is that things and opportunities would be warm and ready to go,
but I would let them grow cold.


I thought to myself, "maybe I should write a blog about this?"

This was indeed an odd thought for me because I haven't blogged in over a year. I don't want to blog just because I have something to say, because what I say is just merely words.

However, perhaps someone else is walking through the same season. Perhaps, someone could identify with something written in this blog.


Fear.

I hate fear. I really do. I don't tend to be a fearful person, but I am in a season of my life that fear tries to creep in daily.

By definition, the word fear means:

an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief

that someone or something is dangerous, 

likely to cause pain, or a threat.




I am in my Senior year of college and many ask the infamous statement,

"What are you doing with your future?"

I smile, usually. Laugh, maybe.

I know that the people asking me and others this simple question do not mean to offend or upset, and I understand that.

I have lots of answers I give. However, the truth is that I do not know exactly, and to be honest, it's making me fearful. I am afraid that a wrong decision towards my future could cause pain. It's the first time in my life that I don't know for sure what next step is.

I find myself asking my friends and mentors what I should do with my life and how I should go about it. I am looking for guidance in any way, shape or form.

I have told a lot of people a lot of things, but the truth is,
I am trying to control my future.
I want to please my family, my friends and my Jesus.

However,
I secretly think I want what I want. I feel awful for even typing that!
I have mapped out what I want to do and when I want to do it.

In the midst of my full-time job of planning and mapping out my entire life,
I humbled to say that I forgotten to listen to the still, small voice.

The voice that already has my life etched on his hand. 
My purpose written by him on his heart.
The one who wants to dance on the moon with me.
The one who breaks open my rib cage and pierces my heart.
The one who loves me, simply for me.

I faintly hear the voice in the midst of the chaos that I have created, speak clearly:

"I have not asked you to have everything figured out." 

Wow. Humbled.

Here I am trying to figure out everything all the time, when he only wants me.
All of me.
That includes my fear of future.

Philippians 4:6-9

6-7 Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.

It's like I am wearing a [patagonia] backpack that is full of my fears and I am climbing up a enormous mountain.

The backpack is full of things that I was never even intended to carry, and it's heavy.

I have a strap on my chest that is latched tight to help equal out the weight.

The mountain would be much easier to climb if my bag was lighter.

I want to give this backpack to Jesus, but I don't even know how to.

You think it would be easy to hand over something so heavy, but I hold onto it tight.

The beauty in this is that all I have to do it unhook the latch.

Unhook the latch and let Jesus take the load off of me.

He wants to rip that backpack off of my back, and I believe he is in the process of doing so. 

He wants to rip the backpack off of you, too.

My eyes drift again to the white, floral coffee mug in front of me and I think of the cold tea inside again.
I am reminded that this will be an ongoing process of trust with my Jesus and it will be a process indeed.
I am comforted by the hilarious fact that I can simply boil more water.

I don't have to be fearful of my future,
My future won't grow cold.
And if some odd reason it does, I always liked iced tea anyways.

LB

The Nameless Woman

Hello friends! So I haven't written a blog in months! I apologize about that! I decided that I wanted to post a quick blog, and I felt like the Lord was leading me to post a story that I wrote last year. It is based off of the story John 8 in the Bible. I tried to write from the perspective of the woman. I hope you are BLESSED and affirmed that you aren't alone today...

The Nameless Woman

By Lauren Branz

Again, I found myself in the same place.
Once again, I felt such filth all over my body.
I lifted up my fingers to wipe away the tears from my eyes, but all I could see was the dirt under my fingernails and my mud-stained hands.

My body ached.
Ached with a stinging pain.
Ached from the broken heart that I owned and was trying so desperately to fix.

The ground underneath my body was hard and cold.
There were no blankets to warm me.
Nothing to melt the icy feeling that followed me wherever I put my feet.

All that was next to me was a man that did not belong to me.
A man that did not love me.
A man that wanted a twisted form of love from me.

He didn’t want me. Not me.
No man wanted me.

You see, I was what you would label “an adulterer”
Always taking things that did not belong to me.
Always looking for love in the wrong places.
It was a deadly cycle that I couldn’t figure out how to break.

I looked out of the makeshift window in the small clay home.
It was still dark, yet the sun was beginning to slowly burst out of the horizon.
The man next to me was beginning to stir.
His body reeked with a smell that I could only describe as spoiled food and wine.

I realized that I needed to leave this man quickly.
His wife would be home when the sun was out of hiding.

Although this was a lifestyle that I had become accustomed to,
I still didn’t want to be caught doing the very thing that I was the most ashamed of.

I began to sit up slowly and started to look for my worn-out sandals that were passed on to me from my mother.
They were right beside the enormous door and inside of a bucket.
I stood up and began to plan my quiet escape.

As I was picking up the sandals, I began to hear noises outside of the home.
Then the door began to slowly open.
I looked around for a place to run, but there was nowhere to run.
There was always nowhere to run.

A woman now stood in the doorway with a group of men behind her.
She walked in her home with a candle in her hands.
She looked right at me with fire in her eyes and yelled,
“This is the woman I was suspecting. The adulterer!”

The adulterer. Even I was beginning to forget my own name.

“Get out of this home!” One of the men yelled.
“How dare you think you could get away with this?” A second one said.
“You’re coming with us. No harlot in this town!” Another added.

The woman walked right up to me as her drunken husband began to wake up from the chaos.
“I hope you get what you deserve for seducing my husband,” she said as she spit on my face.
She then leaned down to comfort her repulsive husband.

“Who is this woman?” he said pointing at me. “I have never seen her before!” he slurred.

I looked at him, disgusted.
Once again, I was the nameless woman.
Was anyone willing to stand up for me?
Did I do this act by myself?

The wife began to whimper loudly.
“Pharisees, take her away!” She yelled to the men in the doorway.

The two men in the front came to me, and grabbed both of my arms forcefully.
They pushed me through the door as they began walking me through the town.

They were holding my arms so hard that I was beginning to not be able to feel them.
All I could feel was the sharp stones under my feet.
I remembered I never got the sandals from the bucket

Where were they taking me?
Was death my punishment?
There was a dark part of me that wished that it was.
At least I would be out of my misery.

I was beginning to see where they were taking me.
To the temple courts.

As they brought me into the temple, I realized there were hundreds of people there.
They were all listening to a man that I had never seen before that was standing in front of them all.
He was teaching them.

He stopped speaking when I came into the temple.
All of the people looked at me.
My pride was gone. Everything I had was gone.
I had never felt more defeated.

The men made me stand in front of the entire group.
All of their eyes were glued to me.
I looked down at my filthy feet to avoid their gaze.

“Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?”

I felt as if the men didn’t like this teacher.
Like he was challenging their authority.
They hung on his every movement like they were trying to accuse him of something also.

Instead of answering them, this teacher bent down and starting writing in the dirt below him.

I thought that maybe the men had brought me to the wrong person.
Who was this curious man?
What was happening?

“Did you hear us, teacher?” one asked.
“What are you doing?’ another one chimed.
The questioning continued as he persistently wrote in the dirt.
After a long pause, he stood up and said these simple words,

“Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”

My head shot up.
I couldn’t believe it.
Was this teacher crazy?

Everybody in the town knew who I was.
An adulterer.
I deserved a punishment.
I deserved to be put to death for the things that I had done.
I even knew that.

He looked at me for a moment with his soft gaze and bent down to write in the dirt again.

At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first.
Every single one of my accusers and criticizers fled.

This teacher gathered himself as he looked around the temple.

“Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” he said as he looked at me with his gentle eyes.

I looked around the temple.
No one was here to condemn me any more.

“No one, sir.” I spoke slowly.

“Then neither do I condemn you,” the teacher declared.
“Go now and leave your life of sin.”

He continued writing in the dirt.
I was speechless and shocked.

Whoever this man was,
Whatever this man was,
I wanted to know what he was teaching.

Heart to His Heart: You Ain't No Outsider!

Heart to His Heart: You Ain't No Outsider!: You thought I forgot about this blog now, didn't ya? Well...you were right! :) Naturally, at 1:07am I decided to reminisce through my ol...

You Ain't No Outsider!

You thought I forgot about this blog now, didn't ya?


Well...you were right! :)


Naturally, at 1:07am I decided to reminisce through my old Facebook stuff, and saw a link for the blog! I was beyond excited when I remembered about it. I thought for a bit about what I would like to write about, and I came up with this:


At the beginning of this Summer, I worked at an incredible summer camp called Camp War Eagle. That place is anointed. Seriously! The Lord really rocked my world there. 


While there, I felt like I was supposed to read the book of Ephesians.


I will be real with you here, I hadn't really read a whole lot of Ephesians in my lifespan. I probably should have, but I haven't. Which is why is was really strange why I suddenly wanted to read this book! 


What I read changed my life. 


Those who know me know that I tend to write, speak, and basically do anything in absolutes! But this calls for an absolute! Really, it absolutely changed my life. I think I may have found a passage of scripture that sums up the whole gospel. The whole message of Jesus.


Get ready for your world to be rocked by God. 




"You're no longer wandering exiles. This kingdom of faith is now your home country. You're no longer strangers or outsiders. You belong here, with as much right to the name Christian as anyone. 


God is building a home. He's using us all—irrespective of how we got here—in what he is building. He used the apostles and prophets for the foundation. 


Now he's using you, fitting you in brick by brick, stone by stone, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone that holds all the parts together. We see it taking shape day after day—a holy temple built by God, all of us built into it, a temple in which God is quite at home."


Ephesians 2:19-20 (The Message)




Wow.
I will give you a minutes to soak that in.
In fact, read it again if you would like.
My favorite part is when it says:


YOU ARE NO LONGER A OUTSIDER.


In other words...
YOU AIN'T NO OUTSIDER!


Isn't that incredible?
In Jesus, we are no longer outsiders.
We are now ALWAYS in on the inside scoop.
We are in his inner circle.
We can be his best friends.


I feel freed by the fact that it says,


"God is building a home. He's using us all—irrespective of how we got here—in what he is building."


No matter where you are in life, no matter what you have done, no matter where you have been, he can use you. He is building something big. He wants you. He wants me. He wants everyone. 




He is placing us all in "brick by brick."


Jesus wants to use us all.
All of us have different strengths.
All of us have different purposes.
It's this simple; he loves all of us.
JESUS IS THE CORNERSTONE. 
He's the common ground.


Hillsong just came out with a new album called "Cornerstone" 
It goes along well with this blog. Listen and be blessed.

Whoever is reading this blog, know this:
God is building a home.
He's inviting you in.
And he knows, you deserve the best!


Be Blessed,
LB STAR

He is the Potter

Hello all! I apologize for not blogging in awhile! This blog is very special because I have asked one of my best friends, Nicole, to share her heart and be our guest blogger. The Lord really placed something on her heart, so be blessed! :) 

I would first like to say that Lauren Branz (LB Star) is one of the most fantastic girls I know. She is encouraging, beautiful, joyful, and kind and she is a phenomenal friend. I greatly appreciate the opportunity to write a little something for her blog! I’m honored. Truly.

With that honor has come a little pressure, I have to admit! I hope that you can be encouraged by this message.

I have found that the Lord speaks through me the most clearly through writing. When I physically write with pen on paper, it’s like He is talking through my pen. So when I was thinking of what to write for this blog that is what I did. I turned on some worship music and just wrote.

The song “Give Me Faith” by Elevation Worship began to play. Every other time I listened to this song I really only paid attention to the chorus. But this time the verse caught my attention. It says:

“I need You to soften my heart and break me apart. I need You to open my eyes and see that You’re shaping my life.”

When I heard these words I saw this picture of hands molding clay. I’m no artist or expert in pottery so I’m just going off memories of 8^th grade art class. But from what I can recollect of making bowls and mugs in junior high, if I didn’t keep molding the clay it would dry up and be tough to re-shape. If I wanted to change the shape I would have to break up the clay and pretty much start over.

This is so much like our lives. The bible itself says in Isaiah 64:8, “…We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work or your hand.” Just like the clay I was working with in art class, the Lord has to constantly mold and shape us so we do not become hard. So that our hearts stay soft.

Sometimes we need broken apart. Our clay self needs softened. Or maybe even to be made new. When we are being broken, when the Lord is shaping us, it can be uncomfortable. He’s breaking us. In those times I pray that He opens your eyes to see the good that is happening. As the song puts it, “open my eyes and see that You’re shaping my life.”

It is so exciting to me that whether my clay self if broken, whole, shapeless, or cool-looking, it doesn’t matter because its in God’s hands and that is all that matters! Who cares what it looks like if the creator of the universe is holding it! Find comfort in the Lord holding you, forming you, giving you life.

Like James said, “Consider it pure joy when you face trials because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance!”

Allow God to soften your heart and break you apart. Give thanks in times of trial. You can’t prune a fruitless tree. So if you are being pruned, you must have been fruitful…in other words, you’re doing something right! But now you may need trimmed for the next season. And you have nothing to fear because you’re in His hands. Literally.

Be encouraged. 

Nicole

There is POWER!

Wow! I apologize for not posting in SO LONG! 


This has been an EXTREMELY busy season of my life, as I imagine it has been for many others! I have tried my very best to enjoy it to the fullest, as I encourage everybody that is reading this to do the same. 


I thought for some time about what I would write about for this blog. 
I think I have finally found something that I am really excited to write about.


So I am in this course called "New Testament" at my school. 


At times, it can be difficult to understand, but the other day my professor said something that really rocked my world.


He was describing the Cross and it's significance to our lives. He even described how we have materialized it and turned it into a fashion statement or into trendy jewelry. 


He also described the significance of the Cross in the Roman Empire when Jesus was crucified. 
I don't remember word for word what he said, but the main point was that it was the greatest form of Roman power; it showed that nothing or nobody could compete with their rule.


However, when Jesus ROSE from the dead after being crucified...


He initially showed that even the most intense form of power had 
NO POWER OVER HIM.


How encouraging is that?
Even the most terrible form of torture has 
NO POWER OVER JESUS.


Be comforted in this today.


One of my favorite songs of all time is called 
"Break Every Chain" sung by Jesus Culture.There is a verse in it that says,


"There is in the name of Jesus, to break every chain."

He has come to break every single one of your chains.
I will close with the passage of scripture from Psalms:






"Then you called out to God in your desperate condition; 
      he got you out in the nick of time. 
   He led you out of your dark, dark cell, 
      broke open the jail and led you out. 
   So thank God for his marvelous love, 
      for his miracle mercy to the children he loves; 
   He shattered the heavy jailhouse doors, 
      he snapped the prison bars like matchsticks!" 


Psalms 107:13-16


Let him snap your prison bars like matchsticks today!


Blessings,
LB STAR