Exactly where, God?

This picture was taken in Westport, County Mayo in the West of the Republic of Ireland.

After the stroke in May 2010, Phillip began to share with me and others his long-time desire to go to the UK.  He had never expressed this to anyone before, but says that he had always had in his heart a soft spot for the British people.  While we were in Panama, his very close friendship with Simon Morrow, an Irishman, only highlighted and multiplied this feeling in his heart.  We began to talk and pray then about the possibility of moving at some point to the British Isles.  Then last year, we visited these dear friends, Simon and Sarai Morrow who had moved from Panama to the west of Ireland later that year to be missionaries in his own country.  They are living now in Ballina, a town in Mayo.  During that visit, we took a day trip around the west coastjust to see all the beautiful countryside and ended our day here in Westport, where the photo was taken.  It is a beautiful town. We even mentioned, when we were looking around, that it would be a very nice place to live.

For months, though, after finally giving in to God's guiding, and deciding that Ireland is where we would be moving, we were wrestling and asking God about which city He would have us work.  We know God knitted our hearts together with the Morrows for a reason so, we feel like we need to plan to be in the same city as they.   There are lots of factors that need  to be considered in this decision: where God would have us minister alongside the Morrow family, existing ministries in the city, available and affordable housing, activities for our children, and the possibility of community, among other things.  There are some hopeful possibilities that have come up in Westport that we think may be just the thing we have been looking for; however, we are waiting to see how God guides us before any final decisions are made.

So please pray with us for God's direction (as in which city to settle into) for our family.
Thank you so very much.

On the Road Again.

So, our tickets are bought. On January 15th, 2013, our family will be moving to Ireland. AGHHH!!!!

It's crazy, I know! Here we go again.  We will be getting rid of all the 'stuff' we have accumulated over the last year and a half back in the states (furniture and all) and we will start all over, all over again for the third time.  We are okay with this, though, because such is the life God has called us to.  We are excited, yet anxious, yet trusting God through what fear we may have that He will be our source, our sustainer, our everything.

If anyone would like to sit down with us, (preferable over a tasty meal, or on a comfy couch with a warm or cold beverage in-hand) we would absolutely love to tell you in person what God has been doing in our lives to prepare us for this new leg of our journey.

Seriously! We will be in Houston for another month, and then mid-July we will be leaving Youth-Reach Houston to move to Mesquite, Texas to work on growing our prayer base and financial support for full time ministry.  Then, we will be off to Ireland in January! So, call or email, text or message us! We would love to hang!

Short Update...

Dear Family and Friends,

Ask me to play a song on the guitar, I'll say, "Show me the guitar." But ask me to write an update on our lives, “Ehhh, I need to take a nap!”

Nevertheless, here's the quick rundown:

We have been faithfully serving on staff here at Youth-Reach Houston since November 15, 2010. I (Phillip) serve as a counselor and full-time schoolteacher for the residents, and continue to help with the layout and design of the current newsletters.

The kids are enjoying gymnastics, and have finished the semester with medals. Noah has progressed rapidly and has even been given the opportunity to compete!

Alisha tirelessly juggles the homeschooling/unschooling/spills/chills/thrills/where’s your pants? /don’t hit your brother/can’t I just go to the bathroom? /don’t hit your sister/Phillip, take your medicine part of our lives. Yes, she is the beautiful heartbeat of our family! (Please patronize her wonderful gift of photography on ourfamiliabrummett.shutterfly.com page!)  

Having surrendered to cross-cultural living, God is indeed drawing our hearts back overseas, this time to Europe. Many of you already know we will be heading to Ireland inJanuary 2013. We will move to Mesquite, Texas the weekend of July 14^th -15^th to continue our support raising for this adventure, until then we will continue to serve here at Youth-Reach Houston.

We are currently working on our plan & budget for Ireland. Please stay tuned and continue to pray about linking arms with us in this vision!

Here is our tentative schedule for all who would love to get some Brummett lovin’ in before it’s time to set sail!:

June 1^st - 28^th – We will be here in Houston

June 29^th - July 6^th – Family Vacation

July 14^th - 15^th – Moving to Mesquite, Texas

January 15^th, 2013 – Moving to The Republic of Ireland

Con Mucho Love,

The Brummetts

time

clothes to wash, 
kids to teach, 
time to spend, 


words to write, 
calls to make, 
words to say, 
time to spend, 


meals to prepare,
clothes to fold, 
kids to wash,
time to spend,


things to do,
things to do,
things to do,
time spent...


where did it go?
wait...


words to hear,
cries to soothe,
smiles to notice,
time to spend,


words to read,
prayers to pray,
sun to feel on your skin so warm,
grass to feel underfoot,
time to spend,


smile back,
hugs,
kisses,
embraces,
music in the ears so sweet,
time to spend, 


hearts heard,
life enjoyed,
love shared,
time spent.

zombies?

last week, during the gathering of believers on sunday, God gave me a glimpse of the reality of the body of Christ... we are the walking dead.  


read this first from the voice translation:
John 12
six days before the Passover feast, Jesus journeyed to the village of bethany, to the home of lazarus who had recently been raised from the dead, where they hosted Him for dinner.  martha was busy serving as the hostess, lazarus reclined at the table with Him, and mary took a pound of fine ointment, pure nard (which is both rare and expensive), and anointed Jesus' feet with it; and then she wiped them with her hair.  as the pleasant fragrance of this extravagant ointment filled the entire house, judas iscariot, one of his disciples (who was plotting to betray jesus) began to speak.  

Judas: How could she pour out this vast amount of fine oil? why didn't she sell it? it is worth nearly a year's wages; the money could have been given to the poor.  

This had nothing to do with Judas's desire to help the poor.  the truth is he served as the treasurer, and he helped himself to the money from the common pot at every opportunity.  

Jesus: leave her alone. she has observed this custom in anticipation of the day of my burial.  the poor are ever present, but i will be leaving. 

last week during the service, the pastor told this story of mary and martha.  i have heard it a million times.  it is still a great story, and i always understood that story to mean that we should abandon the busyness of life in order to sit at His feet... but that isn't the part that struck me the most this time.  he, the pastor, had a very small bottle of the oil described in this passage, when mary anoints Jesus's feet with nard... a precious and very expensive oil... the pastor, just to demonstrate the potency of the fragrance, poured some of it onto a plate in the front of the congregation; it could be smelled all the way in the back of the room.  
but then, there was an invitation to just touch the tip of one finger into the oil while passing it on the way to take communion.  he warned us that the smallest amount, would probably stick with us for a couple of days...  and then as we, the body of Christ, filed by, passing, touching the oil, taking the elements of communion, returning to our seats, one after the other... the aroma of this anointing oil, this precious ointment, began to permeate  the entire room... (by the way, as Jesus talks about very briefly, mary was anointing  Him for burial... )  and the smell of death filled the room... this is when it hit me. the body of Christ, we are dead, yet alive.  in fact, we are most alive, when we are dead.   the walking dead.


listen to the message here:  Ecclesia podcasts (under 'mary got it'

so, it's very late, my kids are finally snug in their beds, and i am sitting here, pensive, tired, and ... trying to figure out how to share all the things that are on my heart.  i realized that a blog is supposed to be almost continuous, flowing, and communicative.  ours have been non of these. so, first, i would like to say i am sorry.  there is actually is a lot that we would love to share with you, our dear friends.  i just have to slow down, to share them.

that i guess is the issue. time. life is running too quickly.  we work so hard to clean, to wash, to meet deadlines, to shop, to provide for our families... for what? in the end, what is it all for? really.  every day, i have a long list of things that have to be done like washing the endless piles of dishes, sweeping the incessant flow of food from the floor, or washing the pile of clothes in the laundry room that multiplies overnight... while my kids, ever growing, learning, listening, and watching are waiting for me to show them, teach them what really matters. love. faithfulness. Godliness.  we are, i am the example they are looking to follow, whether i like it or not.  i have to remind myself, God is my example, and i am theirs.

with that in mind, we have to consider everything. our future is their future. what we as their parents do, or do not do, will shape the experiences, memories, and lives of our children.  what they know of trust, safety, right and wrong.  so, we pray.  we pray for wisdom to make the right decisions for us and for them. our children can voice opinions they may have, but ultimately they must trust us and go wherever we go.  God is calling us, our family, to trust Him in every area of our lives.  we are ambassadors, trail-makers, trusters, believers.  we must live out in front of our children everything we talk about, or they will never trust in what we say to be true. so, we have to trust in God, and... we have to go where our Father tells us to go. and this time, it is ireland......

In November, we were so blessed to be able to go to the west of Ireland, to 'scout' it out and see if that is where we felt like God is calling us.  Our trip was an amazing time of reflection and prayer, exploration and an adventure.  Phillip and I hadn't been away like that together since our honeymoon, and that was twelve years ago!  So we were so excited to have the opportunity to spend time together, but more than that we were able to spend the week with our dear friends.  It was a time for us to pray together, encourage one another, and to listen to God and what he might have for us there.

our week was filled with laughter, tears, prayers and song

most of the pictures from the ireland trip are here if you would like to see:  Familiabrummett

we do feel a real drawing to go.  we learned a lot during our trip and even since about the need for love and community in this country.