A light emanated from your souls

that brightened the entire room 

And soon I found myself in tears 

Because it was clear 

to me and anyone present that day

That you were made 

specifically for one another 

May you cherish each other forever

May you never lose sight 

of this moment in time 

where you two love birds came together as one 

And may the sun always shine on your love as it did this day. 

• Brianna Carey ©

At The River

Over the years, 

the tears she has cried

have created this river she now kneels beside....

Praying that You would walk by 

and take her with You....  

to the place where You reside 

where her eyes would finally find... 

Relief 

A moment's peace from the pain

Where her heart, so drained, could finally rest 

But You've yet to come......

- Brianna Carey ©

Letters To Jesus #1

I just want to do something worth while with my life for people who truly need it, not for the rich who only want more but for the poor who need so much. I am just so tired of working without purpose, to what avail? Business' you work for are never satisfied. If you give them 100 they want 200, if you give them even better 300, then they ask for 500. It never ends, they always want more. How rich do the rich want to be exactly? And where does that leave me in process of making them rich? It leaves me as a paid slave working my life away only to give all my money away to company's charging me for the basic necessities of human life, shelter, water, and food. Not to mention depriving me of any free time I do need in order to do God's work. 

How does anyone get off this hamster wheel? 

It's like being stuck in the same day over and over again and I'm utterly losing my mind. I just want out God. I want out and into Kingdom Business. I want to be the hands and feet of You. I want to travel the world as You commanded and share the Gospel with others. Show me how please? Because I feel my soul is being starved where I am in life currently. I have been wandering through this endless desert for so very long and I thirst. I thirst Jesus. My soul is sore vexed and my heart feels as though it is holding so much passion inside for the things You have called me to do but I've stepped into concrete somehow when I was not looking and now my feet won't move. I don't know if it is fear holding me back or insecurity but either way I need You. I need You to push me, or I'm afraid if You do not, I will remain here forever. And I do not want to be here anymore. 

God, please help me to not give up during this time of stagnation, because I feel so weakened. Guide me on how I become who You made me to be, on what it means to walk in that. Because I cannot keep living this same day over and over again and expecting a different result. For that is the definition of Insanity. 

I need You to move me to move, because at this moment in time, I can barely walk without You. In Jesus name, help me get off the wheel. 

- Brianna Carey © (Letters to Jesus) 

Endurance

I see You in all that I see. Your majesty is evident in Nature's design. The way it always finds a way to survive regardless of the elements. That's evidence to me that it was orchestrated to be a lesson, that life doesn't stop through the changing seasons, it only brings meaning and growth; just as loss can become hope, you learn to endure until you bloom once more. - Brianna Carey ©

Soon and Very soon

In the transition phase

It is a broken place I am in 

But I know it will not last forever 

God has better in store for me 

He hears my plea

He has great plans to prosper me 

I just have to trust Him

He is shaping my wings 

Preparing me for flight 

But right now, I am still in the cocoon 

Soon, and very soon,

I will emerge new. 

- Brianna Carey ©

Tune Me In

There's just always so much noise

It gets hard for me to hear Your voice 

It's so small and still 

Give me the will to listen to You above the den 

Tune me in to Your sound 

Surround me in Your peace that surpasses understanding 

Give me just a glimpse into what you've been planning. 

- Brianna Carey ©

Eternal Treasure

I breathe deeply

The world spins at a much slower pace 

No longer in a race to finish first 

I know my worth 

is not determined by accolades 

Nor my joy by how much I can gain in this life

My focus is on eternal treasure 

A pleasure this world could never provide. 

- Brianna Carey ©

A Walk on Water

Dreaming is one thing

Believing is another

I've discovered as I mature 

That a dream begins and ends at the shore 

But belief allows for you to step out onto the waves 

It's solely reliant upon faith 

Faith that you will not drown. 

- Brianna Carey ©

A Lost Soul No Longer

I see the world through Your eyes Jesus 

No longer believing the lie of the serpent 

No more wandering this earth with

no navigation 

My compass is always facing 

North 

- Brianna Carey ©

If It Were Not For You

If it were not for You

These blues would be as midnight 

No light would reach where my soul dwells 

It is only by Your grace 

that this world's hell 

hasn't made me a casualty 

among the many 

Although plenty have made it their mission 

to remove me from existence 

Whether knowingly or otherwise 

For the schemes they have devised would have played a part in my demise 

if it were not for You.... 

- Brianna Carey ©

I'D DIE FOR YOU

I've heard the term "I'd die for you" 

At least a time or two

But You.... 

see You actually did 

And I must admit 

I am still trying to get a sense of what that means

That You thought enough of me 

to give Your life in place of mine.....

All so that I 

could spend eternity with You

I have never known a Love more true. 

- Brianna Carey ©

Anew

I enjoy that each day begins anew 

Fresh like the morning dew 

that falls ever so gently on a flower. - B.C.© 

Even though you're thousands of miles away 

I look up to the sky and the distance seems to fade

We each take our place in the clouds 

The sound of true love resounds

Once bound, now our love is boundless 

I've found it's much easier to love you from afar 

For my heart is simply too small to contain all that we are. 

- B.C. 'For The One Series' .1 Written by Brianna Carey ©

A New Old World

I look around behind me
All I see are faces down
No one making a sound
Nor talking to one another
I believe I've discovered a black hole
into which society has fallen
Involved in endless apps
Only concerned with snaps
I look back to see if anyone still wants out of this place
I yell out but my voice fades among the millions of videos streaming
I hear souls screaming for interaction
But they are quickly muted by distraction after distraction
They can no longer see
Blinded by tweets, media, and TV screens
I call out one last time
as I walk forward towards the Light
Hoping others will follow behind
My mind begins to open to a new world
More of an old world rather
where people are gathered
creating memories with one another.

- B.C.

Acceptance. Trust. Obedience.

I accept the miraculous; that which I cannot explain in the natural. I accept what I do not understand, resting in the hope that His Holy Spirit will make it clear to me eventually, and trusting in the knowledge and wisdom of His word. I strive to be obedient to what I know to be the will of God in this present moment. That is how I live.

I'm not concerned with explaining my faith to others. God said "Share the Gospel" He didn't say explain it. See, a lot of times in life, people will ask you a question about your faith simply to provoke an argument, not a discussion. What you have to ask yourself, as someone wise one said is, "Are they asking me a question because they truly want to know the answer OR are they asking me to argue?" Learning the difference early in your Christian life will save you a lot of time and heartache. It will also teach you how not to "throw your pearls to swine"; or in other words, how not to waste your wisdom on the foolish. I too was a fool, so I have experience, lol. I thought I had to know everything in order to trust a God who is All-knowing. But it's impossible to know everything and know God. It's a contradiction. Because if I knew everything then I'd be God.

Coming to that realization is when I accepted that I do not require an explanation for His words, those which I do not understand; nor do I need an explanation for His ways, which are far higher and greater than my own. No. What I needed was to accept that He is God alone. He knows not only All, but He knows best. I needed to make the decision to fully trust in His Holy Spirit, and that He would reveal only what I am to know in this present moment in time and nothing more. What I needed, more than anything, was humility. The humility it to surrender to God.

To be in the presence of God or even begin to know Him, I had to let go of my ego. I had to tear down that wall I had built up around my soul using all that which I "thought" I knew, in order to learn that which He wanted to teach me.

In saying all this, what I truly want to convey is: God said to share the Gospel, not argue it. His Word does not require our defense. If you know the answer to a question someone has about your faith, and they truly want to know the answer to it, answer them by all means. If you don't know the answer, simply say "I'm not sure, I'm still learning, so I'll have to get back to you on that." But if they are simply asking you for the sole purpose of arguing with you until the sun goes down, kindly deny them that.

You do not need to defend Jesus, I'm pretty sure He can take their worst insults, after all He's had the worst done to Him already and overcame. The foundation of Christianity will not crumble because you don't have the answer to back God's word. Nor will His words lose any validity when someone fails to understand them. His Word remains true. "It endures forever." His Word, from the time He formed the earth, to the time The Word became flesh on earth, has endured countless accusations and misconceptions, and come through many who have attempts to refute it and debate it. Yet and still, It stands, no less the Truth than when it was first spoken.

It is a sure foundation now and always.

Go and share the Gospel, Love on others, be Light, express your Love for Jesus but don't get bullied into unnecessary battles. God bless you.

- Brianna Carey ©

"When your world becomes polluted, your spiritual connection to God is diluted." - Brianna Carey ©

Concrete

Searching for a way out
But I lost the layout of my path.
It's hard to navigate
when you're in restraints and cannot move
It's like walking through concrete
I try to move my feet
but with each step it hardens.

We All Have A Story

People endure such hardships, some too horrific to ever speak about. Regardless of what they've faced, they awake each day and put one foot in front of the other to attempt to do their best to find their way back to the path of joy; fighting through the darkness, which is admirable. We should always keep this in mind with each person we encounter, when choosing our words, be wise and above all kind. Proceed with compassion. Spread Love. Try to come from a standpoint of understanding always. God bless ya'll.

- Brianna Carey ©

Choose not to react to, but rather reflect on the things people do to you. - Brianna Carey ©

Family Quotes

"Is Trump causing division, OR are we using him as an excuse to divide ourselves?" - Anthony Carey ©

My brother asked this profound question the other day. It of course sparked controversy but if you really take into consideration what society has been doing since Trump first announced he'd run for Presidency, up until right now, the answer to this question is clear. It's the latter.

Each of us has a choice when we awake each day of who we are going to be and the impact we desire to have on the world. Our destination is written but not our journey, God leaves that part to us. Will we be positive and have a good influence wherever we go? Or will we be negative and have a bad influence on the world? I've said before that no good change in the state of the world has ever stemmed from anger. Anger only breeds more anger which leads to a state of hatred. What happened to a time when people could agree to disagree, where we may not have the same view and that was okay and we respected each other enough to say hey, you're on a different part of your journey than I am, and that's alright, I can still be a friend to you, I can still love you with the Love of Christ and we CAN get along. Because despite our differences, you're still my brother, you're still my sister.

If we could all live that way, and see each other in that manner, despite the difference in views, the world would be a much better place.

My dad instilled in me a quote that I carry through my life at all times:

"Look for the good. Hope for the best. Do your part. And let God take care of the rest." - Donald E. Carey ©

If you're always looking for the good in everything and in everyone, it leaves little room to judge, it leaves even less room to search for the bad in them. If you're always hoping for the best, it leaves little room for doubt or fear, and since hope is an inherently positive trait, it breeds optimism. If you're doing your part, and that means doing the best that you can to be a good human being, if the majority of the time you're doing the right things and taking steps towards making the world better including yourself, then there's very little room for negativity or pessimism because you're too focused on doing your part to improve. Then lastly you let God take care of the rest, the unknown, the future, the uncertainty of tomorrow. All of that belongs to Him. You entrust it to Him. He has it in His fully capable hands. So don't worry, don't be anxious and definitely don't be angry. Read Matthew 6:19-34 in the Message version. I'll also post it shortly thereafter this one just in case you don't have access currently to a bible. God bless you and thank you for reading. Take courage and be the best that YOU can be for God. Sending love and light! - Brianna Carey ©

Someone tried to justify all this rioting by comparing it to the rioting during the times of the civil rights movements. No. Do not. This is not the same thing at all. I am well aware that great change can occur by a unified stand against injustice and even that the process of that stand may involve violence to incite that great change you are hoping for but no, that is not the case here. This is not a just cause that benefits humanity as a whole and betters our future or is freeing slaves, no. This is millennials who are throwing a temper tantrum as would a child who did not get their way. Do not even attempt to compare this civil unrest to the kind that occurred when attempting to end oppression against blacks. No. Just do not. I can fully respect those marching for their rights or even what they're passionate about or believe in, that's your right but what I cannot respect is those destroying businesses and fighting and hurting each other. There is a huge difference between being passionate about something and being angry. Let us not confuse the two. Passion breeds progress, anger only breeds more anger and hate. Nothing positive has ever come from anger nor has great change been brought about by hate. No. Indeed, it has only ever been Love that inspired great change in the world. So can we get back to Love and just move forward? I pray so. - Bri

Don't allow yourself to be a pawn in the hands of satan, be rather a tool in the Hands of the Father. Surrender to His will and let Him use you. "Lean not on your own understanding", this means setting aside our ego, and saying I know nothing Lord, teach me. Pray for HIS understanding, for it is far greater than ours. It can illuminate the world in a much clearer way. When we see through His eyes and not with our own. Most of our wrong actions as human beings stem from the inability to admit that we can even be wrong. Our unwillingness to accept our faults then manifests into arrogance, and from arrogance, pride.... and from pride stems so many negative things.

"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye." - Jesus (Matthew 7:3)

Let go of what you think you know and seek His wisdom over earthly knowledge. Ask Him to examine you within and reveal that which is not of God and not of His word and then ask Him to remove all of it. Allow Him to peel back those layers of pride and restore you to His glory. This is what it means "to be made new". It's not another slogan or a catch phrase, it's a divine spiritual process that takes place deep within your soul and it's something that happens over the course of a lifetime of getting to know Jesus intimately. Don't deny yourself all that God has to offer and all that He can do through you by clinging to pride.

God bless you and goodnight.

- Brianna Carey ©

Seek Deeper

What is the big deal though? Honestly what can possibly take place in a 4 year term that will "destroy our lives" as people have so bluntly put it? Does the faith and hope of Americans really rely on one man or woman running the country? I mean, I voted but I didn't give the man my soul. Come on people, you've got to put your faith in something higher than one person. One person who  can't even pass any new bills without the support of majority of the House Senate and the Supreme Court backing the proposed bill, and sure he appointed some new people to be a part of his cabinet, but what catastrophic event are you expecting will take place that would ruin your lives irreversibly? Look at the state of our world as it is. The state of America and the state of people in general. Look at how we treat each other. If you honestly think that evolution of humanity as a whole or the growth of the conscious spirit in the soul of each individual is dependent upon one President then my friend, Seek Deeper. Life is too short to get all worked up over one election. It's got people I've known for years refusing to speak to me because I voted for Trump, because I exercised the same right every one is entitled to and that hundreds of my ancestors died violently for me to be able to do. To pick who we each feel is best suited to hold office temporarily is part of the Freedom we love in America. This divisiveness of people towards one another in their quote unquote "Protest for unity" has been so appalling and not to mention a contradiction. Everyone speaks of peace, equality and freedom so long as everyone shares their same view. I could go on and even deeper into this discussion, but I just feel like King Solomon in Ecclesiastes sometimes, "how utterly meaningless it all is".

SEEK DEEPER.

- Brianna Carey ©

Where Your presence flows, that is where I will store my hope. - Brianna Carey ©

Working Towards More.....

I give my job my all. Everyday I come in a half hour or more early to check emails and prep for my 8 hour shift which generally ends up being much longer because I'm dedicated to doing very well. I work hard because my performance matters to me. I put care and effort into everything I do at work. But why is it that with any company I've ever worked for that my best is never good enough. If I do really well one month, they expect more the next, and then more after that and so on and so on.

When I worked for a retail store in the past and I made my sales quota, they raised it time and again until it was no longer reachable for me no matter how hard I pushed or tried, which inevitably led to me being dismissed from that position. God has since led me to two different jobs after that one, and each one has been an improvement in pay but in the measure of stress, it's increased exponentially with each new position I've taken on. Because My All is simply never good enough.

I am so exhausted. I'm worn out, I'm always extremely tired physically. I need more sleep but due to the stress, I often have a difficult time sleeping and an even more difficult time letting the day go. I carry my work home with me. Yeah, I'm one of those people. My mind races just as it did during my shift of trying to get so many things completed before I run out of time. I struggle to get through the unending tasks I have to do, then I practically inhale my lunch (eating way too fast), or I skip it all together because my stomach is so tied up in knots that I can't eat. And I say all this not to whine about it, I'm grateful for a job, it provides for now but I say this to be completely honest. I feel as though my life is just work. Get up, go to work, go to sleep, repeat.

But I want my life to be so much more. I want my life to be out in nature hiking, breathing in the earth around me; having the physical energy to exercise and stay healthy would be nice. I want my life to be volunteering at shelters for the homeless, but more than that, I want to help end homelessness. I want to volunteer for animal rescues. I'd love to have actual free time, I cannot even comprehend the concept of "free time", because it escapes me daily. I want my life to be not just serving others purely for their financial gain or for my own profit but serving a greater mission towards true spiritual fulfillment. Some people measure success as dollars, I do not. I've seen how easily those dollars fade and are given away as quickly as they came. It has to be about more.....

I keep praying for God to guide me in the direction I need to go so that I do not stay in this same "repeat" mode for another year and the year after and then suddenly years from now, I'm nearing the end of my life wondering why I never did anything that truly mattered or was worth while. I wouldn't even mind being just as tired and worn out as I am today if I knew it meant that people were being helped, and God was being glorified. Are people who truly need help being helped by me working this hard? Are life's being changed? Souls impacted? Are animals being rescued? Are the sick being cared for? And most importantly; is God being glorified in what I do? No.

No to all of the above questions; and I just pray that Jesus will reveal to me how. How do I get off repeat? How do I put into place the desires He placed into my heart the moment He created me? How do I begin living my purpose for Him and no longer continue wasting my days nor my energy in trying to achieve the unachievable goals set for me by man?

These are the questions that often leave me in wait for an answer but I will keep believing for God to answer me. I will keep believing Him for far greater purpose. For divine connections. For revelation.... for clarity on my intended path, and for the strength to continue to wait on His perfect timing until He is ready to move me. But during the wait I will also take small steps towards what God has placed in my heart long ago. And trust in His loving hand to go before me in favor. In Jesus name I truly pray, Amen.

Pray Morning and Night

“Let the morning bring me word of Your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in You. Show me the way I should go, for to You I entrust my life.”
‭‭- Psalm‬ ‭143:8‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Awake each new day with this verse upon your lips. It's so beautiful. It is the best prayer to pray; second only to the Lord's Prayer, and that one we should pray each night before we go to sleep. Amen.

“Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, As we forgive those who sin against us. And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil. For Yours is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory forever and ever. Amen.”
‭‭- Matthew‬ ‭6:9-13‬ ‭NKJV‬

I'd love for you to do this in agreement with me and for you to tell me of your testimonies of what God does in your lives as you grow with Him and walk with Him on your journey. Speak of all He has done, and all He's going to do for you and through you. Trust Him. God bless you all.

- Brianna Carey ©

Is it Love or Manipulation?

"Giving with strings of secret expectations attached is the greatest invitation to heartbreak. That's not love. That's manipulation." - Lysa TerKeurst (Uninvited)

So incredibly true. "The greatest invitation to heartbreak." That's the part that hit me. And the fact that loving while secretly expecting something in return is manipulative. I'm so very guilty of this. I didn't even know until this quote hit me like a ton of bricks. I thought 'ouch, I do that.....' God forgive me. And prior to reading that passage, I read this one:

"Love given from a heart whose real motivation is, what I'm hoping I'll get in return, it's not really love at all." - Lysa TerKeurst (Uninvited)

When you love others; when you serve, when you reach out to help someone in need, what is your motivation for doing so? And be truthful with yourselves. Are you quietly hoping you'll get rewarded, or that the love you give will be reciprocated? Don't be too hard on yourself if that's you.... I think it's pretty normal for most of us, if we're being honest with ourselves. But we can learn to recognize when we do it, and repent in that moment and pray this:

God, teach me to love without expectation, show me that to Give is the reward itself. Teach me to Love in the way You do, purely, and with no hidden agendas, in Jesus name, amen.

A SEASON FOR EVERTHING

"There is a season for everything. This means that even the most fulfilling times in life must give way to something new." - Jesus Always (Book)

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.”

‭‭- Ecclesiastes‬ ‭3:1-8‬ ‭NIV‬‬

"Live abundantly not apprehensively. Everything we do serves a purpose, everything we experience is for a reason." - Brianna Carey ©

"Salvation may happen in an instant but redemption is a journey. It takes time." - Brianna Carey ©