Braving The Waters

Good morning! It is not a secret that I am not exactly a morning person. I can get up in the morning and function it just takes me a little while to "be awake". There are a few things and a few times of year that are the "exception to the rule". -Any week that I am counselling or directing camp -Any time I am in WV/Pa visiting family and friends -Hospital or other morning visits with church members Recently I added meeting a friend for a morning walk 2-3 times a week. Today I am adding another. In September my spiritual direction certification classes started. Our entire scheduled was changed because of COVID and not being able to gather in the same space. So we met online and began to get to know each other. It is not easy to get to know people in this way, but it is slowly happening. Even though we didn't get to spend a concentrated week together, we are still connected. This group meetings monthly. early in the morning, on zoom. My Spiritual Direction Cohort...

Today began like any other day.  My alarm clock sounded and I hit snooze, twice.  Out of bed, dog out, breakfast made, coffee perking. In the back of my mind I know today is different than I thought it would be 9 months ago.  Today I should be boarding an airplane bound for Atlanta. I am not boarding an air plane, I am not headed to Atlanta.  Today I should be officially beginning my in person classes for Spiritual Direction Certification.  I am not meeting in person rather I am obsessively checking the zoom time so I don't miss it because of the time difference.  Today began like any other day, but today is different.  In one way or another we have all gone through significant changes since 2020 began. In one way or another our lives are different now than we thought they would be 9 months ago. It's perfectly acceptable to lament if things that were supposed to happen didn't, or didn't happen how you imagined. It's perfectly acceptable to rejoice if g...

I am an internal processor. I am a contemplative person who needs time to think before I speak. Unless we’ve been friends for more than a year, you probably think I don’t talk very much. My silence often gets me in trouble because my silence is often interpreted that I don’t care. One group has decided that I don’t care and therefore stand, complicit, with the oppressive force. Others think my silence means I am complacent and don’t care enough to even make a comment. The problem however is that I do care, it just takes me too long to get my thoughts together and by the time I have them ready, it’s too late. But it’s not too late. It is never too late to stand up against something that is wrong. It is never to late to stand up for something you believe in. Over the past week I have done a lot of reading, a lot of observing, a lot of praying, and a lot of weeping. Reading, observing, praying, weeping… Communities of color don’t need my tears, They don’t need me to stand to the side and ...

I wrote this for the local paper...it isn't much and it is very "politically and religiously safe" because I don't think my little spot in the paper should be used for tearing the community a part. We all struggle in our own way with the state of the world. These are just a few of my thought on how we can maybe struggle together...without beating each other up about it. Pasrson to Person  “There is No Easy Answer or Solution?” Rev. Andrea Brownlee First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) The work of ministry is nothing short of finding the balance between absolutely crazy and astonishingly beautiful.   In the course of a week it is not unlikely for me to sit at someone’s beside in the hospital, spend time with children and youth discovering what it means to be a follower of Christ, visit with a couple preparing to start their life together, help someone figure out how to pay an overdue bill or find food to feed their family until next month’s check arrives....

Holy cow, it's been 5 years!  When I decided to begin writing a blog I wasn’t really sure what it would look like. I sent several possible “this is what/how I am going to do with this blog” to some friends to get their opinions. They all responded with “these all sound good, just pick one”.  I guess I never really picked one. For a while I tried to write every day but something always came up that didn’t allow me the time I needed to get it done. So then I tried once a week, that didn’t always work either. Over the past 5 years I have written very sporadically mostly when something significant happened in my life(important anniversaries, ridiculous or ironic conversations in grocery store lines, unexpected death or change) Never consistent and never what any of my original plans looked like. I decided to look at the stats. There are at least 15 people who read this blog every.single.time something is posted. That is awesome, thanks for coming back! As I looked at th...

This week seemed “off”. I couldn’t put my finger on what was not right but I just felt out of rhythm. I went through a mental check list but still wasn’t sure what was missing. It hit me on Wednesday night after a great day with fellow clergy women and a fantastic church Halloween party…I didn’t post last Saturday. It wasn’t a conscious decision not to post it simply didn’t happen. It wouldn’t be impossible to come up with a handful of excuses to why I didn’t take the time to do it. There is no excuse, I mean honestly the week before I made time to post while at the wedding reception of one of my best friends...no excuse. I asked myself a few weeks ago if I had gotten enough into the “habit” of writing while on sabbatical, I was certain I had. By not writing, even a simple prayer, my entire week was thrown off. While I was on sabbatical I “resurrected” this blog was for others, so people would know where I was, what I was doing, and what I was learning.  Now, I am not longer o...

Today began my 2 month sabbatical. A time of reflection, relaxation, study, discernment, rest, renewal...I will explain more as the weeks pass by. It is a time to disconnect from "my world" and reconnect to God and my calling as a minister within the Body of Christ. However, it is unrealistic for me to totally stay away from social media and technology because well…if you’ve met me you know the answer to that. However I will be significantly limiting my use of all things electronic over the next 2 months. I will not be responding to emails, I will not(unless you have been otherwise notified) be answering phone calls or text messages, and I will not be spending much time on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram except to post the occasional picture, blog post, or significant update. I hope that limiting my time with these avenues of communication will allow me to truly be in the moment!  I have many hopes for this sabbatical and I want to share them with you as I go along...

8 years ago(yesterday) I was Ordained into the Order of Christian Ministry in the West Virginia Region of Christian Church(Disciples of Christ). It was a day filled with bagpipes and preaching, singing and laughing, praying and crying, hugging and even some dancing! It was a blessed day in my opinion and one I will forever remember in my heart, mostly because there are very few pictures. I don’t need pictures to remember the words spoken out of love for me and for the Church. 11 years ago, in August/September, I began serving in congregational ministry while in seminary, in Lexington, Kentucky. Those were 3 of the greatest years of my life. I learned so much not only in the classroom but from the congregation and friends out at the pub(LTS had Pub Theology…before Pub Theology was a recognized thing). 17(or so) years ago I stepped forward during closing vespers at CYF Conference at Bethany College, in Bethany WV to affirm and confirm God's call in my life to serve the church ...

As some of you might already know I am gearing up for a 2 month sabbatical. I will be working on a writing project as part of this sabbatical. I have created two surveys to help me with this project. I would invite you, if you are reading this blog, to click on the links below and fill them out! Your help is much appreciated. If you are a member of my congregation and you read this blog, if I try to give you a paper copy of these same surveys and you HONESTLY have already filled them out online, just tell me and I won't "make" you fill them out again! Either way,  I ask that you fill out the surveys with an open mind and an open heart, allowing yourself to reflect on your current worship practices.  It is my hope, from these surveys, to create a worship resource for individuals and families to grow in their spiritual life. This resource will have common and perhaps uncommon spiritual practices that will encourage you to grow in your prayer and worship life. I hope this r...

The turning point I often catch myself think “what if” when I reflect on major turning points in my life. What if I had chosen Hiram over Mount Union when I was deciding what college to go to? What if I had stayed home the summer of 2003 instead of working at Camp Cedar ?  What if I had gone to United Seminary instead of Lexington ? What if…what if… What if the disciples had gotten it the first time Jesus tried to tell them what was going to happen to him? What if God had decided there was another way when Jesus prayed in the garden? Perhaps you, like I, spend a good bit of time on the “what ifs” when we really don't need to. When we find ourselves at a turning point and we have weighed all the what if’s and might be’s and make the decision to go left, right, forward, backward, or stand still…that then becomes the known, not the what if. The turning point has past and we are now headed in a new and different direction than before. For me, Wednesday of Holy Week...

Here are the last two paragraphs from my sermon yesterday. If you would like to read the rest of the sermon please contact me. “Holy Week, like the 40 days of Lent, forces us into deeper reflection about who we are as children of God, what we have done that has not been Christ like and where we might make changes. We don’t like to think for very long about Jesus on the cross. The longer we focus on him being on the cross the more we start to realize we likely would have been part of the crowd that put him there. We are part of the crowd who put him there; we might not know that we have shouted “crucify him” but because of our sinfulness as humans, we have and we continue to shout it even unconsciously. If I try to put myself into this story- I become torn, I want to be one of the ones waving the palm branch and shouting “Hosanna in the highest”. I want to be brave enough to pull my sword out when the guards come to arrest Jesus. I want to be better than Peter and not deny th...

Some might say I am too young to know have experienced real heartache. Others might say I’m too sensitive and I need to toughen up. But those who know me best (you know who you are) might tell you that if you come into my life and you need love, I will passionately and enthusiastically give it to you. I love to the extreme and without measure and because of this often experience heartache. Obviously, different kinds of people receive different kinds of love from me but regardless of the kind of love you receive it will often be to the extremist of degrees. I don’t love the stranger who comes into my office needing gas money or groceries the same way that I love my family. I don’t love my family the same way I love my dog. You get the point. While I love fervidly and sometimes without much regard to my own well-being, my love is never lackadaisical or careless even if that sounds like a contradiction in terms. When another person’s heart or well-being are on the line, I try never ...