On this Second Sunday of Advent of the 2024 year, I sit with a cup of coffee, program planning, and listening to Gospel music. I grew up on Gospel and Sunday Church services. I am reminded of the Williams' Brothers message of being thankful that "momma and daddy brought me up on the real, which is Jesus Christ..." Every time I have found myself in this place of "nothingness", I'm reminded of that phrase. My parents worked hard to provide the basics for my brother and I. And, if we were poor growing up, I surely didn't know it! Just being in my parents' presence made us rich. They gave us the most precious gift of access . They told us to go out and learn everything we could and to ask lots of questions of those who had gone before us. While they, like every other parent, didn't have a blueprint of our lives to follow, to tell us every "which-way" to turn, they had something much more useful- the gift of ancestral prayer. Back to this Sunday morning, the Second Sunday of Advent, a time of prayer and peaceful reflection of the Lord's Second Coming, Mother Mary’s Day- Feast of the Immaculate Conception, and the eve of the first sighting of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe- Tonantzin, Made de los cielos’ apparition in México, Lindo y Querido, This song comes on that talks about watching how God will order your steps to help you get to your next season. That's all it is; put one foot in front of the other and just walk. If we meet Jesus half-way, He'll do the rest. If we work hard, we can have anything we want. Yes, all those lessons are correct. They follow the imaginary "blueprint", but one caveat; human error. How many times has someone got in our way? How many times have we gotten in our own way? I know, I know... "got" is not good English, but in the words of my idol, Celia Cruz, "my English is not very good-looking". Anyways, just saying that you can be doing everything so right and have the blessings of all the ancestors covering you from head to toe and then life happens. Someone else obtained the contract. Someone else decided something that was unforeseen. Someone's life ended on a timeline that you didn't have in your head. Whatever it is, it's not a surprise to God. Now, I have become a strong believer in this "God is our GPS" model, but nevertheless, the question falls back on us. Can we become active watchers of God's movements? Can we co-sign on seeing God move in our lives several times before, knowing that if anyone can do it for us, won't it not be the Lordt?! I contemplated that concept hard this morning. Spoiler alert: I answered my own question. My dad used to always say that there was nothing wrong with talking to oneself, just don't give yourself the wrong answer. I used to come back at him with, "if you see me talking to myself, just mind yo' business...I'm self-employed and just having a staff meeting". Ooh wee did he get a kick out of that?! So, I will keep watch. I will wait upon the Lord. When God is silent, He is up to something. Maybe not the "something" like when children without supervision are silent for too long...yeah...yikes! Not that kind of silent. Rather, contemplative silence. "I will come to you in the silence and I will call you each by name. Holy is His Name". What an awesome God we serve! ~Dr. BNC, Ed.D.

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Lead me in thy truth, and teach me, for thou art the God of my salvation; for thee I wait all the day long. Psalm 25:5 Growth. It is necessary and difficult all at the same time. We cannot escape it, deny it, or ignore it; it’s part of life. Some people are afraid of it because they are afraid of the unknown. We will never be prepared for what happens to us in life, but we do have choice and the power of choice might be more frightening than recognizing that we have to grow. No way around it; growth is inevitable because we have to elevate and move to the next level, but waiting is hard! When I think about all the times I “waited” to grow, it never happened, at least not the easy way. I think about how I wanted to grow out my natural curls and waves. That was not easy at all because I did not understand that growth is a process and results do not happen overnight. Worse yet, I’m the kind of person who does ten sit-ups and runs to the mirror to see if I have abs yet. Lol. Yuck. No. Just no. So, I let that go and started exercising for good health and because I realized that I actually liked how it made me feel. Then, I started obsessing about washing my hair with the newest product and checking the mirror to see if my hair had grown yet. Nope. It hadn’t. Then, one day, I found myself excelling in areas of my profession and personal life, literally at the same time. That saying, “when it’s your time, no one can take it from you” was actually manifesting. All that I had longed for had arrived and it felt good. I looked in the mirror and found that my body had changed, my hair had grown, I had a man who truly loves me, I was finding myself in my career niche…it was good. I looked back at pictures of myself from years before and finally saw that glow in myself that I knew had been there the whole time. What had changed? I realized it was “the God in me” that I had activated and now embraced. I still have moments of depression, self-doubt, and bad hair days, but I know that I still took time to do all the work that I was doing. This time, I activated my prayer life again. I prayed for everything, great and small. I took time to do my part and I let go and let God do His part. Letting go to let God is amazing. Brains, Braun, and Beauty to the max! If you are struggling with allowing growth to change your life, I suggest the following: 1. Trust timing: As silly as it was for me to expect abs and long curls after a short time, it was telling of the fact that nothing happens outside of the timeframe that has already been predetermined. Try to control time. Still waiting? Yes, I thought so. Do your part by recognizing the promises that God has put in your heart but be conscious that things only happen when God is ready for them. Period. It’s true that God is waiting on us at times to be ready. So get ready and stay ready because if anyone is going to fall behind, it’ll be us, all day. 2. Grow up: Before you “glow up”, you gotta grow up. You have to understand that growth takes time and there’s nothing you can do to hurry it up. Being in a hurry will cause mistakes and issues that you don’t need. Being mature helps you to keep steady and to use your intuition to know what is good for you. God keeps things from us when He knows that they will take us off our paths. When He allows the adversity, it is to help us grow. 3. Seek Him: Every time you come to a fork in the road, pray. There is no way for you to figure out which way to go without prayer. God already knows the answer. You don’t. “That’s for me to know and you to find out”. He presented you the fork in order to make you choose, but you are not choosing alone. Seek Him, first, and wait. Even if you are ready, He still might be doing a work in someone else or in something else. For me, the hair products that work best for my curls/waves now didn’t exist three years ago. Yes, I was discouraged that my hair wouldn’t do what I wanted it to do, but instead of giving up, I kept trying products. That wasn’t good either, but I still waited. Hope and faith are amazing. Same thing is true for growth in career or in personality. Some things that will help you along the way don’t exist yet, but wait, they are coming. Relationships…? Yep. True for them, too. "Vivir es soñar con todo el corazón puro, encendido por el alma independiente." -BNC If you like my content or would like to discuss my services, reach out! brittany@bnceducationandrelatedservices.com #bncministry #bncfaithbytes #bnceducation #bncinspiration #bncleadership #bnclifecoaching

“Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!” Psalm 32:11 At the end of January, sometimes, at the beginning of February, Catholic Schools celebrate a week in which we celebrate our Catholic identity and allow the kids to let loose and have some fun. Without fail, every year, we end up having a snow day on the day where we ask students and staff to dress up like Biblical characters/Saints. Due to the snow day and no school, I made this past Thursday dress up day at my school. I was overjoyed for the students who chose to participate, but I was saddened that more students were not “encouraged” by their parents to dress up. Why? I don’t know…Maybe it’s a lack of faith? A lack of resources? A lack of importance? A lack of saying “yes”. I have found that I have to dig my heels in deep and find my “yes”. Nothing motivates me more than knowing that just like Mother Mary, saying “yes” is the only way to alleviate the stress that comes with life and its decisions. Being an educator is like having 2,000 internet tabs open at the same time! As much as you try to close out one, another pops up. Saying “no” is easy, but it’s saying “yes” that knocks on your soul. It’s the one answer that will have you standing alone faster than it takes to utter the word! However, I would rather stand alone in God’s grace by saying “yes” any day, than knowing that I did the wrong thing or gave into the deception of “no” as being the easy way out. If you have a difficult time contemplating when to say “yes” or “no”, follow these few suggestions: 1. What will I lose if I say “yes”?: If you feel that saying yes will compromise you or your morals, then “yes” is not the answer. On the contrary, if saying “no” will leave you empty and unfulfilled, then “yes” is the answer. Lose a few followers or lose your soul? The choice is unequivocally yours. 2. Consult with a high power: Don’t go to people to help you make personal decisions. Seriously…I know people get paid tons of money to make decisions for us, but who literally pays when that decision ends up not being the best for you? Put questions out into the universe and wait! I learned in my school admin internship that there is not one decision that cannot wait 24 hours. Go with that and get yourself some peace so that you can make your own choices, guided by your own inner peace. 3. If saying “yes” scares you….do it!: If we were meant to be encased in a protective box, then we would have been and had no further thought about it. Since that is not the case, we have to take risks and when we don’t know the outcome, that is the opportunity to activate our faith. We have to be smart, not foolish, of course. But, not knowing what’s on the other side is exhilarating in the way that we know that God knows and if all we do is say “yes” to God, we know that He will not give us more than we can handle. When the load gets too heavy, just tell God that you need help and He’ll rescue you. He will not give up on you because you have a job to do that only you can do, so say “yes” and trust that it’s you who has the power. In summary, allowing a “yes” in the face of a “no” is the best gauge to figure out if you are doing the right thing. If things were easy, they wouldn’t be necessary. Cover yourself with a “yes” and watch the blessings flourish. "Vivir es soñar con todo el corazón puro, encendido por el alma independiente." -BNC If you like my content or would like to discuss my services, reach out! brittany@bnceducationandrelatedservices.com #bncministry #bncfaithbytes #bnceducation #bncinspiration #bncleadership #bnclifecoaching

"He heals the brokenhearted, and binds up their wounds. He determines the number of the stars, He gives to all of them their names. Great is our LORD, and abundant in power; His understanding is beyond measure." Psalm 147:3-5 Heartbroken. It can be an emotion and/or a state of being. It signifies loss, disappointment, sadness, emptiness, and at times, guilt and anger. Even though it is not a pleasant emotion, it is a necessary one. If you don't know what it means to feel down and out, hopeless, and even angry, then I say that you haven't lived yet. Here’s why. Growing up, I always feared the Lord. Not fear in the sense that I was paralyzed by such an emotion, rather, I was woke! I knew that God could cause anything, heal anything, and even keep you from anything. So, I always thought of this concept as a guide for my life in my behavior, in my moral character, and how I approached life lessons. I guess I must have developed a great relationship with the Lord because so many times that I look back on, I was straight-up angry with Him! I felt like I was just trying to live in His mercy and every time I found myself clapping back at some kind of injustice (pick one), I just knew that it would lead to hurt of disappointment with God and my guardian angels making the biggest face-palm while looking at me. I never wanted to be outside God’s mercy but being brokenhearted changed this for me. I wanted to seek God’s mercy while learning to having mercy on myself. As I grew up, I found my idea of being a disappointment to be quite contrary. I used to think that from all the disappointments in ideas, all the break-ups, losses of people I loved, even all the rejection I faced from bad career moves were all just big bullets from hell that I was trying to doge all by myself. I learned that God is not mean and nasty. You have no idea how many times God has saved you from something much worse than you know. But, go on and get mad. Be brokenhearted. Yeah, that’s right- cry it out. Let God see that you are hurting and then ask Him for his comfort. Being brokenhearted for a season bares fruit for the future. Beauty for your ashes. God is waiting on you to come to Him and cast all your angst upon Him. I know that for me, that was my best decision. Broken hearts can be made new through our faith in God. Trust and believe. If you are struggling with dealing with a broken heart, try a few of the following suggestions: 1. Get mad: Go ahead and act a fool! Just let God have it; He can take it. Tell Him how you feel but remember who is in charge. God wants you to get to know Him and to know that you can be open with Him. Tell Him how you have been broken, hurt, or offended. Tell Him what exactly happened so that He comes to know that you saw and recognized what He was trying to teach you. Not all life lessons are short and sweet like them back in the day after school specials. 2. Glow up: After you cry, yell, sob, or even sit with a numb feeling, get up and glow up. Wash your face and pray quietly. Quench your soul with the Word and pray for healing. God has already forgiven you, so don’t offend Him by bringing up the past moment(s). Just find your inner strength and know that your glow cannot be dimmed by others because the love of the Lord, through you, shines brighter than any other. 3. Be a blessing to others: That’s right, be a blessing! Talk to others about your experience(s) but only when you are ready. Share with them the parts of your experience that will provoke inspiration. Talk about how that broken heart became brand new. Know that it will take time to heal but coming out on the other side is a special feeling. Allow yourself to be broken and let the love of the Lord be the glue that binds you back together. There is power in the name of Jesus and finding a reason to call unto Him is the most precious gift that we find its most genuine form during the most turbulent times in our lives. "Vivir es soñar con todo el corazón puro, encendido por el alma independiente." -BNC If you like my content or would like to discuss my services, reach out! brittany@bnceducationandrelatedservices.com #bncministry #bncfaithbytes #bnceducation #bncinspiration #bncleadership #bnclifecoaching

“Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song. For the LORD is the great God, the great King above all gods. Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker; for he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care.” Psalm 95: 2-7 I always joked that if I hadn’t pursued a career in education that I would have been a gospel singer. God gave me the desire to teach others, not a voice to sing. However, those impromptu voice lessons I try while driving my car have paid off. I can hold a tune now, better in Spanish than in English, but I’m working on it! Nevertheless, God does not judge me if I sing out of tune, but I sing my praise through prayer. When you recognize your talents, recognize the gift that God has given to you. There’s no one else who can be you, so stop worrying about others. Difficulty will turn you into a prayer warrior without even having to apply for the position! Difficulty is something that we all would rather avoid. While there are levels to difficulty, the pain hurts the same. God has a way of bringing us to our knees in order to raise us up on eagles’ wings. Of course, we’d all love to live out the days that we all like, but we need to learn to thank God for the difficulty. It is in the difficulty where we learn the most about ourselves, check ourselves, and learn to lean on God for all that we cannot do for ourselves. Maybe it’s a silly example, but I tend to look at my faith level like I look at the level of gas in my car. It’s easy to ride around feeling confident when the gas tank is on full. Then, all the prayers come in as you hear the car sputtering and feel that big jolt as the car comes to a screeching halt. Now, the prayers are cut short and replaced by expletives. But why don’t we just stop and pray it out. Where are we going, anyway? How did I know that the morning my car stopped on the interstate was the morning that realized that experiencing difficulty was the only path to experiencing God’s mercy? There I was, sitting in my car with no gas on the cold, snowy interstate, five miles from my school of which I was the principal. I knew full-well that I should have filled up the night before, but I was tired and let the devil win. To think that I even had money that night to get gas… But no, I just kept going. I was trying to do it all on my own. I didn’t have time for anything else but to be in “go” mode. Unfortunately, I wasn’t really going anywhere. When God wants me to know something, He knocks on my heart or totally dismantles things until I see it. This morning was that. There was a big meeting that was going to take place and I had to be there. I knew God knew this, but why couldn’t I just get there on fumes, both literally and figuratively like I always had done? But no. There was a bigger lesson to be learned, right then and right there. I decided to call the school custodian to bring the gas can from the lawnmower. As I waited, I prayed the Rosary. Yes, I had enough time to pray the entire Rosary! I found out that he had missed the exit and had to turn around. That gave me extra time to sit in prayer with God. Cow-inky dink? I think not. As I got on my way, I received a call that said that the big meeting had to be rescheduled because they had something come up on their end. My God. My God. What I am saying is that even a small difficulty can bring you back to a point of origin. A center point that gets you right. God’s timing is forever right, but are you right with God’s timing? If you need uplifting during times of difficulty, here are a few tips: 1. Learn to sit with it: Whatever you are going through, just sit with it, knowing that God knows what is happening. Sometimes, we think we are waiting on God, but God is waiting on us. How many times have we tried to predict what is going to happen instead of just sitting with the fact that we need to pray and be patient? 2. Praise Him for the difficulty: It is in the difficult moments that we learn our place. We can’t do it all, but we can do what is in our power and then we need to leave the rest up to God. 3. Know your place: If God has given you the resources, do your part. If God is asking you to spend time with Him, do it without hesitation. Do not allow “living on fumes” to be your mentality. Stay spiritually nourished. Say that Rosary prayer, even when you are most busy. God knows how the story will end. Slow down and live the details. "Vivir es soñar con todo el corazón puro, encendido por el alma independiente." -BNC If you like my content or would like to discuss my services, reach out! brittany@bnceducationandrelatedservices.com #bncministry #bncfaithbytes #bnceducation #bncinspiration #bncleadership #bnclifecoaching

"Make me to know thy ways, O Lord; teach me thy paths. Lead me in thy truth, and teach me. He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble His way." Psalm 25: 4-9 God never promised that our lives would be easy. We take up the cross(es) we bear and we follow Him. Sometimes, we follow Him because if we do not know anything else, we know that following Him must be better than relying on our own understanding. In my life, all the trials, tribulations, ups, downs, and down-right ugly truths are all beautiful (once time has passed) because I believe that God orchestrated it all from a place of understanding that surpasses my knowledge that of which He gave to me. No, He's not a mean, nasty, or bitter. He wants us to all do well, but sometimes, we don't know what "doing well" looks like until we know what "doing badly" actually feels like. However, let me be the first to tell you if you don't already know; if you do everything with your heart, ask for guidance and forgiveness, and seek to please God, then you are living in His glory. And, being humble is the key we use to unlock the doors of life. Remember, if that key don't turn that door lock open, then, it's not your door. We need to be content with knowing that God has what we need ready for us, Will we be patiently humble, even during the difficultly? A few tips I have learned over the years about being humble as a tool for accepting God's hand in my life are: 1. Being humble is a sign of strength, not weakness: When it finally clicked for me, it made so much sense! God needs us to come to Him in our most humble and meek state. He knows how to bring you to your knees in order to raise you up on eagles' wings, but we have to trust. As soon as I started seeing that casting all my angst and woes upon Him was the way, I felt His guidance even more. The path became clear, my conscious became heightened, and my confidence radiated from my heart more than my mind. 2. Get around others who are thankful. Literally, save the drama: You know those sayings, "birds of a similar feather flock together" and "misery loves company"? Well, say no more. Negativity will never take you higher. It will only carry you down. Now, there's nothing wrong with having your moment, but if that becomes your regular state of being, you will only attract the negative. It has been said that the devil can't read our minds, but he sure can play off our feelings. Don't give him that kind of power. Get lifted. Look for inspiration and the support of others who are not about the drama. Be humble enough to know that if you feel called to do more and others in your circle are not there, just bless them for what they did for you while you were in that stage of life and be aware enough to respect the evolution that God has called you to when He calls you to it. 3. Be worthy of all that belongs to YOU: Don't go around worried about what others have, what others do, or questioning why you are not where you think you need to be. God did not forget to wake you up this morning! Therefore, He did not forget to set your feet on the path that He has planned for you. If you "should" have been somewhere with somebody, trust; God would have done it by now. There is grace in waiting, but there is humbleness in acceptance. Do what you can with what you have at the moment in which you have it. God will sustain us in our humbleness as that God does not change. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. "Vivir es soñar con todo el corazón puro, encendido por el alma independiente." -BNC If you like my content or would like to discuss my services, reach out! brittany@bnceducationandrelatedservices.com #bncministry #bncfaithbytes #bnceducation #bncinspiration #bncleadership #bnclifecoaching