Hi, I’m Brianna!

I grew up in a small town just outside of Nashville, Tennessee. I wrote my first blog post as a senior in high school when I documented my story of donating 19 inches of hair in faith. This season in my young faith walk served as a flag planting of sorts. It felt so good, so honest, so right, to pen my journey that I didn’t even notice how widely the story had been shared.

I knew then that I was put on this earth to write good words.

For years, I tried halfheartedly to leave and continued documenting some of the journey online. I just knew God had big things for me out there. My feet led me to Hong Kong and Laos to teach English, but ultimately found their way back to Nashville where I began teaching refugee and immigrant students who had been resettled in my community. Home didn’t feel small anymore. I was only half an hour down the road, but I realized that every english lesson taught and piping hot tea shared was honoring the call to go to the nations.

I knew then that I had the right address. In a transient city of coming and going, I was called to stay.

I wrestled with staying.

Temptation to think little of my calling or to think I was “just a teacher” creeped in as I watched peers travel far and wide. They moved away but I stayed. “I’m not even a real teacher,” I thought at times. As I talked to more gals following Jesus close to their home, I realized I wasn’t alone. I wasn’t the only one who felt like my calling was not as important because of my coordinates on a map. Many in my community felt like their roles were subpar simply because they were building a life in an already familiar place.

“God rooted me here, and that’s a good thing,” became the story I spoke over myself.

I made it my mission to be intentional with my home, educate others on the rich diversity represented in the community, and encourage others to join the journey of believing our stories matter – yes, even here.

Entering a new era.

Recently, after 6 years of coordinating a literacy program for refugee youth at a local nonprofit, I resigned from my position of leadership. I made the humbling decision to scale back on my salaried work so that I could spend more time at home raising my baby boy and cheering my husband on as he builds a woodworking business. It’s a decision that was made with the open hands of faith as we chose to shift toward a more content and simple lifestyle.

Now, as I usher in a new era of being, I am reminded of what I was put on this earth to do. Outside of my faith, there is only one desire that has moved with me through the years: writing. In all of the hats I’ve worn and the roles I’ve lived over the last decade, my heart’s desire to write remains in every season. Like a thread woven throughout my days, my hands and heart are wired to pen meaningful words. And when I’m not faithful to it, a sense of lack creeps in.

Sharing my journey (and lessons learned the hard way) because it matters.

To be totally candid with you, my story is not remarkable. There are twists and turns I couldn’t have picked for myself a decade ago, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. My story is one of following Jesus in weak and anxious faith and receiving His strong and happy care. It’s a story of sacred and ordinary moments met with incredible people from all over the world.

It’s a story of creating life-giving home rhythms. Building community on honesty and honor. Staying late for tea with neighbors. Going to international festivals. Dreaming up my baby’s childhood and making it happen. Reading helpful (and sometimes not helpful) books. Memorizing recipes. Going to church. Praying when I don’t even know what to pray or how to say it.

And it matters.

It matters not because I’m anything special, but because the way we move in the world makes a difference. When we live informed about other cultures, it changes the way we treat people. When we practice a thoughtful and slower lifestyle, it causes us to rest. When we surrender all we have and are to raise up the next generation, we become brave enough to cut the crap and get focused.

If any part of my story can make you wonder about the goodness of God, then it matters.

The world needs your story and it needs mine too. Even if it feels small – especially when it feels small. I’m not looking for the next big calling. I’m here to remain faithful to the places I’m rooted. I’m here to write about something good.

Life is meant to be shared. I’m honored to shared a page of mine with you.