Lifestyle

Faith

I don’t know who I’d be without my faith. It’s the “something” behind everything in my life – the thing that sustains me and keeps me going. While BTD has become a brand in and of itself, it is still in many ways a very personal space for me to share who I am. And since my faith is such a large part of that, it’s only natural that I’d talk about it. In the BTD “Faith” Category, you’ll find posts about faith-based books, podcast recommendations, and plenty of discussions about the things God is stirring in my heart. 

Faith

The (True) Secret To My Resilience

Remember that (recent) blog post I wrote on comparison and not feeling good enough? A few days ago I read it again and felt like something was missing; like it wasn’t finished. Because there’s actually so much more going on behind the scenes; and I feel compelled to share it with you despite my fear of communicating poorly and lacking eloquence. (Side note: I always struggle with this but I’m…

Faith

It’s Okay to Not Be Okay

I want YOU to know that it's okay not to be okay. Life is full of ups and downs, good moments and bad, sad times and happy, new experiences and the boring mundane. Not every day will be happy and not every season will be peaceful. You're going to face hard stuff in this life. And when you do, let yourself feel; remember it's okay to fall apart and it's more than alright to not understand what you're feeling or how to accept things as they are.

Faith

Podcast to listen to: “If My Words Abide in You” by John Piper

A few months back, I shared my top 5 fave christian podcasts with y’all and promised that I would start a new series here on BTD surrounding all things podcasts. Well, I know it’s been quite some time but I’m finally BACK with another (faith-based) podcast-themed blog post for y’all! Today I’m going to be talking about a podcast I listened to recently by pastor John Piper called “If My Words Abide in…

Faith

Here’s How To Understand The Bible Without Going To Seminary

Have you ever wanted to read the entire bible and….totes failed? If you’re like me, you’re too scared to commit because you know you’ll get bored or confused or just straight up overwhelmed? I’m super ADD so sitting down and reading anything (much less 1000k+ pages) is pretty overwhelming, especially when I don’t understand what the CHECK is going on (which is how I feel for 65% of the old…

Faith

Best Christian podcasts From Team BTD

Do you remember this post where I shared some of my personal favorite faith-based podcasts and let y’all know that there was more to come? I haven’t forgotten about it! I’ve done a bunch of research, listened to tons of new podcasts, and have written down each recommended podcast you guys sent. (Thanks so much for all your feedback, by the way!) The podcast world is HUGE, and there are…

Faith

Top 5 Christian Podcasts

I've been wanting to share my thoughts on my favorite podcasts (Christian and in general) for almost a year now - it's one of my most frequently asked questions on here, Instagram, AND Snapchat. I'm thrilled to finally be sitting down and knocking this out! After I got a few hours into working on this post, I realized that I had SO MUCH I wanted to say and information/resources I wanted to give y'all. Because of that, I decided that I MUST break this post up into a little mini-series, focusing first on Christian podcasts followed by my favorite that aren't Christian based.

Faith

The Gifts (and discipline) of Slowing Down

When was the last time you slowed down? And I don’t mean took a nap or binge-watched a few Netflix episodes. I mean really STOPPED to actually slow down and embrace a little nothing-ness. I’m talking about intentionally pursuing stillness for the end goal of accomplishing nothing other than sheer rest – and not necessarily the sleeping kind either. Nowadays, I feel like slowing down is just as difficult as keeping…

Faith

Stop Trying So Hard

I’ve sort of always believed (or hoped) that the longer I was a christian, the holier I would become. When I think about it in a metaphorical sense, I could explain it (holiness or intimacy with God) as this mountain I’m climbing. And my hope is that the harder I climb and the faster I run, the easier it will become to live this life (on Earth, with God). My…

Faith

My Favorite Bibles and Biblical Resources

I used to have all this information on my #BeStillBeBright page on the blog, but I wanted to migrate all of it into a blog post so that it would be part of my content rather than just a static page on my blog. Also, I wanted to expound upon a few of these resources and add a few more, so moving it to a blog post was the perfect…

Faith

Currently Studying

I want to talk about my faith more - I feel like I say this ALL the time, but I really do mean it when I say that I want to share more of my faith on my blog. I think the main thing that keeps me from sharing is the act of actually sitting down and writing - it's so hard to make myself do that. And then on top of this, I feel pressure to perform. In other words, I feel like if I'm going to write something about my faith, it better be good and worth reading.

Faith

Our God is Not a God of confusion

Whether you're deciding on how to schedule your time today or in the middle of making a big life-changing decision, I think it's easy to get caught up in the busyness and mess of it all (wondering - or even getting frustrated with - why God isn't being more obvious with an answer) rather than remembering the simplicity of this truth and promise in James 1 - that God gives generously to all.

Faith

The Porch Podcast – Don’t Follow Your Passions

YOU GUYS! I just listened to a podcast while getting my nails done and OH EM GEE. AMAZING. Like, SO stinkin’ good AND relevant and I think all of you should listen to it – especially those of you who are working towards or working in a career. Has anyone ever told you to follow your passion? I’m assuming the answer is yes – because I think we’ve all heard…

Faith

What Does Faith Mean To Me?

Reading through some of my old insta posts, and thought this was one worth sharing again. I hope to somehow fit sharing my faith into my BTD business plan for 2016 ? bc I kinda miss the crazy scary feeling of that (terrifying) ‘nakedness’ – coming out from behind the (blogger) curtain and letting myself feel the sting (and thrill) of spontaneity and vulnerability. I miss that. In a weird…

Faith

When Sharing Becomes a Burden

Over the past few months, I’ve been trying to figure out how to do my job well. And that’s been QUITE the journey – in many ways. One thing I’ve been trying to figure out is how to separate my personal (especially pertaining to my faith) from my professional life – learning where to draw that line and what I’m comfortable with. And hey, maybe I’ll never figure it out…

Faith

Paris Attacks // Psalm 37

It's times like these and tragedies like this one that make our longing for eternity all the more real, reminding us just how broken this world is that we live in. Meditating on psalm 37 this morning as I #prayforparis and to be completely honest, it's hard. It's hard to grasp some of these promises. but then again, this ultimately reminds me how much I NEED to meditate on them and ask for help in believing and trusting in them.

Faith

Being BRIGHT with BRIGHTON Video: Quiet Time

It took me a while to actually bring myself to press ‘record’ and film this video – for many reasons really. One of them being that I literally did not know my camera had a filming function/setting slash I didn’t know where to begin on that front. But also because I was a little iffy about publicly declaring my thoughts on something so personal and often kept filtered behind vague, happy-feeling blanket…

Faith

#beingBRIGHTwithBRIGHTON Teaser Video

Videography by Carley White (website coming soon) Remember when I said I was going to do videos about my faith on BTD? ha. yeah. Well, 3 months later…here we are. I’m back! and I’m super excited to give you a little sneak-peek-teaser of what’s to come over here on BTD. But y’all, this time I REALLY mean it. I know I’ve done a few intros – lots of talk and not…