Colossians 3:2 (NIV) “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.”

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Connect with Brittany Price Brooker on Instagram and Facebook @brittanypricebrooker

Brittany Price Booker’s Website

Hidden in My Heart: A Lullaby Journey Through Scripture

The One Year Book of Hope by Nancy Guthrie

Brittany Price Booker’s Full List of Recommended Resources

Daily Audio Bible

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Gospel Scripture: (all NIV)

Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”

Romans 3:24 “and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”

Romans 3:25 (a) “God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.”

Hebrews 9:22 (b “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”

Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Romans 5:11 “Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Romans 10:9 “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

Luke 15:10 says “In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

Romans 8:1 “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”

Ephesians 1:13–14 “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession- to the praise of his glory.”

Ephesians 1:15–23 “For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”

Ephesians 2:8–10 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God‘s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.“

Ephesians 2:13 “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.“

Philippians 1:6 “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

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[00:00:00] <music>

Laura Dugger: Welcome to The Savvy Sauce, where we have practical chats for intentional living. I'm your host Laura Dugger, and I'm so glad you're here.

[00:00:17] <music>

Laura Dugger: I want to say thank you to our sponsor, FabFitFun. If you want to learn more about their seasonal subscription boxes, which include over $200 worth of full-size products that cost you only $49.99, visit them at fabfitfun.com. And if you use the coupon code SAVVY at checkout, you'll receive $10 off your first box.

We appreciate all your feedback that you've sent through messages on our website and social media. Many of you have mentioned you love the series titled Everyone Has a Story. We agree with you because it seems God does amazing things through each person's story, especially when it's shared.

Today we get to hear Brittany Price Brooker's story of deep grief and unwavering faithfulness for God. You're going to be so encouraged through the scripture that she brings to life and the wisdom that she shares from lessons learned in her unexpected path.

Here's our chat. [00:01:23]

Welcome to the Savvy Sauce, Brittany.

Brittany Price Brooker: Hey, girl. Oh, I love being with you today.

Laura Dugger: Well, we are just going to jump right in. You have a powerful testimony where joy and sorrow intersect. And so will you just share that story with us?

Brittany Price Brooker: Yeah, I would love to. I think my story really starts back from growing up in a godly home and really kind of just seeking the Lord at an early age as I watched my parents seek the Lord and watch how they did life. And I think at an early age, you really catch what your parents are doing rather than just watching it and from them teaching you, but you really can catch what they're just seeking on.

I had that life that I'd always dreamed about. I had what my mind thought like the perfect husband and godly man who loved Jesus, who was funny and tall and handsome. We had three little baby boys and was just living the dream of being a wife and a mother. [00:02:25]

I was the little girl that always pretended when I was little to have a husband and kids. I would often tell my husband, I'm literally living my dream right now, even though I was exhausted.

In the fall of 2015, I had three kids under the age of three. Our life was like whack-a-mole. You get one kid down from the nap, you put the next one down, they get up, and it was just crazy. My house was just a mess all the time.

You know, you find their kids slushing everything down the toilet or, you know, scrubbing the toilet with your toothbrush like an expert. And you think, oh my word, how many times have they been doing this? And this is the first time I caught them. Like, this is crazy.

Then one morning, my husband got up to go to work. And at this point, we had a newborn, a one-and-a-half-year-old and almost three-year-old. And he said, "You know, we didn't sleep much last night. I'm just going to go ahead and go early to work."

I remember I was dealing with a lot of pain at the time from childbirth, and we had some difficulties with my health afterwards. [00:03:29] I remember thinking, "Oh, I need to tell him that I've been in pain tonight, and I need your help a little bit more tomorrow night." But the Holy Spirit just said, "Brittany, don't say anything."

So instead, I was like, "Baby, you look so hot in your suit, and I hope you have an awesome day. I love you, baby. I'll see you soon." I said goodbye to him, got all my little babies ready to go to Bible study, which we did every Tuesday morning, so I was not out of ordinary.

I dropped them off. They went to class good, and I sent my husband a quick text and just said, "You'd be so proud of them. They did so good in class."

We went into small group, and at the time we were studying Revelation, and the question was posed, you know, why do you study prophecy anyways? I was feeding my little newborn, and I remember just saying, "For me, I study prophecy because it gives me confidence to trust God no matter what happens in my life."

Literally moments after speaking those words, my phone rang. And like any good Bible study girl, I ignored it the first time. But the second time, I felt like the Holy Spirit said to answer, it was something with Patrick. And so I answered the phone and it was my husband's boss on the other line. [00:04:38] And he said, "Hey, has Patrick been sick?" And I said, "No, I mean, he's a perfectly healthy 30 year old man. I just saw him this morning. Everything's fine. You know what happened?"

And he's like, "Oh, he fell at work. We took him to the hospital. We're gonna come get a vehicle to come get you to bring you here." And I was like, "Okay great." Just kind of thinking, Okay, maybe he got dehydrated, you know, we're tired, we have all these kids, something he's probably cracking up with all the nurses right now. He was just so funny, always cracking jokes with everybody.

It was raining very, very hard in Atlanta where we lived at the time. And so they said, "You know what? We don't really want you driving in the rain, and we're going to put our lights on so you can get there a lot faster. So just hang on a second. We'll get to you."

I figured out child care with my kids, and I waited in the rain for over an hour for these vehicles to come get me. And I'm just thinking, "Can I just get in my car and see my man? I just want to get to my hubs, please."

So what felt like forever as I was sitting there in the rain and just kind of pacing back and forth in front of that church where the Bible study was, was one of those moments I'll never forget where God wasn't just laying a verse on my heart, He was screaming it in my mind and heart. [00:05:54] And all I could think of was the peace that passes all understanding will guard your hearts and your mind in Christ Jesus.

As that vehicle pulled in front of that church and I got in the back and the officer saying, "I'm so sorry, I don't know what happened, the Holy Spirit just kind of took over." And I said, "Whatever it is we can trust God that He's in control."

It took another hour to get to the hospital where my husband was at. I remember getting out and the Lord just impressing on my heart, "Brittany, remember every bit of this. You need to remember." And so just little details that I wouldn't have normally picked up on a homeless man right there. I just remember feeling like he felt so cold, and it was raining, and I wish I could do something. But I was trying to get to my man, and this taxi driver, and all these pedals, and just this trash, and little details, I was remembering.

And I was running in there, and ran past security, and I ran as fast as I could. I remember running in a hallway, and the hallway was full of people with sorrow all over their faces. [00:06:59] And I knew it was coming.

And they sat me down and they said, "Brittany, we're so sorry, but Patrick died. His heart just stopped beating and we don't know why." And in that moment, at the age of 25, with three kids under three, I became a widow and my kids became fatherless. And my entire world changed.

I remember just saying, "The Lord gives and takes away. He is so good." And I started to sing a song I hadn't thought of in so long of, you know, precious Lord, take my hand, lead me on, help me stand. And it's just like a song God gave me in that moment.

But in that second, my entire world changed. Every dream I have, every hope, every vision I had of what my family was going to look like. You know, everything in your life involves that other person that you do life with, the person that is your home.

And so that began just really crazy journey of grief and layers upon layers of grieving and pain and walking through my babies, through losing their daddy, who is their hero in every way. But also in that process, it's been one of the sweetest journey of my entire life, because I've gotten to see the goodness and the preciousness of our faithful Father in a way I could have never, ever imagined. [00:08:24] And you see the layer of God's goodness in the midst of pain. So that's a little bit of our pain journey.

Fast forward and several years later, as I walked through that journey and God called me not just to stay in my pain, but to walk through it and to shift my perspective to heaven instead of the grave. In the process of doing that, I just started bumping into all these people that were dealing with pain. Because, you know, 100 percent of us will deal with struggles and pain in our lives. The difference is not if we'll have pain, but the difference is how will we steward the pain that we're given?

I started to share a story in the midst of it. I came across this family that was going through this terrible hardship, and this other widower was ministering to the same family. He had lost his wife a month before I had lost Patrick. And they had two small children that they had adopted and this crazy story.

So we started helping out this family and our paths crossed, and we started building a friendship that was really centered on the kingdom of God and heaven and living for eternity in the midst of this broken world, but also living with hope and desiring to give hope to other people. [00:09:38] God started just really building a love story that only He could do.

About a year and a half ago, I got married to Daniel Brooker. They call us the Brooker Bunch because when we got married, we had five kids, six and under, and it was a crazy zone. So that kind of fast forward just a little bit to today and now walking through our life today.

Laura Dugger: That is such an incredible story. I've heard it said before that worship is warfare. And you even alluded to a song coming to your heart. Did you have any other tools like worship that you use to really push back the darkness during those most intense times of grief?

Brittany Price Brooker: Yeah. You know, I really felt like the Lord made known to me what you hear about in Scripture, a sacrifice of praise. And why it's called a sacrifice is because it hurts. Anything that we do that's sacrificial, it's taking something away from our comfort, from our security.

When we're giving sacrificially, it's not because, oh, we have all this extra. It's because it kind of hurts to give that, you know? And we feel that. [00:10:46]

I remember just even being in church one day and just wrestling with God, like here I'm sitting alone in church. And I had this little tiny baby on me, and I'm like, "God, I, literally weeks ago, was sitting next to my husband in this church service." And God just said, "Brittany, will you give me a sacrifice of praise even when it still hurts?" And I remember with tears just pouring down my face, just raising both hands in the air and just worshiping God for who He was.

I think that in the midst of going through brokenness and pain, God is calling us to wage warfare and a sacrifice of praise and praising God even when we are not feeling it and speaking out of truth and not out of our feelings. Because our feelings can deceive us.

There was not a moment, still honestly, that I don't feel some sort of pain or sorrow that we deal with. But there's also not a moment, if we choose to view it, that we can't feel gratefulness and thankfulness for who God is. [00:11:51]

So, for me, praise was a huge part of it. And that meant putting on worship music all the time at my house. There's times that my kids would walk in the kitchen while I was cooking and I'd just have my hands raised. Or sometimes we would just dance it out to a fun song that was speaking truth. But always speaking truth over our lives and over our situations, always having that hope from God's Word in the midst of it.

Laura Dugger: Something else that I've always been struck by is the way that the Holy Spirit prompted other believers to really love you well by meeting such specific needs. Can you share a few of those stories as well?

Brittany Price Brooker: Yeah. I mean, honestly, I could write a whole book on just that, because it was unbelievable. I mean, you hear the stories in Scripture of God calling us to be the hands and feet of Jesus. And I had never supernaturally experienced it the way I had when I became a widow.

Scripture says that, you know, widow has a special place in the heart of God, you know, that He cares for the widow and the fatherless, and He is the defender of the widow and a father to the fatherless and a husband to the widow and all these promises in Scripture. [00:13:02] And I got to really see that.

I think one of the situations I remember, I had my three kids at home and they were sick and all they wanted to eat was apples. We're out of apples. We're out of everything in the house. And, you know, it's like a silly thing. Like, I'm not going to load all my kids have fevers and throwing up in a car to go get apples. And I feel very silly calling a friend being like, "Hey, can you bring me some apples right now?" Right. It just seems like such a silly thing.

And I remember one of my friends texted me and said, "Hey, I just dropped something on your doorstep. I just felt like God told me to do it. I know it's kind of silly, but I just felt very specifically He told me to do that." And I opened my door and there's this huge bag of apples. And I'm like, "Are you kidding me?" And they had no idea that my kids were sick. Had no idea they were only eating apples.

Then I remember one time on Mother's Day, you know, I was alone on Mother's Day that night and I was just bathing my kids. And I just remember stopping and being like, "God, I can't do this. I just cannot do this. Do you even see me right now? [00:14:05] Do you even care that I'm going through this pain? God, show me that you care. How can I do this? I can't do this one more second. Just give me enough strength for today. Just help me get through this."

And literally, as I finished breathing out that prayer, the doorbell rings. And my friend that has five kids and lives 45 minutes away was on my doorstep on Mother's Day. And she said, "I know this sounds crazy, but about an hour ago, I just felt like God told me, get up and go to Brittany Price's house and go help bathe their kids."

And I'm looking at her like, "I hadn't even prayed that prayer when God told you that, but He knew that would happen." And she just walked right in and started cleaning my house and helping with the babies. And I started crying, saying like, "God, you really do see me." Like you really do care for me in the midst of the hardship.

I remember several weeks after Patrick died, my son being like, "I really want to swing, Mommy." And so I just told him, I said, "Why don't you just start praying for a swing? Because our God cares about everything in our hearts." [00:15:07] And in my mind, I'm like, "Okay, well, I'll be looking for a swing at a garage sale, like maybe we'll find one."

And literally months later, all these people had gotten together and gotten him this amazing playset for my boys. And they didn't even tell me who it came from. They said, "We just want you to know this is from Jesus being a father to your kids." And Peyton looking at that thing, "Mommy, how did they know that I was praying about that? How did they know that we wanted that?" And me to be able to look at and say," God cares about all of our needs and he sees it all."

There's so many stories that we could talk about of that. But the Lord taught me so much in that season of even when it's weird and even when it's awkward, when God leaves those things on your heart, be obedient because you could be the answer to someone else's prayer. And it doesn't just strengthen their faith. It strengthens your faith when you get to see God using you to answer prayers as well.

Laura Dugger: Amen to that. And all of these people that were stepping in, were these church friends that you had? Were they people that you had known for a long time or strangers? [00:16:13]

Brittany Price Brooker: Oh, we had all of the above. I mean, I had strangers. I remember one time going to the car shop, all my tires needed to be replaced. And you're like, Okay, Lord, all for this is crazy, and just kind of feeling the stress of that.

I went to my mailbox that day and a complete stranger, I don't even know how they had my address or anything, said, "I don't know why, but God told me to send you this money." And it was to the dollar exactly what they needed for those tires. So we had strangers from all over the country and all over the world.

I mean, we had several people from Europe, Asia just send us encouraging notes with a scripture that we needed to hear that day. And it wasn't just tangible gifts. It was just words of encouragement that we needed to hear right then and right now. Or sending us a song, "I'm thinking about you or praying for you in that moment." Or I'd be up in the middle of the night grieving and I would get a notification from Instagram and someone saying, "I have no idea what's going on right now, but God won't let me just sleep right now because He just has me praying comfort over your family." [00:17:16]

And so it was just people being obedient, and even when they didn't know us, or if they did know us, and taking that leap of faith with it.

Laura Dugger: That just brings tears to my eyes how personal God is and how He responded in those moments. Like you said before, you even finished your prayer or had that thought. I just love this scripture that talks about the church overcoming Satan. It's from the first part of Revelation 12:11. And it says, "They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony."

Like you said, you've shared your testimony publicly. So how has God revealed to you that He's using your story to encourage others?

Brittany Price Brooker: I love that you share that scripture. Because almost every single time that I get on a stage and share a story, I quote that scripture because I do think stories have so much power. I remember right after my husband died, God told me to do a video and just share. And I was like, "God, I don't have anything to say." [00:18:20]

And I just remember the Lord impressing on my heart that sometimes people hear the gospel, and they have the scripture verse, and sometimes they need to see how the gospel looks like in everyday life. Because God is the God of the everyday mundane. He's the God of the big moments, the small moments. He's the God of it all.

And that's what the gospel is, is how the good news of Christ in every moment of life, the good parts and the hard parts. I think for me, it's being vulnerable enough to talk about pain and talk about our story, even when it still hurts. Like, hey, like, for real, I talk about the worst day of my life all the time. Like, that's not fun. This is crazy.

And it's the vulnerable places of my heart that God's called us to share. But in the midst of being able to share brokenness, but sharing it from the perspective of knowing the great healer and knowing as we share it, I don't want people to be like, Oh, there's Brittany. She's so broken. I want them to say, wow, all I see when I see their lives is the hand of God holding them together, not the broken pieces, but that the healer that cares so much about us, that He holds us together and he holds all things. [00:19:29]

We've been able to see it in so many different ways. And you know what? It's good for us to be reminded that God doesn't waste an ounce of our pain. And it says in scripture that He holds every single tear that we cry in a bottle. And that means not one tear that we ever shed is wasted.

With that, I'm always seeing God do so many amazing things of marriages being restored because people realize what a gift they have in marriage. Because I would talk very openly about what I was missing about marriage and about the struggle and be like, you know, I wish my husband was at work for two years because that means he would be coming back. Or I wish my husband was working late nights because then I know my son will see them again.

Those huge realities of death and how permanent they are and how they affect every day of your life, but also how that should affect our life now to savor every bit of life that we're given. And the result of sharing that stuff, I just heard so many stories about people being like, "You know what? I was taking everything I had for granted. I didn't realize what a gift I had. So thank you for the reminder." [00:20:36]

And nothing that we do is of ourselves. So if there's anything that is good in me or if there's anything that Jesus has done, it's because Jesus did it and Brittany did not do it. Because I have nothing apart from Him. And so anything that he does through His story that He's given us, through His scripture, through His gospel is all glory to God in His kingdom. But it's definitely so humbling to see how God has worked.

I think my favorite story was this girl that was just on Facebook really late at night, and somehow she came across one of my videos and she just sat there crying. And she said it was like the Lord literally sat down with her. She had a schedule to get an abortion the next morning and God wrecked her through that video of what matters. She was doing it out of shame and hiding. And so she canceled her appointment and had that baby. You know, I keep up with her to this day.

It's been amazing to see how Jesus cares so much about His people that He can use anything. He just wants our obedience and our yes to Him.

Laura Dugger: He can use anything. I hope that He uses this talk because I do believe that somebody specifically needs to hear what you said about not an ounce of pain is wasted and God holds our tears that are precious to Him in a bottle. And He really does bring beauty out of ashes.

Brittany Price Brooker: He does. [00:21:57]

Laura Dugger: Is there anything specific that you would want to communicate both to someone who is walking through grief right now and communicate to someone who is a friend and supporting their loved one who's dealing with their own tragic situation?

Brittany Price Brooker: Yeah. That is a loaded question for sure. But as far as somebody that is walking through pain... and, you know, grief is not just the loss of a person. It's the loss of life. It's a loss of hope. It's a loss of dreams. It's a loss of expectations that you thought your life would look like. And so really, there's a lot of people walking through that.

I think the biggest thing I would say is hope even when it hurts. Keep holding on to the hope of God, even when it hurts. And keep swimming for sure, even when you don't see the shore. Because sometimes you don't see it ahead and you've got to swim in faith, knowing, God, as I do this in faith, I know I'm going to see the shore. [00:22:57]

And God will keep giving you the strength to make it moment by moment. And you go through stages where, you know, like I felt like I was bobbing up and down, you know, and then I'd get above air and then I felt like I would go down again. Then you start treading water.

And the most beautiful thing I was able to see was that God just wants us to depend on Him moment for moment for that manna for each day. And He didn't give me the strength for raising teenagers by myself, because that's not what I was dealing with that day. You know, what I needed to do in that moment was feed my toddlers and nurse my little baby and speak God's promises over us.

God is calling you to be faithful in what you're doing today in this moment. And given those moments in the hurt and the pain, don't try to fill it with other things. Feel it. Give God all the pain that you have and yield it to Him and say, "God, make beauty out of this. God, what is your purpose in the midst of this pain? God, show me your perspective in the midst of it. [00:23:58]

And when we do and when we open God's word and ask Him to speak, every time that we open His word, He will speak because He is faithful to do that. He is faithful even when we are faithless, even when we have nothing in us and we just yield to Him.

God says He wants a broken contrite spirit before Him, one that is humble before Him. And when we do that, He will speak and He will fill us up with what we need because He is faithful to do that.

And I think in the midst of watching friends and watching people walk through pain... you know, we have this tendency, especially as believers, to try to jump in and fix it. We want to say the right things. We want to do the right things. And I think the biggest thing is just showing up, just being a friend, not trying to fix it, but feel the pain with them.

I think one of the most important things that we can say is, I'm so sorry for your pain. Or I can't imagine what you're walking through. Or I'm praying for you. I'm loving you. Not, Oh, God is doing this. There's a purpose in all this. You know, this is so hard. But I think if this wouldn't have happened, this would have happened. [00:25:01]

There are so many things that people could say, but I think there's beauty and power in the simplicity of just saying, I am so sorry for your pain. Acknowledging what people are walking through, acknowledging your love for them and just saying, I'm here for you. That means showing up even when it's awkward.

I had people that just showed up on my doorstep and said, Can I just vacuum your floors? Well, on a normal day, I would have never just let somebody just come in and vacuum my house. But in those moments, God knew I needed an extra set of hands. And I got to see God's faithfulness in that.

So you can be that friend to other people. You can be the hands and feet of Jesus when God gives you those nudges, because God is such a personal God. I always tell people, God knows what your friend needs more than anybody else. It's more than I know. Even if it's a young widow or even if it's someone walking through loss. Jesus knows their hearts. Jesus knows their needs greater than anybody else's. [00:25:56]

And so as you seek Him and you say, God, show me what it looks like to love this person, He will give you the best ideas. I think the greatest thing that we could ever do for anybody is to pray for them. And there are moments where I literally can feel the prayers of God's people upholding me when I should have been drowning, and yet I was floating on God's grace.

That is not something lightly that we say or something that say, Oh, yeah, we'll just pray for you because that's all we can do. No, praying is the greatest thing we can do.

Laura Dugger: Let's take a quick break to hear a message from our sponsor.

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Laura Dugger: Getting really practical, were there any resources that you like to recommend to people of all ages who have lost a loved one from kids to adults? [00:28:10]

Brittany Price Brooker: There's not like a specific resource that really can be for, you know, a five-year-old and a 50-year-old. One of the things that I did was listen to worship music, which can be a 5-year-old or a 50-year-old.

One of the things that we listened to was scripture lullabies music, which is just a calm music that's literally all scripture. We would listen to the one on Jesus and His hope and who He is and what He came to do. There was a song on eternity in heaven that just every time I'd hear it, I'm like, "Lord, we can do this. We can make it another moment." That was a very practical resource.

For me, every person that I know that's going through loss, I like to give them The One Year Book of Hope, which is an amazing resource of encouragement. But it's short and sweet. Because a lot of times when you're walking through pain, you can't focus on things for very long. You're not going to sit down and read endless chapters. Some people like to do that. And then there's other people that get overwhelmed after reading two sentences.

So sometimes it's listening to the word of God. Sometimes it's listening to music. And then sometimes it's just getting those little bits of truth, even if it's a couple of sentences here, a couple of sentences there. [00:29:17] But I have a whole list on my website of different resources that I like to recommend from specific different types of pain.

I also would say counseling is very, very effective. I think that's for all ages. That having somebody that's a neutral source, that's not emotionally engaged in your story, that can speak into it from a different side. Because I think even in the midst of grief, there can be sin and difficulties that cause even more pain. That doesn't have to be there. So if you have somebody that can speak into your life and guide you in the process, that really helps you as well.

Laura Dugger: Oh, that's so good. Such a good reminder, and hopefully encouragement to somebody that you would encourage them: don't wait long to dive into counseling and have somebody else walk that with you.

Brittany Price Brooker: Absolutely. As soon as you can, the better.

Laura Dugger: We'll definitely link to those resources on your website if that's okay. Because again, I'm just thinking if somebody else is in a similar situation and they just need something to grasp onto, even going back in your story, you were grieving yourself and then you have three little precious kiddos that are grieving. What did that look like day-to-day?

Brittany Price Brooker: I was a stay-at-home mom. When my husband passed away, I was doing cloth diapers, coupons, you know, everything we could do to make it by so I could stay home with my kids at that moment. And so I wanted to keep as normal as possible. So for me, I wanted to be with my kids. I wanted to spend the night with them. I wanted to be with them. [00:30:49]

Practically speaking, one of our friends set up a system... and it was different people that were really close. They were only in my inner circle where I could completely trust them. But they would come over and bring dinner, and they would just be an extra set of hands.

They'd bring dinner, and they would just help me if I was trying to get one out of the high chair, getting fed so I could go bathe the other child. And they were entertaining the little newborn and burping him or whatever so that they could just be an extra set of hands like a husband would be at night. Those were just such pivotal nights for me to get a break. And then also just to have the fellowship of an adult to talk to you.

I also had one woman that she was a counselor as well. And so she would bring dinner, help me put the kids down. She actually has a ministry to widows specifically. And she would help me get the boys down and then she would sit and she would counsel me. [00:31:43] She would ask me the hard questions and encourage me. It was just so life-giving for me to have those because it is a lot to deal with the grief of your kids.

But I think for me what was very important was to keep things as routine as possible for them because their entire world just changed too. And so anything you can do to give them the security to know that we're going to be okay. And that doesn't mean I didn't cry in front of them and didn't talk about that. Because I did very often because I wanted them the freedom to grieve as well. But I did want them to be near me. I wanted them to feel safe and secure that we were still a family even though part of us was gone.

Laura Dugger: You said you were 25 when this happened. Just the wisdom beyond your years, as we hear your story, is incredible and clearly a gift from the Lord. As you reflect back on all your growth over almost the past decade, what are a couple of lessons that stand out the most to you? [00:32:42]

Brittany Price Brooker: I'd say that God's goodness isn't dependent on my circumstances, but rather His character through the circumstances. Before walking through this, a lot of times, you know, often when people speak, they'll be like, Yeah, everything is going good, God is so good, you know, when they're on this mountaintop of life. But then when they're in the valleys of life, are we still saying that God is so good? Because that's when it truly matters.

And, you know, God is good on all those seasons. He's the God of the hills and the valleys, and he's the Lord over it all. And we can see God's goodness in all those. But I think I've really seen when God took away everything in my mind of just the comforts and the dreams and all those things that were totally removed. And here I am being something I never imagined in my entire life, a single mom, a widow, doing life alone, so lonely, dealing with all this pain. And yet I was able to feel the presence of God and His goodness in a way that I could have never imagined. [00:33:46] And so I got to experience His goodness and know that He is so good, even when circumstances are not good.

Then I would really say that He is enough. I think so many times we say, like, God is enough. But in those moments at night when I lay in bed alone just hurting and missing my husband, and I would just ask the Lord to surround me with His presence, and He would. I got a taste of heaven in the midst of God's presence because the greatest part of heaven is not our loved ones that are there. It's the presence of the living God all the time.

I remember even in the car, one time I was driving, and God was just meeting with me. And I just remember crying and being like, "This moment right here is the greatest moment I've ever experienced, and I cannot even imagine what heaven will be like, because it'll be like this all the time," because His presence was so thick.

And even though nothing in my life had changed, everything felt okay because God was so present with me. And He is our ever-present help in times of need. I would say that God really is enough and His presence is enough for us to get out of bed. It's enough for us to hold on to hope, even when it hurts and even when the darkness feels like it's surrounding us.

And then that Scripture truly is, it's living and active. And it really is the bread of life. And I think that's how over and over again, going to God's Word and Him giving me enough. In Psalms 119, it talks about, I would have perished my affliction if it wasn't with the Word of God. I used to hear that and be like, wow, do you think you could be a little bit more dramatic, David? Because that's ridiculous.

But now after I've walked through suffering, I can tell you, had it not been the Word of God, I would have perished my affliction. God used the Word of God through His people, through reading, through listening, to give me the eternal hope and the eternal perspective to make it through these earthly trials. [00:35:46]

Then the other thing is just really community is so important and absolutely necessary as we walk this journey of life. I think I've learned the importance of having those godly, amazing friends and mentors in your life in every season to be able to be raw and vulnerable and intimate in each other's lives so we can hold each other accountable and encourage each other and be the people that lift each other's arms when your arms feel too weak to even stand.

I had those people that were behind me just holding me up when I felt like I couldn't take another step. And they'd say, "I'm taking it with you. You can do this. We've got this." And the Lord used that in a mighty way.

Laura Dugger: I love all of those lessons. That's so encouraging.

I just want to let you know what Lobukia wrote on iTunes. "My favorite podcast. Hosts ask great questions and guests are great. Love the practical tips." These readings and reviews help gain more sponsors so that we can continue the work of The Savvy Saws podcast. And if you're interested in sponsoring an episode or inquiring about our sponsorship packages, please email our team at info@thesavvysauce.com. We look forward to partnering with you.

What does life actually look like for you now? [00:37:04]

Brittany Price Brooker: Our life is a crazy zone. I kind of tease that it's like a traveling circus. Some moments I'm scrubbing toilets and praying for the hearts of my kids and begging God for the strength to make it through another day, guiding and shepherding these little hearts, because now we have five hurting hearts.

We have two adopted children that have extra layers that we're just praying through and asking God for wisdom with. That's a treasure and a gift to be able to be given that season as well.

Then sometimes it looks like being faithful and sharing on a stage and traveling and getting on an airplane, you know, and flying somewhere and speaking and hopping on a red-eye to get back to my baby so they can wake up to mama. It's definitely just being faithful in every season.

I think there's one thing I've learned is that God just cares about our hearts. It's not about what you're doing. I'm serving God just as much when I'm folding laundry and having a heart of worship as I am if I'm speaking in front of hundreds of ladies or if we're doing a podcast interview or we're doing a TV episode or whatever. [00:38:06]

It doesn't matter what we do. It matters what our heart is behind it. And being faithful with what God's called you to do, because we can do so many things out of a heart of pride or a heart of selfishness. But when we do things out of a heart of worship, it makes everything give glory to God even in the mundane.

And I think it's even harder for us in the midst of the mundane to give glory to God and to find worship in the midst of it. And so, you know, it's a lot of craziness. And sometimes it looks like doing IEP meetings and taking my kids to therapy or, you know, the other day putting on crazy loud music and saying, let's go jump on mommy's bed, you know?

But having this fun moment in the midst of the crazy and saying, God, in today, in this moment, how can I be faithful with what you've given me and entrusted with my hands? Because even though my hands are so full and we have so much going on with ministry and with our kids' hearts and our family and school and so many things, I want my heart to be found faithful in the midst of all that my hands have. [00:39:13]

Laura Dugger: Just hearing how full your plate is and that you still talked about valuing community, how do you still make that happen in the midst of all these people in your home?

Brittany Price Brooker: It looks like saying no a lot. We adjust our schedule frequently because like everybody, you know, what works in one season may not work well in a different season. I used to be in an amazing small group that we met once a week and I found in this new season, I just didn't have the space in my life. So it looked like meeting with a group of ladies once a month and talking with my mentors weekly. You know, that I can do that on the phone. I can do that after the kids are in bed, but I have to leave my house.

Or it looks like for us, we're pouring into a couple or trying to speak into someone's life or even having a mentor over to speak in our life. It looks like right now we put our kids to bed and we have coffee and some fruit and some cake or whatever after they're in bed in our living room.

It doesn't look like we're meeting out on the town or this and that, but it's just being faithful with what we do have. [00:40:19] I think so often we think it has to look like, oh, I have to meet for coffee or I have to do this and I have to have this block of time. But I think just like discipleship, it looks like... a lot of times, if I have a younger girl come over, it's like, Okay, I'll be folding laundry and I'll be doing this, but I would love to talk to you in the midst of it and hear what God's doing in your heart and life and how I could pray for you.

That's everyday life. That's reality. Because my reality is not that I can have coffee for 10 hours a day. But it's being faithful with the time that we do have and saying, "God, in this season of my life, in this capacity, what does it look like to build up community? What does it look like with the relationships that I want to be intentional with, that I want to grow?

My husband is the most gifted person I've ever met with relationships. He challenges me so much with that. And just is so practical. And so we often have to sit down and say, Okay, what are the relationships that we feel like the Lord is calling us to pour into in this season? And what are the people that we look at their lives and say, man, that's how I want to be? And asking them, what did you do to get to this place? Or what do you wish you would have done differently when you were our age? [00:41:30]

And having a teachable spirit to say, what would you say to us? What do you see in our life? Do you see anything in our life that's not glorifying God? Do you see anything in our lives that needs to go? Or what would you say? And being teachable in that season as well.

Laura Dugger: Brittany, you are such an inspiration. If people want to follow up after hearing you, where can the listeners find you online?

Brittany Price Brooker: I am on Instagram at Brittany Price Brooker, and Facebook, Brittany Price Brooker, and my website, brittanyprice.com, or you can just google my name.

Laura Dugger: That's awesome. Well, again, we will link to all of this in the show notes. I have just one more question for you. We are called The Savvy Sauce because "savvy" is synonymous with practical knowledge. So as my final question today, what is your savvy sauce?

Brittany Price Brooker: Okay, so I'm a spiritual and non-spiritual answer to this. My savvy sauce for making myself look a little bit more awake than I truly feel in this season, it's definitely mascara, a good mascara and concealer, girl. I'm all about those things. [00:42:42]

And then something that I would say that always challenges me, encourages me to make sure I'm getting the Word of God into me every day, is the Daily Audio Bible. It's this app that I listen to. I actually do this daily life principles Bible, which is like a one-year plan of scripture where you have Old Testament, New Testament, Psalms, and Proverbs. So I read that. But then I also have this audio one that's kind of like a couple steps ahead of it.

So I often get very different things, even though it's the same passages out of it. So sometimes there's seasons where you may have longer time in the morning to spend in the Word. And then there's other seasons where God just wants your Yes in your five minutes here, your five minutes there, but being diligent with the time that you have. But I love listening to the Word of God because I pick up so many different things when I listen, opposed to just reading it.

Laura Dugger: That is such a good idea. I love that.

Brittany Price Brooker: Yeah, they even have a kid's version. And my kids love listening to it because they think the kid is so funny. I love my kids being able to listen to it and get things out and study the same passage together. [00:43:48]

Laura Dugger: Oh, that's incredible. Could you say the name of the app again?

Brittany Price Brooker: Yeah, it's Daily Audio Bible.

Laura Dugger: Well, this time together has just been full of so many emotions, and I'm really overwhelmed with gratitude for your faith and for your willingness to encourage each one of us today. So thank you for meeting us here.

Brittany Price Brooker: Aw, it's such a gift to be with you. We're just so thankful because it's not our faith, but it's who we have faith in. And He is such a faithful God in every season. I'm so thankful for the opportunity to share about Him today.

Laura Dugger: One more thing before you go. Have you heard the term "gospel" before? It simply means good news. And I want to share the best news with you. But it starts with the bad news. Every single one of us were born sinners and God is perfect and holy, so He cannot be in the presence of sin. Therefore, we're separated from Him. [00:44:44]

This means there's absolutely no chance we can make it to heaven on our own. So for you and for me, it means we deserve death and we can never pay back the sacrifice we owe to be saved. We need a savior. But God loved us so much, He made a way for His only Son to willingly die in our place as the perfect substitute.

This gives us hope of life forever in right relationship with Him. That is good news. Jesus lived the perfect life we could never live and died in our place for our sin. This was God's plan to make a way to reconcile with us so that God can look at us and see Jesus.

We can be covered and justified through the work Jesus finished if we choose to receive what He has done for us. Romans 10:9 says that if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. [00:45:46]

So would you pray with me now? Heavenly, Father, thank You for sending Jesus to take our place. I pray someone today right now is touched and chooses to turn their life over to You. Will You clearly guide them and help them take their next step in faith to declare You as Lord of their life? We trust You to work and change their lives now for eternity. In Jesus name, we pray, amen.

If you prayed that prayer, you are declaring Him for me, so me for Him, you get the opportunity to live your life for Him.

At this podcast, we are called Savvy for a reason. We want to give you practical tools to implement the knowledge you have learned. So you're ready to get started?

First, tell someone. Say it out loud. Get a Bible. The first day I made this decision my parents took me to Barnes and Noble to get the Quest NIV Bible and I love it. Start by reading the book of John. [00:46:45]

Get connected locally, which basically means just tell someone who is part of the church in your community that you made a decision to follow Christ. I'm assuming they will be thrilled to talk with you about further steps such as going to church and getting connected to other believers to encourage you.

We want to celebrate with you too. So feel free to leave a comment for us if you made a decision for Christ. We also have show notes included where you can read Scripture that describes this process.

Finally, be encouraged. Luke 15:10 says, "In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." The heavens are praising with you for your decision today.

If you've already received this good news, I pray that you have someone else to share it with today. You are loved and I look forward to meeting you here next time.

Welcome to The Savvy Sauce

Practical chats for intentional living

A faith-based podcast and resources to help you grow closer to Jesus and others. Expect encouragement, surprises, and hope here. Each episode offers lively interviews with fascinating guests such as therapists, authors, non-profit founders, and business leaders.

They share their best practices and savvy tips we can replicate to make our daily life and relationships more enjoyable!