My name is Brooke Hearing and this is just a snippet of my story.
My History
I originally hail from Southern California, a not so little city called Escondido. I am an only child on my Mom’s side, but am lucky to have a half brother on my Dad’s side. I was a pretty outgoing child for the majority of my younger years. I participated in singing groups as well as dabbled in various types of dance classes, as we do as children.
I, like many, grew up navigating having divorced parents but having amazing people who supported me along the way. I lived mainly with my mom, spending every other weekend with my dad and step-mom. I am lucky in that my parents had an amicable divorce and co-parented well. We did have to move around quite a bit, but stayed in the same general county location therefore I was able to maintain friendships along the way.
I met and married my husband in May of 2005, having our first and only daughter in 2009. We relocated with my job in 2014 and have since lived in Dallas Texas where I share a home with my husband, daughter, mother in law and dog.
My Faith
During my younger years, I was raised in attending both Mormon and Baptist churches. I was baptized with the Mormon church when I was around 12 but found myself drifting away from the faith and attending only the Baptist church into my high school years. I, unfortunately, drifted too far and shortly after graduating high school, stopped attending altogether.
I spent many years without Jesus as the focal point of my life; but I never lost my faith. It wasn’t until the winter of 2021 that He called me home. My neighbor, who never stopped inviting me to church events, asked if I wanted to participate as part of the Christmas chorus. I LOVE to sing so I immediately said yes. The rest is what you would call history. I felt my faith renewed and have been all in with my faith and service to my church and community ever since.
My Prayer
I have toyed with the idea of blogging for a while. I questioned whether anyone would read a blog I wrote. I struggle with the feeling of insignificance and cannot imagine anyone caring to read about my struggles and experiences. As I have prayed about my purpose and what he is asking of me in this season, the enemy continued to attack my mind, telling me that I am not faithful enough and that no one will read my stories. I was told I am not engaging enough, not strong enough, smart enough, etc. You name it I thought it. All re-confirming my feeling of insignificance.
I attended a women’s event where I was reminded that the enemy will do whatever it takes to prevent us from doing God’s work. It is the areas of our life where we are the most scared, most insecure, and where the enemy targets most that are likely where we are called to serve. So I prayed again, spending my 4 minutes (for those who don’t know about 4 minutes, i hope you will learn in reading my blogs) asking God to show me my purpose in this season. I heard the word “trust”. Trust in what? I trust my Father but I still didn’t feel clear on what He was asking me to do. I proceeded with my morning, still thinking about blogging and can I do it, should I do it? Then, I realized maybe he is asking me to trust in Him and start this blog.
My Hope
So, here I am. Taking a leap of Faith, trusting and putting myself out there. I hope that He speaks through my words and experiences to those who need to hear Him and His message. I hope for healing, I hope for renewed faith, but mostly that anyone who is struggling with feeling inadequate or insignificant knows they are not alone. God love you, He knows your name, and you are covered by his love and grace.