Brittany

Today's tribute is to Brittany Bolt, my beautiful friend and former roommate!

Brittany has so much great Biblical wisdom and discernment... I would always perk up and listen close when she started speaking up in group!!  (She also has an awesome Jamaican accent that's hard not to love!) 

Her sister's house was destroyed by the Joplin tornado a year ago, so our group went down to help out and bring them some necessities... her dad, Pastor Bolt, is awesome!!  He actually stopped and prayed with and for our group that day, and told us to remember to be thankful for how fortunate we are to live and serve God in America.  He has such a great sincere and Godly presence, and I know Brittany gets a lot of her insight and wisdom from him.

Brittany is brilliantly intelligent and is currently getting her doctorate to become a neuroscientist.  Wow, right?  I'm still laughing about hearing some of her stories about working with the rats... yikes!!  

She's an awesome singer and sings with the choir and does solos at her church!

I really cannot peg her personality style - I see them all in her very strongly at different times.  (As a side note, I think the same was probably true of Jesus - a healthy mix of them all.)

I am inspired by the fact that she is confident, determined, and sets high goals and standards for herself, yet she's still very down to earth and really cares about people!

She was very thrilled/excited about me going back to school. :)

Fun fact:  Her cousin is Usain Bolt, the Olympic gold medal runner from Jamaica!

I love that she does not take God's Word lightly and that she has the courage to speak up in a group of half-drunk believers and say, "Witness check... where is our witness for Christ right now?"  LOVE. THAT.

She also has the courage to speak up around men telling inappropriate/crude jokes... "Excuse me, gentlemen, there's a lady present."  All very inspiring to me!

I love how she playfully (and sometimes seriously) uses the word "foolishness!"  

And finally, I love that she says her name with 3 distinct syllables: "Brit-tan-y Bolt, like a lightening bolt." ;-)

(This is Brittany and her sister, Brianna.)

I so appreciate that when we talked about anything difficult in my life last year (and there were plenty of trials for me in 2011), that she would say, "Let's just pray about that together right now!"

Finally, I love her testimony... that God has healed her from a serious and "incurable" disease that might have slowly crippled and killed her.  As she was sick and in hospitals for years, her father spent two hours a day in prayer (I'm sure much of that was for her) ...and eventually, the condition started to reverse and her spine started to straighten.  Powerful... especially to hear her tell it!  I know it has given her a great sense of purpose and gratitude and a heart full of hope and encouragement!!

So hooray for Brittany... I am thankful for what God is doing in her, for her, and through her!! ❤