About Christy Brunke

Welcome, friends! I’m blessed to be a mom, a pastor’s wife, and the bestselling author of the fictional book, Snow out of Season. But my greatest claim to fame comes from being a child of the King. Because of that, I’m passionate about my family, unborn children, and God-written love stories. Though I used to live in China, now I love serving in ministry here in Maryland. Praying you’ll be blessed as you read my blogs, my story, and my award-winning novel!

Gabriel Network: When the Line Turns Pink

Posted on October 1, 2015 by Christy Brunke

Gabriel Network.

Imagine you’re a woman facing a crisis pregnancy. Maybe your boyfriend is abusive. Maybe your parents kicked you out of the house when they discovered you were expecting. Or maybe you just don’t have the money to provide for yourself, much less a child.

But you’re not sure you want to have an abortion. What do you do? Where do you turn?

The Gabriel Network

Enter the Gabriel Network, a multi-denominational, faith-based community of churches, businesses, and individuals that has helped thousands of women in D.C. and Maryland over the last twenty plus years.

Through the Gabriel Network, women struggling with unexpected pregnancies are connected to Angel Friends who mentor and support them during and after the pregnancy. If they need somewhere to stay, they can apply for Gabriel’s transitional housing program which boasts homes in Bowie, Gaithersburg, and Ellicott City. Plus, they have access to diapers, formula, and baby gear as well as clothing for themselves and their babies.

The Gabriel Network's mission hope for women

Photo courtesy of http://liveactionnews.org/

Need help? Call 1.800.ANGEL.OK (800-264-3565) or check out the services the Gabriel Network offers at GabrielNetwork.org.

Empower Women to Choose Life

Want to help? You can volunteer, donate online, or partner with your church to “adopt” a woman in need.

The Gabriel Network 5K in Columbia, Maryland

Photo by Paula Sampugnaro

You can also walk or run with us this weekend! The Gabriel Network is hosting a 5K at Lake Elkhorn in Columbia, Maryland (9200 Rustling Leaf) this Saturday, October 3^rd.

Late registration opens at 8:00 a.m., the program begins at 8:30, and the race starts at 9:00 at Hopewell Pool. Comment below today if you’d like to join our group, or sign up on your own at GabrielNetwork.org. See you at the finish line!

“You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. . . . You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb” (Psalm 139:13-15).

Somewhere That’s Green: Finding Home

Posted on June 3, 2015 by Christy Brunke

In high school, I played Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors, a musical comedy about a man-eating plant. A florist on Skid Row, Audrey longs to settle down with her kind, but nerdy, coworker, Seymour. She imagines their future home in her song, “Somewhere That’s Green.”

Christy Brunke playing Audrey Little Shop of Horrors

Me in Little Shop of Horrors

After high school and college in my home state of Maryland, Jesus took me on one adventure after another—to China to teach English and study Mandarin, to North Carolina to attend seminary, and, finally, to Illinois to serve at a multi-site community church and then a century-old Chinese church. In Chicago, I also forged forever friendships, met and married my incredible husband, Mark, and had two daughters.

Then the Lord led us home. (Read the story here.)

Greenridge Baptist Church

We moved to Maryland on May 1^st, and Mark became the Minister of Youth and Young Adults at Greenridge Baptist Church. Though we’ve only been here a month, we already see what a marvelous match God made for our whole family. Though Mark misses his friends, family, and the youth he poured into for six years, he absolutely loves his new job.

Photo courtesy of: http://www.greenridgebaptist.org/

The position’s perfect, he likes the staff and feels comfortable with them, and he appreciates having a ministry assistant plus great volunteers who free him up to preach and counsel more.

Because most of the congregation lives within 20 minutes of the church, he can have Bible studies and do lunch with people throughout the week.

Angelina digs the nursery and Michaela, her three-year-olds class. Plus, they love spending every Thursday with their seven Carter cousins (all under the age of five) and getting to see their Culp cousins more often.

Personally, I’m being fed by the passion, preaching, and perspective at Greenridge [tweet that!] and am enjoying family dinners and marshmallow-topped snowballs at Aunt Debby’s. Instead of stop-and-go traffic through a concrete jungle, every drive seems like we’re taking the scenic route.

My family’s excited to have us—especially our kids—and the church seems happy, too. The youth have been warm and welcoming, the pastors encouraging and enthusiastic, and the administrative assistants helpful and hilarious.

Somewhere That’s Green

During the months Mark was interviewing, I was searching for a house online. In February, when he returned from a promising weekend meeting the pastors, elders, and search committee, I showed him a beautiful rancher on an acre of land off of Green Valley Road. In March, we toured that house and, this Friday—Lord willing—we get the keys.

View from our future deck

Serving at Greenridge and living off of Green Valley Road, we’re finally settling down . . . somewhere that’s green.

“He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters” (Psalm 23:2, ESV).

A Wide-Open Door for a Great Work

Posted on April 4, 2015 by Christy Brunke

Photo courtesy of: http:/www.liesyoungwomenbelieve.com

“There is a wide-open door for a great work here…” (1 Corinthians 16:9).

I grew up in Maryland in a close, extended family with our own “compound” and big holidays and Sunday dinners.

After graduating from college, however, God led me to China, then to seminary in North Carolina, and finally to Illinois where I met and married my husband, Mark.

For years, we’d talked about moving to Maryland once Mark finished his masters at Moody Bible Institute. However, the Masters of Divinity is 90-credits, and Mark’s taking classes part-time, so six years have passed, and he still isn’t finished.

After our second daughter was born, we began praying about moving sooner, but didn’t want to waste the 60 credits he’d already earned. Two weeks after we started praying, Moody changed their masters program so it could all be completed online.

Two-year-old Michaela Brunke with baby sister Angelina Brunke Meanwhile, a church named Greenridge had posted a Minister of Youth and Young Adults position that sounded perfect for Mark.

He sent them his resume, and they set up a Skype interview with the pastoral search committee. Mark liked the search team and thought the interview went well, but then we heard little from them for three months.

Meanwhile, another church began pursuing him. We met with the pastor and his wife and toured the church. Before we left, the pastor said he was going to meet with a consultant to make sure the position was the right direction for their church.

A Wide-Open Door

We’d been praying God would open the doors He wanted us to walk through and close the rest. Greenridge invited Mark to meet the pastors, elders, and search committee in person. One week later, the other church told Mark they’d decided to hire a worship and family pastor instead.

Greenridge flew Mark out, and he had dinner with the pastors and the head of the search committee. He called me and said, “I really like these guys.”

The next day, the elders and search committee interviewed him, and he toured the church. When he saw the 3-year-olds’ room, he almost cried, knowing our older daughter would love it. He was amazed at the youth area, which included two rooms—a sanctuary with a stage plus a huge hangout room with sofas, TVs, and pool tables.

Two weeks later, Greenridge flew our whole family out to meet the congregation and, especially, the youth group. We loved the people, the music, even the “feel” of the church and could see ourselves ministering there for a long time.

My mom’s catchphrase for the weekend was “exceedingly abundantly” because God kept doing more than we could “ask or think” (Ephesians 3:20).

The next Sunday, the members voted, “Yes!”

Lead Us in the Right Path

exceedingly abundantly above Ephesians 3:20 scripture verse

Photo courtesy of: http://www.biblestudyoutlines.com

Thinking about moving, changing jobs, or starting a new ministry?

God knows us and the work He’s doing around the world better than anyone else, so let’s pray like David did: “Lead me in the right path, O LORD . . . . Make your way plain for me to follow” (Psalm 5:8). (Tweet that!)

And He will.

Exceedingly abundantly.

“You’ll Be in My Heart,” Our Father-Daughter Dance

Posted on March 1, 2015 by Christy Brunke

“You’ll Be in My Heart” song from Tarzan

In June 1999, I moved to China, and Tarzan hit the theaters.

Shortly after my parents said goodbye to their only daughter, they went to see Disney’s animated movie about a boy raised by gorillas.

When Tarzan’s adopted mom told him she’d always be there for him even when destiny called him away, my dad thought of me, teaching English halfway around the world. He bought the CD single of the song she sang, “You’ll Be in My Heart” by Phil Collins. When I returned home for a visit, he gave it to me.

When I flew back overseas, I realized I’d forgotten the precious gift. How long would it be before I could return home for it?

Weeks later, my grandmother called to say she’d sent six big boxes, complete with stuffing, canned ham, and cranberry sauce. Since I wouldn’t be home for the holidays, she decided to send Thanksgiving to me.

Because I worked at a remote agricultural university, packages weren’t delivered directly to our campus. We’d receive a notice that we had a box waiting, and we’d take three buses into the city to claim it.

An Unexpected Package

When I received the notice I’d been expecting, I hired a van to take me to the post office. An hour and a half later, I hurried in and handed the front-desk worker my slip of paper.

He stepped into the back and returned with a single box about two feet wide and two feet high.

I stared at it. Lifted it. It was light. Certainly not heavy enough for canned ham and cranberry sauce.

“Zai zheli qianming,” the postal worker said.

I hastily scrawled my signature and headed back to the van with a bashful look at the driver.

He raised his eyebrows at the single box—“Americans,” he was probably thinking—then shrugged his shoulders and headed back to school, careening through bikes, taxis, and motorcycles.

I opened the package and pulled out a big bunny with cornflower blue ears. At the bottom of the box lay the CD I’d left behind. Holding the soft rabbit close, memories danced through my mind:

Playing a fake guitar as Dad sang and played his real one.

Writing Dad a letter when I was a little girl, asking if I could be in his band.

Dad pretending to talk to Santa after we’d gone to bed every Christmas Eve.

Later, Mom told me how she’d come home one day to find that bunny sitting on the kitchen counter. “Who’s that for?” she’d asked.

“Christy,” Dad said, as if it were perfectly reasonable to buy a giant stuffed animal for your 22-year-old daughter and ship it to Asia.

I’m a little embarrassed to admit that that rabbit, whom I named “Tarzan,” became my sleeping companion for years, his white fur gaining a grayish cast.

Our Father-Daughter Dance

Eight years after my dad mailed that CD, I was living in Chicago and got engaged, and Dad flew out to record the song for my wedding.

On a warm day in June, Dad escorted me down a long aisle into the arms of another man who promised to always love and protect me. At the reception, Dad told the story behind “You’ll Be in My Heart,” and then we slow-danced around a rustic ballroom as the DJ played our song.

Dad, today you turn 59, and though I may not be with you, you’ll always be in my heart.

Writer to Writer Conference: Top 10 Quotes

Posted on February 1, 2015 by Christy Brunke

What do Hershey’s kisses, Jerry B. Jenkins, and 90 Minutes in Heaven have in common? The Writer to Writer conference at the Hershey Lodge featuring Jerry Jenkins (author of the Left Behind series) and Cecil Murphey (co-author of 90 Minutes in Heaven and Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story) as well as several other wordsmiths, editors, and author coaches.

Writer to Writer Conference at Hershey Lodge Pennsylvania

Photo courtesy of concurringopinions.com.

We were given candy bars when we checked in to the Writer to Writer conference, hot cocoa during breaks, and Hershey’s kisses in each conference room. We even got to wash our hair with chocolate-scented shampoo! But even tastier than these treats was the teaching we received.

From funny to enlightening, here are my favorite quotes from the Writer to Writer conference. Tweet that!

10

“When did you know you loved to write?” someone asked Jerry Jenkins.

“There are a lot of things I love about being a writer,” he said. “I love having written, I love being able to write well, and I love being a writer. But writing’s a little too hard and grueling to love while doing it.”

9

In her blogging workshop, Lori Stanley Roeleveld said, “There is no hiding on the reader’s screen. Amid the carefully crafted words, your soul will appear in all its beautiful and messy imperfection. This isn’t an art for the skittish, the thin-skinned, or the fraud.”

8

While meeting with Billy Graham to write his autobiography, Just As I Am, Jerry Jenkins asked the evangelist how he maintains his spiritual life.

Billy Graham said he does two things:

1) Prays without ceasing.

2) Searches the scriptures.

7

“It takes years to become a good writer,” Cecil Murphey told us in his keynote speech.

A chiropractor once said to him, “I think I’m going to take off six months and write a book.”

“That’s funny,” Cecil replied. “I was thinking I would take off six months and be a chiropractor.”

6

Realm Makers logo at Writer to Writer Conference Rebecca Minor, the director of Realm Makers, a symposium for Christian fantasy and sci-fi writers, said, “I’m too weird for normal people and too normal for weird people.”

5

Author coach Suzy Q was teaching us how to be relevant, relational, and relatable to our audience, and then she reminded us, “You write books for people to read.”

Her husband laughed and repeated what she said. “You can now go home,” he told us. “Who needs Cecil and Jerry?”

4

What’s the most common mistake fiction writers make?

“Not plunging your character into terrible trouble as soon as possible,” Jerry Jenkins said in his “Fiction Your Readers Will Remember Forever” seminar.

3

Lori Stanley Roeleveld said, “We must be brave, we who blog. We must be fearless. We must love the Lord with abandon and recklessly allow that love to travel the path of our fingertips onto the keyboard to be translated into truth that can ignite a fire before the reader’s hand can click again.”

2

While writing Just As I Am, Jerry Jenkins told Billy Graham how much people admire him.

Billy Graham put his hand on the floor and said, “I feel this low when I think about all the ways I failed the Lord.”

1

In the midst of so many different writing projects we could pursue, Cecil Murphey gave us one final charge.

“Lord,” he told us to pray. “Where do I begin?”