Brooke Noble

Browse Author by Brooke Noble

All You Need

Photo taken by Dani Hahner

There I sat at the small table, a hamburger and fries from Wendy’s on my plate. Across from me sat an elderly woman who was bent over from the wear and tear of 102 years of life. A knitted sweater was draped over her shoulders and the wheelchair she sat in seemed to swallow up her tiny frame. A small cap covered her wispy white hair. Her head bent down wearily. I noticed that she hadn’t touched her lunch yet.

A friend of mine and I were having lunch with this lady a few months ago. During our meal, a young reporter joined us who began to interview this older woman about her life. Attaining the age of 102 years old is remarkable indeed and well worthy of attention. I enjoyed listening to this woman as she told us about her life. But she said something that day that I will never forget. When asked the question, “what is one piece of advice you would give to young people?,” I quickly turned my full attention to her, eagerly anticipating her answer. Her lips moved as she thoughtfully formed an answer and with great earnestness she said:

“Read your Bible. It has all you need to know for life and godliness. Be sure to read your Bible. It has all you will ever need.”

So simple, yet so profound. This woman – who was fully 6 times older than me and who had gained the wisdom from over a century of life here on earth – knew what she was talking about. She had lived a hard life, which began in an orphanage, alone and unwanted by anyone. She had no children, little family. She had struggled through over forty years of hard work to support herself, then her latest years were spent in a nursing home with no family to care for or look after her.

Yet…she clung to Jesus. She was carried by Him. She delved deep into His word and studied it. If you were to name any verse in the Bible, she could finish it. Though her hearing was almost gone, her body weak and frail, she had something more precious than perfect health and a “perfect” life by the world’s standard: she had Jesus and she could not wait to go home to Him. Though battered around by the storms of life, she could say with confidence that the Lord was her Sustainer and Rock. She had hidden herself in the Rock of Ages.

I came away pondering her answer. I read my Bible, but how often do I consider it more of a chore than a pleasure? When do I come before the Lord just to adore Him? Do I linger in His presence? Do the most wonderful things I can imagine pale in comparison with the beauty of Christ?

I pray for eyes to see and savor the preciousness of God’s word while I’m still young. God’s word is a treasure deeper than the deepest sea or chasm. Men have devoted their lives to studying its content, only scratching the surface. I remember years ago reading through a book of encouragement for young girls. In the introduction the author warned us to not replace her book with our Bible reading, emphasizing that it “doesn’t even begin to compare to the jewels of God’s word.” So, whether I felt like it or not, I made sure to read my Bible before cracking open that book. :) The Bible, as from the words of a 102 year old lady, is truly all we need for life and godliness.

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

Thoughts

A Parcel of Pics

Hello there! Well, I know it’s been a while since I popped in, so I have some pictures to post! Mom and I had the privilege of attending a women’s conference in Florida a few weeks ago. The speaker was Susan Hunt and I came away encouraged and refreshed in the Lord. We stayed with some dear friends of ours, the Lewis family. They are some of the sweetest, most gracious people I know. It was delightful to catch up and fellowship with them. Here are a few pictures from our time:

On the plane before take-off. Mom and I had way too much fun at the airport and flying together. I hadn’t flown since I was 3 years old, so it was definitely a treat and even more fun than I thought it would be! :)

At the Florida airport. Notice the palm trees behind me….it was so interesting coming from a cold(er) state to the warm, moist Floridian climate.

The Lewis’s made a welcome sign when we arrived. Aren’t these girlies too cute!?!

We played lots of games, including Monopoly Deal and Scum. Becca and I were partners in this round. :)

Pictures after the conference…

Hannah and I.

Mom and Mrs. Lewis

The day after the conference, we all went to the ocean!

The Lewis’s taught me how to boogie board, which was super duper fun. I love this picture of Sarah!

It was a cup-filling, encouraging time. I am so grateful!

I absolutely the season of autumn! I finally broke out my pea jacket this morning and had my first pumpkin latte a few days ago. Mom and I took a trip up to Columbia for an appointment earlier this week. Besides enjoying getting to spend a whole day with her, I loved soaking up the scenery of yellow, red, and orange foliage along the drive. Little pumpkins, lighting candles, the fresh scent of fall…I do believe that simple delights will never lose their charm.

Now I have a question for you: what are some of YOUR favorite simple delights of autumn? I mentioned a few of mine, but do tell, I’d love to hear yours. :)

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Inflation and the Cardboard Stores

Hello there! I wanted to let y’all know about the contest over at God’s World Photography! Yes, it’s another poll, so everyone is welcome to participate in the judging. Head on over and cast a vote. We’d appreciate it. :)

Here is the paper Austin wrote about inflation. He used an example of inflation from when we four Noble children were little and decided to set up an economy system of our own. It cracked me up and brought back funny memories. Austin gave me permission to post this on my blog. I hope you enjoy it, too.

photo credit

Inflation and the Cardboard Stores

by Austin Noble

Moving is a boring and hard task and one which requires small people to invent ways to keep themselves occupied. In my case, we were moving for the umpteenth time, and my older brother Wesley set upon an idea. He wanted to start a system of stores and customers, AKA an economy. So all four of us kids, Wesley the oldest and the wisest, Brooke the nice and motherly, Austin who is modern day me, and our youngest most innocent brother Jonathan, made cardboard box stores our of those great big indestructible wardrobe boxes. As a side note, this was about seven years ago. We then cut holes for windows, and set all of our treasures, or most of them, in front of our windows. Wesley, the starter of our economy, got eight black rocks and gave us each two to trade with, he told us that these rocks were like money. We then waited for each other to come and buy our stuff. For awhile, the economy hummed like an oiled motor. A single black rock was worth at least two bouncy balls, a fortune back then.

Then I, the nice, good , rule-follower, did something treacherous. I snuck away form our town of shops, and got all of the black rocks that I could fill the front of my shirt with, from our front landscaping. I came back to town and hid them in my store/ box. I was a genius as well as instantaneously rich. When I went over to my sisters store with about six black rocks clanking in my pockets, she raised an eyebrow, but still sold me her merchandise. She soon caught on and snuck away to the front landscaping to get her own rocks. When both she and I went around buying things with our “counterfeit money”, Wesley caught on and he got some more black rocks. Well pretty soon prices skyrocketed, and poor Jonathan was the only one who still had his two black rocks. He got sad that he couldn’t buy even a bouncy ball any more, and things went downhill from there.

Nobody wanted to sell any thing anymore, because the value of black rocks kept going down every time one of us snuck off to get more of them. When nobody wanted to sell anything any more, Wesley, the president of the economy, said that it was against the rules to get any more black rocks. But even he was only human and continued to collect and hoard the rocks. It was too late though, the economy had folded because nobody wanted to sell anything for the worthless black rocks, and so we all went in for lunch.

In the same way, when the government prints lots of money, the value of money everywhere, in jars, in savings accounts, and even in piggy banks, goes down. And if the government prints even more money, people spend all of their money on things that the government cannot print, like food, silver, and gold. So if my readers would like to put money in a box and bury it, I would advise them to procure some gold or silver, and bury that instead.