Advice from Melissa.......

Even though you have extensively off planned and actually pullled a pretty cool Middle School Lesson for your Wednesday night group, DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT, let them burn their sins in a coffee can INSIDE the church. That is all I have to say about that........

How to Live!

From my friend Tammy Maltby:

The book is called “In a Pit With A Lion On A Snowy Day”, by Mark Batterson. Mark calls this the “Lion Chaser Manifesto”.

Loved this quote...

Quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death. Grab life by the mane. Set God-sized goals. Pursue God-ordained passions. Go after a dream that is destined to fail without divine intervention. Keep asking questions. Keep making mistakes. Keep seeking God. Stop pointing out problems and become part of the solution. Stop repeating the past and start creating the future. Stop playing it safe and start taking risks. Accumulate experiences. Consider the lilies. Enjoy the journey. Find every excuse you can to celebrate everything you can. Live like today is the first day and last day of your life. Don’t let what’s wrong with you keep you from worshipping what’s right with God. Burn sinful bridges. Blaze new trails. Criticize by creating. Worry less about what people think and more about what God thinks. Don’t try to be who you’re not. Be yourself. Laugh at yourself. Quit holding out. Quit holding back. Quit running away.

Random Thought for the Day......

I was staring out my window during work yesterday (one of the benefits of working from home!), and noticed a female cardinal hopping around in the little area beneath a butterfly bush near our house. I immediately thought of how God's eye is on the sparrow and how he provides for even the birds of the field. I have grown up knowing this all my life and boy am I glad! Something yesterday, however, sort of just knocked me for a loop - one of those "struck by lightning" moments. The bird was having to cock her head and LISTEN for the worms! Well, duh, Melissa....I am sure you are saying, but to me is was so profound. We must try hard to listen to what the Lord is telling us - where He is directing us, etc. Lots of times there are many distractions, as we know, just as there were for the cardinal (cars, wind, man sawing next door), but she still kept cocking her head to listen! I pray that I take that lesson to the spiritual bank and deposit it. I pray for God to reveal Himself to me, but most of all I pray that I make the time to sit and listen for Him.

Let's Hear it for Friday!

WOW I am ready for the weekend! It has been a great week, but also a trying one mentally so I am ready to get out enjoy this beautiful TN sunshine and take some time this weekend to reflect and meditate on what God is saying to me right now in this season of life. We are going to be meeting up with my Dad tomorrow and hiking near the Ocoee River or maybe somewhere closer to Chattanooga (not sure yet). I am so thankful to be able to get outside with the kids and also get some exercise. As for the rest of the weekend - nothing.........yay!!!

God has really placed on my heart this week to be in a time of prayer and to be living in a spirit of constant prayer. If you have prayer requests, please email me and I will be in prayer this weekend for you! Love to all - Melissa

Whew!

I am completely not kidding you when I tell you that it took me until yesterday (TUESDAY) to completely recover from the Famine. I am getting old my peeps! We had a wonderful 30 hours of fasting which ended in Communion and a break-fast feast! Total raised to date is right around $3300.00! All proceeds will go to feed children in Haiti.

Redemption Art

So the Famine is quickly approaching (beginning Friday at noon) and I am trying to get all my ducks in a row. I have to keep reminding myself that things will go smoothly - they always do, and that God is in control. I have to remind myself of that EVERY DAY as a matter of fact. One thing I am very excited about is that Caitlin Beidler will be joining us this weekend to paint with the Youth and also paint a mural on the stairwell leading down to our Youth Room. Check out her Facebook page - Redemption Art. And here is a link to her website:

http://www.caitlinbeidler.com/

She will be staying at the Brown House for the weekend, so please pray that I will be a good hostess and that she will feel comfortable and loved in our home. I pray that you all have a great weekend and think of me when you eat something yummy this weekend!

Life......

One of the things I enjoy the most about blogging is that I can look back over the years and see what our family has been through and where God has brought us so far. I came across this post from 2 years ago this week, and thought I would repost it (link below). God has been SO good to me. I can remember feeling so lost and just plain exhausted during that time, and wondering how to keep going on. God never wastes a hurt or a tear my friends. I miss my brother so much and yes losing him and the way we lost him was EXTREMELY painful, but through his death I learned SO much about myself and the human condition. I learned about the brutality of addiction and how it steals lives and destroys them. Most of all, I learned that our time here is short. So short.....

http://brownsrus.blogspot.com/2008/02/emptiness.html

Great Calendar for Your Family for Lent

At our Youth devo time 2night at church, our youth pastor handed out these Lent calendars from Mars Hill Church. They are AWESOME! We started ours tonight and I encourage you to do the same. And remember it isn't about "not missing a day" or how you "mess up" and don't do something on a certain day. It is all about just being more mindful of Christ in our lives daily.

Just click on the title of this post (above) and will take you directly to it. Love to you all!

Lent

Although our religion doesn't REQUIRE us to observe Lent is not a bad thing to observe. It is a great spiritual discipline as a matter of fact. Why not take 40 days and put aside something that takes up too much of our time or requires us to endure a little hardship? Why not do that and instead truly focus on Christ for 40 days? We should focus on him all of our days that is why observing Lent is a good exercise. It can help us build up our spiritual "muscles".

www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnPaaIuhmcU

Gearing up....

This is the time of year that things tend to start getting a little crazy at the Brown House. We are approaching the 30-Hour-Famine in 2 weeks and then will be preparing for our mission trip to South Dakota in June. Also, there is always the general chaos of three kids finishing up the school year. In order to spend more time with Jacob and his homeschooling, I made the decision to cut back on hours working at the pharmacy and am know just working 2 jobs during the week - typing and working at Christ The King. We are in prayer that God will sustain us financially as I give up those hours. I will also be starting classes through Berea Bible Institute in Chattanooga through "distance education". Basically I will work my way through the classes from home and all tests till be proctored by my pastor here in Winchester. My plan is to finish my bachelor in Religious Studies with an emphasis on missions within the next 18 months (at most). A lot of my college credits transferred over and I will only need to complete 14 classes.

On a more personal level, I have really felt the Lord refining me in many different areas lately and although it is a good thing - it is also a painful thing at times. ;) I ask that you pray for me as I (or if I) come to your mind in the next few months.

My prayer is that all of us seek what it is that God would have us to do and then follow His leading no matter how uncomfortable it may make us. I pray that we all step out of our comfort zone and ask the Lord what He would have us do to serve others and show love to ALL of His children.