A Spiritual Dehumidifier

The basement in our new house is quite interesting. For one thing, it is nice on these hot summer days because it is almost 10 degrees cooler down there. But besides being cool, it is damp and dark. We've noticed moisture on the pipes in our laundry room...which eventually drips down to the floor. We've noticed these long black bugs come out during the night and invade our living room.

The most concerning, of course, is the moisture situation as we certainly don't want to end up with a mold problem in the future. So because of that, we decided to invest in a dehumidifier. We plugged in our dehumidifier on Monday night and have been simply amazed at the results. From Monday night to Wednesday night, we have already emptied the LARGE water bucket 5 times!!! Our basement no longer has a musty smell....and best of all, our pipes no longer sweat!!!

As I emptied the fifth bucket today, I started to wonder how this clever machine works. It brings in the air....takes out the moisture...and then blows the air back out of the top. How does it get the moisture out of the air????

It made me think we all need a "dehumidifier" in our lives. Now I'm not talking a physical one necessarily...that is unless you have a damp basement like we do. But I'm talking about something that we can "filter" ourselves through. The dehumidifer we have basically cleans the air and makes it safer for us to live in. A spiritual dehumifier would do the same thing.

We can filter our lives....everything we say and do...through our God. In fact, we SHOULD filter our lives through Him. When we take who we are and surrender our lives to God...the result should be "cleaner"!

When we decide to turn off our spiritual dehumidifier, that is when our lives become moldy and smelly.

No one likes mold growing in their homes. How much more should we try to get rid of mold growing in our lives! Let God "dehumidify" your life today!

Tear Down the Walls

I'm sure you are all wondering if I have completely forgotten about my blog. I really haven't meant to keep everyone waiting this long for the next post. My daughter keeps bugging me to post more so she can read it.

Life has been a little busy in the Brown household. In the past two months we have taken a missions trip to Cambodia and then packed up our entire household and moved to Tomah, WI, where my husband is now the pastor of Lighthouse A/G. God is so awesome...and He has specifically ordered our steps in this path to be here in Tomah. We are so very thankful to be part of His awesome plan.

Tonight was a simply amazing service at church where walls were brought down and the church worshipped with everything in them...and we "had CHURCH!" as Grandma Anna said! As I was completely consumed in God's presence during the worship time, God spoke to me about walls.

What is a wall? The walls in our house enclose each room. Walls provide a barrier. Walls are not meant to walk through. Walls are normally permanent.

God reminded me of an incident that happened earlier today in our house. My mom was visiting and we were sitting on our deck in the smoldering heat. We normally leave the sliding glass door and screen open so our dog can go back and forth between the house and the screened in deck. However, since we actually had our air conditioner running, we left the door shut.

As we were visiting we suddenly heard an awful BANG!!! A few seconds later, my daughter emerged from the house and came out on the deck rubbing her foot. The BANG we heard was my daughter completely running into the sliding glass door. She didn't look close enough to see that the door was actually closed!!! I'm thankful she wasn't hurt at all....but looking back, that was quite hysterical!

When God brought that to my memory, I felt like He was comparing that to the walls we put up in our own lives...especially in the area of worship and our relationship with God. Often we limit ourselves in what we want to do...or what we are willing to do for God. We have our comfort zone...and the walls we put up around us limit us....or prevent us from going outside our comfort zone.

And then after time...we get so use to the walls, that we often completly forget that they are even there! We become conditioned to the limits we have placed on our lives....rendering us almost incapable of moving forward without BANGING into the wall.

But I have good news!!!!! The spiritual walls are NOT permanent!!! They are easy to take down with God's help. The key is us. We have to be willing to move beyond the walls. We have to be willing to move outside our comfort zone. We have to be willing to do something different...something uncomfortable.

But really...how can we ever grow in our relationship with God if we never move outside those walls? How can we ever grow without change?

If we want change...and growth....that requires moving outside what we are comfortable with.

My Daily Run

Gasping for my breath...while running through an airport....carrying a large backpack...seeing my family way ahead of me...but there's nothing I can do...my feet won't go any faster...in fact, I may collapse right here at Gate 50. How will I make it down to Gate 89 before our plane takes off? Why did I pick a flight with such a short connection time in between flights??? When did I become so out of shape?????

It was the moment that we made it on the flight and I collapsed to my seat...struggling to catch my breath....THAT was the moment I decided to do something about my health.

Yes, I'd already lost 40 pounds during our church's Biggest Loser contest. I was so proud of that fact already and could tell so many differences with my body already. But losing weight by controlling my eating evidently did nothing for my body's physical abilities. That day at the airport was a stark realization that I had a hard time even running!

Part of me attributed it to the fact that I was wearing flip flops. I mean, have you ever tried running in those? It just is next to impossible without tripping.

But that wasn't the real reason. The bottom line was that I was out of shape.

I spent the next several months contemplating how I was going to get into shape. I tried some workout videos with my daughter. I tried walking. But nothing was consistent. Nothing seemed to work. Every time I planned to exercise, I found an excuse that would stop me.

Until the very end of September. I finally decided that it was never going to happen on its own. I couldn't wait for someone to exercise with me. I couldn't wait until the weather was nice. I couldn't wait until I felt like it. I just had to do it. No matter what.

And that's when I started running. Yes, running. I jumped into this exercise routine and started out with a mile run. (I don't like to ease into things) Well........it started off as a half mile jog...half mile walk. I just couldn't run a mile. It was too hard for me. And at that point I almost gave up. But something inside of me felt so good when I completed the first mile. Even though I walked part of it, I still felt like I accomplished something.

So I kept going. Each day. One mile. No matter what. Even if no one was there to run with me. Even if the weather was cold. Even if the wind about blew me off the road. Even if it was sprinkling rain. Even if I'd rather be on the couch relaxing. Even if I felt like I was going to die. Even if my legs became numb and I couldn't catch my breath.

Each and every day the "mile" has gotten easier. I can run the whole thing now without stopping. And I've even started timing myself...watching it get shorter and shorter each day as my endurance builds up.

I've come to love being a runner. I feel good for what I've accomplished.

But....God has used this experience to convict me. I mean, I make sure I run every day...no matter what. But am I that committed to my devotional and prayer time with God? Do I look forward to that time as much as I do to running? Do I put that as a priority to my day?

There's so much "stuff" that fills our lives...from caring for kids to work to school to cleaning to cooking...it's neverending!!! Do we have room for God? Where does He rate in our priorities for the day?

As you run through life, don't pass God by and leave Him to the side. Don't let your relationship with Him become something you never have time for. Put Him first and everything else will fall into place.

"...I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward--to Jesus. I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back. So let's keep focused on that goal, those of us who want everything God has for us." Philippians 3:14-15 (Message)

"Run to win. All good athletes train hard. They do it for a gold medal that tarnishes and fades. You're after one that's gold eternally. I don't know about you, but I'm running hard for the finish line. I'm giving it everything I've got. No sloppy living for me! I'm staying alert and in top condition." 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 (Message)

A Colorful Masterpiece

Don't you just love to watch the sunset? I love to see the sky illuminated by beautiful swirls of color...pink, blue, orange, purple. As a kid my dad used to always say that his favorite color was "sky blue pink with purple polka dots". I often wondered how you could even have a color like that! But since then I have had many opportunities to see God's beautiful artwork coloring the sky. I love watching the blue sky turn pink and purple with swirls of clouds!

And what about the autumn leaves? Today was simply BEAUTIFUL watching the leaves blow in the wind. And it wasn't just green leaves....instead it was a swirl of bright orange and yellow leaves, cascading through the air. Even though I dread the thought of the cold snow, I still feel drawn to the beauty of the fall season.

All of this is such a marvelous look at the beauty of God. He takes a beautiful sky...and a strong, tall tree....and He makes them even MORE tantalizing to our eyes. He is the master artist.

But it's not just nature. He can make a beautiful masterpiece of our lives too. He can take the person we are and help us turn into the masterpiece that He wants us to be! His plans far surpass what we can even imagine!

There's a catch, though.....

We have to give Him our lives. He have to give Him control. We have to let Him draw a masterpiece with our lives. And that is only done by letting Him have control of everything.

EVERYTHING??? Are you sure?

Yes, everything. When we release the grasp we have our on lives...on our will...then, and only then will He do more than we can ever imagine. He's a gentlemen. He won't force us to obey Him. He's left that part up to us.

Are you willing to hand over the paintbrush and let God have control? You won't regret it!

I Flooded the Laundry Room!!!

I just came across an article I wrote that appeared in last week's issue of Lookout magazine. This is an article that always brings a smile to my face as I recount the many times I have flooded my own laundry room...on purpose.

As crazy as that sounds, I do this very thing quite often...and them am left to clean up the mess. Here's a link to read the full version of the article...

http://www.lookoutmag.com/articles/articledisplay.asp?id=853

Hope you enjoy!!!

Fresh Fire

My last blog was written in May. Hmmm... Think I am a bit busy???

Summer break has literally flown by. I cannot believe it is already August and we are preparing our kids for going back to school! School supplies are bought...the pool is draining...and football and soccer practices are starting.

Our summer was packed full of things...from church events to vacation to youth trips to fun family times. But the best thing was these past few weeks at church....our FRESH FIRE conference. We prayed for Fresh Fire...and God delievered!!!!

In my own personal life, I was just in dire need of being revitalized in my relationship with God. I just was longing for MORE of God. I truly believe our church was in the same place too.

It's so easy to get stuck in a rut, getting use to doing the same thing over and over. We know how to worship God, but it's so easy to get caught going through the motions. It makes me think of a fan. As a kid, I use to lay in front of a fan in the summertime. I would just watch the blades spin over and over. They never stopped. The blades went nowhere.

I don't want to spin around and around in the same rut in my relationship with God. I don't want to be stuck going nowhere. I truly desire for MORE of God. I want to daily be challenged to live a more passionate life for God. It's not enough for me to do enough to just get by. I want to truly be used by God...and not just every once in awhile...I want to be used of God EVERY day!!!

476 Texts

This week our family celebrated my daughter's 13th birthday. Yes....we officially now have not one, but TWO teenagers in our house. Life couldn't be more interesting!!!!

The standing rule in our house has been no cell phone until you are a teenager. My son didn't get his until age 14, so my daughter was convinced she also would have to wait another year. This thought completely consumed her entire being as she could not imagine living another whole year without a cell phone. I mean really, just how in the world could we expect her to get through the day without a cell phone????

What she didn't realize was that we were indeed surprising her with a cell phone for her birthday. Yes...you will all be pleased to know that she now can go on living. She has joined the masses of teenagers addicted to their bright shiny screen that enables them to converse both day and night with silly messages that barely say anything besides LOL or IDK.

Within two hours, my daughter managed to send 90 text messages to her friends, making it hard to pry the phone from her hands and send her to bed. Her eyes glowed as she thanked us over and over again. I was so glad to see her so happy....but then again...do I like this change in her? Do I like to see her so addicted to something so fast?

That was Tuesday. Today is Thursday and her text count is up to 476 messages. (And think about this...she can only use the phone during a limited timeframe....!!!) I am so thankful for unlimited text messages. Can you imagine what that cell bill would've been otherwise??? That girl cannot even keep up with the amount of texts coming in...she cannot even respond quick enough!!!

Seeing her passion for her phone makes me think of our relationship with God. Are we that passionate about Him? Are we overcome with excitement to open our Bibles...just as we are to turn on our cell phone? Do we talk to Him as much...or more...than our friends?

I know I struggle with this. Life just gets so busy. Things get pushed back if I don't have time. Time with God should be our number one priority....
Is it?