Another Year

Well, Hannah is 14 now. Where do all the years go? I can remember when she was just a curly-haired little girl with a big huge smile...



Now she is turning into a beautiful young woman. Well ok, I couldn't pass up putting up this picture first. Just look at that smile.






This picture is at Cotillion this year. It was a great Father and daughte date. I got to watch her hang out her friends and become a young woman.

She has a beautiful heart for all of GOD creation. She has been a great influence on the other girls of our cottage and grows more Godly everyday.

I can not tell you how impressed I have been with her boldness in her faith.

This is my Hannah Shiloah.

JOB and the storm

I have just finished reading the book of JOB and, as always when you read the Bible, it has shown me something I didn't see before.

I have to admit something first though. Reading JOB took a really long time. I stopped reading somewhere around chapter 29. I am not sure why. I got preoccupied with other things; life, work, kids, whatever. But I think that part of it was because when I finished the last few chapters it was after Hurricane Ike and I saw something that I might not have seen before the storm or weeks earlier.

Job is in the middle of an extreme life storm, a hurricane if will. He has lost everything. His kids, his wealth, his possessions, and his health. And while he is in the depths of his despair, we get to see his response. I have to admit, after losing our first daughter; I struggled with faith and Gods sovereignty. "Why has he let this happen to me?" was what I was thinking. How God could let this happen. To be honest, I didn't have the answer, not sure that I still do. But, I do know that I am not all powerful or all-knowing. GOD is. (read JOB chapters 38-39). I may never know all the answers, just like Job didn't know all the answers. But Job trusted GOD with everything. Job did not understand everything that was going on around him, but he knew that no plan of GODs can be ruined.

Job says in chapter 42:5 that, "My ears had heard of you before, but now my have seen you." My eyes have seen you... powerful. How did Job see GOD? I am not sure, but you can believe that his life was forever changed when he did. Job had spent his whole life following GOD. Believing in and having faith in a GOD who he had heard about and when the trials of life came he held on to that faith in GOD. And because of that faith in GOD, GOD showed himself to Job. How did GOD show himself? In a quiet little meadow? In the peaceful moments just before sunrise? No, GOD showed himself to Job in the middle of a storm. Now, I am not sure if this storm was a literal storm or not. I believe that the storm was the storms of life. It started out as just a little rain (1:13-14) then it became a thunderstorm (1:16). Then this storm began growing, swirling and gaining strength (1:17), it became a tropical storm. If that wasn't enough, it continued to grow and became the biggest hurricane in Job lifetime (1:18-19). This hurricane in Jobs life became all consuming to his very being (2:7-8). It destroyed everything he had ever known and everything he ever held dear. But in the midst, the very middle, of this terrible life storm, GOD appeared and showed himself to Job.

The storms may be terrible. We may not understand why things happen to us. We may question what is going on. We may even get mad at GOD. But don’t, don’t ever waver in your faith. Never abandon hope. When the storms come crashing, whether they be literal or figurative and they destroy all that you hold dear, look to the middle of the storm and see that GOD is in the middle of it with you.

God of the Little things too

Ok, I have to start this off with an apology. The following Devotion is from Joseph Prince Ministries. When I first heard of JP was when I was flipping through the channels one night and saw an Asian preaching. This caught my eye because I cannot remember if I have ever seen an Asian preaching on TV. Anyhow... I did not think much of it because of the channel that I saw him on (one of the "prosperty" Christian channels)
Well, a friend of ours, Jennifer, sent this email to me and I was intrigued to read it. BAM! Knock me down, not what I was expecting. This is a great devotion. Truly, God is the GOD of small things too. I should know that by now. I have seen His hand in our lives over the past 17 years in the big things AND the small things. I really liked this devotion...
…THANKS JENNIFER


John 21:9, 12
9Then, as soon as they had come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid on it, and bread… 12Jesus said to them, "Come and eat breakfast."

Like many parents, Wendy and I pray for our daughter Jessica every night before she sleeps. When Jessica was two years old, we decided to pray that her diapers would not overflow during the night. Her diapers not overflowing might be a small thing, but we knew that it would give our little girl a comfortable sleep every night. And after we started praying for this, we noticed that her diapers did not overflow.That incident made me realize that our God is not just interested in the big things that affect us. He bothers and cares about the minor things that affect us too. There is nothing too insignificant for Him. So don't be like some religious people who have this idea that God only wants us to bring the big issues to Him, and that He doesn't want us to bother Him with small issues.Nothing could be further from the truth. God cares about everything that you experience, from the small ulcer in your mouth to your concerns about the world's economy. Even when you tell Him about the inconvenience that might arise if the bus is late, He takes note of that too. In fact, when you come to Him often about anything and everything in your daily life, you compliment Him because you are telling Him that He is your Daddy God who watches over you.Jesus represented the Father's heart and will when He was on earth. (John 5:19) He cared when His disciples were out at sea the whole night, cold and shivering. He cared when they caught nothing that night. (John 21:3) He cared that they would not have fish to sell. So He gave them a huge catch early the next morning. (John 21:5–6) He knew that they were cold and hungry, so He prepared breakfast for them, served over a fire of coals to keep them warm. Jesus showed us that God is our loving heavenly Father who cares about the big and small things that happen every day in our lives. Nothing escapes God's eyes because He loves you!

© Copyright Joseph Prince, 2006. All rights reserved.
www.josephprince.org

Something to make you think.

Who was the first person to look at a cow and say, "I think I'll squeeze these dangly things here and drink what comes out"?

This came from YouthSpecialties.com I laughed when I read it and then thought, "yea, who did think to do that?" and "why would you want to think to do that?"

Exhausted.....

Man, the past couple of days have been ROUGH to say the least. We have this one girls in our home that is.... well, to be honest I am not sure how to describe her. She loses control at a drop of a hat and will throw a temper tantrum over anything. The past two night have been off the scale horrible. No one knows why she has started acting like this. Tomorrow she has a counceling session with the councelor. We think that she may need to go on meds but not sure what until she sees the doctor.

We also think that she has been abused (many ways) by someone at home but there is no real proof yet.

Please pray for us that GOD gives us the strength to be a good example of GOD LOVE for her.

Moving Day Blues

I HATE MOVING!
I hate the whole idea of it. You would think that I was used to it by now. Before Michele and I were married I can only remember moving once before that. I know that my parents moved three/four times when I was really little but I don't remember those. I remember only one move. That was when I was five years old. I grew up in the house that we moved to. I didn't move again for another 16 years, that was when Michele and I moved to Arkansas. Since then, we have moved about 17 times!!! Thats one move a year per marriage!!!! GOOD GRIEF! The really sad thing about that is many of the places we have lived, we lived there for 2+ years. So that means we moved more than twice in some years. Now granted they were all for a reason. I guess I am just really tired of moving.
Well, not anymore (for at least 3 years).

Today is Friday and I am not sure how we are going to get the house finished before the movers get here at 7am tomorrow morning. There are a bunch of boxes in the breakfast room and the kids have boxes packed in there room. There are also boxes packed and left randomly around the house in different rooms.
The good thing about it is that we have the house for another month and we can take our time, on our off days, to get the odds and ends back to the cottage. The movers are only taking the furniture and the boxes that are packed.

Oh well, I guess i need to get back to packing and moving the furniture...

...Oh crap! I still have to mow the yard!!!!

Make a Joyful noise!!!! That means you

Do you know what has really bothered me about the church for the past several years? The apathy (or at least the look thereof) on peoples faces as they sing songs about the love of God and the joy they have in their lives.

On any given Sunday look around the congregation; look at the people as they sing about how happy they are. Is this what you see?

Why are people so "hum-drum" about their relationship with the GOD of the universe? Can they not see that God loves them so much that He was willing to give his most precious son to die for us? Have they forgotten that we do not live for rules and regulations, but we live for a relationship with a personal God who wants us to call him Father? Have they forgotten that he came that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly? (John 10:10)

Let me show you just a few verses of how we should worship:

Psalm 66:1Make a joyful noise unto God, all ye lands:
Psalm 81:1Sing aloud unto God our strength: make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob.

Psalm 95:1O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.

Psalm 95:2Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.

Psalm 98:4Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise.

Psalm 98:6With trumpets (not a very quiet intsrument is it?) and sound of cornet make a joyful noise before the LORD, the King.

Psalm 100:1-2Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.

Do you see a trend here? JOYFUL NOISE. I love it. No where does it say that you have to have a musical degree or trained in music. No where does it say to have a stoic face and to be quiet. No, quite the opposite. Joyful noise to me means to open my mouth and let the other side of the room here my deafening shouts of praise. Joyful noise to me means that I sing like I am in the shower. You know what I mean by that? We sing to our hearts content, we are not worried about who is listening or watching. We just want to sing.

But when we get to church we sit or stand and we follow along in our hymnals or we look up at a wall with and stare at the lyrics going by us. We are not thinking about the words of these songs. We are not thinking about our relationship with the Father. We are not thinking at all sometimes. We are just going through the motions.

STOP IT! Stop going through the motions. THINK. Think about why you are singing. PRAISE. Once you stop going through the motions and stop just giving lip service then you can think about why we sing in church. You can understand that we sing to praise the Creator, the Savior, the Holy Lamb of God. When we can do this, then we can make a joyful noise.

Starting a brand new day

It's coming, it's just around the corner. A new day is about to dawn on the lives of the Browns. Our three week training is over and we are back in Friendswood to start hitting the boxes to pack.

We are so excited to get started on the ministry that God has put before us. We found out that we were getting girls instead of boys, like we had requested. But the really cool thing is that God had started working in both Michele's and my heart and began changing our thoughts. We knew half way into training that God was going to be putting us with a house of girls. Four of the girls we are getting are transfering into our cottage, one is already there. Their ages are 16, 15 (2 of them), 14, 8, 7, 5 (2 of them). The other three will be arriving with in the next few weeks to a month from now. We are not sure as to the dates. When Michele heard that we were getting the two five year olds that just came into the program she started crying. She had fallen in love with these two precious little girls. We are not sure when all of the girls will be in the house but we do know that they should all be in before school starts. We will have several weeks to get to know all of the girls before we send them off to school everyday.

My Deliverer

If you know me, you know that I LOVE MUSIC. I can not get enough of it. I love all types of music. From the classicals (Bach, Mozart) to praise & worship to alternative music (Red, Skillet). One of my main things about music is that it needs depth, it needs a reason to be sung, it needs heart.

One of my ALL TIME FAVORITE SONGS was written by Rich Mullins. If you want to listen to music that will pull on your heart and spirit, listen to Rich. If you need a song that will touch the depths of your soul, listen to Rich Mullins. One of my favorite songs by Rich is called "My Deliverer"

My Deliverer

Joseph took his wife and her child and they went to Africa

To escape the rage of a deadly king

There along the banks of the Nile, Jesus listened to the song

That the captive children used to sing, they were singing...

My Deliverer is coming - My Deliverer is standing by

Through a dry and thirsty land

Water from the Kenyon heights, pours itself out of Lake Sangra's broken heart

There in the Sahara winds, Moses heard the whole world cry

for the healing that would flow from Gods own scars, the world was singing...

My Deliverer is coming - My Deliverer is standing by

He will never break His promise - He has written it upon the sky

My Deliverer is coming - My Deliverer is standing by

My Deliverer is coming - My Deliverer is standing by

I will never doubt His promise though I doubt my heart - I doubt my eyes

My Deliverer is coming - My Deliverer is standing by

My Deliverer is coming - My Deliverer is standing by

He will never break His promise though the stars should break faith with the sky

My Deliverer is coming - My Deliverer is standing by

This song of Rich's vividly shows the desperation of the Jewish slave children who are crying out to GOD to send them the DELIVERER. They are desperate to drink the water of Life. They ache for the healing hands of the Father. They are pleading to hear that the Deliverer has come to free them from their bondage.

Today, we sing the very same song. We sing to be free of our addictions. We sing to be free of our lustful hearts. We sing to be free of our sins.
God is waiting to hear us sing those words so that he may come and free us of our bondage.

Are you comfortable?

Does GOD call us to be comfortable in life? I would argue that he calls us to be just the opposite. To be uncomfortable in this life is what we should feel. So often we look to be comfortable in our job, in our family, in our home, in our things. But what happens to us when we are comfortable? Are we focused on the things we should be focused on? Are we focused on serving GOD? I don't think so. If we are focused on being comfortable in our life, when things happen that unsettle our routine or lifestyle we quickly try to fix it or adjust it so that we can get back to the comfy spot in the recliner or on the couch.

But if we look at someone in the Bible that was comfortable we see that they were not where they were supposed to be. Look at David on top of his house lounging about when he turn and sees Bathsheba.

When we are comfy, we tend not to be focused on GOD.
GOD calls us to be uncomfortable. Who can we see in the Bible that GOD called out of their comfort to do HIS will:
~ Abraham - called to leave the comfort of his fathers house and become the father of a nation
~ Moses - called to leave his home and go back to Egypt to lead the Israelites to the Promised Land
~ Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego and Daniel - refused the comfort of the palace to stay pure before GOD
~ Zacchaeus - called to give away the things he had taken during his tax collecting days
~ The Disciples - called to a new way of living

... and lest we forget.
~ Jesus - came from the comfort of Heaven to a world that he couldn't even find a place to rest his head.

So, does this mean we cann't have the "creature comforts" that we are used to? No, of course not. Many of the people who left their "comforts" still had comforts in their lives.
Because Shadrach, Meshach, Abendnego and Daniel refused the kings comforts, they found themselves as politcal leaders in a foreign land.

Let me direct you in another way to think. We should rest in the comfort of GOD. When we are focused on serving GOD, then we can know we are comfortable in HIS arms. Our comfort should come from knowing that we are serving GOD, not in what we have done or what we have. We can still have the creature comforts and enjoy the things that we have but when these things become our focus or become the driving force in our lives to be more comfortable, then we have become UNcomfortable in our relationship with GOD.

So, take comfort in GOD and not this worlds stuff.

Just another Day

Well, we got back from camping yesterday and I had a few emails about job opps. I sent in my resume to them and I am waiting to hear from them.
I am getting really frustrated with it... the whole process is getting me down. I have never gone this long with out a job. I have ALWAYS been able to walk out of one job and right into another one.
I know that GOD is in control, that HE will take care of us... its just that I am at a loss. I want to work. I want to do something that keeps me busy, even if I am not getting paid to work, at least let me do something that makes me feel that I have contributed to life today
... Anyhow, thats today in a nutshell... just another day.

Gas Prices... OUCH!

Today was a very black day for me... I went to get gas in my truck and I was watching the pennies fly by and the dollars grew higher and higer. Until it happened. My truck, for the first time ever, went over the 50 dollar mark!!! AAAAUUUUGGGHHHH!!!!!
It's never happend before. Oh sure, I have always paid over 50 in Micheles van, but not my little truck. Not only did it go over 50 but it ended up at being over 53 dollars.
What are we going to do? Its going to get so bad that we are going to all have to buy horses just to keep up financially.

... ok, i hope not because horses stink.

Wow, I cannot believe that I have not sent out an update in over a month. I guess to tell you the truth, not a lot has changed. Today was a great day. Today we did not “do” church, we “DID” church. Ecclesia Clear Lake, as well as some other churches in the area did not have services today. Instead we went out to be the church to people that don’t always see the church in action. I took Hannah and Noah with me to help out with others at a mobile home that needed some repairs to minor things around the house. It was an awesome experience to see my kids helping out with fixing things. This is how the church is supposed to be; helping those in need. So often churches get in the rut of making people come in to the office and fill out forms to request service; but instead we should going out and asking them what can I do for you. How else will the world see the love of the Father unless we go and show them His love?


So, what is going on with the Brown’s?
I am still looking for work. In some ways it feels like just last week when I left D.R. Horton. Other times it feels like it’s been forever. The main question I am getting from people is, “What are you looking for?” And I answer with, “Whatever God is going to give me”. I know, it sounds a little contrived, but I am very sincere in that answer. I am seeking out every avenue of job possibilities to see where God is leading. I am looking into every field I have ever worked in and many that I haven’t. One thing that I have been talking to God with lately is whether or not He wants to go back into the ministry. I have several leads that I am looking into (see below for more info on a couple of them).
As I am writing this to you tonight, I am listening to some classic Petra (80’s Christian Rock band) and the song “I Am Available” is playing. How ironic is that? The one thing I want to be, is available to whatever God is calling me to do.

Well a couple of weeks ago, Noah, my dad, my nephew and I went camping up in “Mission Tejas”. It was real treat for just us guys to go and hang out for a couple of days. We rode bikes and went hiking and saw the house that the Rice family (as in Rice University) lived in.
Then the whole family went to the YMCA camp ground north east of Huntsville for Mothers day. We went with my sister family and two other families. We all got to do a lot of stuff from horseback riding to climbing a 60 foot “rock climb”. Of course I made it to the top and waved down at all the little ants. Then on the way down, my spotter did not have a good holed on me and I free fell about 30 feet and banged my back up pretty good. Then we all did something I’ve never done before. I shot a rifle… ok… a .22 caliber rifle. It didn’t even have any kick to it. We each got 10 rounds to shoot at a target. Michele and I both hit the target all 10 times. Michele is a pretty good shot. I have to remember not to make her mad when she’s holding a gun (that’s a joke… come on laugh).
Michele and Johnna went up to Arkansas this week to see family. Michele’s’ youngest brother is graduating from high school this week so she wanted to be there. She is having a great time seeing people that she hasn’t seen since we moved back to Texas 6 years ago.

What’s next for the Browns?
We are about to go on another camping trip this Memorial Day weekend with one of our school co-ops. There should be a lot of people there. After that, I am done camping for a while.
On Monday, May 19, Michele and I will be tele-conferencing with a Family Life Ministries for a position on their team ministering to kids in a kids home. We would love to be on staff with Family Life but it would be a hard road to start. FLM is a great ministry but it is self promoted finances. We would have to get our own backing and support. They do help to get you started but it is up to you to secure your own support. I told our pastor Loren this evening at church that that was not where I was leading but as he said, “Be careful, that might be where God is leading” (thanks Loren… I will be hitting you up if that is where God leads us). Seriously, God is in complete control and if he wants us to “drum” up our own support, He obviously knows where we are going to get the money… He does own the bank.
The other possibility we have is with a children’s home called the Boys & Girls Country. This is another Christian organization that helps kids out by giving them a better place to live. To be honest, I am really stoked about this possibility. I just received the info packet a couple of days ago and it just looks so awesome. We have already spoken with the director and she is excited about us coming up there in two weeks for a 2 day interview. Sort of a meet and greet, let’s see if you like us and we like you kind of thing. If everyone likes everyone, Michele and I would go back up there the following week for a 2 week introduction. Then we would be starting soon after. So, it could move very quickly.

As the school year comes to a close for us this year, we have decided to continue the kids’ studies over the summer. I know, I know, that sounds terrible. But we need to get them caught up in math and the only way to do that is to have them working on math a couple days a week over the summer break.

How you can pray for the Browns
First of all, I want to thank you for all of your prayers. They have been truly felt over the past 8 weeks. I do not know how I, personally, could have made it so far without your prayers. God has blessed us through your prayers and through the blessing that He continues to pour out on our family.
~ Please continue praying that I find a job.
~ Pray that Michele and Johnna come home from Arkansas safely.
~ Pray for our family that God will make us a strong witness to those He puts in our path.
~ Pray for us financially as we need to get some necessities like clothes for the kids.

One last thing
I love being able to take time to share with each of you what is going on in the BROWN FAMILY LIFE. Each one of you is special to us. We want you to know that we pray for each of you on a regular basis. I wish we could spend more time with each and every one of you. I so look forward to the day when we can all sit down together as one big family.
May Gods love be with you as you go through this journey we call life.

My first very own blog... cool.

Well, here it is. My very own blog site.
I hope you like it. I want to put up current info about our family stuff. I will also be putting up other info like personal thoughts, devotions, etc.

Well, enjoy.
I hope you come by often and leave comments.