Bunk Beds Have Arrived!

Out with the old, in with the NEW. Gone is the Fire Truck Bed and we are on to new adventures. If you look at the picture..... what is missing besides Matthews shirt :) ?? The ladder. The ladder was left off of delivery~!!!!! What? That's the BEST part for these two Fireman.

Our ceiling fan is VERY NEAR by; so the "bunk bed" style is on a trail basis. So far they have been doing well. In the event it's needed, we can seperate them into two twins.

Mark & Matthew are VERY excited about their bunk beds.

THANKSGIVING Menu!

Thanksgiving....I couldn't decide on which picture to use - so I posted both :) ! Thanksgiving is such a wonderful time of year. I love Holidays and I love Thanksgiving. One year when my husband (MarkBrown.TV or twitter.com/pastormarkbrown) and I were first married we sat around the dinner table at my in-laws. My Father in Law said, okay we will start here (pointing to a seat/person) and we'll go round-table on what we are thankful for. This was the "norm" for them. I thought this was a brilliant idea! We do this now.

I am already preparing my list for what I am thankful for. I think I will schedule it to post the day of Thanksgiving.

As for the Browns' Thanksgiving Menu - THIS is what we have on the list:

Turkey (a BIG one so we have left overs)

Pasta Salad (Gracie Style - my mom)

Mashed Potatoes

Rice

Beans

Stuffing

Corn

Rolls

Mud Pie

Cherry Pie

Homemade Cookies (Jill style - my mother in law)

Whatever else @pastormarkbrown decides he wants

and I think that's about it. Every family is different but this is what we like. My mom makes a killer macaroni salad anyone in the family has yet to master. My sister Vanessa makes AWESOME bannana pudding and my sister in law Angela makes HOMEMADE PIES.

WAKE UP WITH THE PASTORS - MARK & VERONICA BROWN

TODAY was our 1st day on-air @ Power FM. We have moved from our "web-based" show to a "live radio program" you are going to LOVE IT!

We had general introductions today & look forward to what God is up to here in the Central Texas area.

Power FM is 106.7 in the Austin & The Metroplex. You can tune in if you are in the Killeen/Ft.Hood area on 100.9 and in the Bastrop/Smithville area on 102.7.

Our show is called "Wake Up With The Pastors - Mark & Veronica Brown" You can tune in live from 7am - 9am Monday - Friday.

Negative People...........

Negative people SUCK the life out of you. They SUCK the life out of the room they are in. They SUCK the joy, the calmness, the peace, the serinity etc..... out. They tend to bring and stir up drama. They put negative thoughts in your head by their mouth, their words, their unspoken body language; they are products of hurt, pain, injury, lack of healing and self control.

Do you have negative people in your life? If you do - WHY? Do you feel you can't get out from around them? Do it one step at a time? Not answering "that" call. Not being available. Not ALLOWING the closeness. Not allowing them into your life and inner circle.

You should guard your time AND your loved ones.

Are you being rude? no

Are you being ungodly? no

Get out from the negative people around you - before YOU become negative too!

The Cost, The Story

People see "the glory" but they don't know "the story".

People see "end results" but they don't know "the cost" or "the means" it took to get there.

If today you are "in the middle of your story" or "working in/on your means" I want to encourage you that YOU ARE GOING TO MAKE IT!

IT will be worth it in the end!

Maybe you have reached your end result which was really a temporary end result and you are in the process of "dreaming again". Keep your head up. Yes the road can be lonely at the top, but it's worth it because He's with us!

Halloween

Clutchtalk.blogspot.com

The question was presented, “Do you let your kids “celebrate” or dress up for Halloween? If yes, does this raise eyebrows with church members or if you do not; how do you handle it with your children, etc..”?

Halloween. Say that word in church and ears perk up; it’s rather funny. While we might not all agree on each ones perspectives; we can agree that it’s a controversial topic in the church world.

With the accessibility of modern research, I will leave the opportunity to google and search for the history, origins, post-modern and modern fact, myths, info etc… to you and your free time for article length sake.

I will share with you what we do and why and you share with us what you do and why! How about that!

In the Brown Household, we have chosen to NOT celebrate Halloween in the traditional manner of “dress up” and “trick or treating”. We have done one of the following things over the last three years:

· Hallelujah Night – equivalent to a fall festival
· Handing out candy (inside plastic 3”x4” jewelry bags) with shipping sized labels inviting people to our church. (label says: You're Invited & give church name, website, slogan)
· Decorating for Christmas (yes this is true) (haha)

Truth be told, my children are young; 3 & 5. They truthfully dress up EVERYDAY. As dramatic play is a big deal for them right now, on any given day, you can find Spiderman, The Hulk, A Police Officer or Fireman in my home at any given time. To them Halloween is just another day. They are actually into Buzzlight Year and Woody this year; so I’m sure those costumes will be purchased soon. They have no idea the purpose and history behind halloween and why all these cool costumes are now only seasonally available. With our ministerial experience in dealing with witchcraft and demonic STUFF…., we opt to not celebrate in the traditional manner.

As for our church members, ministry friends, pastor friends, etc…. the bible teaches us to work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. There are essentials and non-essentials in our variation in beliefs, interpretation of scripture, what we teach and live as an example to our flocks. As for raised eyebrows from church members, “raise on” because if I let them dress up and trick or treat, there will be talk. If I do not, there will be talk. I have grown to the point that their approval or disapproval means nothing to me. If my ways please the Lord, I am at peace with that – as that is my ultimate goal. To please my father, be accountable to HIM for my children’s upbringing, instilment of values etc..

What do you do? How do you explain it to your kiddos?

ROOTS

What kind of roots do you have (under the surface) ?

What "front" do you put on around others ?

What do you try to cover up?

We all have roots in our lives. When they are not delt with, they begin to manifest "above ground".

They manifest in the way we communicate with our husbands, our children, employees, friends, family etc.... (communicate - meaning verbal and non verbal)

At our last womens meeting we spoke on "roots" and removing "roots". Roots of hurt, pain, disappointment, failure and defeat.

I encourage you today to let go of unforgivness, not understanding why "that" happened. Move forward with what God has gifted you with today and right now.

If you are in a position where you feel you have NOTHING - I want to encourage you to know that if you have Jesus living in you. YOU CAN START ALL OVER AGAIN!