Connect With Carol Brown: May 2012

Sunday, May 27, 2012

Reluctant Warrior

On this Pentecost weekend I was privileged to see a few glimpses from God's point of view. The one that pulled me up short was that I saw that I have been a reluctant warrior. God told me one time that there are many ways to war; I didn't want to hear it. I didn't care if there were many ways to war, I was not a fighter and didn't want to become one. I wanted to knit sweaters and spin yarns to my grandkids. Maybe bake a batch of cookies before I lose my touch--my oatmeal-raisin are awesome. But this was Pentecost weekend and He decided to "pour out!" He poured out a revelation on me and the experience changed something. I think He gave me a warrior identity. It's kind of like an undergarment that I will wear all the time, sort of like my Camel Hair Shirt--oh, I haven't told you about my Camel Hair Shirt? That will be the next post then.

What I learned/saw/experienced was seeing my pen as a sword. I don't actually use a pen anymore, I use a keyboard, but you understand the metaphor. I think God is expecting me to live my life as I currently do, but with the awareness that I am a word-warrior. I may knit; I may be storytelling or baking cookies but as warrior! Even high sensitivity has become a part of the warrior arsenal; it is like a motion detector that goes off when the enemy makes a move on one of the family of God within my sphere. It calls me to prayer on their behalf. It is like my "iron dome" that they use in Israel to warn of incoming rocket fire. It alerts me to intercessions in regard to things that weigh heavy upon the heart of God. There are times God's heart aches to move on our behalf but He waits for someone to invite Him to do that very thing that is on His heart to do.

One thing that is heavy upon God's heart is that people are becoming needless casualties of war because they lack knowledge and/or vision (Proverbs 29:18). "Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he" (KJV). Or, "Where there is no revelation, people cast off restraint; but blessed is the one who heeds wisdom’s instruction" (NIV). Or, "If people can't see what God is doing, they stumble all over themselves; But when they attend to what he reveals, they are most blessed" (The Message). God wants to act--to give the revelation and the instruction, to create the vision! It weighs heavy on His heart.

Years ago the Lord made His calling to me clear: I was to "make it plain." He carefully planned and orchestrated my life to train my mind and to give me the eye/hand/spirit coordination to make things plain. Several times I thought I knew what He had in mind for me: first I thought it was Wycliffe Translation, then teaching, administration, ministry or a combination of all of that. All those years as "the language nut" were about acquiring the skills to make difficult things easily understood. Each one of those periods was a vital part of, but only a temporary assignment in, God's overall plan. Each assignment gave me a skill set and experience that I would need to write down the words I hear Him speak. I don't know yet what the next words are that He will have me write, but I sense that there is a mystery that He will make plain; something hidden He will bring into the light, a conundrum to make simple and easy to understand.

In a private little ceremony in my living room this weekend I received my flaming pen...it's a transformer pen! It. Is. Awesome! The Holy Spirit's presence can transform it into a sword (insert snapping fingers) just like that! I never know when it is going to happen either. I need to go exercise now to be physically fit in case it suddently turns into a sword and I have some swashbuckle fencing to do! In Highly Sensitive I warned readers that Jesus is a safe driver, but He doesn't slow down on the learning curve. I strongly urged them to buckle up! I think now I need to say, "Oooon Guard!"

So what happened on your Pentecost?

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Overwhelmed

It seems I have hit that spot again, folks. When my husband's schedule hits overdrive I can't seem to keep balance. I know that there is spiritual overlap of his spirit and mine and when his ministry stress reaches a certain level it flows into me and I short circuit. When it comes to me so fast I can't pass it on to Jesus I lose my ability to handle my own affairs such as keeping up with blogging, email, marketing group, writing and housework. It is difficult to sort out what is too much of the above and what is too much because of being distracted by hubbie's ministry! It is something like throwing a circuit breaker. When you are wired for 110 and are hit with a 220 surge, the breaker blows to protect the equipment.

Well, I think we have been hit by a 220+ surge...and there are papers all over the floor!

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

High sensitivity--and the underground railroad?

What does a book about the underground railroad have to do with high sensitivity? Well, let's just say that many people would not have lived to tell about their harowing experiences if they were not highly sensitive! TODAY ONLY--DON’T MISS this great opportunity to read The Map Quilt eBook-- Death in rural Wisconsin is only the beginning to new chaos in Robertsville. —by author Lisa Lickel …get it at Amazon.com today and receive FREE E-GIFTS, including a CLOTH SCENTED BOOKMARK or EREADER SLEEVE, and LOTS OF FREEBIES offer good TODAY TUESDAY ONLY! http://bit.ly/IVSvQX

The Map Quilt

Lisa Lickel

Just how high a price does a family secret command?

Death in rural Wisconsin is only the beginning to new chaos in Robertsville. What do a stolen piece of revolutionary agricultural equipment, a long-buried skeleton in the yard, and an old quilt with secrets have in common?

Hart and Judy Wingate, who met in The Gold Standard, are back to solve the mystery of The Map Quilt. Hart's new battery design could forever change the farm implement industry. But after the death of Hart's most confrontational colleague in a fire that destroys Hart's workshop, the battery is missing.

Throw in a guest speaker invited to Judy's elementary classroom who insists she owns the land under Hart's chief competitor's corporate headquarters, and a police chief who's making eyes at Hart's widowed mother, it's no wonder Hart is under a ton of pressure to make sure his adventurous pregnant wife stays safe while trying to preserve his company and his reputation.

Amazon Link

FREE GIFTS if you buy TODAY!

Map Quilt by Lisa Lickel

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING!

Lisa J. Lickel weaves mystery, myths, black history, and the dynamics of family and community into a great read. The thread in the story is the legend of map quilts used in the Underground Railroad to help slaves, and freedmen alike, escape their pursuers using fabric maps designed as quilts. By adding corporate intrigue and spiritual questioning to the mix, Lickel blends the fabric of daily life with pieces of history for a wonderful reading adventure. -Peggy Bennitt

What could more intriguing than a contemporary mystery/romance about buried treasure that's also filled with history? The Map Quilt by Lisa J. Lickel is a fun and satisfying read for the grownups that still long for an involving mystery that provides plenty of detail without overemphasizing the grittier aspects of a story involving bodies. -Elaine Marie Cooper, author of the Deer Run books.

Lisa Lickel's The Map Quilt snags the reader with the first sentence and doesn't let go until the last thread. As the sequel to her original Barbour cozy mystery, The Gold Standard, the tale continues with the lives of Hart and Judy Wingate. It seems that anticipation over the birth of their first child and the release of Hart's latest "green" project for his employer, AdventiveAg, would be enough to keep the young Wisconsin couple busy. But so much more is going on. -Davalynn Spencer, author of Always Before Me

Lickel successfully weaves together history, mystery and likeable characters into a story that builds momentum and keeps me guessing until the very end. And she does it all without the gratuitous sex and violence that permeates this genre. Beyond providing a great read, this book introduced me to a great author. -Steve Miller, author of Social Media Frenzy

Multi-published author, novelist Lisa J. Lickel also enjoys writing and performing radio theater, short story-writing, is an avid book reviewer and blogger.

She enjoys teaching writing workshops and working with new writers and freelance editing. She is the editor of both Wisconsin Writers Association's Creative Wisconsin magazine.

She lives in a hundred and sixty-year-old house in Wisconsin filled with books and dragons. Married to a high school biology teacher, she enjoys travel and quilting. www.LisaLickel.com

Thursday, May 17, 2012

God Thoughts--Resisting Evil

My apologies for the sudden absence! The blog hop meant a huge energy outlay for me so when it finished, I sort went comatose for a few days. (smile) I still have a bit of a bloggy hangover!

For those who have recently joined this blog, I would like to reiterate the rationale for the current theme of "God Thoughts." As the turn of the year rolled around all thoughts turned to new year resolutions. I felt my old familiar camel "humph" arising so I took it to Jesus. I didn't want to make a resolution and two weeks later have forgotten about it. What we decided was to not have a resolution, but rather a focus for the year. Hopefully I can keep my focus. I want to learn to think God's thoughts...how does one do that? Paul urges us to "learn (or find out) what pleases God" (Eph. 5:10). So, it must be possible, but how does one do that?

Several days elapsed and then, I didn't hear an audible voice, but a profound "knowing" was dropped into my spirit: "Read the red print!" Oh, duh! Jesus only said what He heard the Father say...so of course, the red print in my Bible connoting that Jesus spoke these words...they would be God's thoughts! If I want to learn to think God thoughts all I need to do is read the red print. What could be more obvious--hiding in plain sight. Then shortly I received an email that challenged me to "Memorize the Mount," the Sermon on The Mount. I have been, and that is the grist for the "God Thoughts."

My Theory: This is a year of politics and in Jesus time the air was electric with politics. I suspect that the things Jesus said will lead us to an understanding of His Kingdom "platform," and it will look radically different from today's political platforms! I am alluding here to the scripture that says, "the govenment will be upon His shoulders," Isaiah 9:6.

Today's God Thought: Matthew 5:38-39 "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also."

That is radical. I don't take kindly to being slapped around so I went to Jesus with more scripture. What about this? "Resist the devil and he will flee" James 4:7. What do we have going here? This will take some pondering...

I think this is one of those times that requires the two edged sword of the Spirit to divide between bone and marrow! I puzzled and pondered and then the Holy Spirit dropped it in my mind...thank you Holy Spirit! What dawned on me is that in Matthew, I think "the one who is evil" means the person who is doing an evil thing...don't engage that person in a smack down. The one we are to resist is the one behind him who is taking advantage of the person's weakness, wound or vulnerability and is pushing him to do an evil thing--i.e. the devil. He is the one we are to resist, not the person. We are not to engage with the symptom, we are to spend our energy resisting the cause of the symptom. The pain that is in our face, sometimes literally, can distract us from the real cause and we end up spending our energies fighting people when we should be fighting principalities and powers in high places. The person doing an evil thing is also a victim of the devil whether or not he is aware of it. So in Jesus Kingdom, He will deal the very cause of evil so that the symptom (the evil that slaps us in the face) is no longer be present! Love it!

I often wondered where people got the idea of "love the sinner but not the sin"--maybe this is it--along with "love your enemies and do good to those who persecute you," Matthew 5:44. If you know of other scriptures that support the idea of loving the sinner but not the sin I would be interested in what they are.

Blessings, Carol

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

WINNER ANNOUNCEMENT!! The winner of the John 3:16 Blog Hop drawing on this blog is:

Amanda Stephens!!!

I thank you all for entering the drawing. Those of you who did not win I am hoping that you are intrigued enough to consider shopping on Amazon or locally for the set of books you were hoping for!

Today I am interviewing myself about the John 3:16 blog hop:

"In retrospect, how did the blog hop go?" At the end of the first day I felt like I had been standing in front of a couple of those huge 5 foot tall stereo speakers and both were emitting intense subsonic frequencies all day! Every part of my being was vibrating! I have learned not to take seriously the proclamations I make during such times because they are expressions of the intensity rather than the direction I will take. I rarely if ever follow through with such emphatic statements.

"What was I saying?" Mostly, "I will NEVER do another blog hop, EVER!"

"Why do I think I was feeling that way?" I had never done a blog hop before so I had no idea what was involved. I assumed I should check in on every single blog each day. Now, that was not stated as being manditory, it was just what I assumed. One of the dangers of being highly sensitive is that you are easily overstimulated. By the time I got to blog 35 or so, every nerve in my body was on fire and jangling; my eyes glazed over and I was mumbling incoherently! My poor husband had to get his own supper. When I could finally talk straight the first thing I said was, "I'll never do that again!" But folks, that was the first day!! There were six more to go and I was already fried!

Responsibility kicked in--I had made a committment and I was going to keep it. So on the second day I started at the bottom of the list and worked my way up. Some wise lady on day two made the observation that there was no way under the sun that a person could get through all 55 blogs in one day. She divided the week up and allotted 12 or so blogs per day and workrd her way through the whole list in the week, visiting each blog once. Brilliant!

Another reason I think I was jangled is that I am very highly sensitive to light and color and of course, one cannot control that on someone else's blog! Some blogs were soft on my eyes and others not so much. Hmmm, why didn't I think to have my sunglasses handy? Other blogs were information dense and would take you from level to level. They were more like a maze or labrynth; when all systems are on overload already, little energy is left for comprehension! However, I did come away with some wonderful ideas for developing my own blog and some important marketing information that will be helpful in the long run. I say "long run" because it takes me longer than most to implement anything remotely associated with technology!

"What impressed me the most about the blogs I visited?" The creativity! My goodness, the Lord has blessed us with marvelous multifaceted, varigated gifts. And secondly, I am impressed with the love this group has for the Lord and their willingness to work to get out to the world the words that God has given them to share whether it fills their pockets or not! For many of us writing is a ministry, the calling of the Lord!

"What have I learned about blog hops?"

To pace myself. I will prayerfully decide the number of blog hops I will participate in for a year
To pace myself within a hop; i.e. be up front with how many blogs I will visit in a day
When I find myself being overstimulated to leave a blessing and move away
A blog hop is a good place to find good books. I found a big stack of good books to read--a really big stack
I believe that blog hopping is to be a butterfly activity--alight upon a blog, sip and flutter off to the next. It is not a prairie dog activity--I need not burrow down and ferret out every bit of information from every page of the blog
But statistically speaking, this blog had 7 followers before the blog and there are 25 now. That is a measure of success. I have no idea how book sales will be affected. That is entirely in the hands of the Lord.

So thank you readers for stopping in and following. I take seriously the Lord's calling to share His words with you. Now I will continue with the "God Thoughts" until some life happens and I will blog on that from my perspective. The Lord has been very clear that my assignment is to stay one step behind Jesus so that I am close enough to hear what He says and write it down. And so I shall.

Monday, May 14, 2012

Highly Sensitive

Welcome Blog Hoppers!

Today is our last day : ( Thank you all for stopping by and leaving your comments and signing up for the Blog Hop Giveaway draw and my thanks to those who are "following"...it has been fun and such a blessing to meet so many wonderful people and discover what others are writing about, how God is moving.

As I promised, here is my second book on the subject of how highly sensitive people experience life. If you find it a struggle to manage, you may find some guidelines that will help you rein life in to where you can manage it! Take a look.

Self-help books, codependency teachings and recovery groups tell you that you are responsible for your own feelings. That no one else can "make" you feel a certain way, rather, it is a fault of your own thinking patterns. It is good and important to learn to take responsibility, but what if you have done everything you can to be responsible for "your own stuff,” and still feel deep uncontrollable feelings? What more can you do? Welcome to the ongoing quest to make sense of life—to find meaning among the odd and confusing thoughts and emotions that seem to come from “nowhere!”

Highly sensitive people—burden bearers—can easily become overwhelmed by the continual flow of sensory data. Your DNA drives you to "help," but it seems like everyone else’s agenda is worked on but never yours. You try to finish a task but are continually interrupted because their problem needs attention now! How do you stop people and life from overwhelming you? This book was written to help you rein life in so that it becomes more manageable.

· I talk about how to sort through the confusing jumble of “stuff”

· to figure out what is your own feeling, your own sore growth spot, from all that continually bombards you, and

· what is a burden God wants you to carry to the cross! Learning how to discern these differences is a huge learning and essential if you are to thrive as a highly sensitive Christian, rather than just survive.

If the enemy has you by both ears it is difficult to hear God!
Learning to bring intuitive responses to consciousness will be a process
Jesus is the master burden bearer—you and I are apprentices.

Burden bearing is learning to understand God’s language. You are learning a language, a spiritual language—and language learning takes time. Learning, means that you will not do it right the first time or all the time! And that is okay! The world will not stop spinning, and those you love will not self destruct if you “do not do it right” or miss it altogether.You will find help with that in this book.

If you have spent your life being the family’s emotional dumping ground or steam vent, told that you are too sensitive and you better toughen up, called crazy, a basket case, etc…if you have been mocked, dismissed minimized or rejected, after a while you begin to believe what others say, and agree. You begin to see yourself the way others describe you. Your reaction is “to not want to be this way” and to shut off the incoming emotion—if only you could! How you see and feel about yourself has a great deal to do with how you come to God and what you believe He can and will do because you ask Him to! If you are to thrive rather than just survive as a highly sensitive burden bearer you need to build or repair some inner structures. This book will help you do that.

Highly Sensitive, Learning to Live With The Gift focuses on the spiritual habits and disciplines you can develop to cooperate with God's plan for you. Many things God does for us, but we can learn, mature and developing spiritually--that is our part.

Seeing life from the perspective that it is a time of preparation was a comfort to me. Like Queen Esther, you will be presented to The King one day. This life is about learning how to walk, talk, live and love like royalty. And, if you are highly sensitive, burden bearing may be the spiritual workout regimen that molds and sculpts you into a striking resemblance of Jesus. My prayer is that in reading this book you will understand yourself better, that it will help you be kinder to yourself, and provide you with specific and practical things you can do as you cooperate with God to heal and restructure your inner being! Some chapters lend themselves to more in-depth meditation and personal work with the Lord. For those chapters, I designed worksheets which you may download free from my website: www.fromgodsheart.com (Click Downloadables tab.)

I was 40 before I learned about burden bearing. What a relief that was! Life does not have to be burdensome. You do not have to endure life as a joyless existence, to hang on until eventually God calls you home! Be encouraged—there is hope and meaning. Jesus will take you at your word when you ask Him to be in charge of your sensitivity. That puts Him in the driver’s seat, so buckle your seat belts! He doesn’t slow down on the learning curve—and it is a doozie! Hang on and enjoy the ride!

Highly Sensitive is available on Amazon, from Destiny Image Publishers, and my website (www.fromgodsheart.com) if you would like an autographed copy!

Blessings, Carol

P.S. Be sure to sign up for the drawing! Today is the last opportunity. Tomorrow I will find out who wins the prize of a set of books! And if you have comments do leave them and I will respond ASAP!

Blog Hop Participants:

1. Lorilyn Roberts (John 3:16 Network Blog) –http://john316mn.blogspot.com/

2. Lynn Dove – Word Salt (Host blog) - http://wordsalt.wordpress.com/

3. Laura J. Davis - http://interviewsandreviews.blogspot.com/

4. Paulette Harper - http://www.pauletteharperjohnson.blogspot.com/

5. Carol A. Brown - http://connectwithcarolbrown.blogspot.com/

6. April Gardner - http://www.aprilwgardner.com/

7. Sue Russell – http://www.suerussellsblog.blogspot.com/

8. Thomas Blubaugh - http://tomblubaugh.net/

9. Susan F. Craft – http://historicalfictionalightintime.blogspot.com/

10. Heather Bixler – http://heatherbixler.com/

11. Joy Hannabass – http://splashesofjoy.wordpress.com/