Deb Brown

finding freedom in the next brave step

Let’s Celebrate!

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Hi friends! Today is my birthday and I want to celebrate with YOU! No, I’m not a large gathering, the more the merrier kind of celebration girl. The introvert in me loves celebrating my day with several scheduled lunches decorating my calendar over the entire month. Doesn’t that sound delightful?

How I want to celebrate with you is to giveaway a gift of a few of my favorite things. I know gift giving isn’t one of the five love languages, but it truly is one of mine. Gifting makes me oh so happy!

This year my birthday celebration gift will include…


My favorite tea, my favorite chocolate, one of my favorite books, one of my favorite journals, and my favorite pen

Just comment below what YOU like to do on your birthday. I’ll pick a winner and I hope it’s you. 😊

I’d love for you to join me on my Facebook ministry page. On Monday mornings I do a Facebook live called #mondaymoments. It’s a short devotional to help focus our week on Jesus. God is growing a sweet community of women there. Will you join us? The great think about Facebook live is that you can watch the replay whenever is convenient for you. I hope to see you there! Here’s the link!

Blessings to you!

Holiday Thoughts and a Brave Girl Gift

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Hi friends! As I write, it’s Tuesday night. The packing and to do lists have more checked off items than they did this morning and that makes my heart so happy. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I love that presents aren’t involved. I love that the focus is on people. And food. And football. It’s a perfect combination for me.

On this week’s #mondaymoment I talked about the sacrifice of thanksgiving. There are some tender truths in Psalm 50.

 

I’m still pondering those verses. I would love to know your favorite Thanksgiving tradition or food or that person you are most thankful for. Please know that I’m thankful for you! 😊

Those were my holiday thoughts. Now it’s time for the brave girl gift.

My love language is gift giving. I know it’s not an “official” love language, but it’s mine. So can you imagine what I’m like when planning for Christmas? Yep. I need to exercise MUCH self -control.

I was never one to get up in the middle of the night and go shopping on Black Friday. That is way too overwhelming for this introvert girl. But I do love to grab a deal online when I can find one. I think I have a fun Christmas gift giving idea for you.

Today through Monday night at 11:00 pm (CST), when you buy Brave as a Girl Can Be on Amazon, you’ll receive a brave necklace for free – from me to you. It’s a beautiful necklace made by my daughter and me for my speaking events. I love seeing pictures of women wearing their brave. I’d love to see you wearing one too.

After you order Brave as a Girl Can Be, just send me an email at deb@debbrown.org. Write book in the subject line and include the order number along with your name and address in the email. I hope Brave as a Girl Can Be encourages you to take some brave steps as you head into the new year.

 

 

Are you ready for a brave girl challenge?

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Hi friends! You may start to notice a few changes around my website home. I hope the updates will provide you with more resources and, of course, encouragement to take that next brave step with Jesus.

And speaking of next brave steps, I hope you will join me on a 7 Day Brave Girl Challenge. Just fill out the sign up form on this page or click here and the 7 Day Brave Girl Challenge will arrive in your email starting today. Each day will include a short teaching video, some Truth to focus on, and a challenge – if you choose to accept it – to take one small step to do some brave girl living. We’ll dive into ways to love bravely, live bravely, serve bravely, and pray bravely. I’m so excited to be on this brave girl journey with you. Will you join me? Bring a friend or two. Let’s be brave girls together!

 

She Calls Me Aunty {my Compassion story}

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Today is a very special day. Today is sweet Sangeetha’s birthday. Isn’t she beautiful?

My family and I sponsor a few kiddos, but this girl owns a tender piece of my heart. When faithWalk Ministries began, I asked God to fill my speaking schedule so that I would be able to sponsor children. It’s my heart. And a few years ago, it happened. Sangeetha is the first of what I hope to be many children loved on through the ministry work God has called me to do.

Why Sangeetha? We share a birthday. That’s really fun. And today she is 13 – a teenager! Sangeetha is from India and she had been waiting over 350 days for a sponsor. She lives in an area where the risk is high for exploitation and abuse. I fell in love with her the moment I saw her.

Sangeetha knows/is learning English. When I compare the first letter with the last one received, it’s amazing the progress. She is one smart girl. We share about the everyday moments. We pray for one another. We help each other memorize God’s Word. And she calls me Aunty.

 

Last Spring we were told by Compassion that the Indian Government had stopped allowing our sponsorship funds into their country. Within the next month Compassion will likely be forced to shut down the sponsorship program in India. They have done all that is humanly possible to work with government officials. We continue to pray for a miracle. Will you please pray with us?

My heart aches for the more than 145,000 children impacted by this decision. And, selfishly, for my sweet Sangeetha, my heart breaks.

Compassion needs my help and your help in releasing children from poverty in Jesus’ name. I’m going to be bold here on my birthday and Sangeetha’s birthday and ask you to please consider standing with me to be an advocate for children in extreme poverty all over the world. Who can you be an Aunty for?

The process is simple. A visit to the Compassion website walks you through step by step. My friend, Cindy Bultema, is an Ambassador for Compassion, her sponsorship page is here. For $38 a month, you can change a child’s life forever – and your own.

If you choose to sponsor a child, would you please let me know? I would love to send you a gift as my way of saying thank you. I’m looking forward to standing together to love and care for these amazing kids.

Happy Birthday my dear sweet Sangeetha! Your Aunty loves you so very much!!

 

Friday Finds

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FRIDAYWelcome! Thank you for visiting. Today begins – what I hope to be – a fun series I call Friday Finds. Often when I’m meeting with women, I get asked what I’ve been reading, seeing, and discovering. I hope to share some of those finds here. Please let me know what you think! Let’s get started.

My friend, Jenn Hand, is hosting an online conference next Friday night and Saturday morning. Jenn is author, speaker, and founder of Coming Alive Ministries. It was so fun having her visit Minnesota last fall to be a part of the Living Bravely Conference. The women loved her! Here’s Jenn’s invitation…

Friends, do you ever get a case of the winter blahs? Feel like your heart needs an awakening? I am so excited to announce that we are doing an online Bloom Conference. You can attend from anywhere – in your pj’s at home, at your favorite coffee shop, or with a group of your friends in the living room. If you cannot join us live, you can still register and watch the replay. The cost is only $10.00 for a four-session two-day event. I promise you will come alive. All ticket proceeds benefit Coming Alive Ministries.

I love that if you can’t join in live, the replay will be available to you whenever it works for you. I’ve registered. I hope you’ll join me. Click here to register.

Last week I wrote about my word for 2017…believe. You can read about it here. But beyond my words, the comments from dear women who shared their word and why they chose it are genuine and heart-felt. Definitely worth your time.

In that post I shared about my favorite journal that I’ve been using in my times with God for the past year. It’s from Life Lived Beautifully. Check out them out here. My favorite is the “Give Me Jesus” journal. It’s a 40-day or 90-day quiet time journal. This journal helps guide my time through the study of Scripture and prayer and allows space to journal my thoughts.

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We can choose our word or phrase for 2017, but this week Holley Gerth challenged us to think about the words we won’t be choosing. Holley writes, “‘Should’ in my life is a shamer and a trickster, a liar and taskmaster. I have decided that for this year I will not speak its name. Instead I will choose love. I will choose gratitude. I will choose contentment.” I encourage you to visit Holley’s blog here.

I’d love to hear about a word(s) you’re not choosing. Mine? Not enough. More about that later..