Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day to remember those who have died in our nation's service. After the Civil war many people in the North and South decorated graves of fallen soldiers with flowers.

In the Spring of 1866, Henry C. Welles, a druggist in the village of Waterloo, NY, suggested that the patriots who had died in the Civil War should be honored by decorating their graves. General John B. Murray, Seneca County Clerk, embraced the idea and a committee was formed to plan a day devoted to honoring the dead. Townspeople made wreaths, crosses and bouquets for each veteran's grave. The village was decorated with flags at half mast. On May 5 of that year, a processional was held to the town's cemeteries, led by veterans. The town observed this day of remembrance on May 5 of the following year as well.

Decoration Day was officially proclaimed on May 5, 1868 by General John Logan in his General Order No. 11, and was first observed officially on May 30, 1868. The South did not observe Decoration Day, preferring to honor their dead on separate days until after World War I. In 1882, the name was changed to Memorial Day, and soldiers who had died in other wars were also honored.

In 1971, Memorial Day was declared a national holiday to be held on the last Monday in May.

Today, Memorial Day marks the unofficial beginning of the summer season in the United States. It is still a time to remember those who have passed on, whether in war or otherwise. It also is a time for families to get together for picnics, ball games, and other early summer activities.

Please join us on this Memorial Day in lifting up in prayer:

• Those Americans in Iraq—both military personnel and civilians.
• Those families who have lost loved ones during this war on terror.
• The interim Iraqi government.
• Those military personnel serving all over the world.
• Those Military personnel that have died serving our country.
  

In addition, we'd like Christians to remember our leaders, those making the decisions that will impact all our lives. Would you pray specifically

• That they be God fearing and recognize that they are accountable to Him for each decision and act (Proverbs 9:10).
• That they be granted wisdom, knowledge and understanding (James 1:5).
• That they be given godly counsel and God-fearing advisors (Proverbs 24:6).
• That they desire honesty, integrity and loyalty (Psalm 26; Proverbs 11:3).
• That they have courage to resist manipulation, pressure and the fear of man (Proverbs 29:25; 2 Timothy 1:7).

On the news there was a story about an man whose house had been newly painted. Within days someone had spray-painted graffiti all over it. Who would have done something like this in his neighborhood, he wondered? He was angry and rightly so. At first he thought it was racially motivated. Someone did not like him living in their neighborhood. He asked around hoping to find out who had spoiled his house. He found that the graffiti was painted by an eleven-year-old boy. It was nothing more than a childhood prank. What would you do if you discovered your newly-painted house covered with graffiti? Suppose the culprit was an eleven-year-old boy? Would the police be called? Would you at least want to talk to the boy's parents? Would there be a lawsuit--after all somebody would have to pay for the damage? What would you do in that situation?

The man who was wronged could have made a big issue out of it. Instead, he decided to get to know the boy better. He was unsure of what would happen but he was willing to try. Thus a black man and a young white boy soon became friends. Instead of taking the boy and his parents to court, he decided to teach the boy about computers. The news showed the young boy sitting at the computer in the man's house he had earlier spray-painted. The reporter asked him about the graffiti. The boy told the reporter that he was sorry for what he had done. He did not know why he had done it. "Mr. Stephens and I are friends now," he told the reporter. "He has taught me computers."

That's somewhat of a surprise ending, isn't it? You might have expected to see the young boy scrubbing the graffiti off the man's house or giving the house a new coat of paint. You might have expected his parents to ground him for a month for his offense. But you would have never expected to see him in the man's den working on his computer.

Psychologists have pointed out that the human brain thinks as many as 50,000 thoughts a day. Up to 5000 thoughts an hour. Most of these thoughts are negative. Thoughts like "I can't do this. That'll never work. I can't lose weight. It's too hard. My life is a mess. My kids hate me. No one loves me. I'm just not good at that."

No wonder many of our personal dreams are killed before they even start. What we really need to do is to catch ourselves in this thought process and convert the negative thoughts to positive ones. I can't help but to think of what could happen if we would do this

Things that will fill your mind with good thoughts and help see your dreams come reality.

This list as been given the title the ABC's of success


Avoid negative sources, people, places, things and habits.
Believe in yourself
Consider things from every angle
Don't give up and don't give in
Enjoy life today, yesterday is gone
Family and friends are hidden treasures, seek them out and enjoy their riches
Give more than you planned to
Hang on to your dreams
Ignore those who try to discourage you
Just do it
Keep doing no matter how hard it seems, it will get easier
Love yourself first and most
Make it happen
Never lie, cheat or steal, always strike a fair deal
Open your eyes and see things as they really are
Practice makes perfect
Quitters never win and winners never quit
Read, study and learn about everything important in your life
Stop procrastinating
Take control of your own destiny
Understand yourself in order to better understand others
Visualize it
Want it more than anything
Xcellerate your efforts
You are unique of all God's creations, nothing can replace you
Zero in on your target and go for it!

For more inspiring thoughts go visit http://www.wowzone.com

Many of you know that our church lives out of a box, well really there is 5 boxes, you see, we are one of those churches that rent a school for our main service. Every Sunday brings us a new adventure and this last Sunday was of no exception. Just before the final stretch of my sermon, mid sentence (and it was a good one) the fire alarm went off. It seems like one of our 3 year olds, just for fun, wanted to see what that red box on the side of the wall would do if he would pull down the handle. Well, he learned and so did the rest of the church. When you pull down the arm, everyone jumps into action. The nursery workers, the other students meeting in different parts of the building, the janitors, and the fire department down the street, the adults, and the pastor . . .everyone was moving.

But alarms do not have to always be attached to a dangerous think like a fire. Thinking back of the history of Israel, After the exit from Egypt, alarms were used because of the largeness of the group.

Look at what is recorded in Numbers Chapter 10

Numbers 10:1-9

AND THE Lord said to Moses, Make two trumpets of silver; of hammered or turned work you shall make them, that you may use them to call the congregation and for breaking camp. When they both are blown, all the congregation shall assemble before you at the door of the Tent of Meeting. And if one blast on a single trumpet is blown, then the princes or leaders, heads of the tribes of Israel, shall gather themselves to you. When you blow an alarm, the camps on the east side [of the tabernacle] shall set out. When you blow an alarm the second time, then the camps on the south side shall set out. An alarm shall be blown whenever they are to set out on their journeys. When the congregation is to be assembled, you shall blow [the trumpets in short, sharp tones], but not the blast of an alarm. And the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow the trumpets, and the trumpets shall be to you for a perpetual statute throughout your generations. When you go to war in your land against the enemy that oppresses you, then blow an alarm with the trumpets, that you may be remembered before the Lord your God, and you shall be saved from your enemies.

Alarms were important for the nation of Israel. It communicated very clearly what needed to happen. And the common cord that ran through them all was the fact that when the alarm sounded, they moved.

So what do you do when the alarms in your soul go off? Do you know what to do; do you know what the alarms are telling you? When important benefit that we receive with God’s spirit is a very accrete and detailed alarm system of the soul. God desire for us to be able to grow in our faith and walk His way. To help us with that both in times of danger and times of direction, the soul alarms are telling us what we must do. But, it is still up to us to move.

My prayer for us today is that we will learn to know and recognize the alarms of the soul and also know how and when to move out.

Welcome to the monday morning brown blog. Thoughs and inspiration for this blog comes for people that I serve at The Chapel, a Foursquare Church located in the City of Troutdale.

For some time now, I wanted to be able to share some thoughts about life in this format. So to start out slow, I will be posting comments on Monday Morning for our guest and memebers of The Chapel to take with them throughout the week.

May God bless This Brown Blog