Participants: Shelley Quinn (Host), Janice Browne
Series Code: IAA
Program Code: IAA000428
|
00:01 Hi, if you are like me I am sure that sometimes
00:03 your life feels overburdened and if you are beginning 00:07 to get that sins that you can't even standup straight 00:10 because of these burdens, you will certainly want 00:12 to stay tune today for Issues and Answers, 00:15 as Dr. Janice Browne joins us to tell us 00:18 ten ways how to declutter your life. 00:44 Hello, I'm Shelley Quinn and we are so glad that 00:47 you've joined us today for Issues and Answers. 00:49 No matter, where you're tuning in from around 00:51 the world, I hope you had time just to kind 00:53 of sit back and really so can what our special guest 00:57 is going to bring to us today. Let me begin 01:00 by reading a scripture then I'll introduce 01:03 you to our guest. This comes from Luke Chapter 13 01:06 and I am going to begin with verse 10. 01:09 It's talking about Jesus and it says that he was 01:12 teaching one of the synagogues on the Sabbath 01:14 and, behold, there was a woman who had a spirit 01:17 of infirmity 18 years, and was bent over 01:22 and could in no way raised herself up. 01:25 Can you imagine, bent over and can't raise up, 01:28 but when Jesus saw her he called her to him 01:32 and said to her, women you are loosed from your 01:36 infirmity and he laid his hands on her 01:39 and immediately she was made straight 01:44 and glorified God. How wonderful, well I believe 01:48 God sent somebody here today to help us 01:50 if you are bent over with burdens. 01:52 He sent somebody here today to touch our lives 01:56 through what she has to say and that is 01:58 Dr. Janice Browne, Janice we are so glad to have 02:03 you join us on Issues and Answers. 02:05 Is this your first time to 3ABN? 02:07 No, it actually isn't, I was here about 10 years ago 02:10 and it's just absolutely wonderful to be able to 02:13 come back once more, I'm just very pleased to see 02:16 everything that has occurred since I have 02:18 been gone, the place is more beautiful than ever. 02:20 Grown a lot. The Church is now built 02:23 and it's just wonderful and it's a pleasure 02:25 to be here. We are so glad you are here. 02:27 Thank you. Now you have your Masters degree 02:30 is in Clinical Psychology, your Doctoral Degree 02:34 is in leadership with the Specialty in Psychology 02:37 is that correct? That is correct. 02:38 How did you happen to come into I know you 02:43 are married, yes, you are a missionary, 02:46 your husband was the President of the 02:48 Ethiopian Conference, the Ethiopia Union Mission, 02:51 the Ethiopia Union Mission, yes, alright, 02:53 and when you came back to United States 02:56 you became involved in a personal ministry 02:59 and your ministry is called Heavenly 03:02 Inspired Ministries. Why did you choose that name? 03:06 Because it's all about him, the acronym heavenly 03:10 inspired ministries and it's all about him. 03:14 So, I couldn't do anything, but come up with 03:18 something that would just in body and encompass 03:21 the idea that anything that I do in ministry 03:24 will be because it's all about him. Amen, 03:27 I like that. And you are adjunct professor 03:29 for three different universities, yes I am, 03:31 and then you go and you do speaking engagements 03:35 in a variety, you actually a beautiful singer as well. 03:38 Thank you, thank you. Now, when we are talking 03:43 today about how to declutter our lives; 03:47 one thing that I've noticed if I really began to feel 03:51 burden in my life, sometimes when I am 03:54 out of sorts, I can almost not always, 03:57 but almost always find a spiritual route at it, 04:01 so let's talk about the beginning of declutter 04:05 in our lives getting rid of these burdens. 04:08 You know it's interesting you should say 04:09 that and I myself experienced declutter 04:13 from time to time in my life and you are 04:15 exactly correct. There is usually a spiritual route, 04:18 so the first thing that I would suggest 04:22 for an individual, who is burdened with so many 04:24 things because you know we have family, 04:26 we have careers, we have children, 04:29 we have aging parents, Church, you know, 04:32 that can you know we get involved in a lot of 04:34 different things and sometimes we forget that 04:39 we need to get into the word of God, Amen. 04:41 We forget that we need to pray about it. 04:44 God knows everything, but he wants us to tell him, 04:48 so that we can become even more aware that 04:50 God I am bent over with too many things to do, 04:55 sometimes fasting is very necessary also. 04:58 Fasting helps God to know even though he already 05:03 knows that we are very serious about this 05:06 and we feel pressed down, we feel burden, 05:09 so prayer, fasting, and reading the word, 05:12 you know there were as you read at the beginning 05:15 and I just love that text because it talked about 05:18 a women that was bent over and she couldn't 05:20 stand up straight. Now we know that hers was physical, 05:24 she had a curvature of the spine, however, 05:27 we have spiritual curvatures of the spine, 05:30 amen, and we are bent over with so many things 05:33 in our lives and do you know what she did, 05:35 as you read she went to Jesus, he called her to him 05:39 and he said women standup you are loosed 05:41 and Jesus can do the same thing for us when 05:44 we go to him. Amen, so if we feel that I think 05:49 that's a good place to start as a starting 05:52 checkpoint is to when you are feeling overwhelm, 05:56 you know, the Bible says in First Corinthians 14:33, 05:59 God is not the author of confusion and sometimes 06:02 when I get a feeling like everything is just 06:05 overwhelming me, I can realize that I have somehow 06:09 allowed my life to become over schedule 06:12 and I am not putting enough time 06:14 in for the Lord. So, that's a good start point, 06:17 is number one, make sure that you are not 06:20 in a Christ, an absence you don't have an absence 06:25 of Christ presence in your life, yes, 06:27 that's the first thing. What about when we are 06:30 feeling overwhelmed, the burden of health, 06:33 diet this is something else that we really can, 06:38 if we are not paying close attention to what 06:40 we are doing this can be overwhelming for us. 06:43 Here again you are very correct, exercise, 06:46 diet is very, very important just as 06:51 we have to exercise our mind spiritually through 06:54 fasting and praying in the word of God, 06:56 it's very important that we take care of our 06:58 physical health, you know, we are running around 07:01 doing so many things, but sometimes we actually 07:04 do neglect our health and we find ourselves 07:07 so busy that instead of eating the proper foods 07:11 with the nutrients that are necessary for us 07:13 to stay healthy and happy and less dressed 07:17 we pop something in our mouths or we stand 07:20 and eat or sometimes individuals who will watch 07:23 television while they are eating, which they think 07:25 is relaxing when it really isn't especially 07:27 if you are looking at the evening news, 07:29 it can be very stressful. We do need exercise 07:34 and exercise doesn't mean that you have to get 07:36 this big gym membership, walking up and down 07:42 your stairs in your house that's a good thing, 07:44 walking up and down the stairs in front 07:46 of your house, walking up and down the street, 07:49 where you live hopefully you don't have very 07:53 mini-canned foods in your pantry, but if you have 07:56 some canned foods use that as weightlifters, 07:59 so that you can strengthen the muscles 08:01 and your arms, there are just so many things 08:03 that you can do that aren't difficult, 08:06 we do need according to some doctors 08:09 that have studied exercise and diet, 08:12 we need at least 15 to 30 minutes of exercise 08:16 per day and we find that when we do exercise 08:19 we don't feel stressed, we feel much better, 08:23 so it's very necessary. This is something that 08:26 sometimes, you know, we feel that we are so 08:28 busy throughout the day and we are just constantly 08:31 need to go and you think why do I need exercise 08:33 when I am just running constantly, 08:35 but it's quite different that the hectic activity 08:40 of our daily schedules is something 08:42 that is a stressor where as when you get out 08:44 and do the aerobic exercise and really get to 08:47 the deep breathing this brings a relaxation 08:50 and also really improves all the muscles, and I do know 08:53 that I am one that's very sensitive to foods, 08:57 so if I get stressed out and I am eating 09:01 in a hurry and just grabbing something 09:03 that's not healthy then I am gonna pay it for later, 09:07 you know, because I am gonna have a blood sugar 09:09 just drop or something like this so that's very 09:13 important. Now, when we think of the burdens 09:18 that are on our minds what about people, 09:22 who are constantly speaking in a negative way, 09:27 how much does this effect what we speak and say, 09:31 what we think, how much do you believe this affects 09:34 our ability to handle our life schedules? 09:40 Negative speaking and thinking really does have 09:47 a terrible effect upon us mentally, physically, 09:51 and spiritually. Self-talk that's always putting 09:56 one self down can cause depression, 10:00 it can cause an individual to become very stressed, 10:03 it of course lowers the self-esteem, it's very 10:07 important that you tell yourself good things 10:10 about yourself, there is something good in all of us. 10:12 After all we were created by the creator 10:16 and we are made in his image and he of course 10:18 didn't make anything that is not a value, 10:22 we are a value to him. And sometimes we find 10:25 ourselves always picking out the negative things. 10:28 Oh, I don't like my hair. Oh, I don't like the shape 10:31 of my face, I don't like my size, 10:33 I don't like my height, I don't like the way I sound, 10:36 I don't like anything about me and if you continue 10:39 that you will find that you fall into a slump 10:42 or a depression and the self-esteem goes down 10:45 the tubes as well, but I find it very helpful 10:49 to actually do what is known as positive 10:52 self-talk and this is why you tell yourself 10:55 I like this about me, find the positive things 10:58 about yourself. I like my eyes, I like the shape 11:02 of my nose, I love my hair and you will find 11:06 that the more you say those things about yourself, 11:09 the better you will feel about yourself 11:11 and guess what there is an added bonus to that, 11:13 guess what you will start to see more positive things 11:17 about other people and they will respond to 11:20 you differently. Sometimes, we are so negative 11:22 about ourselves that when we talk to people 11:25 the negativity comes out and it kind of pushes 11:28 people away, but if you become more positive 11:31 about yourself, you will become more positive 11:34 about others and it will draw people into 11:37 conversations with you more, it will draw them 11:39 into more friendships with you, so positive thinking 11:42 is very important and I happened to also believe 11:45 that when you speak negatively about yourself, 11:47 you are really speaking negatively about 11:49 the creator. I agree 100%, you know, 11:52 the Bible says in Proverbs 18:21 that there is power 11:55 of death and life in the tongue and I think 11:58 sometimes when we speak in such a negative 12:01 way about ourselves, we are speaking death 12:04 into our life and one of the things that I teach 12:07 actually because I think this is really wonderful 12:10 to change your self talk is to find God's promises 12:15 and to speak them over your life and to pray them 12:17 back to the Lord and suddenly it when our 12:21 self talk is kind of like the software that runs 12:26 a computer and if we've got bad software in there 12:30 what can we expect, except bad results, 12:32 but as we change ourselves talk in lineup in 12:38 agreement with what God has to say about us. 12:41 I think then very definitely it changes 12:44 rewires and renews the mind, so that you begin 12:48 to lineup in his will. So, I think that's very 12:51 important. Now, we said that we were talking about 12:56 and we are kind of listing all of these 12:59 burdens today, but one thing that you use a word 13:03 that really captured my attention for the title 13:06 of this program and that was a cluttered life. 13:09 I am a neat freak and you wouldn't be able to tell 13:12 it by looking at my office, sometimes my office 13:15 because I'm sanguine and out of sites, out of mind, 13:18 so I have little piles of things that I don't forget 13:20 to do it, but at home if things are not 13:24 in order at home, in my home then if there is chaos 13:29 in my home as far as not being clean and orderly 13:31 and put away then I don't function well. 13:34 How much does a cluttered life affect us 13:38 have the impact on us mentally? It has a very, 13:41 very major impact upon us. And it's interesting 13:46 you are not abnormal, you are very normal 13:49 there many of us who have that same kind of bent, 13:52 in fact it's interesting I am sanguineous as well 13:55 and you are correct, if things are not in order 13:58 at home they do tend to stress me and if, 14:02 my husband and I have a study, a joint study, 14:06 his side is perfectly neat, my side is in piles 14:11 because that's my filing system, yes, however 14:17 the rest of the house, the kitchen everything 14:20 has to be spotless, if it's not it can cause 14:23 difficulties cause stress and it makes me 14:25 very uncomfortable, you know, there are many 14:28 people out there, many listeners today, 14:30 who have clutter in their lives, in their at work, 14:36 in their houses, in their cars, just all over 14:41 the place and they don't realize how stressful 14:44 that really is. Let me tell you just a short story, 14:47 I was at the grocery store and I am a 14:51 people person, I just love people and I love to talk 14:56 so of course I struck up a conversation with a lady 14:58 in the grocery store and it was so interesting 15:01 because we seemed to be going down the same 15:02 isles most of the time. Well, after we finished 15:05 shopping, we happened to be in the line at 15:07 the same time, so we continued our conversation 15:09 and we got to the car and then our cars 15:12 weren't far from each other, she was first 15:14 and then I was second, when we got to our car, 15:16 she said I am so embarrassed and I said why? 15:20 She says my car is so cluttered, I don't even 15:24 know how I'm going to get these groceries 15:26 in the car. She says my front seat is full, 15:29 my back seat is full, my third seat in the van 15:31 is full and she says if I'll open it everything 15:34 will fall out, what am I going to do and I said 15:36 does it stress you out although and she said 15:38 it really does and she said I just love to do 15:42 something about it, so we just started talking 15:44 about ways to start removing things that 15:48 aren't necessary, not only in our lives with people, 15:53 you know people can clear their lives, 15:54 but also material possessions around us, 15:58 closets sometimes we are stressed when we are 16:01 getting dressed because there are so many shoes 16:03 in there and you have to go through all of the shoes 16:05 to find the ones you want. You are going through 16:07 the racks looking for the dress that you want, 16:09 mine are still in the shoe boxes, of course 16:13 neat freak, okay it has to be. But there are so many 16:17 people out there, who just have it thrown 16:20 in together and they find that when they clean 16:22 those places out and reward themselves 16:25 by giving to someone else feeling that altruistic 16:29 feeling that helps the endorphins do go up 16:31 and off in our brains, it just feels so much better 16:34 and is less stressful. It is actually more stressful 16:37 to have too many things that it is to have less, 16:41 when my husband and I left for Ethiopia 16:44 I had a Epiphanie. I felt so wonderful, 16:48 cleaning that house out even though it was neat 16:50 to look at, but there were so many things that were 16:53 neatly put away, I felt so wonderful to give 16:57 those things away, to throw those things away, 16:59 whatever it took to get the house totally 17:01 cleared out, so that can be stressful. 17:04 But let me ask you a question because 17:05 I do know that there are a lot of people, 17:08 you know, I think that we can sometimes 17:11 I maybe stressful, I make stress my husband out, 17:14 I try not to be obsessive-compulsive 17:17 about it, but he is the kind that comes in 17:20 and he'll put a little pile here and little pile there, 17:22 so I don't want to harp it and what I do 17:25 is go around behind him, I'll pick it up 17:27 and I put it where it belongs and then 17:29 he knows if he says well where is my step, 17:31 I'll say honey it's in it's spot, where it belongs 17:34 and you know he always tells me how much 17:36 he appreciates a clean home, but I do have to be 17:39 careful so that I don't stress him out 17:41 and you can go too far in either direction, 17:44 but I know for a fact it's kind of surprise me, 17:47 there are lot of people whose lives in homes 17:50 are very cluttered. How do you recommend 17:53 if somebody is sitting there maybe you're 17:55 watching us right now and you are one of those, 17:57 who sit with clutter all around you and you say 18:00 yeah I know I should, but I don't know 18:02 where to start, how if somebody are there people 18:05 that can help people, who how do you start 18:08 if you don't know where to start is my question. 18:11 Well, you know, there are people that can help 18:14 you in fact there are so many shows on the 18:16 television now, where they have the cleaning 18:18 squad to come in and they help individuals 18:20 to organize and to clean out their homes, 18:23 but so many people don't have persons 18:26 that can come in, sometimes friends can 18:28 come in and help, sometimes family members 18:31 are willing to do that especially if you have 18:33 a neat freak friend, who really kind, 18:37 that's it, partially, yeah, sometimes those 18:41 individuals can be very, very helpful. However, 18:44 the first thing that one needs to do is to tell 18:47 themselves that they need to make that change 18:50 because if you don't make the change mentally 18:52 you are not going to do it physically 18:54 so you have to make that commitment to yourself, 18:57 I want to change, I want to declutter my life, 19:00 I want to declutter my home and then you can 19:03 start very small simply by going and taking out 19:08 one or two things at a time. You can even 19:12 organize it for once per week, I am taking 19:15 something out of my closet and I am giving 19:17 to the goodwill or I am giving it to someone 19:20 who needs it or a neighbor or some child 19:22 or some family member or I am sending it 19:25 overseas to someone who needs it or I am going 19:28 to go to the homeless shelter and take my 19:30 things there, you will be surprised at how many 19:34 things you can get out of your closet, 19:37 out of your kitchen, kitchens with too many 19:40 things and then too many dishes 19:42 and there are so many people that can benefit 19:44 from it. So, making the commitment and then 19:47 following through by moving at least one thing, 19:49 if you are trying to do too many that becomes 19:52 stressful and overwhelming also, 19:54 so if you just start small, or just a room by room, 19:58 room by room, sure. And then there is a condition 20:02 called Hoarding and we are not, we don't have 20:05 time to even go there today, but if your clutter 20:08 is so severe and if you have absolutely no room 20:11 to put anything else because you never throw 20:13 anything away perhaps you should see a professional 20:17 about that because there is a condition 20:20 and that can be very serious detrimental 20:23 to your health. We need to kind a hustle on here 20:25 because our time is going away, but you mentioned 20:27 to me earlier about emotional and mental 20:33 hunger and that's something that can be 20:37 a real burden to people when they are emotionally 20:40 and mentally hungry, what did you mean by that? 20:43 Sometimes, I find that individuals are not feeding 20:48 their soul as we talked about at the beginning 20:52 with the word of God and then sometimes individuals 20:55 are not feeding their intellect, they are not 20:59 feeding that desire to read more, to listen to more 21:04 positive videos or look at more positive CD's, 21:08 reading is very, very, very, very important, 21:11 and if you are not a reader some people 21:14 don't like to read, but they do love to hear it read, 21:18 they are many, many CD's, where individuals 21:22 can listen in fact can I tell you about it, 21:24 about your books, yeah in fact I have a spoken 21:26 word CD that I have authored, I've written 21:29 the stories, and I read them and they are 21:32 actually 15 devotionals and people listen to them 21:37 and they told me that it suits them, 21:39 it calms them, it distresses them, and it feeds that 21:44 soul hunger. So, reading, listening to good books 21:50 that are, that are read, there are books on tape 21:53 books on CD that are very, very helpful. 21:57 When we don't have that in our lives, 21:59 we have a stressful feeling, anger can creep 22:04 in and we won't even know why and it's because 22:07 we are not feeding that part of ourselves. Amen, 22:10 and I'll tell you know some people, 22:12 it's such a vicious cycle, it's kind of like the little 22:16 hamster on the wheel just going round 22:18 and round is that sometimes we allow 22:20 our lives to become so cluttered 22:23 and overscheduled that when we do come home 22:26 from the work perhaps I hear so many people 22:28 who say oh I know I should be studying 22:31 or reading or I should do this that or the other, 22:33 but I am so exhausted, I just want to pull up 22:36 in front of the TV and I think sometimes 22:39 we just need to make an agreement with our self 22:43 that we are gonna fast from the television 22:45 for a week or so, not from 3ABN of course, 22:48 but to turn the television off during 22:51 certain hours so that we will be more apps 22:53 to read because sometimes the thought of picking up 22:56 and maybe reading your Bible or studying is just 22:59 another thing that seems overwhelming 23:01 because you are tired, but if there is nothing else 23:04 going on and you do pick it up suddenly 23:06 you find yourself revitalized and 23:09 reenergize, okay to carry on, 23:13 what about unforgiveness? 23:16 How much does that burden our life? 23:18 Oh boy, that is a biggie. Lack of forgiveness 23:26 is one of the areas of stress that is damaging 23:32 spiritually, mentally, emotionally, physically. 23:39 Lack of forgiveness causes an individual 23:42 to live in hatred and it's not easy, bitterness, 23:49 yes bitterness, and I don't say this 23:53 very lightly, but it's something that 23:56 is not easily done and to forgive from my 24:00 perspective is actually a miracle, yes, 24:03 it's a miracle, it is not something that I can do, 24:06 it's God given, it's not something that you can do, 24:09 it's not something that our viewers can do, 24:12 but it's something that God has to do through 24:14 you that's why we have to have a close walk 24:17 with him, that's why we need to read the 24:19 word of God, that's why we need to study his word, 24:22 that's why we need to fast, we need to pray 24:24 because it's something that we can't do 24:27 within ourselves. Sometimes, we have been 24:29 justifiably hurt, amen, it hurts when someone says 24:33 something about you that isn't true, 24:35 it hurts when you've been married for 24:37 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35 years and the spouse 24:42 walks away it hurts, when your best friend 24:45 is the person he marries it hurts, amen, 24:49 when the children you put your everything 24:51 into no longer wants to do what you've trained 24:55 them to do, it hurts and we find that because 24:59 it is so painful we start to become resentful 25:02 and bitter and angry and we don't forgive, 25:06 but lack of forgiveness is a danger, amen. 25:11 I have a friend Cheryl Vandenberg and Cheryl 25:15 said to me Janice you know what lack of 25:17 forgiveness is, it's like you taking poison 25:21 and waiting for the other person to die 25:23 and said Cheryl you are correct, that's right, 25:25 it really is because it damages you even more 25:28 than the persons that you are holding that anger 25:31 and the resentment against. So, that is one 25:34 of the things that we really want to take 25:36 out of our lives and we really have to go to God 25:39 and God can help you to do it. He says call 25:42 on to me and I will answer them, amen, 25:44 and I will show you greater in many things that 25:45 I know is not; I'll show you how to forgive 25:48 and unless we forgive he cannot forgive us. 25:51 He says forgives our sins as we forgive others, 25:56 right. Yes and I think that's something that. 26:01 Tell me do you agree with me here, 26:04 I feel that if I am still holding on to a hurt, 26:09 if I think back on something and it still 26:11 brings up all those intense emotions, 26:13 I feel like I haven't really forgiven, if I can look 26:17 back on things and hence realize that, 26:21 yes this was horrible, it was a disservice 26:24 to me in that, but I don't have all that intense 26:27 emotion I feel like yeah, I've actually forgiven, 26:29 would you agree with that? I would totally 26:31 agree with that. That's kind of, that's always been 26:33 my parameter. Some people say forgive and forget, 26:36 well it's not always good to forget because 26:38 if we forget sometimes we make the same mistake, 26:41 absolutely, but if we can say yes I remember 26:43 and it was wrong, but I forgive, amen, 26:46 I forgive the situation, I forgive the person, 26:49 you will feel so much better and you will 26:51 help yourself. And we have to like go of our I mean 26:55 to forgive ourselves, let go a bold regrets right, 26:58 we only have about 45 seconds, can you just 27:02 mention that what it's like to hold on to regret 27:06 some things that we've done in the past? 27:08 You know, sometimes we live in, what I call 27:10 the house of regret, we regret where we did 27:13 or did not go to school or if we did or did not go 27:16 to school, we sometimes regret whom we married, 27:19 we regret that we have or do not have children, 27:22 we find all kinds of regrets and I find that that 27:25 is one of the tools of Satan, if he wants us 27:28 to regret, regret, regret, we spend our lives 27:32 living there, thinking that and feeling 27:35 it rather than living in the moment, amen, 27:39 living in the positive, amen. As the Lord said 27:42 through Isaiah do no dwell on the past, 27:45 release it for I am doing a new thing in you 27:48 and see it will, do not recognize it, 27:51 it will suddenly spring forward, amen, yes. 27:54 Dr. Janice Browne, thank you so much 27:56 for being here today, you will return won't you? 27:58 Yes, indeed and it was my pleasure. 28:00 Thank you for those of you at home if you are 28:03 like the women, who was bent over just looking 28:05 in the dust and come to Jesus, 28:08 he'll cut those burdens free from you, bye, bye. |
Revised 2014-12-17