It's Kindergarden All Over Again

That's what it feels like. My kids will start getting ready for their first day back to school in about 7 hours from now. And because they're really nervous about it, so am I. I promise I'm nothing but understanding and encouraging words to them about all the new friends they're going to make and how nice the teachers all seemed, etc. but inside I feel just like I did on their first day of kindergarden. Everything is so different and foreign and not at all familiar. What makes this especially difficult is that on their first day of kindergarden, they were excited; the anxiety back then was all mine. Now, they're scared - at least they were when they went to bed. I pray they're feeling better in the morning. Me too.

Prayers are gratefully accepted here.

Be blessed.
Melanie

Florida livin' at its' finest...

...for my 9 year old son, anyway. While my daughter has been working herself into a tizzy contemplating the injustices of a "stupid" dress code wherein children are forced to tuck in their shirts, my son is all about the gators and lizards and frogs, oh my!

Side note: Sierra even sought out and introduced herself to the school principle last night at orientation just to ask if they are ever allowed to untuck - the answer? "Rarely". She politely responded with an "Ok, thank you" but as we walked away, she turned to me and said with utter frustration, Rarely! What does 'Rarely' mean!?!

Anyway, here's a sampling of Justin's summer adventures...

Crikie, what a beauty! After weeks of scanning every lake we passed by in hopes of catching a glimpse of an alligator, he was beyond thrilled to see, touch and, ughh, sit upon this very real gator at - of all places - a McDonalds in Orlando!












Catchin' lizards wherever they hide.















He caught a little guy just like this on top of our front door post. It took standing on a chair and a long stick to get him but he got him and played with him for hours. Not sure the frog had as much fun but he was set free by day's end.







Be blessed.
Melanie

No More Life As Usual

In church today, the pastor challenged us to ask ourselves if we would be willing to let God shake us up a little and bring us out of our "life as usual." I couldn't help but think about our new life here in FL. Definitely not life as usual.

We've never lived in an area like this before and honestly, it's going to take some getting used to. Now don't get me wrong; I'm not saying it's a bad thing, it's just not what we're used to - it's different and that doesn't automatically mean bad.

I'm the first to admit we've been downright spoiled by always having easy access to whatever we needed right at our finger tips and rarely more than a ten-minute drive. We're typical suburbanites. Work, shopping, doctors, friends, church, school - you name it - all right there. Here, in our little corner of central Florida, if you're not passing an orange grove, you're passing a lake...a big one, so that means it takes a little while to get anywhere 'cause you've got to get around that orange grove and around that big ol' lake.

The general pace around here is slower than what we're used to also which is, for the most part, fine with me since I tend to pace myself rather slowly anyway but is still one of the things we're having to get used to. When we want to go somewhere, we're used to getting there NOW. It seems a major drag to have to take all that extra time to get around that, albeit pretty, lake. We whole-heartedly believe in stopping to smell the roses but wonder why it is that some people have to take so L O N G to smell them. Let's sniff it and move on, people...gotta go Go GO!

For the record, I really do like it here. While our drive to Walmart would probably be a lot shorter if it weren't for the lake, I really do find it rather peaceful looking at it on my way. Though I doubt any of us would say no to an offer of prayer for our time of adjustment. I completely believe God has a purpose and a plan for us here which is why I can accept and even look forward to breaking out of my "life as usual".

How 'bout you? Be blessed.
Melanie

Home Sweet Home Prayer

My 11 year old daughter wrote the prayer below a few days ago. We have finally arrived at our new -albeit temporary - home in FL (the new one will be ready in a few months). To truly appreciate it, you have to realize that she was devastated about having to move away from her friends and school and her life in PA. Her heart was broken and many tears were shed.

When she read this to me, I cried and thanked God for her grateful heart and her desire to seek and see His hand in her life. Praise His Name. ~ Melanie

A Home Sweet Home Prayer

Dear God...
Thank you God for bringing us here .
We praise you and love You too.

Thank you for all the wonderful things you have given us.
Thanks for bringing us here for this
Home Sweet Home.

You taught us to believe in you
and You taught us how to trust You.
Now all we have to do is follow your way and live
in this Home Sweet Home.

We may be far away from our friends
but that doesn't mean You're not near here.

When I was little, I didn't know You
but then my parents told me about You.

You always know what's about to happen
and if it's bad, You're always there to protect us.

When we're scared, You help us not to be.
When we're sick, You heal us.

I love You and thank You for this wonderful
Home Sweet Home.

Amen.

Choking Back Tears

It's officially begun. The dreaded goodbyes. The part I've purposely been pushing from my mind for weeks now is quickly becoming unavoidable and I'm sad.

Yesterday, some of my co-workers took me out for a "farewell" lunch. There were thoughtful gifts and kind sentiments from a pretty wonderful group of people and I couldn't help but get choked up. I'm so gonna miss these folks, the ones who were able to make it and those who couldn't. For the last three years I've had the privilege of working with people who are so gifted in what they each do. I have so much respect and admiration for each and every one of them.

Then today I met with someone I usually only deal with through email, though occassionally face-to-face. She hugged me before she left and wished me well and told me I would be missed. I'll miss her too.

Next week will be the worst. It's my last week and even as I type that, I'm choking back tears - unsuccessfully, I might add. I've loved everything about working for my church, from the people I work with and for, to those involved in the ministries I help serve. I wasn't wanting to go back to work three years ago and I hated the events that made it necessary but I couldn't be more thankful that God opened that door and shoved me through it. It's been one of the best experiences of my life and a big part of me truly wishes it wasn't coming to an end.

Oh, here we go again. Where are the tissues...

Be blessed.
Melanie

All This Moving Stuff

Howdy folks! Have I told you lately how awesome I think God is? Well, based on the date of my last post, I haven't told you anything in a month and a day so I guess I haven't. Well, He is.

Preparations for our move to FL have been progressing nicely - THANK YOU, JESUS! Every time a potential glitch has popped up, God has smoothed it out. More than that, everytime my worries and doubts have popped up, God smoothed those out too, with specific-to-my-prayers scripture. I have been loving this time with the Lord. I don't think I've ever experienced Him like this before. I know I haven't.

My friend asked me recently if this move is different from the other moves we've made and my husband asked me something similar as well. This move is different. For instance, when we moved from Virgnia Beach, VA to San Antonio, TX, God gave me a peace about that. Throughout this whole process though, God has, little by little given me not just peace, but a confidence that He is leading this and is working out every detail.

I was on our church's annual women's retreat down in Rehoboth Beach, DE when my husband called to say we had an offer on the house. I told you in my last post that in our heart of hearts, we weren't really expecting the house to sell. Not in this market. So I was more than a little shocked when he told me. One of my very best friends was on the retreat with me and I was afraid to tell her. I knew she'd be upset - shoot, I was upset. My mind immediately went to all that we'd be leaving. Our friends, my kids' schools, our church, a job I love with people I absolutely respect beyond words...I thought of the devastation this would be to my kids...This is the closest I've lived to my mom, sister and her family in NY in 14 years and now I'm going to leave? Again? I was completely torn in half.

But God was SO good to me. He made sure I'd be in the best possible place to receive this news - this women's retreat. The speaker was a woman by the name of Sharon Thomas with Established Footsteps Ministries and she spoke on, of all things...moving! Moving from one spiritual place to another and making sure to build your "house" on the Rock. It was so fabulous. Every message was SO specific, SO encouraging. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. I think I did both at different times.

But the best came late Saturday morning. Every year, an hour of quiet time immediately follows the Saturday morning message (and precedes LUNCH & 5 hours of free time). We are encouraged to get by ourselves to pray, read our Bibles, answer some questions based on that morning's message and just basically reflect on what God might be saying to us. The weather was gorgeous so most of us, myself included, chose to go down to the beach. I got as close to the water as I could - without letting it actually touch me. (It was, afterall, only April. In Deleware. The water was freezing!)

I began to pour out my heart to God - my fears, my worries. I desperately want to be doing the right thing by my family. I think now of the story where Moses tells God that if He wasn't going to go with them into the promised land, he didn't want to go at all. That's pretty much how I felt. I believed that moving would ultimately make life better for my family but if He wasn't leading it, if He wasn't behind this, I didn't want to go anywhere. I asked Him to please not allow us to get one toe out of His will. And I do, afterall, have plenty of good reasons to stay. I've changed so much in the last 5 years and feel like I've experienced the biggest growth spurt of my life with regard to my relationship with Him while here. I don't know what a future looks like somewhere else but I could see possibilities for each of us for continued growth and ways and places to get involved if we stayed.

I had my Bible with me and began to read various scriptures. Through those and through what God spoke to my heart, my faith grew a little bit and I began to believe He might actually be behind this move. He told me through His Word that I could trust Him and to remember and think of those things that I know about Him; that He is the Good Shepherd who never leads His sheep astray. He reminded me that He doesn't stay behind in PA while we move elsewhere but He would go with us and, in fact, has gone before us. It was this back and forth conversation with Him. It was the coolest thing ever.

And that's kind of how it's been throughout this whole process. Another friend of mine told me that during the retreat, God had put it on her heart to give me this small binder full of index cards on many of which she wrote, by hand, scripture verses about trusting God for my future. Verses like Psalm 32:8 The Lord says, "I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you." Those verses in that binder are like gold to me. A treasured gift. One I carry with me constantly, refer to frequently and add to periodically.

Yes, God is awesome. I'm just sayin'

Be blessed.
Melanie

Results, Travel and Plans, Oh My!

Happy Sunday, folks. I completely overslept today so no church for us. Man, and I really wanted to go today. Oi.

Well results from my biopsy came in the very next day and they were negative - no cancer. It was a (and forgive my probably misspelling) fibroadnoma. Thanks so much for your prayers. It truly means so much to me that folks I've never even met took time to pray for me. That's such a God thing. I love Him - and you - for that. I have a follow-up this week with my doctor who will explain exactly what a fibroadnoma is (which is good since I really haven't had time to look it up) and to discuss options like to remove or not to remove. From my understanding at this point, I shouldn't need to remove it since it's no more likely to turn cancerous than any other cell in there. That being the case, I don't believe I want to have my breast opened up again no matter how teensy the opening. The only thing I'm concerned about is that ever since the biopsy, I have this very uncomfortable lump there. My guess is that it might be a hematoma and if it is, I don't know what they typically do about that.

In other news, the reason I didn't post my results sooner is because the very next day we took off on a very long drive down to Florida to...HOUSE HUNT! I'm not sure that I've posted before that back in February we put our house up for sale. We weren't sure if it would sell with the market the way it is AND we didn't know where we would go if it did. We were considering NC and FL because we have friends and/or family in both places. We were all a little shocked when a serious buyer came along two months later. So far things seem to be going well and though there are still a couple of things that could trip this up, we are trusting God that if this is indeed His plan for us, all will go well. We want nothing more than to be in the center of His will for our family wherever and whenever that takes or keeps us.

So within a matter of days, we looked at 20-30 homes in central FL and ultimately decided to build in a town that we had originally said we didn't want to consider. This is a very funny testimony in the making if this goes through all the way, I'll tell ya. Well funny to us, anyway.

SO, now all we have to do is start packing, find a rental place in FL we can live in 'till the house is ready in Sept/Oct, figure out what in the world we're doing with the animals 'cause of course we're going away on vacation about the same time as the move...sigh... Can you sense my joy? Anybody got some boxes? Anybody wanna help? C'mon, I'll make lunch! All prayers are appreciated as always.

And as always, I pray YOU will...

Be blessed.
Melanie