I'm Baaaaack

Well, we are back from vacation and what a blast we had. It was full, fun, relaxing and renewing on many levels.

Our destination was Myrtle Beach to start with for some fun in the sun and then we were on to Atlanta so I could attend the Deeper Still Conference with my sister to hear Beth Moore, Priscilla Shirer and Kay Arthur.

I'll post later this week about the conference. Honestly, I'm still processing all that was said. Just let me say though, it was powerful. From the seats we were able to nab (K, you rock!) - end of the front row behind the production team on Friday night and 7th row from the stage on Saturday - to the closing song and absolutely everything in between, I've never experienced anything quite like it. Absolutely impacting and fun and fabulous.

For this post, however I'll concentrate on the Myrtle Beach portion of the trip. We left Saturday morning and drove to Virginia Beach to stay and catch up with some good friends of ours. I grew up on Long Island, NY and lived in Va Bch for 7 great years so I'm a beach girl thru and thru and really miss being near the ocean. On Sunday we stopped in North Carolina and stayed with friends there who then joined us for the rest of the journey to Myrtle Beach.

My friend, Michelle and I were in youth group together oh-so-many years ago but lost touch for a while until I met my husband (her husband and mine were good friends from college). They lived near us in PA for 4 years before moving to NC so it was a lot of fun spending a few days with them and their kids at the beach.

The weather was gorgeous and the hotel had just about anything you could possibly need. Awesome pools and a waterpark for the kids and a beautiful beach with great shell-collecting opportunities. It was just so relaxing. I got a wicked sunburn on my back (hence the T-shirt in the pic above) even though I was using an SPF of 50!!!!! The sun was brutal. Truly the only place to be was in the water so that's pretty much where we tried to stay.

I had intended to try to get up early each day and go down to the beach to have my quiet time with the Lord. Unfortunately I forgot how much the sun can wipe me out and only managed to wake up early on the day before we left. We had a nice time though, the Lord and I. Few things enhance my worship like sitting on a beach watching the waves ebb and flow. Yes, it was a good time and a great way to set my mind on Him before heading off for the Deeper Still Conference.

Be blessed. Hope you like the pics.
Melanie



Under the Big Bucket Spill

Gettin' the hang of this boogie boardin' thing

Searchin' for shells

Relaxin' on the "Lazy River"

Wiped Out

Lazy Days of Summer? Not Yet

Well, look at that. It's been a little while since my last post. I wish I had more to report on but there's really been nothing earth-shattering goin' on - just all that busy end-of-school-year stuff.

**We're just about in the home stretch now, Praise the Lord! School is winding down, projects are coming off the school walls and into the kids' backpacks to bring home for good, desks are being cleaned out little by little and there have been plays and lots of trips up to the school to view all the hard work and special projects the kids (and teachers) have been working on over the last couple of months.

**I threw my back out last week while setting down a full laundry basket of clothes. That was fun (not). It took a week, but thankfully, I am much better today.

**The weather has been sweltering hot hovering around 100 degrees (with ridiculously high humidity) since last Friday or Saturday.

**I've switched my work hours for the summer so I now have Mondays and Fridays off (yippee!).

**Oh and our new above-ground pool is up and running. I'm so loving the sound of kids squeeling with glee and laughter out there. The house is all-abuzz with friends and fun. I love that. I so hope to help create some great memories for my kids this summer.

**In a couple of weeks, we'll be bringing home a new family member - we're getting a puppy! Don't know what kind yet and I imagine my poor unsuspecting cat is NOT going to be happy.

**I'm also very excited that next week I begin hosting a Bible study in my home for the summer. I've always wanted to do that. We're going to be doing No Other Gods by Kelly Minter. Beth Moore is plugging it on her blog and "facilitating" it in a way. Can't wait. (if you wanna know more about that just click on Beth's link on the right.)

** And THEN...I'm off to Atlanta for the Deeper Still Conference with Beth Moore, Priscilla Shirer and Kay Arthur. Can I just say I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!

My, my. I guess I had more to report on than I thought.

Hope all is well in your neck of the woods.

To quote a friend, In His grace and by His strength...
Be blessed.
Melanie

This Memorial Day Weekend

Many of us will be out and about at BBQ's this weekend enjoying the extra day off (I know we will be), but let's be sure to stop and remember the ones for whom Memorial Day is dedicated.

I have friends who have considered it a privilege to have served our country faithfully and with great honor. Those same friends will be remembering and possibly mourning on Monday friends and comrades who, unlike themselves, didn't make it home. I have another friend whose son is today serving overseas. This friend on Monday will be missing her child likely hoping and praying that by next years Memorial Day BBQ he'll be beside her grabbing a hotdog off the grill. There's a young guy at the local WaWa where I buy my lunch who leaves for bootcamp any day now to experience what - only time will tell.

Let us all take time this weekend to remember and pray for the families and friends of our fallen soldiers. Pray for those currently serving. And if you and I happen to cross paths with someone who is or has served in the military, I pray we remember to thank them. Even if it feels awkward, it might just make their day.

Let's make their day because they certainly helped make ours.

Be Blessed.
Melanie

O My Soul

Why so downcast, O My Soul?
What do you have to complain about, really?
Your life is so blessed don't you forget.
Even if the day is quite dreary.

This mood has been growing for days now though.
For you haven't taken time to pray
Over the cares and concerns that are within you.
Now your pity-party's well under way.

God showed you some things that He wants to change
Then others showed you some more.
You then added to that the list that you have
And burdened yourself to the floor.

Well, pick yourself up oh doubt-prone soul
And take it to God in prayer!
The only opinion that truly will matter
You'll find when you take yourself there.

God reveals what He does not to make you feel bad
He's revealing the chains that need breaking.
And He'll be faithful, if you let Him, to break those chains
And offer freedom that's yours for the taking.

So rejoice oh my soul and be happy within me;
Your salvation draweth nigh!
Keep your eyes set on Jesus for in Him you will find
That on eagles wings, you will fly!

God is Good

I have been wanting to sit down for days now and write a new post but I've had a terrible case of blogger's block (love that term). That and I've got piles of laundry to be folded and put away. I so hate to do laundry (hence part of the reason it's been sitting for days). Do you think we'll have to do laundry in Heaven? Will glorified bodies need clean clothes everyday? Perhaps so. Jesus does have an affinity for washing whiter than snow.(sorry. couldn't resist that one). He's better than any bleach alternative for sure. (ok, I'll stop)

Besides I have something cool to share. Well cool to me, anyway. Yesterday I got to enjoy the first of a three-session teaching by Beth Moore called Measureless Love. No homework, just teaching. Well, it was wonderful. What made it more wonderful was God's hand in all of it as evidenced by a number of testimonies I heard. This one's mine.

Throughout yesterday's video, Beth spoke about a number of things that I had just prayed about that very morning as well as during the last couple of weeks. She also talked about things that were in her study called Believing God which I had done about 4 years ago. What was interesting about that was that I had just pulled out my BG workbook the night before and was reviewing some of the very things she spoke of in the video. I cracked up. God is so funny to me sometimes.

But here was the coolest thing. One of the biggest changes to come out of the Believing God study was a desire to grow beyond mediocrity in my life. What I mean by that is my excitement in and about Jesus and how that carries over into every other part of my life. When I first became a new believer in Christ, I was so excited about it. My sins were forgiven and I was a new creature in Christ. My life had a purpose and the question that I was missing something in my life was answered. Unfortunately, over the years, that excitement diminished and I eventually grew fairly stagnant in my walk with Him. I was certainly saved, still loved God and was often involved in church to some degree but was by and large a "pew warmer" for years. I saw and knew people who seemed to have great passion for God but I had come to think that was for the ones with special "callings" on their lives - missionaries, pastors, pastors' wives (yes I so believe that is a calling), church leaders and such. It was like revelation to me to learn during Believing God that God does not call any of us to a life of mediocrity. This theme has popped up off and on during the last few years and was a strong message to me during this year studying the tabernacle in A Woman's Heart God's Dwelling Place. God certainly does nothing half way.

I looked up the word mediocre on dictionary.com yesterday and here's some of what I found. Mediocre: average, commonplace, cut & dried, garden-variety, indifferent, run-of-the-mill, undistinguised, unexceptional, unremarkable. Now does that sound anything like our God, the God whose very Spirit lives in us if we call Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior? Absolutely not. That being the case, how can I ever be satisfied with anything less than being "filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." (Eph 3:14-19) As Beth said, "Anything less is unacceptable." I agree whole-heartedly but what do I do with that?

Something else I recently began trying to put into regular practice during my prayer time is praying scripture but until yesterday it didn't even occur to me to do that over my desire to live beyond mediocrity. Even if it had occured to me, I doubt I would have known what scripture to use. Well, hey, this might be a good one.

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." Ephesians 3:17-19

Yes, God is so good.

Be blessed.
Melanie

For My Mom

I wrote this a number of years ago for my mom and decided to honor her here as well. Plus, it helps keep my standing as her favorite! I know, mom, you "love us all the same." yeah, yeah, yeah. blah, blah, blah. Love you.

A Heritage of Love

As I look back so fondly at this life I've been given
With its ups and its downs and it's day-to-day living;
I remember with smiles and such joy in my heart.
For you, my dear mother, have played a huge part
in molding and caring and shaping, it's true.
So much of what's me comes from the love that's in you.

Thanks for artwork on lunch bags drawn lovingly each day.
And energy kept for times spent in play.
For catch in the yard with my sisters and me.
And singing on the couch to Donny and Marie.
For tuna with mustard and PB&J
Again I'll take time to say thank you this day.

For Christmas-time murals painted on windows each year,
Onlookers would come and they'd stare and they'd peer.
For Halloween stories told 'neath the table
To surpass our great fun, none would be able

Thanks for Saturday shopping and our ice cream stop
You showed me the meaning of shop 'till you drop.
For the kittens and puppies we convinced you to buy,
Your patience it seemed was in endless supply.
When giving your "pedicures" or "washing hair" on the floor
I thought I had fun; I think you had more.

I always enjoyed your "celebrity" stories;
And autoraphed pictures of stars in their glory.
I love to read books, both fiction and non.
I got that from you - you've passed that on.
Your imagination to me brings laughter and fun;
From wee little voices to songs that we'd sung.

You taught me the meaning of character and truth.
To just be myself and not be aloof.
And for times when I fell or came into harm,
You'd mend cuts and bruises or tickle my arm.

I heard you pray daily for strength when you're tired
The strength that God gave you I have to admire.
It showed up in ways like loving protection;
From caring for colds to lavish affection.

These moments of sharing were not simply fleeting.
They've grown me and shown me; these moments had meaning.
I believe they were lessons God ordained from above
to teach us His heart a lesson in love.

And the love that you learned so well from your mom
is the love that I learned from you (and then some).
My hope and my prayer is that I'll pass along
the love you have shown me so my kids will grow strong.

So thank you dear mother and God up above
For this thing that I call A Heritage of Love.

"Her children arise and call her blessed." Proverbs 31:28

A Quiz...

The following was quoted in a newsletter I received recently and I loved it so much, I decided to put here as well. Hope you enjoy.

Take this Quiz.
(by Max Lucado)

~ Name the ten wealthiest men in the world.
~ Name the last ten Heisman trophy winners.
~ Name the last ten winners of the Miss America contest.
~ Name eight people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer prize.
~ How about the last ten Academy Award winners for best picture or
the last decade's worth of World Series winners?

How did you do? With the exception of you trivia hounds, none of us remember the headliners of yesterday too well. Surprising how quickly we forget, isn't it? And what I've mentioned above are no second-rate achievements. These are the best in their fields. But the applause dies. Awards tarnish. Achievements are forgotten. Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners.

Here's another quiz. See how you do on this one.

~ Think of three people you enjoy spending time with.
~ Name ten people who have taught you something worthwhile.
~ Name five friends who have helped you in a difficult time.
~ List a few teachers who have aided your journey through school.
~ Name a testimony of someone whose story has inspired you.

The people who make a difference are not the ones with the credentials, but the ones with the concern, with the personal touch and impact on your life.

Whose life are you touching? You matter more than you think.