Happiness

We act as though comfort and luxury were the chief requirements in life, when all that we need to make us really happy is something to be enthusiastic about. Charles Kingsley

7 Steps to Success

7 Steps to Success:

1 - Make a commitment to grow daily.
2 - Value the process more than events.
3 - Don’t wait for inspiration.
4 - Be willing to sacrifice pleasure for opportunity.
5 - Dream big!
6 - Plan your priorities.
7 - Give up to go up!

I want to do more than exist....pay good things forward!!!

Wow!! I did not write this,  but I really wish that I did!!! The way this quote is explained is exactly how I feel most days but I couldn't figure out how to say it out loud.  Making a difference in someone's life has to be one of the best things you could do for someone.  I feel this way most probably because I have friends like this that have made a difference in my life. I've seen it.  Knowing that I can cheer someone up or make them a believer is my passion in life and it gives me a sense of purpose.  I've been in the deep pit after losing my daughter and I know all about that desire to want to feel loved and inspired again.  Grief is a strange thing....takes a long time to embrace and a long time to understand.  It comes from out of nowhere.  You think you are good and your pain from a loss settles, but the triggers of the hopes for your loved one flash before your eyes and the experiences you could have witnessed send you thinking for days. One day you are doing well, and then gradually you find yourself  sad again. When things happen in your life that bump you off your desired path, it is good to have people that love and appreciate you by your side. They will lengthen their arm with an outstretched hand when you fall and pull you out of the pit and encourage you to keep going......they know because they have been there.  My dear friend who knows my familar pain and is an amazing friend to me doesn't even realize how much of a difference she makes in my life everyday.  I've told her several times but I don't think she truly believes  it. She is very humbled.  Amazes me!!! I want to be that person you know that you can depend on and look up to, and I want to know that I can make a difference in your life.  SERIOUSLY!!!!

It's a rare find to meet loving and non-judgemental friends these days.....it exhausts me trying. I think most people are hurting and lost and not sure what to do anymore.  They have no direction.    I am so very grateful for those dear friends that have been so loving and open-hearted to me with no judgement when I had no direction. I can remember a specific time when I became ugly with hurt and cryed out in grief and pain.....most people did not know what to say or how to fix it.  I gradually became difficult and grew distant and was struggling with every emotion known to man. My dear friends sat with me out of their comfort zones and showed their face.  They were the face of Jesus to me......a kind of love I never knew.  Sounds REALLY cheesy....but it's true!! There were many friends and family that loved me through a very hard time in my life and they continue to love me today . We all hope that these kind of people would surround us in our own life.....it would sure make life easier to get through.  Pay it forward when you receive it!!!! 

Proverbs 31:25

Be authentic and true to yourself and do it with enthusiasm!!!

In today's world that’s trying to make you like everyone else, find the courage to keep being yourself.  Embrace that individual inside you that has ideas, strengths and beauty like no one else.  Be the person you know yourself to be – the best version of you – on your terms.  Don't hold back and don't be afraid of what people think.  Above all, be true to YOU, and if you cannot put your heart in it, take yourself out of it.  No it won’t always be easy; because when it comes to living as a compassionate, non-judgmental human being, the only challenge greater than learning to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes, is learning to walk a lifetime, comfortably in your own.

Live with Passion!!! Passion is something you must be willing to express if you want to inspire others.  You can gain a lot of influence just by publicly expressing that you are excited and passionate about a topic.  Expressive passion is contagious because of the curiosity it stirs in others.  You’ll get people wondering why you love what you love so much.  Naturally, some of them will take the time necessary to understand what it is about the topic that moves you.

In life, you get what you put in.  When you make a positive impact in someone else’s life, you also make a positive impact in your own life.  Do something that’s greater than you – something that helps someone else to be happy or to suffer less.

About me

My husband, Kyle, and I married in 2007.  The Lord has blessed us with a beautiful Rhodesian ridgeback named Zuri and the most amazing little boy, our lil’ monkey, Kade Patrick. And then we will always love and remember our other Rhodesian ridgeback, Maxi Poo who is up in dog heaven and our beautiful daughter whom we lost at 35 weeks of pregnancy, Cora Capri.  We also have 3 other babies in heaven that we lost to miscarriage as well.

I love all things creative.  I love to spend my timing making and designing things.  I love to paint, design and hand make jewelry, dabble in cooking; do landscaping, and interior decorating.  There never seems to be enough time in the day to accomplish everything on my to-do list.  I also LOVE music.  These things are my therapy.  These are things that make me come alive.

I am a working mother who has an unwavering desire to maintain my personal relationships and commitments to my women’s study groups, spend time with my family, be in the Word, create the menu for the week, grocery shopping, workout, clean house and laundry, walk the dog and try as hard as I can to keep my sanity.  You been there??

This is my journey to follow hard after God, one step at a time, and to be real about it.  My journey has had its share of ups and downs.  I care not to ever visit the darkest of those days and yet one of the most amazing days in my entire life brought me more joy that all the joys combined.  Nothing can describe hearing the cry of your newborn son unless you have been there.    It was in those days in the summer or 2009 that I found a new meaning in life.  A rebirth into the person I was supposed to be. That day on June, 23 2009, my life was forever changed and I will never be the same again.   I am grateful for every lesson I have learned along the way. The blessings and joys have taught me to really appreciate the good things in life and to never take them for granted.  The sorrows and sadness taught me empathy and love.  There were so many people who loved me during those difficult and dark times.  I know now, didn’t realize it at the time, but all of those people were answered prayers.  Everything they did and said helped me to get through each day.  When I could not get out of bed, months after losing my daughter, there were those friends and family that came and sat with me, called me, cooked me meals, and sent me cards and flowers. They showed me LOVE.  Love was not always words.  These people came by my side not knowing what to do or say, and they loved me enough to sit with me.  They didn’t have to say anything.  I didn’t expect them too.  Just their presence helped me to not feel so alone.    

We were never meant to do life without God.  The moment we try it may feel like we don’t need him anymore.  And then it isn’t long until we are back in His arms praying for His grace and mercy.  My husband and I love serving a Savior who is also well acquainted with sorrow. I could relate.  I love to surround myself with people who follow Jesus Christ. I seek to be in a loving, life-giving community where we as believers seek to lift each other up as we strive to serve our Lord better and more deeply. It’s not about me; it’s about Him.

I decided to write this blog because it is the baby steps I am taking to write my story into a book. Along the way, and while I brush up on my writing skills, I hope to connect with others that love God the way that I do.  I am not a writer, trust me.  But Cora inspires me to do this.  She will always be the inspiration behind anything good that comes from my writing. This was never about me.  It’s about telling my story so others could find hope in there difficulties and trials. 

Just so you know……I post when I feel inspired, which is either often or not at all. Please check back from time to time to see if I’ve had anything to share since you last visited.  If anything that I share moves you to share, then please comment.  I’ve love to hear your thoughts.

Through Him,

Melanie

Just Be

This is one of my favorites songs that I had to share.  It moves me everytime I listen to it! 
You need to pause the music playlist in the right column in order to listen to this video.

Tiësto feat. Kirsty Hawkshaw- Just Be

I was lost and I'm still lost
But I feel so much better

You could travel a world
But you can't runaway
From the person
You are in your heart

You could be
Who you want to be
Make us believe in you
Keep all your light in the dark

If you're searching for the truth
You must look in the mirror
And make sense
Of what you can see

Just be...Just be

They say learning
To love yourself
Is the first step that you take
When you want to be real

Flying on planes
To exotic locations
Won't teach you
How beauty feels

Face up to the fact
That you are
Who you are
And nothing can change that belief

Just be...Just be

Cause now I know
It's not so far
To where I go
That I respond
It's inside me

I need to just be
Just be

Just be...Just be...Just be

I was lost and I'm still lost
But I feel so much better

Cause now I know
It's not so far
To where I go
That I respond
It's inside me

I need to just be
Just be

Loving on people - Happy Valentine's Day

"Stay in better touch with people who matter to you. – In human relationships distance is not measured in miles, but in affection. Two people can be right next to each other, yet miles apart. So don’t ignore someone you care about, because lack of concern hurts more than angry words. Stay in touch with those who matter to you. Not because it’s convenient, but because they’re worth the extra effort. Remember, you don’t need a certain number of friends, just a number of friends you can be certain of. Paying attention to these people is a priority."

I found this from one of the blogs I follow and it really got me thinking. She said exactly what I feel and I have been guilty of this. I think we, as human beings, naturally want to feel loved and accepted especially by those we care about. I've had to ask myself why am I persistent when at times it does does feel reciprocal. I guess it's because there was always something I appreciated and loved in the relationship and my persistence is just my way of showing how much I want that person on my life. So as I was reflecting on Valentines Day yesterday I was reminded of all those I love and why loving them, despite how discouraging it may be at times, is what I am supposed do. We are called to LOVE on people. This was a good reminder for me. The more love you give....more love you receive. Let's be encouraged to get out of our comfort zone and set aside our insecurities and excuses and just love on people. Everyday is a new day to get it right!!

Sunlounger - Lost (Chill)

I enjoy this song and wanted to share. It really moved me today. You need to pause the music playlist in the right column first before watching the video.




Forget the peace inside
You’ve given way to the gods of destruction
Full of desire
You feel afraid that there’s nothing left

Oh oh, oh noOh oh, oh no

The ocean is dry
Do you feel hollow?
Nowhere to hide
And nothing to swallow

And when you can’t recognize
Anything solid
Where do you turn?
When you can’t buy it?

What can you believe in now
With no love to follow?
Now that you have lost yourself
Oh, can anything help you now?

Just let your fears go
You might find your way back home
Let your fears go
You might find that you’re not lost

Just let your fears go
You might find your way back home
Let your fears go
You might find that you’re not lost

What did you learn?
What was it worth?
What did you yearn for?
Everything’s lost now

And not alone and not alone
And not alone and not alone
And not alone and not alone
And not alone and not alone

Just let your fears go
You might find your way back home
Let your fears go
You might find that you’re not lost

Just let your fears go
You might find your way back home
Let your fears go
You might find that you’re not lost

Inspirational quote- Matthew Ashdown

See yourself truthfully

I decided to write today as I was going through 5 boxes I found in our basement closet. There were five large boxes of books that I had collected for the last 12 years. When I buy books, I like to put the date in the front cover of when I started reading the book as this has always helped me to relate to what I was learning at that point in my life. Interesting enough as I opened this book dated 2001, I found myself slipping back into memory lane.....a time when I was really connected to God and I was trying to find my true purpose and identity in Christ.

I became dear friends with my pastor, Pastor Joe as we call him, almost 11 years ago, which was really different for me. I grew up Catholic and to have a friendship with the pastor was not something that I knew you could do. I didn't even know that this was an option. But anyway, we would connect from time to time in passing when I was at the church for some study or maybe I was there serving on the Great Banquet team, but nonetheless, it always seemed to be a divine appointment. He would call me back to his office that was filled with shelves of many books from the floor to the ceiling. He loved to share his insight with me and was always willing to pull something off the shelf for me to read. He was a friend of Henri Nouwen, a well renowned author of spiritual life, and if my memory serves me right, he studied under Henri which is really a big deal....did not know that until I did my research. Anyway, as I was going through my boxes of books, I pulled out a book by Henri Nouwen titled, The Inner Voice of Love, to see an excerpt from the chapter "See Yourself Truthfully" that I highlighted and wanted to share.

"You continue struggling to see your own truth. When people who know your heart well and love you dearly say that you are a child of God, that God has entered deeply into your being, and that you are offering much of God to others, you hear these statements as pep talks. You don't believe that these people are really seeing what they are saying. You have to start seeing yourself as your truthful friends see you. As long as you remain blind to your own truth, you keep putting yourself down and referring to everyone else as better, holier, and more loved than you are. You look up to everyone in whole you see goodness, beauty, and love because you do not see any of these qualities in yourself. As a result, you begin leaning on others without realizing that you have everything you need to stand on your own feet. You cannot force things, however. You cannot make yourself see what others see. You cannot fully claim yourself when parts of you are still wayward. You have to acknowledge you where you are and affirm that place. You have to be willing to live your loneliness, your incompleteness, your lack of total incarnation fearlessly, and trust that God will give you the people to keep showing you the truth of who you are."

Have you struggled to see your own truth...whether good or bad??? Why do we do this? Why can't we see the same person that God or those that love us see? Why do we feel unworthy or incapable of receiving love???

As I reflected on this segment of the book, I was reminded how our strengths and gifts can be used to love on others even if we don’t think we can.  How many times has someone walked into your life and you made a connection that was really unique?  It happens to me all of the time.  Maybe I notice it more because I look at each opportunity to connect as a way to encourage and serve others.  The only way to truly connect with other people is by being transparent and real about who we are.  The more you are like this with people the more they will be able to truly connect with you and share who they are.  I want you to know that you can make a difference in someone's life.....even if it is doing small things to lift them up.   Each day is a day to start again with a new paradigm. I have chosen to not let fear keep me from pursuing what I feel God is calling me to do, but instead to pray about it and ask for guidance in each step when loving on those that mean something to me.  Yes, it can take me out of my comfort zone but that's ok because I welcome the unknown. What do we have to lose really?!?!  I think there is alot to gain and you never know when you might make a difference in someone's day.  That is encouraging to me!!!!

Stepping Up....

When someone first hears I lost a baby at almost full term, it is there.  When someone asks if my son is my first child and I tell them I have four angels in heaven too, it is there.  When someone hears I want to commit my life to advocating for the broken and ministering to other parents that have lost their babies, it is there: that lingering stare, that squirmy silence, that quivering lip that wants so badly to tell me they are sorry.  They want so badly to shift my eyes back to the happy, the prosperous, the fun, the “feel good” side of the world; to keep me from looking at the darkness.

I understand. I do. But the thing is… My Jesus told me I AM the light of the world. (Matthew 5:14) He told me HE is the light of the world and that whoever follows Him will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. (John 8:12) He also made it very clear that although light has come into the world, people love darkness. And they love darkness because their deeds are evil. (John 3:19) In the darkness, there is no accountability. In the darkness, there is no compulsion to do better. In the darkness, anything goes. In the darkness, deep slumber is welcome. In the darkness, there is no light. So I am not surprised that those who love me heed warning against walking too close to the darkness… except that I am called to be the light.  The very light they are fumbling around in the darkness trying to find. I know because I have been there.
If we never find the courage to enter in where darkness has enveloped people, if we just keep standing with all the other lights where it is warm and bright, we will never serve our purpose at all. Light is most needed in the darkness. Hope is most desperately desired in despair. Cries for healing come from the lips of the broken. I have not been given this light of Christ to put under a bowl, to keep to myself, but to go out into the dark world; to share the hope I have been given. To kneel down and let my hands be the ones who mend little hearts, my fingers were made to wipe dirty tears away, my heart – this new one Christ gave me – is big enough to love the unlovable. I remember well who I was before and it is no small thing – NO SMALL THING – how God has changed me, changed my want to, changed my convictions. To deny that change, to exchange the burden for the blanket, to exchange the calling for the comfort, to turn inward instead of reaching outward… would be undeniable sin.

I choose obedience. I choose to follow. I choose to get up and go when everything in me screams to just stay in the bed. I just to keep walking long after my feet have wanted to be propped up someplace else. I choose to keep teaching even as my throat closes up in fear around the words. I choose to keep reaching for those deemed unreachable, even as my hands tremble. I choose to keep opening my door and my arms, even as I hear so many calling to me to close it tight, to choose safety and self-preservation instead.
Oh what if my Jesus had chosen those things instead!

I choose to believe what I cannot see, to go where I am called to go, to do what I have been called to do. However great or small, this is Christ’s plan for me. Far be it for me to say where I will go and what I will do, who I will accept or embrace. I cannot know what eternity holds. I do not know who has been waiting for this little light of mine in a darkness all their own, all their lives. I don’t know. I just know I choose to enter into the darkness, to look it full in the face, because He first dared to enter and look into mine.
Then, and only then, will I - in Him – shine and be the light to others so they may know Christ the way I have been blessed to know Him.

First blog post

Ahhh..........the blog I've always wanted to write!!!! So excited that I have finally made this priority and I get to share this with you. Blogging is on my bucket list and happens to be one of my creative outlets that will allow me to share all the things that inspire and motivate me. You can say I am pretty creative which God has really blessed me.

How will a simple girl like me ever write a book one day if she doesn't sit and write out the words that are in her head. On a daily basis, there is a story to tell. I want to capture my thoughts here and see where this next chapter in my life takes me. This is my story about bits from our everyday life, my journey through multiple pregnancy losses, personal goals, all things creative, thoughts that will inspire and reasonate with you, and most importantly my relationship with Christ. Why have all of these things if we can't share it with those we love.

May my words and insight be a delight and comfort for you....


Love Mellie