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| Where God has taken mePrayer Partner and Beloved Friends,
I would like to reiterate how
blessed I am that God has placed each one of you in my life as a prayer
partner and a friend. As I look back on the past couple of months I
realize how blessed I truly am to be here for this time and season. In
the past couple of months God has shown me so much, taught me so much,
and I cannot fathom to tell you what all has happened since I wrote you
last (in the fall). As I reflect it all seems like a blur of a busy
schedule and what at times has became I would like to call the ministry
energizer bunny, I would not trade it for anything. As I reflect on the
past couple of months I have seen God's hand move in ways that I could
not fathom and in ways at the time I did not desire but as I pray that
He allows for me to follow His lead I am swept away.
Lately at the office I have been listening to a lot of
Fernando Ortega. My roommate in college introduced me to Ortega last
year as I prepared to travel to Micronesia. These lyrics have resonated
with me
"This time next year
There'll be stories to tell
And he will listen to you, quiet in your arms
And there'll be songs to sing him
While he goes to sleep
When we gather in your home
This time next year"
As
I have listened to these lyrics I would not have imagined being where I
am this time last year. It is only by the grace of God that He has
placed me her for this specific time and season.
As I have journeyed the past couple months it has been such a
joy to see the Holy Spirit move in ways beyond my imagination and even
challenge in ways that I could not imagined being challenged..
In
January I decided to pursue a healthy lifestyle and exercise regimen.
As I made the decision and prayed for the energy to stick with it, God
placed an old friend in my life, Candice. Candice and I have been
friends since Kindergarten and our mothers were childhood friends.
Candice recently relocated to the Bellevue area with her husband and
she is in the process of being certified for a personal trainer. I
reconnected with her through myspace and since then I have became her
guinny pig and has lost 15 lbs! We are both very excited!! It feel
great to be healthy and has been much easier than what I imagined!
Another highlight since the New Year, God has given me the
opportunity through various activities, retreats and such to reconnect
and connect with new friends in the Nashville area. These friends have
been brought to me in God's timing and not my own. It has been great to
reconnect and connect with these individuals and has a made a huge
blessing in my transition. I look forward to journeying with them!
Towards the end of last year I was struggling with the being
fed spiritually and being in a personal accountability group and bible
study group. A couple weeks ago I had the opportunity to begin a Beth
Moore Bible Study with my college roommate and another new friend. We
are studying the book for Daniel and it is such a blessing to walk
through this together, we usually cook dinner and have bible study
following dinner. It is great to have the support of these individuals
in my life on a daily basis.
I believe it is amazing to see God at work and see Him doing
His thing in His timing when we allow for Him too. That is a lesson
that God is teaching me, Melia- let me move in my Way and my timing,
trust me! Why at times is that lesson so hard to learn?
I am richly blessed by a community of support, love and
encouragement at Belle Meade. We have made a journey from implamenting
the vision that the was created by the movement of the spirit in the
midst of the children's vision team the past six months into the
forming of the children's council. The Children's council meet for the
first time this past Thursday evening and was amazing... Rachel (the
interim before I began offered to chair the first council before I
began and God's grace has allowed for us to work really well together!)
We had 25 parents, grandparents and individuals in the congregation to
show up for the first children's council meeting and I was overwhelmed
with their support, encouragement, and ownership of the program. The
program is truly the Lords and He is raising individuals up to surround
me as a support team and it is amazing. I am truly blown away by the
work of the Spirit.
During the past couple months it has been a joy to see play
groups began, conference events be sponsored, Sunday evening fellowship
start, relationships be formed and lives be changed... There is nothing
that I can take credit for but I am so blessed by the constancy of your
prayers and what the Lord is truly doing in our midst.
During the past couple months I have learned so much about
me, have been challenged in ways that has caused me to have greater
dependancy on God and also things have occurred for my faith to be
strengthened... I have realized that ministry is a way of life and if I
am not rooted in the word of God, saturated by His Spirit and
surrounded by you all, I will falter and fail and get burned out in the
day in and day out. However, without a doubt I know that God has placed
here for this time and season and I praise God that I serve a living
God who is active in our midst!
Prayer Requests
Tonight I am leaving to travel to Alabama
for the National Children's Ministry Forum through late Thursday
evening. Please pray for safety, learn a lot, form many great
relationships
That the Holy Spirit will truly move in our midst
and that as the Children's Ministry and the Church walk through the
changes, transitions of the next year, God will truly guide and lead
That I will grow in my relationship with God and others and that He will direct all of my paths
An a couple unspoken prayer concern that God will work out all the details and He will be glorified
How are you really doing? How can I be praying for you?
I cannot wait to hear from you!
Have a blessed week! | | |
| New Life
A New Life
I
am so excited... I am so thankful for what God is doing in my life
right now, I am living a new life and it is a new journey... Today was
a birthing in the children's ministry at church and that is so
exciting... I truly feel transitioned and settled finally! I love my
family there and so thankful for the new family I have made in the past
few months...
Over the past few weeks I have had wonderful
opportunities to reconnect with old friends and build new friendships
and that is so awesome, God amazes me how He places the people in your
life that you need at certain times... I have grown so tight and so
close to the people God has placed in my life the past two weeks some
of these individuals turning into my best friends and having the best
of times, knowing God has great things in store for them and excited
about their journey ahead.... You all know who you are and becasue of
them I am different and they are having great impacts on my life...
I
am choosing to live a different lifestyle, I am choosing to live
HEALTHY! In the past week I have done a complete one eighty in my
eating habits and my exercise regimen and it thrills me! I am so
thankful for an old friend that God placed in my life really recently
is Candice! She has turned into my personal trainer, cheerleader, and
encourages and it such a huge help... I am going to be fit and
healthy... This week has had it is ups and downs but I feel the best I
have in a long time, I am thrilled when I make a healthy choice or turn
something down or excerise... I am so thankful for my NEW life and new
decisions... As I was talking to Ellie tonight over coffee and green
tea, this decisions totally effect who I am. As I look at this total
lifestyle change, I can truly thank God that He has not brought anyone
in my life for a relationship... In my future relationship with my
husband, I want health and fitness to be important and do not believe I
would have felt the same before these decsions...
Overall, I
am totally blessed and praise God for all that He is doing! He totally
amazes me, He supplies all my needs and everything I need comes from
Him, but why at times do I struggle to realize that... He knows what He
is doing, I am the one He is asking to listen and obey...
Love you all!! Blessings! | | |
| Power of PrespectiveDear loved ones, I am very thankful for each of you! God has been teaching me so much recently about thankfulness and I desire to share you... If you recieved this it is because you are very important to me and part of the global community of brothers and sisters that God has placed in my life... Always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ...Ephesians 5
As the ones closest to me know lately I have been on steriods in my relationship with God... I am so thankful for His involvement, His love, His beauty... The way He reveals himself, shows Himself to us even in the midst of challenges, times of growth, times when things do not seem to make since, or times when you do not understand a relationships or the majority of the relationships you are in... God is asking me for ultimate trust but why do so many times it is hard for me to be thankful. For thankfulness as my pastor put it be my "Life Long Companion..." Why do I get lost in the thoughts of success, perfection, worry or seeing the small intimate picture of one thing rather than the bigger picture...
Sure there maybe things going on that I don't understand... But don't I trust God and His bigger plan... In the period of swift transition over the past several months and even year as everything has unfolded going through a period of having no clue where I was heading (cruise ship, yeah right) have I become unaware at being thankful and I am in the process of relaizing how thankful I am, am I giving thanks in all situations? NO! Many times I become aware of the miniscual things that personally bug me that I miss the greater picture of what God is doing...
I so desire for my self, my human flesh to get out to the way and over the past week God has taught, revealed, made me desperate and hungry for Him... In the midst challenged me with a new way of Thankfulness... Yeah, I am still not perfect at this but I am asking God to lead the way, I desire to be there...
As I awoke at 4:00 am, God brought to mind how thankful I should be (yeah, I confess I need a better sleeping schedule) but I thank God for waking me up to clarify my thoughts... Bring to memory what He has done and all that I have to be thankful for... I am still really liking my church, still in a period of transition and sometimes it is so easy to lose focus and become obsessed with small things such as not having people who are my age at the church and lack of ways so far to really meet people my age and make friends. However, I have been able to reconnect and connect with friends/ people (some maybe not what I have ever done before but proves to be a blessing- Christina and I hope to be new friendships) and for all that I am thankful! Tonight I have realized how blessed I really am! I am so thankful for everything I have and so thankful for God placing me here. It is so easy to get focused on the here and now and miss sight of the bigger picture and I am so guilty of that, but in reality all is well and I could not ask to be better! I don't know at times I cannot even fathom that I get paid to do what I do, and then there are times that I am like yeah I better because so many things to do or so many meetings to attend...
God truly has blessed me beyond my wildest dreams, here I sit in my own apartment with a brand new car, investing in people and ministering to people I have never met before August. AMAZING family whom I love dearly and could not get a long with better... Parents who truly support and love me no matter what, what kind of attitude I have, etc, who have taught me and continue to teach me so mcuh... A global church of connected believers (sure I may not have a church home) but I have so much more!! I have brothers and sisters who are the dearest to me (these people include you all friends from Bryan, Chrysalis, McMinnville, various mission trips, different churches who are spread across the world) I know that they are my support, my greater community of brothers and sisters who hold me in prayer, who I miss, but no matter what they are going through now that God is working all things together for good... We all have our different areas of influence but God has placed us where we are to be a light for Him... As a speaker at Bryan put last semester Christians all located together can smell and be like manuer however as you spread them out they are truly able to radiate the love of Christ...
Thinking before august if you would have told me I would be here right now I would have laughed... In the midst of I all I cannot fathom the handiwork of God and him choosing to use me... Why me, why do I struggle so much, why do I doubt, why do I lose prespective, why do I do the things I do? Even though I struggle with my humanity, my humaness, my sinful nature I am so desperate, so hungry for Him, I want him to be my center, to my whole, to find my total hope, love and all in Him even at times of getting side tracked, losing focuss, getting caught up in the miniscual personal picture, asking questions I yearn to connected to grow in HIm to be a reflection of Him, for me to get out of the way completely and for Him to take control (even at times it is a huge struggle and it is not the way I am living)... I want my families to be in deep commitment to Him, I want them to grow together, be loved, feel his Love, accept His love, and the children to walk in His grace... I want to be His hands, His ears, His mouth, have His heart to shine through and me get of the way... Please pray for me as it is my desire but at times such a struggle... How can I pray for you?
In all of this I see thankfulness... Yes there hard times, but it is in all the power of prespective... As we take time for thanksgiving, I pray we will (me being the biggest one) and truly pause, reflect and be thankful! Even with all that some of us maybe going through a lot there are things we can be thankful for... Small things- home, food, friends, family even the internet access to interact with one another...
Please share your thoughts, concerns, how you really are, what is going on, prayer request: I would love to hear from you!
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| How are you really... Lessons learned along the way...
A friend recently asked: Melia, how are you (REALLY) Well, I would love to answer that finally... In the past couple months God has taught me so much, I have changed, I have grown and I am fully come to believe what my counselors reminded me the last day of camp; When God closes one doors, He opens another... How are you really? Lessons learned along the way... In an email a friend asked how are you doing (really?)
I am realizing so many times I fail to take the time to truly express myself... I ask you really how are you... Why do we fail to be vunerable? What do we live in the diachomy of God's blessing? Why does change cause growth... Questions I am left to ask...
I am really tired, wanting to be around my friends and missing some of those BC days (well without the HW), the ability to crawl up on Susanna's bed and for us to talk until we are both falling asleep, the ability to go to the grassy bowl with David or Joanna, the ability to with my closest girl friends playing Apples to Apples, Catch Phrase, Rolling down the grassy bowl or having until 3 am hard core conversations...
I am getting settled but as I am getting settled I feel there are a million things to do and I move a 5 mph and there is no way I can get it all done... I want to know all the answers instead of seeing all those questions... I am learning that I need to figure out how to manage my time better! I am figuring out that I desire to be able to do all these things but can't to do it all... I want to be motivated to get up in the am and excerise and read my bible, spend time and silence and seem to cannot get myself out of bed (I am lazy in the mornings) I want to talk to my friends but have to learn to let it go... I want to have these crazy deep amazing relationships at church but it is not happening (deep relationships take time to build),,, I am wondering if I will ever get married? I am wondering why things happen one way and not the other... However, I am thankful that God has placed me where I am at...
I desire to find myself fully living in Him... I am seeing how God has used different things in my life to led me to where I am now... I am reuniting with friends who have been frazzled or separated and for that I am thankful. I am connecting with friends who I have been around in 5 years and finding some friendships never change regardless of time... I am planning with Ellie about a christmas party possibly or maybe a news years party or both... I am finding that when time and distance separates relationships, things changed but it is not always necessarily for the bad but for the different... I am realizing more and more that when God closes one door He opens another...
I am realizing how dear my friends are, how precious my family is and I have to find my total dependance on God instead of struggling to be a people pleaser, learning to lean fully on God and find my support in Him and trusting Him with new relationships.. I have learned that many times the way you imagine things are not the way that they will be or are... I have learned you have to always be ready and willing to learn, you never know everyting and there are many things that one can be told about, warned about, or read about but really will have no clue until you walk through it...
Learning to love not living in a dorm but then struggling with not having a roommate to say laugh until it hurts, eat chocolate with, or goof off and leading into deep conversations, Things are constantly in transition and we are constantly growing or lagging... Humans cannot remain neutral... I am so thankful for the faith I have in God, I know He knows what He is doing and I can trust Him fully... I am thankful for the MANY blessings He has given me biggest being my family (blood and adoptive "friends who might as well be family, you are as close or closer"
Learning to open, honest and vulnerable to friends when they are really want to know how I am, not just the generic "I am fine!" Realizing how blessed I am and so many times I do not realize it, For all of this I am thankful and can see God's hand... That is how I Really am... How are you? I beg of you to answer... Really how are you? Are you willing to be vunerable and honest? If so what will it reveal? What will you learn along the way? What will God be able to show you?
In all of this: I see God's hand working mightly and the lessons I have learned from the mighty blessing of being at Belle Meade is included in the midst of all the lessons being learned... I know I am where God has called me to be and in the midst I am learning so much from Him in all areas... God is faithful and through our transitions, new adventures and old adventures He reveals Himself in ways that I cannot even imagine... For God is more than we could ever imagine my friends... As I am sharing with you this day what I have learned, I beg you what has God taught you? What is He teaching you? There is freedom in sharing and being a part of community with brothers and sisters you love and trust...
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| Friends, I am very thankful for God placing me in Nashville. It has been such a blessing to be here and do serving in ministry at Belle Meade. I daily see his hand at work and thankful for God placing me here. Thank you for your prayers. Please continue to pray for me, the ministry, and all that is going on. However, I have one specific prayer request. As most of you do not know, I haven't really told many people at all- if I have not told you please do not hold it against me, some of my closest prayer warriors don't even know. However, after my parents left tonight, I totally felt the urgency to send out an update to all my friends. A couple weeks ago, I was in a car accident, my car was totaled. Praise God that I am ok and was not injured, neither was the other person. PRAISE GOD! However, my car was totaled. It happened three days after moving into my new apartment. With everything getting settled, it has been a headache. I am in search of a new car and really need your prayers. Yesterday and today, my parents looked for cars and really did not find except one a car that fits my needs and what I desire for the price to be a month. God works miracles and I need the prayer and support of my dear dear friends! Please pray for me and my parents and for God to work things in ways that are covered in His grace and so good that only God can do it, and that He will recieve all the glory and praise. Also, for peace for me and while we are at the insurance. Thank you so much for your prayers! We were created to walk in relationship with one another and I hope you will let me know how I can journey in prayer together with you. Love you all! Melia | | |
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