Monday, April 28, 2008

Happy Birthday to a Special Lady!!



Sunny & I with Mom...way back when!

All the Girls!



Friends forever...



Thanks for being such an inspiration in my life!! I love you!

My Teacher-My Friend! In Honor of One of the most "Positive Influences" in my life...

My teacher (she was great!), my Assistant dean (And my all time favorite!), my Highschool Principal (who loved me and challenged me in the greatest ways), at times my Boss at work, My Bell Choir and Octet leader (How I miss those days), My encourager and one of my most faithful lifetime mentors besides my own parents. (Of course, Mr. Holland stands right up there too!!) Don't know where I'd be without them...

(And life went on...)

Over the years, she also became: My teammate, My fellow partner in youth ministry, sometimes my conscience, ("Thou shalt hear a word behind thee from Mrs. Holland saying...this is the way, walk ye in it.") My shoulder to cry on, My friend to laugh with, My friendly foe to wrestle with, My gentle kick in the pants when I needed it, My challenge maker who can make me want to scream and laugh and cry all at once...and who has pushed me to do my best even when the going was all up hill... (This list too could go on and on!) This incredible person has been such a Huge blessing and inpiration!!! I'm sooo thankful for the support, wisdom, tears, and prayers that she has soooo lavishly bestowed upon me over the years.

Yes, I know...I'm being really nostalgic and sentimental all at once.... (not things that Mrs. Holland really realities in me... ) but I just want to honor YOU on your Birthday Mrs. Holland, and let you know (and all the World) what a special person you are!!! And I respect you soooo much!!!

Too bad everyone doesn't get someone like you in their life...If they did, this world would be a much more positive place!

(Happy Birthday one LAST TIME... I love you!)

Friday, April 25, 2008

In Tribute to a Special Roommate...



"Hooo hum....back to living life....alone again..."

Well...for the first time in almost a year, I have my room all to myself again! Alisha moved in with me about this time last year and was with me for the summer, then Val moved in with me last August and has been with me til one week ago, when she and Amanda moved into their own house! (Daryl's old house for those interested...)

You'd think I'd be happy to have my space again....but I have to admit (sniff sniff), I'm a little sad and a little lonely...

"Val, why did you have to leave...??"

(Sad Sigh... )

No more talking ourselves to sleep at night, as we re-hashed the burden of our hearts or the events of the day. No more goodnight hugs or prayers. No more sharing perfume and toothpaste. No more coming home to find my bed made (on those rare days I'd left to work in such a rush I hadn't made it). No more coming home to find my laundry done or the place re-organized. No more having a friend always here, ready at a moment's notice for adventure...a walk in the park, a shopping spree to Victoria Gardens, or to the Gym. No more waking up in the morning to have our devotions then excitedly sharing what we'd learned or discovered "that day." No more in the middle of the night, "Hey Mel...you know I was thinking..." and then Val would proceed to elaborate on whatever new inspiration had hit her mind. No more, "Hey Val...I need to talk..." (Val was a real faithful listener too!) No more helping each other cook meals or buy food. No more having to quietly slip in the door when I'd been out late so I didn't wake up my roommate...No more fighting over the thermostat (We didn't really fight...but it definitely was an area of differing perspective at times), No more waking each other up with our alarms or friends that call at all odd hours of the night... No more waking up to hear Val tossing and turning in her bed across the room when she couldn't sleep or had a migraine (sorry Val, I tried to help, but wish I could have helped more!). No more waiting up for each other because we had something important we had to share... No more car-pooling together to friends homes or to the store. The list could go on and on! And it does... You just never realize how much fun a great roommate is...until they move out!! :-(

There are sooo many things that I find that I miss since Val has moved out! Yes, sharing your room and home with someone definitely has it's ups and downs, and there are compromises and adjustments to be made. But the joy of having one of my best friends as a roommate far out weighed any hurdles that we had to climb. So yes...it's kinda nice to have a little more space...but at the same time...It's hard to have the room all to myself again as well! ;-/

(Smiling again...)

While I don't have a roommate any more, I still have a great friend...and she only lives a few blocks down the street. She also still has a phone...so while it may not be the same, we will continue to share many more good times...and who knows, I may just go camp out at her place sometimes too! (I just want you to know, I miss you Val!)

"Ooooh No!!!"

(Sad disturbed expression now crosses my face...)

I just remembered that my Sister will be moving out soon too... (She gets married July 20th to one Great Guy!!) And that's a great consolation...but what am I going to do then???

"Ooooh no....Oooh no!" (Sniff sniff...)

Ok....time to stop being "Melody-dramatic" and go to bed... :-)

Sunday, April 20, 2008

A "Mountain High" Experience

This past Sabbath, Advent Hope had their annual "Mountain Church" excursion. And this time, instead of going up to the North Fork Trail above Jenks Lake, we went to "Mountain High" ski resort...which is shut down now that the snow has melted. It was beautiful!!!

After church, we went on a hike up "Mtn High." It was a good hike, filled with insightful conversations, snowballs, and adventure. And we even got to ride a ski lift for a bit as well! (Or pretend we were riding it!)

As usual, it was a blessing to be out in nature!

Friday, April 18, 2008

Adventure to Palm Springs

Valerie's mom has been visiting for a few days, so yesterday we took her to Palm Springs to sight-see and ride the Tram. As you can see in the pictures, Doug came along as well. He was our navigator and showed us a few neat things (like the Dinosaur Park & the Vegan Restaurant). He also taught us the unique skill of sledding on snow without a sled!

I love the mountains and pines, so this get-away was a real blessing!! The sun was out, and the temperature was perfect with very little wind...even at the top of the overlooks. Valerie and I have been wanting to take the tram together for months now, so it was a special adventure for us, and I think her mom also thoroughly enjoyed herself.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Being a Christian isn't all about smooth riding and sunny skies...

Yes, as my title above states...I've been learning more and more that Christianity isn't just about smooth riding, peaceful meadows, and sunny skies! (So much for sweet childhood day dreams and romantic fantasies of a peaceful journey through life where evil never stepped her foot!) Nope!!! Whoever wrote "Row row your boat gently down the stream, merrily merrily merrily merrily, life is but a dream...."' didn't know much about true life!!! At least not about the life of someone seeking to live wholly for Christ!!

"True Christianity" is all about, as I'm discovering in a new and fresh way the more time goes by, learning to be "Victorious in Christ" even when the road gets bumpy, the fields turn to thistles, and the skies turn cloudy and gray!!! In fact, so much more beyond that.... "True Christianity" is learning to trust God and be faithful...even when your world is turned completely upside down, you seem to be losing everything you hold dear, you're bankrupt, broken, alone, and the waves of destruction seem about to take your very life. It is then...like with Job...that "True Christianity" is displayed!!

In Isaiah 24 we find some pretty sobering verses...verses that speak of the Lord turning the earth upside down, verses that speak of everything being made waste. Basically straight and to the point, we see the results of disobedience, and the results of sin.

"The earth mourneth and fadeth away, the world languisheth and fadeth away, the haughty people of the earth do languish. The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinances, broken the everlasting covenant, therefore hath the curse devoured the earth and they that dwell therein are desolate...and few men are left." vs 4-6

Pretty sobering texts....yet further down we see the simple exhortation:

"Wherefore glorify ye the Lord in the fires..." Isa 24:15

Wow...we're looking at destruction and chaos and complete upheaval...to our lives, our world and everything in it...yet God says, "glorify me in the fire!" What does this mean?

As I walk through the "fires of trials," and as I watch others walk through sometimes seemingly overwhelming difficulties and pain....God has been speaking to my heart in an even more emphatic way lately...

"Let me refine you and grow you through this trial, Mel! Hold tight to me! This is for your good...this is to purify your soul! You can glorify me EVEN IN THIS!!!!"

An April 3rd quote from my all-time favorite "Streams in the Desert" brings this interesting insight in regards to trials.

"A man has as much religion as he can show in times of trouble. The men who were cast in the fiery furnace came out as they went in - except their bonds. How often in some furnace of affliction God strikes them off. Their bodies were unhurt - their skin was not even blistered. Their hair was unsinged, their garments not scorched, and even the smell of fire had not passed upon them. And that is the way Christians should come out of furnace trials - liberated from their bonds, but untouched by the flames." - Margaret Bottome

"It is good for me that I have been afflicted that I might learn thy statutes." Ps 119:71

"For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." Rom 8:18

And several other quotes from the pen of inspiration that have blessed me recently...

"It requires the testing time to reveal the pure gold of love and faith in the character. When trials and perplexities come upon the church, then the steadfast zeal and warm affections of Christ's true followers are developed. . . . The humble in heart, who have daily felt the importance of riveting their souls to the eternal Rock, will stand unmoved amid the tempests of trial, because they trusted not to themselves. . . . (From the chapter "Testing Times reveal Faith and Love" - book Reflecting Christ page 83)

"Our sea will not always be smooth. We shall have storm and tempest. But we are not to look upon these as something strange. Meeting difficulties is a part of our education, and is necessary to the formation of a strong, symmetrical character. And through trials we are to be purified and our faith strengthened.

So James says, "Count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience." We do not always understand the meaning of our trials and difficulties; but in the future life we shall understand things that here greatly perplex us. We shall also realize how strong a helper we had, and how angels were commissioned to guard us as we followed the counsel of the Word of God." (The Watchman - April 28, 1908 par. 9)

So...Praise the Lord for trials!!! And Praise the Lord that He doesn't abandon us in them, but walks through them with us. (Like the three worthies in the fiery furnace!)

Yet, if like Job, we don't always FEEL His presence beside us, may we still be faithful! May "I" still be faithful!!!!

"I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved." Ps 16:8

"Though he slay me, yet will I trust in Him. But I will maintain my own ways before him." Job 13:15

"But He knoweth the way that I take...when He hath tried me...I shall come forth as GOLD..." Job 23:10

Wednesday, April 09, 2008

California Gold...

This past Sabbath one of my dreams came true! I got to go visit the California poppy fields! Of course, it was a natural high. (Smile smile...) I've been wanting to see the poppies ever since I saw pictures of Sunny and Tim's visiting them a few years ago. And let me tell you, this year was spectacular! Just check out the slide show below.

In the morning, I drove up with Sunny and Tim who were going early to meet Tim's parents. Then in the afternoon, part of my Advent Hope gang joined us, and so I also got to have fun with them! What a breath taking wonder those golden poppies were...like fields of gold. If it can be soooo beautiful here...what will Heaven be like??

"Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things that God hath prepared for them that love Him." I Cor 2:9

Fields of gold...

Thursday, April 03, 2008

Called to a Higher Kingdom...

This is a journal entry by my friend Leslie, that really touched me. To see it's original posting, visit: www.Authenticgirl.com

Last month we hosted our 2007 Authentic Girl Conference in the beautiful mountains of Estes Park, Colorado. I was encouraged and blessed to see the radiant, eager, beautiful faces of so many young women who were eager to live a set-apart life. The message that we shared was certainly not a fluffy, comfortable one. In fact, I spoke about things to those girls that I have been hesitant to speak of for quite some time. I'd like to share a few of those things with you now...

Amy Carmichael wrote, "We must look upon the world, with all its delights and all its attractions, with suspicion and reserve. We are called to a higher Kingdom, we are touched with a diviner Spirit. It is not that He forbids us this or that comfort or indulgence; it is not that He is stern, demanding us to follow a narrow path. But we who love our Lord and whose affections are set on Heavenly things voluntarily and gladly lay aside the things that charm and ravish the world, that, for our part, our hearts may be ravished with the things of Heaven that our whole being may be poured forth in constant and unreserved devotion in the service of the Lord who died to save us.”

Last year Eric and I began thinking about our entertainment habits. We didn't have cable TV and only watched movies or went to a movie theater every other week or so, and the things we saw were always fairly "tame" and family oriented. Most Christians would have said we were fairly conservative in that area of our lives. But we began to wonder whether this was an area of our life that was truly glorifying God. Whenever a movie would have something in it that was ungodly, we would inwardly say, "Well, God knows I don't agree with that part." But we would still sit there and watch it, justifying it by saying "but its such a great story, it's a fairly clean movie, and I need some time to relax."

Just by going into a movie theater or a video store, we realized that not only were we allowing ourselves to be "charmed by the things of this world," but we were actually supporting - with our time and money - an industray that exalts violence, darkness, and perversion. As Amy Carmicael said, it was not that God was demanding us to forgo these forms of entertainment. But we desired that every moment of our day, including our down time, would be a fragrant offering to Him. So, for the past 9 months or so, instead of renting videos or going to theaters, we have begun filling our "spare" time with different activies - activies that would enhance, and not distract, our relationship with Christ. As a result of laying down the world's entertaiment in our lives, we have been able to devote 2-3 hours each day to prayer, another hour to reading about the lives of great Christians and 1-2 hours to study of God's Word. And it has been the most incredible season of our lives!

Most of us complain that we don't have enough time to really pray, seek God, or study His Word. But very few of us ever consider giving up the selfish, worldly activites that occupy much of our time - we see them as a "right" we have. I challenge you, as I challenged the girls at our conference, to consider a pattern shift in this area of your life. Instead of finding a "counterfeit" joy and fulfillment in movies and entertainment, search for true joy in an intimate relationship with Christ - and I guarantee you will not be disappointed!

As Kelly, one of the conferences attendees, wrote, "It is so amazing the ways in which the Lord Jesus has manifested His presence in my life as I have removed all forms of television and movies. I have realized how empty and dry these forms of entertainment were to my spirit. I am just beginning to tap into what it means to be in the fullness of Jesus presence and what joy that truly brings!"

I couldn't agree more. I have no idea what new movies just came out. I haven't been to a Blockbust in almost a year. But today I realized with startling clarity that I don't even miss those things. I've discovered something far better - the adventure of a life fully consumed by Christ.

[Mel here now: Thanks Leslie!! And I totally agree with all of the above! It's not like we're really giving up something that great anyway, for in seeking for the Higher Kingdom, we're actually gaining sooo much more. But the devil doesn't want us to experience the joys of that "higher calling," so....as I shared in prayer meeting this last week, he will do anything he can to keep us overstuffed, bombarded and buried in the things of this world so we wont have time for what truly matters! With God's help, let's not allow him to succeed!]