A simple $25 donation can make a BIG difference!!

BAM! POW! ZAP! Today is LLS’s inaugural Superhero Visionaries Action Day and I am joining forces with my fellow cancer fighting Superheroes to raise funds for cancer patients everywhere in partnership with The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS)

When Wren was just 3 years old, was diagnosed with high-risk Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL). Wren endured 2.5 years of harsh chemo and radiation therapy. She received 17 blood and platelet transfusions, also known to her as her unicorn juice because it was magic that would help her. At age 6, Wren rang the bell signaling the end of her treatment! At age 7, Maura was having severe joint pain. Her family rushed to the hospital. In the middle of the night, Maura received a leukemia diagnosis. During treatments, Maura loves to listen to Taylor Swift and is excited for her upcoming season of soccer!

Both superheroes and their families have been fighting every day since, and I am asking that you join me, Wren and Maura in this fight against cancer.

While it is heartening to acknowledge that childhood leukemia has the highest cure rate among blood cancers, it remains a sobering reality that it continues to claim the lives of more children under the age of 20 than any other disease. This stark truth underscores the urgency for change, and I firmly believe that by joining forces with LLS, we can usher in a new era where a cure for blood cancers is not a distant hope, but a present reality.

Your donation holds the power to spare families from the agonizing loss of a child, sibling, parent, or beloved one, while also empowering LLS to continue pioneering life-saving research. I urge you to delve deeper into the impactful work of LLS and its unwavering mission.

Please visit the link to make your donation, along with many, many others who are taking action across not only our city but the entire country

https://pages.lls.org/voy/nc/triangle24/mself8

Today is Superhero Visionaries Action Day!

Hi my name is Melanie. And I LOVE china. I am a work in progress. Tea Party anyone? 🥰 🤦‍♀️

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/m12VxrWNfX1YVxvN/?mibextid=WC7FNe

#ithaspotential #teafortwo #mycupoftea #teaparty #teatime

Please forgive the random posts and the fast that hey days are out of order. I had an unexpected hospital stay. Here is an update. Cherish your prayers for continued healing.

Many years have passed since I witnessed this admittedly ordinary moment, yet every so often, it comes to mind once again.

I scurried outside on a cold and blustery winter’s day in West Virginia to call my husband Monty and children in for dinner. I paused before trying to get his attention as he was intently engaged with our 14 month old son.

Monty never glanced my way. His focus was set, his gaze steady, his legs planted wide. Twenty feet to my right, he leaned over, each outstretched hand firmly holding our chubby boys fingers as he practiced walking, slowly shuffling between his legs. Ryan moved forward inch by inch, step by shaky step, but even from a distance, I knew he was safe.

I have entertained a hundred questions in my mind over the last few days. Doubt, overwhelm and fear while facing the unknowns of a sudden and unexpected medical crisis. Some of my concerns have no concrete answers. But so much that is known, the very real and true evidences that speak to our good, merciful God and Heavenly Father. Neurologist. Cardiologist. Hospitalists. In the middle of the chaos and the many layers of information given to us, something subtle shifted today in my spirit in the overwhelm and emotions related to it all.

Just like that unassuming day, there wasn’t an audible voice, no burning bush, no whisper in the winter wind. But the still quiet moving of the Holy Spirit that spoke into my remembrance the following verse:

“Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.” Isaiah 41:10

The Message paraphrase says it this way: “Don’t panic. I’m with you. There’s no need to fear for I’m your God. I’ll give you strength. I’ll help you. I’ll hold you steady, and keep a firm grip on you.”

Perhaps the message etched in my memory is that of a very small picture of a much larger truth from days gone by. Maybe, just maybe, it was a visual for the girl who happens to be a visual learner, a snapshot that would remain frozen in her memory, ready to be remembered just when she feels unsteady, troubled or overwhelmed.

Suffice it to say, through the years I have paid special attention to verses that talk about how we’re secure in God’s hands. Over and over again, those truths have grown deep, each one reiterating the promise of Isaiah 41.

In John 10, Jesus says that no one can snatch us from the Father’s hand.

In a moment of reflection, the writer of Psalm 73 says, “My feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold… Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand.”

In Psalm 139, we’re assured that even in the deepest dark, God holds on.

Over and over, Scripture seemed to echo itself in my soul of my Heavenly Father’s promise: We are held secure. We. Are. Held. God will not let us go and never, not for a single moment, will we find ourselves walking in and through this journey alone.

We can rest assured that one thing is absolutely certain: we do not walk alone.
Emmanuel, the God who named Himself “God With Us”, created the entire universe and then, in great humility, made Himself small enough to be held in human hands.

The One who formed man from the dust of the ground became the God-man who bent down to write in the dirt, who broke bread and then broke open, arms spread wide and hands pierced even as they reached out. And even then, all the while, He was holding each and every one of us secure, perfectly keeping every promise that was made.

This IS who He IS. This IS what He DOES.

Time has ticked on, but the memory of that tiny wobbly toddler secure in Monty’s hands resurfaces on occasion. It’s still funny to me that something so ordinary, a moment that lasted no more than half a minute, continues to circle back so many years later. Even now, in the middle of my own unexpected detour, I picture myself not from a distance, but as the beloved daughter of God looking up at the beautifully scarred hands of my Heavenly Father holding mine.

In my imagination, just beyond the hands wrapped around mine, there’s a gentle smile, a little wink, and a kind voice that says, “I had you then and I hold you now. Come what may, I’ve got you.”

His gaze is steady. His grip is secure. Step by shaky step, we are held all the way home.

Never, not for one moment, will we find ourselves walking alone.

Note: I am home. Incredible care. Wrapped up in His love. We were blessed with a miraculous outcome. And EVEN IF the outcome had been different, I have known what it is to be held. God is a good, good Father rich in mercy and love.