It is God who arms me with strength, and makes my way perfect.” Psalm 18:32
Happy Monday
A brand new start to the week! Ever found yourself burned out after trying to do things all by yourself?
It can be easy to try and accomplish things in our own strength.
Even when we do manage to be successful in getting things done, we rarely are ever able to enjoy the outcome because we are so exhausted.
God designed us to cooperate with Him in all things, not operate a one-man show where we do everything in our own power.
Many times, we may long to accomplish things by ourselves because it’s easier than recognizing our own insufficiency. However, God desires to fill in these insufficiencies with His strength!
Often, it is through our weakness and insufficiency that we draw closer to God. When you go to Him and pour out your heart, it is His good pleasure to instill you with His supernatural strength and grace to accomplish that which He has called you to do!
Because of this, do not despise your weakness. Rather, see them as empty “cups” waiting to be filled by the Lord’s power.
When you’re in a close walk with Him, you can have mighty confidence despite your insufficiency, because you know that God is infinite in His sufficiency!
By meditating on His word daily and seeking Him in prayer, the truth of His word will wash over you, permeating your being and empowering you.
Do you need strength today? The Lord is waiting for you with open arms, ready to empower you and equip you with His unfailing love.
Instead of dreading the day ahead, you can approach it with confidence knowing the Lord is working alongside you and through you. You never have to face anything alone, because His abundance of flowing strength will never run out!
May is stroke awareness month. I have not spoken about this much but last January I had two strokes. This song reminded me today of just how grateful I am that God gave me signs to know what to do when the symptoms happened. I have no damage from the first stroke. It happened a week before the second stroke. They say you often get a warning. But clearly it was not loud enough to stop me. And then on a Sunday morning much like today, my right leg collapsed out from under me while I was getting ready for church. I ended up in the floor. Thankfully as soon as I stepped I knew I was going down and was able to brace myself. Thankfully mine were clots and not a bleed.
Quick response is key. I was not eligible for TPA because of my recent eye surgery. But thanks be to God the blood thinners did their job.
After 3 days in ICU, I walked out of the hospital and got into the car. One. More. Day. So thankful. There are small things that changed in my life but the second chance of life has not been wasted.
Today is what we get. My heart is filled with gratitude that my story was not much more life-altering. So this Sunday morning on the porch, I am thankful. I want to encourage you to listen to your body and do not take one day for granted.
One. More. Beautiful. Day.
“Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change” James 1:17
Father, thank you for the gift of life and for one more beautiful day!!
Note: We learned through the course of my stay that my blood thinners were not working properly. I had a genetic mutation where my liver rapidly metabolizes the Plavix that I had been taking. So essentially the medication was not working as it should because of how my liver was processing it. So thanks be to God, a simple medication change has made a world of difference. And God was with me. So faithful and true!
A beautiful reminder of the small and BIG miracles. So much more to do in this life. So grateful to have you enjoy this journey!!!
I am running a bit backwards since the beginning of the year. I have battled the horrible mid/upper respiratory challenge with aches, fever, sore throat virus or whatever you would like to call it for six full days. Six full days of misery but praise God today I feel so much better after a really rough night with lots of coughing and congestion. Finally got the right meds in me and am happy to say…. I am grateful as my heart believes that the worst is behind me.
My new 2025 planner and prayer journal have sat at the foot of my bed this entire time. Since December actually. Every time I have walked by them I have groaned and whispered sweetly to the Lord that I promise to get to these committed treasures. Why? Because my heart is expectant.
2024 was not as anticipated and truly took on a life of its own with some medical setbacks right at the beginning of last January. We took multiple trips last year that were beyond our wildest dreams. But so many of the in between moments have been filled up with many medical visits and extensive testing. I truly felt like I never really got to process 2023 nor prepare for a “state of the union” for 2024.
So rather than simmer in the unrest and regret, I settled into a rhythm of life on a bit of a conveyer ride that just kept going with little reprieve. So much to process. My mind, spirit and body was quickly overwhelmed by adjusting to new challenges, eye surgery, a flooded basement and new medications.
Truthfully, 2024 is simply for me right now a litany of moments, information and things that needed to be done, remembered and ultimately the grace to embrace all that had changed so quickly in my life and our lives.
When I think back this afternoon, it was all beautiful chaos much different than the last 22 years of my life had known. And while I know and hold close spiritual truths so very dear, we are all aware, that to everything there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven. {Ecclesiastes 3}
-to be born, and a time to die; -a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted
-a time to kill, and a time to heal; -a time to break down, and a time to build up
-a time to weep, and a time to laugh -a time to mourn, and a time to dance
-a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together -a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing
-a time to seek, and a time to lose -a time to keep, and a time to cast away
-a time to tear, and a time to sew -a time to keep silence, and a time to speak
-a time to love, and a time to hate; -a time for war, and a time for peace.
Honestly this last week of not feeling well has been filled with moments of an earnest sweetness lined with such grace, thoughtfulness, stillness and recollections of all that God has done in my life. TIME to consider the beautifully broken places, the beautiful handiwork of God and gather my thoughts in a way that I have been unable to do until now. Like right now.
I have despaired when I have set aside time to clear my mind and write the things so near and dear to my heart. I have been unable to write as my heart has truly desired and this has left a void in me that I cannot truly capture with words.
To everything there is a season….
I have waited {which for this heart that longs to be a “doer of the Word”} has had a hard time with. I have never doubted God in this waiting. But my heart would be remiss for those of you reading may need to hear this in your own waiting place as well. So lean in close as I write it out loud for us all as it be a quite lonely place for you as well.
I have been earnest in my prayers for the Lord to make clear this new beautiful and good road He has placed me on. I have lived full in the quietest place my soul has known in many years. So I have been held and known God so real even in this time of silence. Refuge. Comfort. My sweet and faithful Lord has been the keeper of my heart. The one who has held my tears and embraced me in this season of want and yet wait. My desire to love my God, my family and friends has never waned but I have not truly known this part of me until this season.
His promise- beauty from ashes.
So I share today for those who may be walking alongside of me that my heart has never been more ready to receive all that God has for me in this season. And the truth is, I have NO IDEA what that means but I am here body, mind and spirit for the beautiful next steps on this faith journey that we share.
Everything that I write or share will be here as well! I hope you will join me with an expectant heart as we unwrap all that God will do in our lives.
{Postscript}
I returned from Asheville still struggling with fatigue, sore throat, cough, etc… Finally went to the doc yesterday. Pneumonia, double ear infection, antibiotics and steroids. A little better today. Prayers appreciated. Stand down Satan!! Ready for a God-breathed 2025 for His glory!!
“Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through ALL generations. The Lord is trustworthy in ALL He promises and faithful in ALL He does. The Lord upholds ALL who fall and lifts up ALL who are bowed down.
The eyes of ALL look to You, and You give them their food at the proper time. You open Your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing. The Lord is righteous in ALL His ways and faithful in ALL He does.
The Lord is near to ALL who call on Him, to ALL who call on Him in truth. He fulfills the desires of those who fear Him; He hears their cry and saves them.” Psalm 145:13-19
I don’t know about you, but some days I need the reminder that, like a parent who clutches a stumbling child by the arm to prevent them from wiping out, God knows how to uphold me in the moments I fall. He’s not far away. He promises to be right there beside me. He is “trustworthy” in His promises and He is “faithful” in whatever He does. He “upholds” those who fall and He “lifts up” those who are doubled over.
What care and love from our Heavenly Father.
And did you see all the “alls” in this passage?
If you missed them, you might even take time to go back and underline each one. This passage has encouraged my heart through some of the most difficult moments of my life. God’s kingdom endures through not just one or two generations, but ALL generations. He’s trustworthy in not just some of what He promises, but in ALL He promises. He is faithful in not only the things we can visibly understand or see, but in ALL He does. He upholds not some of us, but ALL who fall and ALL who are bowed down. He’s near to not a special few, but ALL who call on Him. What a sweet reminder, and what good news this is, for l am certainly one of the “alls” crying out for His steadying hand.
God is with us and we are held in knowing God has got it ALL. Fully and completely and in ALL the ways that we as His beloved need.
Thank You, Lord, for Your trustworthiness today, and help us lean into Your all-encompassing love for your beloved!!
Journal Thoughts For Today: {write it out as your truth today}
Which promise in this passage is ministering most to your heart today? Why?
In what ways do you feel like you’re “bowed down” these days? How do you usually handle this experience? (Do you try to get back up in your own power and striving? Do you stay on the ground, afraid that you don’t deserve the chance to get back up again?)
Reflecting on your life, how have you seen God uphold you in a moment you were stumbling? How does that past grace give you strength for today’s struggle. 🤗
Prayer:
Father, thank You for being so trustworthy and faithful to me. Thank You for lifting me up even when l am bowed down, and for being near me in all the moments I need You. Help me to call out to You when I fall, when I doubt, when I fear and infuse me with trust that You always hear me, You’ve always got me, and You’ll always answer my cries for help. Give me rest body, mind and spirit today!
I love reading the Bible chronologically. Every few years, I like to travel through the desert with the Israelites and watch them make the same mistakes, over and over and over. Almost every adventure through the history of the Israelites, I have often wondered if maybe we’re all programmed to repeat history. We as humankind since the Garden of Eden, maybe there is a reasonable pattern of getting stuck in a cyle that is inevitable, if it’s possible to avoid the experience of looking at a hard situation and realizing that you’ve been there before, that it’s not as new or surprising as you initially thought.
Strangely enough, those Old Testament stories and my wondering makes me think of Winnie the Pooh. While Pooh wasn’t looking for a new home outside the Hundred Acre Wood, that silly bear and his friends got lost in the woods so many times! In book after book, movie after movie, we saw them wandering around in circles, following their own footprints, jumping at every mysterious sound they hear, passing the same landmarks again and again. Winnie the Pooh and his friends were just as lost and confused as the Israelites. And they were just as mixed up and frightened as I am sometimes in the same scenario.
Now, I certainly don’t mean that l’ve spent decades lost in the same forest. Not literally, at least. I’ve never been haunted by howls or Heffalumps; l’ve never been chased by mysterious animals or gotten so hungry for honey that I begin hallucinating. But have I ever crawled to the end of one race only to be tossed into the middle of another one? Have I ever faced trial after trial after trial until it feels like I’m crawling through mud, like I’m dragging myself through the miry clay?
Have I wandered away from the path God made for me, following my own desires and dreams instead of His? Oh yeah.
Sometimes I’m lost because I’m an Israelite at heart, returning to the same fear and pride and anger that got me in trouble in the first place. When that happens l’m almost always slow to recognize the pattern of my own sin, the responsibility I own for my stress. And even once l do, figuring out how to break the cycle can seem just as difficult and exhausting as sitting and suffering in the sin.
Sometimes find myself (metaphorically in the woods because this life is hard, because circumstances are out of my control and, seemingly. out to get me. And sometimes saying, “when it rains, it pours,” doesnt even come close to describing the mind-numbing weariness that comes with one hard situation after another, with a season determined to illustrate Jesus’ claim that we will certainly face tribulation in this life.
And sometimes we face a situation that is unlike our previous experience but shares enough characteristics with something that’s hurt us or something we’ve struggled with in the past that it brings it all up again. And we find ourselves thinking: Aren’t we out of the woods yet?
How can we be lost again? Aren’t we over this thing?
But not only did Jesus predict that we would face trouble in this world, He declared that He has overcome this world. And when He was breathing His last breaths on the cross, He answered our desperate cries once and for all. “It is finished,” He cried.
It is finished. Though we may feel dizzy with the tribulations of this world, Jesus has promised-both in word and in beautiful, blood-spilling deed—that while we may have started the cycle of sin and entered the proverbial woods of this world, He has finished it. He has borne the weight of every one of our sins, every ounce of mud, every dark corner of the woods, every toss of the cruel wind. He took it all, and He rose victorious. He faced our fears and our doubts and our sin, and He won. It might not feel like it yet, but we know the war is over.
It is finished.
Remember, when you face something that feels achingly familiar, it will not torment you forever. We know how our every story ends and who wins the war; God wrote the ending when His Son gave His life for ours. All our reflection and repentance, our sacrifice and serving, our humbling and hoping-it’s all led us here, to the cross. Lent has prepared us to arrive at the very moment where Jesus took our place in the desperate, doomed battle against the woods and won, where He declared, “It is finished.”
It is finished. Our time in the wilderness and the woods is over. Our Lord has died, for us, but He’s risen again. And it is finished.
O Lord, I am deeply grateful for Your wonderful acts, for Your abundant promises, and for the gift of my relationship with You through Christ.
You have loved me with an everlasting love; You have drawn me with lovingkindness. Jeremiah 31:3
I will sing to the Lord, for He is highly exalted. The Lord is my strength and my song; He has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise Him, My father’s God, and I will exalt Him. Exodus 15:1-2
Take a moment to express your gratitude for the many blessings that you have received from the Lord.
The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14
“To whom will you compare Me? Or who is My equal?” says the Holy One. Lift your eyes to the heavens and see who has created them, He who brings out the starry host by number and calls them each by name. Because of His great might and the strength of His power, not one of them is missing. Do you not know? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, does not grow tired or weary. No one can fathom His understanding. Isaiah 40:25-26, 28
I do not want to be conformed to the pattern of this world but to be transformed by the renewing of my mind, that I may prove that the will of God is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:2
Lord, I thank You for the glory Your Word and for Your incomparable nature. I thank You for the transforming power of Your truth, and I ask that I will order my steps in humility and in gentleness. I bring to you my sinfulness and pray that You would grow in me a heart that longs even more to be more like You.
Gratitude can renew your mind (Roman’s 12:2) and transform the way you see your circumstances.
Gratitude…. Expressing it and surrounding yourself with it, is truly life changing. God’s Word and His promises are full of His many blessings, giving us countless reasons to voice our gratitude and thankfulness. But sometimes gratitude can feel tough to find in a world full of busyness, neglect, distractions and doubt.
My heart this Thanksgiving season is to encourage us all to grow a gratitude so that a heart of thankfulness will flourish in each of our lives. That the seeds of truth from God’s Word that are planted in our hearts, nurtured and cultivated will EXPAND our hearts. Deep roots will awaken anew the wonder of God’s blessings, the steadfastness of His love and the assurance of His faithfulness.
I hope you will join me in the coming days and weeks. Yes, I know, I should have gotten started a few days ago but here we are. Every day, Lord willing, I will post a challenge, thought, question, something to ponder and sprinkle a whole lot of Jesus and the Word of God here as we look toward Thanksgiving.
Grab a notebook, journal or a stack of paper from your printer, dry erase board, make a note in your phone💡 😂 Simply put find somewhere to write things down. Write out a prayer. Document moments of gratitude. Take note of ALL things you have to be grateful for and all the ways you see God blessing your life. Every moment. Every truth. All of this will be seeds planted that will steadily grow a more grateful heart, a faith that strengthens AND deepens AND inspires.
Ready for a new view through the window we all call real life? Not to worry, just a short share daily on my end. Want to know the truth….. If am being honest, my soul is in desperate need of refreshing and I’d love to have you alongside of me for this journey!
Finally- that beautiful view of your world through the window…. Go ahead and look. It is the same old circumstances and the same old struggles. But even in the middle of life real and hard, it is beautiful. It is YOUR story. A story of redeeming love and goodness. Something hopeful. Something praiseworthy. Something to be thankful for.
In the Bible, Paul understood suffering, hardship and difficulty. There were many times he was grasping for gratitude.
“Always give thanks in EVERYTHING.” Ephesians 5:20
Romans 12:2 speaks to the renewing of our mind can transform the way we see our circumstances. No matter the view.
Hope and a heart of gratitude….. in spite of our circumstances.
Pause this moment- Take a deep breath and refocus your attention on God. Tell Him who He is in your life, what He has done for you, what you love about Him and why you are grateful.
Gratitude transforms us. Hope you’ll join me!!
“Fix your eyes on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out.” Romans 12:2
Have been worshipping LOUD over here on Hardin Rd today. Check out this amazing song called Gratitude!! 👇
This room holds so many sweet memories. We purchased our little plot of land in the mid 90’s, built our home in 1998 and it would become our forever home after Monty’s retirement from the US Air Force in 1999.
This was our Ashley’s room and a little differently decorated for our busy high schooler. Truth is, it changed very little through the years. High school. College. Purchasing her first home. Securing a career that she was made for. Finding the love of her life. Marriage. The same….. that is until we welcomed our first grandchild Mason Blake into our tribe.
New paint. The daybed with trundle replaced by a crib for our grandson. Every new grand-baby to come Emma Mae, Abbey Glenn, Nolan Edison and William Tyler have slept peacefully beneath our beloved family tree. The room has held such fullness of love for our #tribeoffive Surely, this room filled with toys and a toddler bed became a mainstay of our every day.
To everything there is a season. Monty’s 90 year old mom’s health had been failing over the last couple months. She was in a place where we felt it was time to bring her to our home. She agreed it was time and for the best. So, we needed our 4th bedroom to be with us upstairs, which meant moving the playroom downstairs.
So after the flip-flop of rooms was complete, we moved Bobbie in. She now enjoys a beautiful bedroom fitted with her childhood bedroom set and lovingly says it feels like home. A special thank you to my sister-in-law Dianne for helping me sort through clothing and putting things away.
We have spent many hours making her room feel special. Today, we were finally able to get the curtains up, adjusted her heated throw, managed all of her special things and put the family pictures in the places she wanted them. We would not have it any other way. We will forever cherish the memory of this new and beautiful journey!
Early spring of this year Bobbie battled breast cancer. She has been doing well but we have sadly learned that her cancer has spread. Not the news we wanted to hear but she is so happy, at peace, comfortable, safe, enjoys the porches on warmer days, loves it when friends stop by, family are in and out and we have found a beautiful rhythm for her (our) days over here on Hardin Rd. We will forever be chasing sunsets and tonight the beginnings of this day’s end did not disappoint.
Today, we met with workers who will help us navigate her life and health in the weeks and months to come for as long as the Lord wills. We find rest in knowing that God has ordered the number of her days. And so we are settling in, believing God for peace, His perfect will and comfort over the days that she have been given.
We know that God is with us all in every season of our lives. When we face the unknown, we can trust that He is in control and working out every situation for our good. She has led us well, is at peace with God and it is our joy to walk alongside of God’s beloved. He has been so good to her and she gives thanks daily for His faithfulness.
In Isaiah 46:4, God speaks over His beloved Israel- We know He is the same God. The same yesterday, today and forever. His love and compassions never ceases. What an incredible truth to know as we face the end of our days.
To these words we cling.
“I’ve been carrying you on my back from the day you were born. And I’ll keep on carrying you when you’re old. I’ll be there, bearing you when you’re old and gray. I’ve done it and will keep on doing it, carrying you on my back.” Isaiah 46:4
God continues to speak through the highs and lows we have all experienced the last 7 months in our nation. I hear Him whispering and waiting for us to lean in and listen to His still small voice – Thank Me for the glorious gift of My Spirit. This is like priming the pump of a well. As you bring Me the sacrifice of THANKS-giving, regardless of your feelings, My Spirit is able to work more freely within you. This produces more thankfulness and more FREE-dom, until you are overflowing with gratitude.
Overflow defined- to fill, be filled beyond capacity or spread beyond its limits
This past Thursday the beautiful, peaceful creek by our getaway camper in the mountains “filled beyond capacity.” The overflow of water impacted every space that it spread “beyond its limits”. Let’s just say my first thoughts were not “overflowing with gratitude”. After assessing the damage, we began to assess all of the other campers now filled with water-logged trashed treasures. Just priming the well y’all. We are going deep where we really live in hopes of stirring our souls toward overflowing gratitude. He has graciously allowed us this season for a reason. A recent widowed lady could not even enter her porch for debris everywhere. Compassion met gratitude and it swept over me so powerfully. She sat in her truck snd sobbed. Everything she and her late husband had was destroyed. I was humbled because the first thought I had was- we have damage but ours could have been so much worse than it was. This very gratitude challenge kept coming to mind- How can I share the overflow of gratitude with women come Monday? Truth is the more we walked alongside of each other on Thursday, the more I was compelled to share compassion from the Lord and to speak life and Thanksgiving over every circumstance.
I heard the Lord speaking and leading the more I leaned in toward His goodness. God is right about us. I had already written the following before the dark Thursday @ the campground.
I shower blessings on you daily, but sometimes you don’t perceive them. When your mind is stuck on a negative focus, you see neither Me nor My gifts. In faith, thank Me for whatever is preoccupying your mind. This will clear the blockage so that you can find Me. Giving thanks in EVERYTHING invites me into His presence.
As we bow our hearts low before Him, by faith, let’s THANK Him for whatever it is that is preoccupying our minds, surrender it back to Him and rewrite our very nature to think the worst with the overflow of gratitude.
Grateful for grace my friend.
Forgiveness. Freedom. Full life.
Sacrifice thank offerings to God, fulfill your vows to the Most High. —Psalm 50:14
Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. —2 Corinthians 5:5
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. —2 Corinthians 3:17
Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. —Psalm 95:2 nkjv
If the Son has set you free beloved of God, you are free indeed. I’ll be practicing this beautiful way of surrender right alongside of you today. Look with grateful eyes for thanksgiving throughout your day. I think we will all be amazed at the beautiful work of the Holy Spirit all around us in every little moment of every day!!!
Thanks for gathering with me today- ten days to focus our energy on living life to the fullest measure of gratitude.
Because you are afraid to oil. Because you may have stepped out and gotten a starter kit and don’t want to waste it– especially without knowledge on how to use it. Because it’s a huge jump to go from products you’ve used for 30 and 40 years to something completely, totally new. You are stepping out in faith.
This newest mini erases fear. In 2 hours, I make you into a confident oiler. For business builders, this takes all the 0’s into your account and turns them into faithful essential rewards oilers.
Why?
Because we’ve been raised on a system that tells us the things in the store are safe. And I’m about to erase all that, and show you something totally new. Oils aren’t a few glass bottles in a box. They are a lifestyle. Let me share my story with you– and where this has led me– away from a path of brain bleeds from my toxic lifestyle, and into something clean. Something that works and does not have to be scary. This new tiny book has sold 30,000 copies in 1 day.
Lead a life that’s Fearless. Start with the new mini, here:
Interested in learning more about Young Living Essential Oils hop on over to my website.
yldist.com/melanieself/
I will be giving away one Fearless mini book. Comment below with you email address and you will be entered!!
Description
In this tiny mini book, you will learn:
• how to read labels and understand difficult ingredients
• why oils are the starting place to natural health
• what the biggest learning curve is with oiling (and how to overcome it)
• how to try new oils each day with purpose
• why oiling is serious and not a fad
• what chemical overload does to the human body
• how to develop a mindset where you reach for oils first
• why Young Living’s research is ground-breaking, and has never been done before (and what it’s doing to the industry)
• the most effective form of topical oil application
• pages of content on how and why to use a diffuser
• what to do when you have a bad experience with an oil
• the fastest way to double your oils collection
• what it actually means when an oil has been approved for internal use (and how to do it safely)
• where to place oils on your body
• how to use oils for emotions
• uses of the starter kit
• why essential rewards shows serious commitment to living a toxic-free life
• the Simple Swap: a room-by-room checklist to kick toxic chemicals to the curb
• 10 challenges to get you oiling every day (that unlock new content on our website, oilabilityteam.com)
• after the kit… now what?
What are the uses of this book?
To bridge the gap for new oilers. It’s the very first book I gift with every starter kit. If you are not in the habit of using oils, it’s uncomfortable to get a kit and be handed an encyclopedia and told to “look it up.” This gives you the why and how of oiling, and trains you how to research for yourself!
Simple Life Heartenings 
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