Tag Archives: family

Jan6

Thanking God for His Power and Patience

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“May I meditate on Your precepts And consider Your ways. May I delight in Your statutes, And not forget Your word. Deal bountifully with Your servant, That I may live and keep Your word. Open my eyes that I may see Wonderful things from Your law.” Psalm 119:15-18

Prayer:

Lord, I thank You for Your power and for Your patience and compassion. I thank You that I have been loved by You, and I ask that I would walk in the way of love for You and for others.

Take a moment to offer this day to the Lord and ask Him for the grace to grow in your knowledge and love for Him.

Jan2

Welcome 2024 Prayers For My Friends

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Welcome 2024 Prayers

Praying over the upcoming new year and encouraging hearts along the way!

Jan1

Motor Racing Outreach Community 22 Years Rememberings

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Oct26

Preparing Our Hearts For Thanksgiving Gratitude and Christmas Joy

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Just in case you wondered why the Family Dollar drop-in visit yesterday……

Well of course all the running around was for a couple future DIY Christmas projects!! A little create and connect going on over here.

My mother-in-law Bobbie Caldwell is and has always been so creative. The work of her hands continues to bless others and our family. She has always enjoyed making her home a warm and inviting place. I so love that about her.

I also LOVE making beautiful spaces in our home for every season. Since she is living with us now, I wanted to add some fun, thoughtful and creative ways that we can engage with each other, the grandkids in order to make her Thanksgiving and Christmas super memorable this year.

So I bought a new, smaller Christmas Tree which has totally made me rethink how I normally decorate. Well- according to Monty Self our “new” forever Christmas tree has arrived so that we can get rid of the “old” big tree he struggles with and grumbles about getting up the stairs every year. 🤔🙄

For My Fall/Thanksgiving table scape I could not find any small pumpkins that I loved. So I purchased cream napkins from Target and made small pumpkins by repurposing old round nakpkin rings. Add a stick and you have a “custom” pumpkin to match the vision. Pictures to follow. Wish I’d made a video while making them. 🤦‍♀️

Secondly, Bobbie loves the front porch and back porch outdoor spaces at our home. {So do we} She has already spent many hours sitting and rocking the days away. So I wanted to make each space warm and thoughtful. Like home for her. So I grabbed a new rug, changed up the plants, added throw blankets for the cooler days and festive pillows. I still have one empty wall that has inspired me to add a special word of welcome and a message.

So back to the story at hand-

The Dollar Tree now owns Family Dollar and has really amped up the game for DIYer’s. So my day yesterday was centered around my doc appointment with a stop into Big Lots, Marshall’s, Walmart and Family Dollar. Gathering the needed items has been a mission of late and truly a labor of love.

I just wanted to share with you how passionate I feel we should be about following our hearts as it relates to the things that will bring meaning, fullness and joy to the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons. The Lord has already started preparing my heart for the busy days ahead. Most all of the “gathering of goods” is done. Now to enjoy the process and live present in each moment that the Lord allows us.

Our homes are sacred! It is where most of life really happens. Our values, commitments to one another and the passing on of faith and faithfulness dwell there. So at peace in this season of our lives. Just had to share a glimpse of our “perfectly imperfect”world.

Thanksgiving- gratitude

Christmas- the coming of our Lord

Share the joy…..

Preparing Him room today in my soul…..

Maybe we’ll share a Facebook Live when we get down to crafting.

Oct17

For Everything There Is A Season

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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

Nov16

10 Days of Thanks ~A Gratitude Challenge {Day One}

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Day One

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.

Jan20

Nascar Ladies Gathering Encourages Hearts One Race At A Time

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Nascar Ladies Gathering Encourages Hearts One Race At A Time

A few ladies gather each weekend @ a central place and no two the same.

We talk about life things.

The everyday stuff.

The things that we are working through.

The things that we are learning.

The hard things too sometimes.

And we dare not neglect sharing the oh so good that God has done.

We give each other grace.

We give each other courage.

Even though not one of us has ALL of the answers, we know the God who does.

We focus our hearts on truth that builds us up into the spiritual house that God is building. One small step at a time. His Spirit always meets us there.

We laugh, we cry, we share our lives and by the end of our time together our hearts have been filled. We are cared for and we care for each other.

We are the ladies of MRO. Women who are navigating home, travel and all of the crazy in between. We know full well that we are better together.

The heart of this lady lovingly longs to care for your heart.

The heart of this lady lovingly longs to see your heart empowered to live abundantly, to live a life full of hope that knows God’s love fully.

Tonight we gather as one. A community of like-minded ladies in pursuit of community, friendship and grace. A place to belong, all are welcome and we feel loved there.

Oh how I have missed you all!!

It is my joy to come alongside of every beautiful heart, catch up on all of the happenings face to face and hug every neck!

So, if you are attending the January Caution tonight, please stop by my little station and say hello! I will have the MRO Community Center schedules available and much to share about our gatherings for children, ladies and families in 2018!

Through the years, MRO ladies ministry has taken many shapes and forms as we’ve cultivated and nourished friendships around various activities and gatherings.

In 1 Thessalonians 5:11, Paul reminds us how connecting in authentic community was critical for even the early followers of Christ as he pressed them to “encourage one another and build each other up. “ 1 Thessalonians 5:11

This season there is a call to courage as each of us enters into the new that belongs to 2018. It takes great courage to step out of isolating your heart into the world of connectedness that often serves as a line of defense for those hard days ahead. And isn’t building walls around our hearts lonely work?

The energy it takes to avoid others might be best used in building a community of deep and meaningful friendships. Just a thought as I pause for a moment to preach to myself!

You are the bravest ladies that I know. You are smart. You are kind. You do life in fast forward and I love the embrace that I have known on this shared journey!

God. Is. With. Us.

“Strength! Courage! Don’t be timid; don’t get discouraged. God, your God, is with you every step you take.” Joshua 1:9

If there is only one small thought that I pray that I can impart as I end, it would be that you lay hold of the reality that you are not alone.

If you are new to Nascar, new to traveling, new to having a husband who is gone— a lot or just a little and you are looking for a place to belong, a welcoming face or some of that gathering community stuff—

Please hear me shout from the mountaintops I AM HERE FOR YOU. MRO is here for you. And even though some things have been adjusted or changed, I am, the CC is and those who remain are still there! Available. Committed. Prayerful over your lives.

Hearts poised to love and be loved.

Just shoot me a direct message, send a friend request, give me a call 704-507-2624, email me @ melanieself@go2mro.com and we can all get connected.

If we have never met before, your first time coming to the January Caution, please stop by and introduce yourself! Make sure you fill out your registration card at your table so that we will be able to stay connected!!

Excited about 2018? Concerned about 2018? Change scares you in 2018.

Hear this!!

God is faithful. We are cheering you on and I am cheering you on!!

Dec9

Hope: Defiant Reliance on God Keeping His Word

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We have known the deep abyss of fear, yet hope has not for one minutes been far away. Why? Because we believe in the power of prayer. The faith of a mustard seed at times but God has always moved mountains. He is sure. Steadfast. Immovable. The mindset of hope on our knees shifts we “hope” so to “belief” in the assurance of God almighty as THE power greater than ourselves.

On our knees our view is heavenward where God the Father sees and knows the best for us- His view broader, wider and deeper than our minds can comprehend. And “by faith” we entrust, rest in every promise, settle in to the rhythm of His faithfulness over our lifetime and put one foot in front of the other believing in His love for His children.

Hope- a longing, a wanting, trust in what is unseen, yet we “feel” the very presence of love

Hope- an aspiration, desire, wish, expectation, ambition, aim, goal, plan, design, a dream

We make our plans. God directs our path.

Within the design of hope, we plant our feet in what is unseen and trust that the step in solid, steady and trustworthy

Hope-

-to cherish a desire with

anticipation

-to want something to happen or be

true

-to dream

-to believe without wavering

Hope-Full

Hope has permeated every prayer, conversation, conjecture of a future and in our dreams and plans there would never be a moment where we backed down.

For over three weeks now we have held tight to hope because the God we place our hope in holds us stronger and never loses grip- no matter how faithless we are in our hopes and dreams for a beautiful future for my sister.

To lose hope places a pause in the active work of God and we must not waver but pray always in faith BELIEVING!!

Today my sister has made a most amazing turn for the good. Not one culture that was taken was positive became the cause for the diagnosis.

Encephalopathy- an inflammation of the fluid around the brain that became infected. This beast, a self-limiting virus, likely became stronger than her weakened immune system could handle after a 9 day hospital stay for a GI Bleed.

She is a fighter. Resilient. Brave. And I have never been more proud of my little sister.

Words do not often fail me- But this has truly tested he fact that at times my inability to fully describe the angst and stirring in my heart….. The pursuit of hope often wavered but finding hope for Claudia superseded ANYTHING that I needed and will remain a worthy pursuit to keep hope alive in her!!

So often the very day the words fail to be found, the poetic painter of pictures with words, enables this heart to settle into its rhythm.

Beautiful words about hope in this time of Advent~ as we await and renew our alive again at the reminder of the coming of the promised Messiah- Jesus Christ.

Wonderful. Counselor. Mighty God. Prince of Peace.

🕊Peace 🕊Peace 🕊Peace

Words of hope at this day’s end~

Thank you Ann VosKamp for painting my world today with hope.

I rise today with the “thrill of unwavering knowing” Yes!!

“What gives us Hope if not God and who is the source of Hope if not our Savior?

Making up hope isn’t our job.

Hope is God’s job and our job is to trust that God’s making Hope.

That God’s making a way, because He is The Way.

Let the weary world rise with the thrill of the unwavering knowing:

When we’re tempted to fill with despair, Hope whispers that God will fulfill His promises.

When it feels like life is a setup to let you down, we will whisper it to ourselves like a resuscitation:

Hope is not the belief that things will turn out well, but the belief God is working through all things, no matter how things turn out.

And when we get karate kicked in the esophagus by life and it hurts to breathe, we will be the

Remembering People who retrace it slow again, how Hope works:

Hope fiercely promises to meet us in hard things now — because we fiercely trust God’s promise to make all things new.

You see: Hope is a defiant reliance on God keeping His Word.

The winds and the days may rage and the blaze of things may leave you feeling charred, but now is the time for faith to rise like a phoenix from ashes and we will:

Hold on to His Word for all you’re worth — because His Word is what proves God is trustworthy.

And when you know God is trustworthy — you know today is worthy of Hope.

When your bones know God ultimately makes good on His promises — that’s good enough reason for hope to burn in your bones.

As long as you still are, all is not lost. Being is hope, and hope is presence, and this present moment is a gift pulsing with hope.

Feel it even now:

Hope doesn’t promise success to the strong, but resurrection to the wrecked. Because success isn’t the virtue that will remain. Love, Joy and Hope are. So we will make those three that will remain, always our main thing.

Feel it especially now:

Like muscles, Hope is made by rising, again and again, lifting the weight of dark that’s conspiring to flatten us with the strength of His promises that’s certain to carry us.

Advent is learning how hope works and you can feel the warming light of the main thing that matters:

Hope is not some elusive lottery ticket for the lucky, but hope is the fiery torch the faithful raise in a life-grip to burn back the ugly face of the dark so they can see their promised land —

and the welcoming face of God.” ~Ann VosKamp

May hope surround you this night and for all of your tomorrows.

Mar5

That’s Important To Me Joey and Rory Feek

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Lord, thank you for reminding us to live fully in the moments that we are given. To hold on tight to what is important to us. Hold us close Lord with tender love and help us to slow the crazy pace for moments of refreshing and to be in all the together places that we cherish. Our souls need each others attention and time committed for no television, no phones, no laptop, no commitments but to that which has been our covenant before God.

Things my heart and life will never take lightly or for grated…

God first. Time for you, my beloved for life and me. To deeply love and care for my family. To let them go to be the amazing man and woman, husband and wife, helpmate, provider and parent that they have been created for. The beauty of our ministry together for almost all of these 35 years. The conversations about the tomorrows and hope.To never miss one sunset together even if it means driving 30 minutes to do so or to be okay with just rocking quietly in the chairs on our front porch.

And honey, did I mention I’d like a treehouse in our backyard?? Please??

Hang tight…..the potatoes are ready to be mashed and the meatloaf smells divine…… And my man is sweetly calling…… “Are the potatoes ready yet dear?”

My heart always turns to him because I love doing the things for him that make him happy. We ate dinner together. Nothing else in this moment mattered. God would speak later if this was His time to whisper something beautiful to my heart. We chat and all the while my spirit is listening. Monty Self promises to clean up the kitchen so that I could get back to that thing that God is giving birth to. He sees it in my eyes and how I smile when words flow from my communion with the Father. Suddenly in my distraction he taps my leg and smiles that smile that still makes me love him all over again. I quietly move back to the computer with grateful heart.

God you speak so softly, sometimes so carefully that if our heart is not devotedly attuned to You we walk right over our Savior’s breathing message so alive. Once again my heart is schooled in learning to live even in death. I cannot quiet His voice. Truths worthy to be held and considered.

The Lord brought this verse to mind tonight.

As we remember those who are experiencing pain and loss, we see it also described in Isaiah 66:9.

The promised delivery of God’s only son would be painful but would be necessary for the new covenant to be born. Prophesy. The gift of a baby- God’s only son. Jesus Christ, the perfect lamb of God who would bear the sin of all mankind. God knew the pain of loss. Don’t you know if He could have made it happen any other way He would have? We are made to rescue and protect. The heart of God, our defender, His heart knew it necessary because of His great love for His creation and the only way to restore the love relationship that was broken at the fall of Adam and Eve.

Prophecy spoken. Promises kept. The enduring hope for all of mankind. For Rory Feek. For Joey. For their family. For you. For me.

Redeeming love was their love story too…….until death do us part..

Joey & Rory

“I will not cause pain without allowing something new to be born” says the Lord. Isaiah 66:9

Death and Life

craftsbydaniellelee

My life has been far from perfect, even still sin’s nature in me will win when I drop my arms in battle. A scared little girl way too grown up for the time when this small heart came to know such great love.It still overwhelms me in all of the right and surrendered ways that God created me for this moment and has plans that are uniquely for me to live out. The beauty of my heavenly Father to trust me enough to speak to others about His love, mercy, grace and goodness. To serve Him with my life, a privilege to represent and bring honor to His name. The joy it brings when He places in my heart words that have always been my art. (well, not really art. Truthfully I CAN draw flowers and…. oh yes. Stick people. No lie I can even draw clothes on stick people. Did I mention that I am verbose? This lover of words is ALWAYS in need of an editor!

Monty and I have known what it is like to have much and to have little One thing I know is true in this very moment of our marriage is that we know what it means to be content. Our resolve to lose no more ground to the enemy who has been persistent in the fight for our hearts is foundational and steadfast. Our love has endured and God has been faithful and true.

Yes, we have known our own sufferings but we sincerely pray for opportunities to share our story raw, honest and so very real. My connection in heart was immediate when I first read something written Joey and Rory last Fall. It is a beautiful thing to read words that cut in all of the right ways and make you better for time spent alongside of their lives.

There was no glittering up the truth. Joey wrote and the powerful nature of God was alive even in the midst of the valley of the shadow of death. There was comfort as their lives encouraged others in the daily.

Joey and Rory wrote words that were born in their hearts. We will remember that love tucked sweetly away in moments that we need the reminder. To watch God ever redeeming their love for each other as the whole world watched. The sunset tonight filled my heart with gratitude all in the middle of sadness for the precious little one who albeit tragic WILL know her mama because those who loved Jesus became invested in her journey. Out of love, her husband lived the words he wrote to tell her grace-filled story.

Collective hearts agree tonight that life is short even when you get to live for many, many years. We the broken, frail and surrendered lives want to do it differently in measuring the loss of another life and spirit gone too soon. It is so easy to move along and forget. Lord give us the days to tell of Your love as You will.

This I know at this day’s end……

God is love.
God lavishes grace.
When life seems hopeless, mercy is poured out.
God’s character is to redeem, restore and reconcile.
God prepares hearts for such a time as this.
The Lord is near the brokenhearted..

To be absent from the body it to be present with the Lord.

Hallelujah!!

We rest in truth tonight.

Jan10

Make-and-Take Class Idea: Therapeutic Hot/Cold Pack Sock

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Looking for support for those achy places? What I love most about living the simply essential life is that you can do simple things and experience great outcomes with little to no time and always inexpensive.

How have you incorporated Young Living Essential Oils into your life?

My advise: Learn one new thing every day and before long, you will be the ones giving advise to friends and family.

P. S. I found sock just like these at The Dollar Tree!! Yep. One buck. Grab the rice while there too, add the essential oil of choice and voila! Instant Happy!! Of course, you can always use an old sock that you already have or can only find one of the pair!

Finding sabbath moments today!

Check out my website to learn more about Young Living Essential Oils!

http://www.yldist.com/melanieself/

Source: Make-and-Take Class Idea: Therapeutic Hot/Cold Pack Sock