God, I want Your Word to be deeply implanted in me so that I not only know the truth, but also express it in the way I live.
The Lord is my portion and my inheritance. Numbers 18:20
The steps of a man are ordered by the Lord, And He will delight in his way; Though he stumbles, he will not be cast down, For the Lord upholds him with His hand. Psalm 37:23-24
Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, You are there. If I take the wings of the dawn, if I dwell in the furthest part of the sea, even there Your hand will lead me; Your right hand will lay hold of me. If I say, “Surely the darkness will cover me,” even the night will be light around me. The darkness is not dark to You, and the night shines as the day; darkness and light are alike to You. Psalm 139:7-12
God lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; He set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord. Psalm 40:2-3
My love must be sincere. I will hate what is evil and cling to what is good. Romans 12:9
Take a moment to affirm the truth of these words from Scripture and ask God to make them a growing reality in your life.
Lord, I thank You that You are always with me and that You sent Your Son to give me the gift of eternal life. I thank You for putting a new song in my mouth, and I ask that I would cast off the works of darkness and cling to what is good.
God will keep me strong to the end, so that I will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, through whom I was called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. 1 Corinthians 1:8-9
I should let my gentleness be evident to all men; the Lord is near. Philippians 4:5
Let my love be sincere. May I hate what is evil and cling to what is good. Romans 12:9
Take a moment to share your personal needs with God, including your physical, emotional, relational, and spiritual concerns.
Prayer:
Lord, I thank You for the certainty of Your promises and for the wisdom of Your ways. I thank You for keeping me strong to the end, and I ask that I would be a gentle and loving soul.
“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.
“Many, O Lord my God, are the wonders You have done, and Your thoughts toward us no one can recount to You; were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare.” Psalm 40:5
“Direct my footsteps according to Your word, and let no iniquity have dominion over me.”Psalm 119:133
Lord, I thank You for Your beloved Son and for Your unfailing love. I thank You for Your wonderful thoughts, and I ask that I would follow Your word and walk in purity of heart.
Take a moment today to focus your mind and heart on Jesus. Give thanks for His selfless love today and for the days to come in 2024.
Love this story! I pray that you are as inspired as I was by her no quit spirit!
FLORET
“Sometimes I am trying to get to sleep, and I begin to think about the war, about the explosions, about this possibility that any time my dearest persons can be killed. I say to myself, do not think about that. Think about flowers,” says Alla Olkhovska.
Alla is a gardener, an expert in finicky clematis, a photographer, a writer, and a caretaker. She lives in Kharkiv, Ukraine, about 20 miles (30 kilometers) from the eastern border. On the morning that the war started, she could hear the explosions and gunfire. Munitions and debris have landed just yards away from her grandmother’s home. Air alerts scream day and night and it’s common to lose electricity and gas.
Yet, every day Alla boards a public bus that drops her near her family’s garden, which her great-grandfather planted as a small apple orchard after World War II to help her struggling ancestors survive. There are still a few apple trees left, but now the garden is home to a collection of rare and stunning flowers.
And, it remains a means of survival.
While the garden is a refuge for Alla, a sanctuary she maintains despite the war, it’s also a critical lifeline for her family. She is there to collect as many seeds as she can. By selling them, Alla cares for her elderly grandmother, her mother-in-law, and her husband, who nearly lost his life to Covid-19 and has not fully regained his health.
Even as the harsh winter creeps ever closer, Alla is undeterred. With relentless optimism and a belief in the power of beauty and goodness, Alla fights for the survival of her family one seed at a time.
In addition to this short documentary film, you can read a full written interview with Alla here.
If you’d like to support Alla and her family, here’s how:
Order seeds
Alla sells seeds for clematis, peonies, phlox, and rare plants and ships worldwide. To place an order, visit her online catalogs. Please note: These are not traditional online shops.
To order seeds for clematis and other rare plants, click here.
Ordering instructions: To place an order, click on each item you’re interested in to add it to your cart, where you can adjust the quantity if needed. The minimum order amount is €33 EUR, (approximately $36 USD), plus shipping. You will not be able to check out until you’ve reached the order minimum.
When you’re ready to check out, click on the shopping bag icon to enter your name, email address, and phone number in the cart pop-up. Once your contact information has been entered, click on the black button “Оформить заказ” to submit your order. Please be patient while Alla checks your wish list/order against her seed inventory. She will send you an order confirmation and an invoice that you can pay via PayPal.
Purchase a copy of Alla’s book
If you want to learn all about clematis, Alla wrote a wonderful e-book all about them. This 124-page book includes her beautiful photography, growing advice based on her personal experience, plus her favorite varieties (organized by bloom time), and instructions on how to propagate clematis through cuttings and layering, and from seed.
The cost of the book is €24 EUR, equivalent to about $25 USD. If you would like a hard copy, you can send the book file to your local office supply store to have it printed and bound.
To purchase Alla’s e-book, Clematis, click here. After selecting the number of e-books that you would like to order, you will be prompted to enter your contact information in the box below. Once you’ve entered your contact information, click the black button to submit your order. You will receive an email from Alla with instructions to complete your order and how to pay via PayPal.
Make a donation
If you’re not interested in seeds or a book and would like another way to help, you can simply send money. The exchange rate is very much in Alla’s favor, and what might seem like a small amount will go a long way for her and her family.
Funds can be sent via PayPal to standwithkharkiv@gmail.com. All donations go directly to Alla, and if you enter HUMANITARIAN AID into the “What’s this payment for” field, fees and taxes will be waived.
Subscribe to Patreon
Alla just started a Patreon account with three monthly subscription levels: snowdrop ($5 USD/month) clematis ($10 USD/month), and peony ($25 USD/month). These subscriptions will allow Alla to continue her seed-saving efforts and will support her family during the upcoming winter months. For more information, click here.
Follow Alla on social media
Alla has a wonderful Instagram account where she shares beautiful pictures from the garden, interesting videos of her work, and updates from Ukraine. She also has a Facebook page that you can follow and a YouTube channel that you can subscribe to. Be sure to leave her a comment and some encouraging words.
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.
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!!
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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