I Don't Know Much

I don't know what is coming for our family.  I don't know how badly we will miss living here.  I don't know much at all right now.  But here is what I do know.......He is God.  And this is my favorite song and I choose to worship Him no matter what.

Hosanna!!!! 

My Miss the Most List about Winchester

#1.    B.J. Mathis and the most awesome yutes in the world at WCPC.  I have been so privileged and so blessed to have help serve B.J. and the youth for the past 5 years.  I will SO miss helping with the 30-Hour Famine each year.  Great times and great memories.   I love you all very much.  Love ya Beej!

The Valley of Dry Bones (Ezekiel 37: 1-14)

The past year to me has felt like wandering through a valley of dry bones.  Read Ezekiel 37: 1-14.  And these past few weeks and days I have felt myself very thirsty and dry.

During my quiet time this morning, I found myself asking "Can these bones live?".   The answer is YES - God can always bring us to a place of spiritual renewal and life.  The real question I believe is - "Do these bones want to live?".   In our journey with Christ, we definitely go through seasons of spiritual struggle - if we aren't we may need to question our growth.  But there are also times in our journey with Christ where we may feel the desire to "quit".  The past year has definitely been a time of spiritual struggle for me, and there have definitely been times where I wanted to "throw the towel in", but it is time to ask myself - "do these bones want to live?".   The answer is, and for my entire life has always been - YES.  So, today I pray for a renewal of my spirit, for a fresh wind of new life to blow through.   I pray forgiveness and grace and an outpouring of the Holy Spirit.  I pray it this morning for all of you too.

Have you ever found yourself  in the valley?  

Word of the Day

anx·i·e·ty

 - a noun

1. A feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease, typically about an imminent event or something with an uncertain outcome.

2. Desire to do something, typically accompanied by unease.

"I know that love is ultimately the only answer to mankind's problems. And I'm going to talk about it everywhere I go. I know it isn't popular to talk about it in some circles today. I'm not talking about emotional bosh when I talk about love, I'm talking about a strong, demanding love. And I have seen too much hate. I've seen too much hate on the faces of sheriffs in the South. I've seen hate on the faces of too many Klansmen and too many White Citizens Councilors in the South to want to hate myself, because every time I see it, I know that it does something to their faces and their personalities and I say to myself that hate is too great a burden to bear. I have decided to love. If you are seeking the highest good, I think you can find it through love. And the beautiful thing is that we are moving against wrong when we do it, because John was right, God is love. He who hates does not know God, but he who has love has the key that unlocks the door to the meaning of ultimate reality."  

Martin Luther King, Jr.

THE MOVE!

If someone asked me to describe my emotions and also my house at the SAME time with one word, it would have to be DISARRAY.   And one thing I don't deal well with is disarray.  I can handle clutter.  I can handle a little chaos.  I can handle even handle massive multi-tasking.   But, THIS, THIS I cannot handle.  For, you see, not only do we have to box up and move (with the obligatory and much needed yard sale), but I have to break them down into categories and different parts of the house.   The categories would be:   APARTMENT, STORAGE, YARD SALE.   I don't like this.  I don't like it a bit.  I have never had to do APARTMENT or STORAGE category before and the amount of brain work involved is obviously something I have surpassed due to old age.  :)

 So, once again, I ask for prayer.  Prayer that I won't put something very much needed into the bottom of a box that ends up in storage.  Prayer that in the midst of trying to divide said categories Chris and I will not kill each other.  Prayer that we make it through this change...........love and hugs ~ Melissa

need to breathe....

some days, many lately, i have to stop and consciously repeat this verse over and over.  It calms me, it helps me breathe and as I say it, I picture my Father holding my hand and leading me down life's uncertain pathways.  Uncertain, yet tranquil.

I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.   
Jeremiah 29:11 (The Message)

Letting Go......

This Old House

The last few months have been overwhelming, stressful, tiresome and sometimes just plain out exhausting.   And guess what?   I am so grateful!  I am grateful because I have been getting to really experience true life - new circumstances, a new job, teach a 16 year old boy how to drive (or maybe not), learn how to care for an elderly father, and see our finances s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-d to an all time "stretchiness".  :)  

You see, I always have prided myself on not being attached to "things", not worrying about having the "big house", "nice car" or "having to have more", but through the last few months God has shown me the areas where I do hold onto the things of the this world and the areas where I need to let go.  He has shown me the places in my heart where I do want "more" for my kids.  Well, what is this "more" that I want for them?   Seriously?   More money, more acknowledgment, more friends, more academic success?   Not that these things are bad in-and-of-themselves, but are really the true morals I want to pass onto my children.  As my girls would say "heck-to the-no!".

I want to pass onto my children the simple things of this very short life we live.   Growing a garden, visiting with friends, listening to the people around them who need an "ear", going for walks, cooking together, being silly, learning to appreciate silence and not the constant noise of radio and TV, taking a meal to a friend in need, porch-sitting, etc.  But most of all to love their Heavenly Father.

So, all-in-all, even though the past few months have been some of the most trying of my life I have tried to listen to what the Lord is teaching me and I think I am finally starting to get it.  It will never matter how big my house is, how large my salary is or what car I drive.  Never.  What will matter is that I spent time with my kids, my husband and my father in his last years.  What will matter is that my kids don't see me preaching one thing to them, but striving for another.  I am in a hard place right now (I  would put it up there with my Mother and Brother passing away), but it is a joyful place at the same time because I have had to give it ALL over to God and just let go........

This Old House

The Brown House:  (click this link)

Yes, folks it is true.  After falling in LOVE with this historical home and then spending almost 6 years of blood, sweat and tears (oh and a ton of money) renovating it, we are putting it on the market.

We covet your prayers as we try and sell......

Much love and a big hug to all ~

Melissa B.

Times they are a changing.....

Well, our house is on the market as of today.  Times are tough.  Not just for us, but for many of our friends.  SO, we have decided to TRY and sell the house and downsize.  I have spent about two weeks purging all the STUFF that we have.  Stuff in closets, stuff in drawers, stuff in attics, stuff in sheds, man do we have a lot of stuff!  Ridiculous really.  I feel so much lighter in spirit knowing that I have gotten rid of things that I did not use and probably never needed to begin with.   Time to lighten the load which in turn lightens the spirit.  :)   I realized I had been holding on to stuff of my mom's and brother's that I needed to let go of.  Why is it that holding on to a physical possession of a lost loved one, makes me feel better?  I am sure it made me feel closer to them in some way, but I made the plunge and tossed things away.  Healing.  Peace. Growth.  Always a journey.  So, as I get ready to hit the couch with my beloved Kindle I send a prayer, thought, whatever it may be called to my Granny, my uncles and aunts, Momma and Jeff that 'I love them' and crave the day I run to them and hug them tight.  Peace.