"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.

Perspective - A View or Vista

My week started off badly due to my father's diagnosis of Parkinson's Disease on Tuesday.   I was very shaken while watching my father undergo the testing and realizing that he was testing positive for Parkinson's on all the tests.   It was hard to even finish out work that day, but I kept trying to focus on the fact that we now have a true diagnosis and that he was able to be put on medicine to help stop the symptoms.  On top of that we have been trying to get an old truck we have up and running for Jacob to drive now that he has his license.   Money is very tight and there seems to be many things that need to be fixed - one after the other.

And now it is Friday and our beautiful South has been ravaged and devastated by massives storms with a death count this morning of 297 which is expected to rise.  We have all seen the incredible video footage and pictures and I have talked to a few people in areas that were hit.   The destruction is unreal.   And, SO, once again I have been given perspective.  

Funny, I have been begging and pleading with God the past month or so to speak to me.  To settle my soul regarding certain family concerns, church concerns, and financial concerns and as I awoke this morning I realized that this was my answer - perspective.  Yes, my dad's condition is not great, but he has lived a long life.   Yes, my children may not always act the way I think they should, but they are healthy and strong and overall, good kids with incredibly good hearts.   Yes, our finances may not be in great shape, but we have a home, food, and power!   Perspective.  I suppose sometimes all I really need is just a good dose of it!

Come to Me with Empty Hands

Come to me with empty hands and an open heart, ready to receive abundant blessings.  I know the depth and breadth of your neediness.  Your life-path has been difficult, draining you of strength.  Come to Me for nurture.  Let Me fill you up with my Presence:  I in you and you in Me.  My Power flows most freely into weak ones aware of their need fr Me.  Faltering steps of dependence are not lack of faith; they are links to My Presence.

Excerpt from 'Jesus Calling'.

Good Friday, 30-Hour Famine and Easter!

Well, this will be my 5th year helping lead our Youth through World Vision's 30-Hour Famine and I am so excited!  We will  begin fasting at noon on Good Friday and continue our fast through 6 p.m. on Saturday evening.   Please pray for our youth and leaders that we would feel the Spirit's presence with us as we go without food for 30 hours and also that we would raise a sizeable donation for World Vision.  

It is going to be an amazing weekend!  Spending time with our youth, Good Friday service Friday night, service projects on Saturday and ultimately communion together and breaking our fast on Saturday evening. 

All of this blessing leading up to the greastest day of the year - EASTER!   We will be traveling as a family to Nashville on Sunday to spend Easter with my sister, so I will have to miss the Youth that are going to be making professions of faith this Sunday and also being baptized Sunday afternoon.   Know that I will be there with you in spirit and in prayer.   Believe it or not, I was going to get dunked Sunday also, but spending Easter as a family is tradition.  God is faithful and I know He will open up another opportunity for me to make the journey of "immersion" in the future. 

Blessings to all this Easter weekend and remember that Jesus paid it all and set us free!   Love ~  Melissa

Seasons

Not sure if anyone follows my blog anymore or not, but for anyone out there who might be reading:

My dad is coming home from Nashville back to his house in Winchester.   :)   This means that he has made it through the hardest part of his recovery and is on the mend!  Praise God for restoring his health and bringing us all through this trial. 

Life is full of so many trials.   This should not be a surprise to us - the Bible told us it would be this way.   Our job is to figure out how to navigate through our trials, do what we can to make our way through them and leave the rest to God.  Life is hard.  Our family seems to have been through MANY trials the past few years and I often wonder how much more we can bear, but then I stop and think of those people who are suffering major trials in life - the death of a child, the terminal illness of a loved one, a family member away at war.......and I am forced to stop and be grateful - to count my blessings.

I am in a very hard place right now.  A place of decisions.   A place of trying to decide what is best for my children.  A place of feeling like I am alone with no support.  It is a hard place to be.  But, we all come to a point in life that we have to do what we know is right for us.  A place where we quit trying to live for others expectations of us. 

I have made so many mistakes in my life and REALLY "should have listened to my mother".   Funny how we learn that way too late in life, isn 't it?   There is so much irony in the fact that we don't listen to our mother's advice until we ourselves become mothers.   But, I am learning to forgive myself and to let go of my guilt and my burdens and to realize that God's grace abounds.   His grace is never ending.  His love for me is even bigger than that!  Thank goodness, because I need to know that.  I embrace it and cling to it right now and it is what helps me through every day. 

My sister and I are moving into a new season of life right now with taking care of an aging parent and I am moving into a new season of my life with raising teenagers and the increasing possibility that we will be downsizing our home fairly soon if possible.   Life changes, and with that change many times comes difficulty and I praise God that I have faith.  I simply do not know how people get by without it.

My blog today was more therapy than anything and for anyone who happens to read I hope you glean something from my babbling.   Love to all ~ 

“Remember to be gentle with yourself and others. We are all children of chance and none can say why some fields will blossom while others lay brown beneath the August sun. Care for those around you. Look past your differences. Their dreams are no less than yours, their choices no more easily made. And give, give in any way you can, of whatever you posses. To give is to love. To withhold is to wither. Care less for your harvest than for how it is shared and your life will have meaning and your heart will have peace.”