The one about being tagged...

Ok. I have been tagged once or twice over the years, but usually from people I don't keep regular contact with. The tags seemed suspect so I didn't look any further than the subject line of the email...

Since I started blogging I've heard more about it, and since Bethany invited the first person to comment on her most recent "tagged" blog to consider herself "tagged." Anyway, there is a first time for everything. Here goes...

1. Spell your name how it sounds. Meh-lis-ah.

2. Are you available? Depends on what one mean’s by that.

3. What's your favorite number? Seriously?

4. Favorite color? Brown.

5. Least favorite color? Yellow.

6. What are you listening to? Steven Curtis Chapman (Bethany's Artist of the Week). The first Christian artist I saw in concert... still one of the best!

7. Have you ever wanted to be a fire fighter? I think so, when I was a lot younger.

~~THE DO SECTION~~

8. Do you believe in God? Absolutely, yes!

9. Do you know how to swim? Yes.

10. Do you like roller coasters? Yes, but as I get older I grow more weary of them.

~~THE DOES SECTION~~

11. Does your room contain a desk? Yes.

12. Does your family have family picnics? Umm, does eating on the grass outside of a Subway because it’s too cold inside count?

13. Does your house have a bookcase in it? Yes, two.

~~THE HAVE SECTION~~

14. Have you ever been to Canada? No.

15. Have you ever gone fishing? Yes. Thankfully, it has been a long time.

16. Have you ever seen a celebrity? Yes, several music artists. (I’ve been to over 50 concerts in my short life. Thankfully the last 20 or so have been only Christian celebrities).

17. Have you ever been on a motorcycle? Yes, and I loved it! Though I believe them to be frivolous purchases.

~~THE HOW SECTION~~

18. How much money do you have on you right now? About $28.

19. How many cars have you owned? Four.

20. How many jobs have you had? Shamefully, 17.

21. How tall are you? 5 feet, 5 1/2 inches.

~~THE LAST SECTION~~

22. Last person to call you? Jeremy.

23. Last thing you yelled out loud? Collin, don’t laugh so loud! Pastor is still doing discipleship!

24. Last person you were in a car with? Collin.

25. Last time you ate at McDonalds? July 12th, heading home from Kingsfest. I try to eat there as little as possible.

26. Last thing you had for dinner? Subway’s Oven-Roasted Chicken Breast sub.

27. The last thing you bought? Dinner.

28. Last person you saw? Collin, as I tucked him in for the night!

29. Last time you cried? Last night.

30. Last time you laughed? Earlier tonight while I was showing some guys at Victory Home the BBQ Song video on YouTube! (You must watch it!)

~~THE WHAT SECTION~~

31. What is the temperature outside? 76 degrees.

32. What time did you wake up? 9am. I was woken up by someone ringing my doorbell at 6:30 this morning! It took me a long time to get back to sleep, so I slept in…

~~THE RANDOM SECTION~~

44. Do you have a best friend? That’s up in the air at the moment.

45. What goes best with a soft drink? Duh? Pizza.

46. What did you do two nights ago? Went to church.

49. Is your birthday coming up? Yes. December 30th. I will be 31… yikes!

53. Where were you at 3:02 AM this morning? In bed asleep.

59. What was the first thing you thought this morning? Man, I am tired. I am gonna kill those guys for ringing my doorbell.

60. What are your plans for this week? Work. Go to church. Take Collin to the first practice of soccer season. Make it to the YMCA two more times. Sleep.

64. Coke or Pepsi? Really, what kind of question is that? COKE!

66. What do you dislike at the moment? Losing my hair.

67. What did you dream about last night? I rarely remember dreams.

68. What's the last TV show you watched? Deal or No Deal.

69. What is your favorite piece of jewelry? That’s hard to say. I have a number of pieces from my dad, and my mom, collected since I was a teenager.

70. Name 1 person on your Top Friends who is the most like you. We are all quite different!

72. Are you on any medication? Yes.

73. Have you ever cut your own hair? Yes.

74. What is your favorite frozen treat? Butter pecan ice cream.

75. How many piercings/tattoos do you have? 3 ear-piercings. NO TATTOOS.

76. Where's your favorite place to be? On my white sofa.

77. Is there someone you haven't seen in a while and miss? Absolutely. My dad.

79. Do you care what people think about you? Not usually… but I am learning when it matters.

80. Last new person you met? I don’t remember.

82. Last person to tell you they love you? My son, Collin.

84. Last person to make you cry? Collin, through no fault of his own, telling me a sweet story about my dad/his papa.

85. Who can you tell anything to? God. My mom (even though we are soooooo different and distant, I know I can tell her absolutely anything).

86. What are you doing today? It is nighttime. I am getting ready to go to bed.

87. Do you have a crush? How honest are you supposed to be with these things? LOL.

89. Do you like ketchup? Yes.

90. Will you be in a relationship 3 months from now? At this point, only God knows...

91. What color is your pillow case? White. I like white bed linens.

92. Do you wear a bikini during swimming in school? No school for me, thanks.

93. Have you ever been to California or Chicago? Neither, but I’ve been to Illinois.

97. What is your favorite fruit? A plum. Yummy!

98. What do you want to do today? Today is now tonight.

99. Are you cold? Usually, yes.

100. Does it annoy you when someone says they'll call or text you and they don’t’? Not really, unless it is work related. Most of the time, I’m glad for peace and quiet.

Well, that was kind-of fun!

The one about Melanie's 2nd contest...

I won! I won! Ooh, and I get some cool things!

Melanie came up with another cool contest: The person who could think up a cool alias for her daughter (and my friend, Bethany) would win some chocolate, a cool and unusual book, and some smelly-good lotion!

Go to Melanie's blog, Tripping Along the Narrow Road, to read all of the neat entries and to watch for yourself why "Flutterbug" fits Bethany so well!

The one about Collin and his Papa...

So I won't forget... I want to record, here in my blog, a memory of my dad that Collin shared with me earlier while we were eating dinner.

I don't know what made Collin think of this particular moment with my dad/his papa:

Mommy, do you remember that time I spent the night over Mamaw's and Papa's house, when Papa was too sick to go outside because of the weather so we put up my tent in the living room?

Sort-of...

Papa had his catheter and everything (my dad was very ill with prostrate cancer), but he got on the floor and slept with me in the tent on the hard floor.

He did?

Yep. And you know what he told me?

No, son. What did he tell you?

He told me not to tell Mamaw, but he was the one with the advantage that night, not Mamaw (for having the bed to herself - Dad always had a hard time sleeping/staying still). He said that he hadn't had good rest in a long time... and he would now because he was sleeping with me.

Son, our Papa was one of the sweetest men this world has ever, or will ever, see! You know that?

Yep. I do. That is why so many people miss him.

Yes, my dear boy... yes, it is.

Dad, my heart aches just picturing you so selflessly laying on that hard floor next to the apple of your eye... for what would undoubtedly be a sleepless night for you! I realize now, more than ever, that you taught me some of life's most valuable lessons without speaking one word. You are teaching me still. I... we miss you so much.

The one about a tree...

Thank God hurricane season most often misses us! At weather.com I learned that our region hasn't been hit by a MAJOR hurricane in 169 years (if I remember correctly). Of course, we have had tropical storms hit us, and the outskirts of a hurricane. Just nothing catastrophic! Whew!

I had a strong feeling that Hanna wasn't going to be at all what she was being made out to be. For Hampton Roads, anway. And as she neared, the warnings lessened in severity. That didn't keep mobs from emptying WalMart's shelves, though. LOL.

Every strong wind that blows this way makes me pray about the dead tree in the yard of the neighbor behind me. It has a large trunk, is wrapped completely in ivy, and shoots out in two directions at it's middle... and it leans against the fence that separates our yards. It leans ONLY toward my house. No other direction.

I can count on strong gusts blowing several small to medium sized branches into my yard... toward my patio and sliding-glass back door. I have asked the nieghbor to the left several times to help me throw a chain around that tree, hook it to his truck, and put the pedal-to-the-medal. He is from the "real" south and loves any chance to shoot his guns, ride his motorcycle, wear his bandana... and make use of his truck! Despite many promises, though, the tree was left standing (leaning, rather).

Today, as Hanna lightly blew over our area, God was working a tiny storm in my backyard! And answering prayer! Collin came running upstairs, "Mom, mom. Stuff is falling in our yard!" I ran to see the tallest arm of the tree laying in the middle of the yard... measuring about nine feet long. It is about two feet from my patio. Praise God! If it has broken further down the trunk, istead of in the middle, it would have hit my house, broken my glass door.

As God had it, guys from Victory Home were working in the townhouse next door, and they came to the rescue. Picking up the branches that were sticking straight out of the ground, and all over the lawn. An hour later, our friend, Paul, arrives with a saw, and they start cutting it down for bulk trash pick-up.

Wouldn't you know... it gets better? The other arm of the tree - the one shooting up toward the east - is still there, and swaying more than before. Paul and I are discussing what to do about it... I want them to attempt the plan hatched with my neighbor because I know that any gust could send that thing right into my home. As we are reasoning it out... a long, strong wind blows through... and knocks the remaining top half of the tree to the ground, parallel to the fence. Martin (a VH client) barely gets out of the way!

It was something to behold. God knows that tree has been a concern of mine since I moved to this house three years ago. Every windy storm gave me pause. If the tree were to fall down from the roots, there was no doubt it would hit my house. Not only did God bring down the tree by a storm that didn't pose any real danger, but he had it happen when I already had friends around to help, and he kept off the rain so they could spend two hours cleaning up the mess! And the coolest answer to prayer... no damage was done to my home!

Today, God made it really easy to praise Him in the storm!

The one about being tested...

If you read my blog entry yesterday, you won't be surprised that I was tested today. When the Lord deals with us about something, and we tell Him we are going to let Him have it, usually, we don't get too far without a little test.

Today is how "far" I got. God pulls no punches.

Letting go IS NOT easy. Often, your natural, sinful self gets in the way. For me, that is usually the case. However, there are exceptions. By exceptions, I mean someone else... someone who seems determined to KEEP you from letting go! LOL. Thankfully, God is faithful. Oh yeah... and "that person" (whoever it is, and in whatever circumstance)... well, God put he/she there just for the purpose of seeing whose understanding you are going to lean on.

Today, I almost fell over while leaning on my own understanding. However, because God is serious about the commitment I made to Him, He provided me with a gentle reminder (and much needed humor) from a good friend, 800mg of ibuprofen, and the good sense to quickly lean the other way.

This evening, as I was praying about the events of the day, the thought of God hemming me in brought comfort... and these words... which turned into a song in my heart:

You see
You see who I am and what I've done
Though You've never turned away...
Stirred my heart, I wanna stay
In Your arms

You know
You know why I'm driven to my knees
Lord, my days are in Your sight...
None to fear, there's only light
In Your arms

You hear
You hear every cry of this child's heart
I've no reason to despair...
Letting go... I cast my cares
In Your arms

In Your arms
There is meaning, there is grace
There is strength to run the race
I was made for this embrace
In Your arms

Because of today's test, I have hope for tomorrow. More than yesterday.

The one about not letting go... it's bad!

You know I wanted to blog about some awesome things God had been doing… but I felt convicted, and this is what happened instead.

It seems as though I have been in a spiritual slump, lately. And slump is the word I use so it doesn’t sound so bad, or so it doesn’t sound self-inflicted.

Most of us have heard in a sermon, or read in the Bible, the account of the Ephesian church in the Book of Revelation having lost their first love:

2 I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. 3 You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. 4 Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.

I shutter to read it. For all the passage does say, there is so much it doesn’t say, like how they can be doing so many other things spot-on, yet fall to such an embarrassing place. I think, very possibly, the reason God doesn’t spell out the “how” is because no one needs to be told. We already know. I already know, and yet I ignore the slow fade.

We have so much zeal when we first get saved… but we lack knowledge (there’s a reason God warns us about that). Then, as we mature spiritually and walk with the Lord for a good while, we gain knowledge, but there goes zeal out the window.

I see this in my own life, and I hate it. What is it? Laziness, apathy, discouragement, being willfully distracted by the busyness of life? It is all of these things. But before I latch on to one of these convenient excuses, the Holy Spirit (thank God!) whispers (or yells), “You know the problem, Melissa.”

The default for us humans is to love ourselves, and I am no different. God gets relegated to some obscure place in our lives when we take our eyes off of him and focus them on ourselves, our circumstances, or others. When the Father gets any place other than FIRST, we get every thing other than fellowship. Without fellowship, contentment goes out the window with zeal. How can I know this, yet persist for more than a minute? Again… no one needs to tell me. I already know.

I thank God He saved me. There are so many times He could have easily said, “That’s it, Melissa.” But He doesn’t. He loves me… and I will never understand it. He pours out His grace when His Holy Spirit speaks to us so personally, so clearly that we don’t want to stay the same. We don’t want to make excuses.

I work in ministry, and there is a particular situation that I have struggled with for a bit. The disturbed-enough-to-spit-nails kind-of struggle. You know the verse in Revelation earlier? Verse 2? I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false? That’s the struggle. Oh, I was all over this verse. Yep, that's me. Don't wanna tolerate wicked men who seem to be hanging around for all of the wrong reasons. How can I be part of a ministry to reach men that are lost, and not tolerate them? Or how can I hope for the Gospel to finally penetrate the heart of one who has carried Jesus’ name in complete falsehood?

The answer is simple… I can’t unless I keep my first love. And, unless I can count myself out of the “wicked” category, I better just rest awhile on thoughts of God’s mercy in my life. I know I am saved, but like the Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 7 - I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me.

In ministry, we must discern truth from a lie, separate takers from givers, tell wolves from sheep (straight jacket, anyone?). Yet none of these are the most important. The most important thing is bringing glory to God, living rightly before Him so others will see and want the same. It is hard for me to balance these things. I can’t do it... God has to. I have failed miserably the last 10 days, or so, letting go of what I can’t do. The choice is mine... think I'll loosen my grip!