I stand in awe

As my hand is placed on my belly with my growing child inside, he kicks and twists and wiggles, I watch my hand move up and down. Maybe you've experienced it before and know how I feel. Maybe you haven't, but you might one day. I appreciate this more now, pregnancy that is. Because we lost two babies, my eyes have been opened. I realize what a precious gift it is to grow a baby. To carry a life inside of my body. What a beautiful miracle it is. It causes me to think of my Maker and how He made us by hand. He knit us together in our mothers womb, we are fearfully and wonderfully made. I stand in awe. I am amazed at the work of His hands, and I praise Him. I praise Him because He is good, and all that He does is wonderful. 

(Psalm 39:14, Psalm 139:13, Psalm 135:3)

I'll be posting a testimony blog here shortly, it's in the works. Who knew that it would take prayer, tears and lots of thought to work up one post? There's so many details to weed through and I want it to be just right. Either way the glory goes to God!

Thank you for stopping by!

Hello there!

   Well hello! Man, it's been a while since the last time I posted. So much has happened and I will try my best to fill you in. The past few months have been extremely busy and jam packed. 

 

  I almost don't know where to start, wait never mind of course I do! I'm pregnant! Yes, 30 weeks today in fact! Oh and he's a boy, yes a little boy will be added to our family in June! Baby Manzi is what I've been calling him, also little fox and Justin calls him Boy! He rubs my belly and says, "Hey Boy!" All the time. We're not telling people the name yet, which I also realize is something that is SO hard to keep quiet. We want to tell the whole world! But I'm stubborn...and we agreed not to tell, so I'm not letting Justin tell anyone. (Am I mean?) Haha, oh well!

    

   The past 7 months have been such a joy. They've been such a blessing to my life. It's truly flown by, which is something I'm thankful for. I'm also thankful for such an incredible and easy pregnancy. God has richly blessed us and I'll be posting here soon about what a miracle this little fox is. God answered our prayers. He took our pain and He replaced it with joy! We are grateful for His grace and faithfulness that He has showered upon us. He did a miracle for us and He can do one for you too.

   

   In other recent events, we finally got a church building! We had our first service exactly a month after we received the keys. We had to remodel the entire inside of the building, tear down walls, rip out carpet and lanolium, build new walls, texture, sand, paint and lay the new carpet. That's what we did in a nut shell but I'm telling you, I have so much respect for people who do this on a regular basis. I also have a ton of respect for my husband, he's a machine! He was there every single day for a month (except on Sunday's) he even went on Christmas Day to work on that building (he's crazy! Don't worry, he wasn't there for long!) We had multiple churches from around the area come and help us, we also had some help come all the way from Prescott which was amazing! 

   

   There's no way on earth that I would be able to share everything that's gone on, but I will say this: God is helping us! 

  

    Now hopefully I'll be a little more consistent with my posts. Thanks for stopping by! 

 

  Oh and here's some pictures

Our precious miracle!

Our growing church!

Setting aside Distractions and Spending Quality time with God

Maybe it's just me, maybe not but often times when I have good intentions to spend some quality time with God; I get distracted. I start off by doing well, I gather my bible, journal and pen and grab a seat. I start to pray and read for a few minutes....then my mind starts to wander. "I really need to go shopping. Look at that pile over there, I should pick that up. What do I have planned for the day? Oh yeah, I need to text (insert name) about (event goes here). Man, I really should dust more often." My mind goes on and on. It goes all over the place, everywhere EXCEPT where it should go: to God. 

As women, we have so many things we do, clean the house, do the laundry, plan meals/prep and cooking, running errands, for each of us it's different but those are some of the general things we do. Also as women we can be incredible multi-taskers, while we're picking up the house, dinner plans are brewing in our heads. While we're cleaning the bathroom we are crossing things off on our "to-do" list. Because of this reason, it can be hard for me to sit down and have quality time with God, without distractions. After all how can I sit down when there's so many things that need to be done? Maybe I'm the only one who has this problem. I can be incredibly busy with all I need to do, it can be a good thing because things get done. It can also be a bad thing because the most important thing, God can be pushed to the curb. Now that, is a bad thing. It's not my intentions to push God to the curb or make Him last on my list, it just... happens.

What I'm learning, is to be more intentional with my quiet time with God, with my Bible reading, and my prayer life. One thing that helps me is to not allow the things that could distract me from taking my attention. For instance, my lovely phone. One of the biggest distractions on earth! Even if I'm not trying to be distracted by it, it happens. I go to look at the time then I get a text message and start having a conversation and there goes my time with God. Maybe someone liked my picture on Instagram, of course I go to it and start looking at the most recent posts. You see, it's not intentional that I get so distracted. But to fight it, I must be intentional. 

I've been turning my phone on silent and placing it somewhere with the screen down, so if I glance at it there will be no distractions. I try to focus on what it is that I'm reading about, journaling really helps me focus because I can write down scripture and remember it better. The awesome part about a journal is you can look back on it, for me it's almost like the things I write in my journal are engraved in my heart. Also when you write, you must focus, when you read, it's easier to doze off! 

I realize that the first part of my day is the best part of my day, and God deserves that! Just like we give the first %10 of our money to God, after all it is His! I think its the same idea with our day. He deserves the best part, not the leftovers. 

When you put God first, give Him the best part and truly focus on Him and His Word; you'll be surprised at the difference there is. Once you make the step to be intentional, it becomes easier and easier to continue to be. God wants all of us, all of our hearts and all of our attention. After all, He deserves it, doesn't He?

I hope this encourages you to focus on Jesus and to give Him the best part of your day, without any silly distractions. 

An Open Heart

As individuals, we allow God access into our hearts. We control His limits, we open the door to allow Him in. We can do this with all the lights on and every door open; with no walls up for us to hide behind. Or we can do the opposite. The choice is ours.

God wants our entire heart. He wants us to allow Him access, He wants complete access. Because God is a gentleman, He won't overstep the boundary line we place before Him. He allows us free will, but His desire is for us to welcome Him in.

When we get an unexpected guest, before answering the door we scramble to pick up as quickly as possible. We turn on the Scentsy and we wipe the tooth paste marks off of the bathroom mirror. We shut the door to the bedroom and any other room that might not be completely presentable. This is normal, I've done it and I know you have too! (None of us are perfect people here!) The problem is that sometimes we do that with Jesus.

Revelation 3:20 says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears and listens to and heeds My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will eat with him, and he [will eat] with Me.”

(Amplified Bible)

He wants to have fellowship with us. His desire is to take us as we are, to help us and change us for the better. We love that the God of the universe wants to know us and have a relationship with us, so of course we gladly allow Him in. But, only to the areas that are presentable. Only to the kitchen and living room, because those areas are in order. We're afraid of letting Him see the dark corners, the things behind the couches or under the rugs. We don't want to let Him down, we don't want to look bad. So, we would rather just not go there. We have sensitive areas so we put up walls, to block from all access. We've been hurt in the past so we avoid pain at all cost. We try to put this image up that we are doing great when that's just not always the truth. 

No matter how many walls we put up, how many lights we refuse to turn on for Him to see, rest in this: He already knows. Of course He does, He's God, we know this but we still try to hide. He knows our hurts, He knows the areas that need work, He's aware of our short comings and failures. God knows the mess and He still wants in! God's desire is to fellowship with us, to be intimate with us, He desires US. All of us. All of our heart, the in order and the completely insane areas too, yes all of us! His love for us is almost unbelievable, He knows it all and He still knocks on our heart, He still wants in.

God can only help if we open up. He can only heal if we allow Him to and He can only teach us if we allow Him to instruct. We have to let down our walls, turn on every single light, draw back the curtains, open the doors and let Him do His perfect work. Welcome Him in, there's no point in pretending, we can't fake Him out like we can with others. After all He is our creator, He knows our hearts because He made them, He holds them in His hands. If we open the door and allow Him access into every little crack and crevice, He will help! 

He can expose things for what they are, expose the enemy for what he is; a liar. We might be gripped by fear or even scared to let Him in, but perfect love casts out all fear; (“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear." 1 John 4:18 NKJV) Jesus is perfect love. With Him all fears are gone and in exchange for fear, He gives us His perfect peace. "And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus" Philippians 4:7 (NKJV)

Be open and honest before God, He is our first love, He is our constant helper, He is for us! Don't believe the lies of the enemy that God is out of reach. He's right there, waiting for you to open that door so He can come in and fellowship with you! 

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

(Jeremiah 29:11 NKJV)

Have a magnificent Tuesday people!

Xoxo, Melissa

Fall is here!

I don't know about you, but fall is my favorite season. Cardigans, crunching leaves, scarves, boots, beanies, hot chocolate, pumpkins, fires, the colors: orange, yellow and red. The list can go on...really there are so many gorgeous things about autumn. Oh. So. Many. Things!

Yesterday was the first day of fall and my heart is truly happy. If you could see it, it would be smiling! I decided to celebrate the season by wearing booties and a chambray shirt. I wanted to add a scarf but I probably would have had a heat stroke. It's still in the 90's here in central Cali. What is wrong with this city? Haven't you heard that fall is here?!

(I'm not sure why I'm only raising one eyebrow in this picture, but we'll just pretend like we didn't notice that!)

One thing that excites me about fall is the cooler temperatures! The trees change colors, we can drink hot lattes and snuggle with cozy blankets. We also celebrate the wonderful holiday, Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving is such an crucial holiday because we are reminded once again that we are truly blessed by God. It opens our eyes to the gift He has given us, we have been saved by His marvelous grace. We have been washed in His precious blood, redeemed and set free! Thank you God! There are so many things to be thankful for, salvation is only one of them!

Justin also loves this time of year. What excites him? Buying masks and scaring small children, haha! (Can you say Spirit Halloween?) he likes to get a reaction out of people, even though most people don't get scared. I know I do; those masks freak me out. He usually scares me when he comes around the corner with it on and I'm not expecting it. He tries to scare me all the time...every once in a while I get him back and maaaaan is it hilarious when he screams! (Don't tell him I told you that)

We needed to buy a shovel for our new back yard (we're going to be planting grass here soon, yay!) so of course, he was dragging that shovel around with his mask on inside of Walmart. His head was tilted, ever so slightly and his shoulder was dropped just enough to make him look abnormal. It's awesome when people smile, laugh and enjoy his happiness! Sometimes life can be too serious...we all need a little adventure to brighten up our lives, to add some excitement to our day. This guy makes me smile! 

Since we moved into our new apartment we HAD to buy a new door mat! It's pretty stinking adorable, thanks again Target for being so on point all the time. We love you. 

It's time to break out the pine cones. Last year I used a paint brush, mod podge and gold glitter and created this gold dipped pine cone effect. I adore it! They smell like cinnamon and they add a touch of fall and gold to the home. Does it get any better? I don't think so. If it does, please let me know :)

To welcome fall, a cozy candle is completely essential. This is a soy candle that a lady in my sisters church made! I pretty much want to eat it, that sums up how good it smells! 

I hope you are enjoying the time of year and (hopefully) cooler weather! Let's look back and recount the blessings God has allowed us to experience so far this year! Even when times are hard (we all have bad days) God is our constant. He is always there holding us up when we don't have the strength on our own. He is truly something to be grateful for! Happy fall!

Xoxo, Mel

Memory Box, savoring life's moments!

We all have those little trinkets and cards we can't possibly part with. If you're anything like me, I have quite a bit. I tend to be sentimental. Am I the only one that still has notes from years ago? I have saved every note and card Justin has ever given me and he did the same. Looking back on them makes me giddy, I feel like we've known each other forever because we have so many little things, they're precious to me! 

We also have old family pictures (Justin when he was little) notes from close friends, Christmas cards, and little random things from our life!

Like I've mentioned before I'm not a fan of random piles. They make me crazy! So instead of letting things pile up, I decided to get a cute box and collect memories with that! One of my boxes I've had since I was a little girl, back then I collected things and saved them in there...this sentimental thing goes baaaack! 

Now, I have three memory boxes and I'm sure we'll have more in the future. With everything there has to be a balance right? We don't save every little thing because that would be called hoarding and I'm not into that; a few boxes aren't too bad right? Besides they fit like a puzzle piece stacked in the top of my closet (Ok I'm being dramatic)  They're tiny boxes filled with organized clutter, contained chaos if you will; that's exactly how I love it!

That time when we went to sea world, or when we went to the Monterey aquarium. When I used to have random trips to Flagstaff. The day we took our engagement pictures. The hotel room key when we went to San Jose for a marriage retreat!

We all have little things that remind us of good friends or happy moments. Don't throw them away, treasure them! You can never get those moments back :)

That little hat in the box above is one of the hats I wore all the time while I was going through chemo. There are so many things that we wouldn't allow ourselves to part with. So many things we don't know where to put, like that adorable hat!

The box with roses on it, yup that's the  one I've had for a long time. 

P.s. Isn't that tiny orchid gorgeous?!

The wonderful thing about memory boxes is that throughout the years you can go through them and they will be sure to make you smile! 

Xoxo, Melissa

Requests, thanks and gratitude to God

I was recently challenged in my heart to start writing down what I'm grateful for. It doesn't matter if it's a big thing, or a little thing. When I think about my life I am filled to the brim with gratitude, but a lot of times (if I'm being honest here) I take things for granted and I don't praise God for them. 

About a week or so ago I thought up this idea to write down what I'm grateful for. Then I thought, "Well why not add prayer requests?" Then all the ideas started flowing and this is what I came up with:

1. Prayer requests

2. What I'm grateful for

3. Give thanks

I realized that no matter what we go through in life, God is so so good! He sent His son to die for us and has saved us from eternal torment in hell. Instead of punishment, He gives us forgiveness and heaven as an eternal home! If nothing else good happens to me in life, I will praise Him forever just for that!

Each one of us has been so richly blessed by God! Look around and write down the good things He has blessed you with! Like I said, some things are small and that's ok! I'm grateful that I have a journal and a pen to write these things down with. I'm also grateful for my wonderful husband and a roof over my head. The list is really endless and it's incredibly easy to think of things to be grateful for!

The best attitude is gratitude!

When we begin to be grateful, we truly will be content. It doesn't matter what situation we are in, God is always worth of our praise and adoration! 

Below are a few pictures of my journal and some things I am grateful for, things I'm asking Him for and things I'm prasing Him for. 

Isn't that journal adorable? It was a gift from a sweet friend :)

Some times we all need a reminder of what God has done in our lives! It's healthy for us to look back and see His faithfulness. He is our Father and we are His children, He has given us life through Jesus and promises to never leave us!

Also I just thought I would share, I'm working on a little painting:) cute right? 

Let's rejoice in the blessings God has given us! Mark them down so you can look back and realize just how blessed you really are!

Xoxo- Mel