Mel's Heart

My thoughts about God, living for Him, being a writer, wife, mom, and child of God

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Long Time and She Speaks

It feels like a month of Sundays since I've posted on my blog. So much has been going on... kids got out of school and we've had lots of days with boys in and out of the house. I'm working on redoing the downstairs, so had to make some decisions about that, went to the She Speaks conference - more about that in a minute - and tomorrow we leave for a week in Maine. I'll take my computer with me, so I'll blog about that while in Bar Harbor...

About She Speaks...
She Speaks is the annual writers and speakers conference put on by Proverbs 31 Ministries (go to proverbs31.org for more info on them) This ministry is near and dear to my heart for many reasons - one reason is that they published an article I wrote on marriage, this was seen by a publisher who called me, I submitted a book proposal, it was accepted and published as What a Husband Needs from His Wife. It's in the book stores July 1st!

So this conference is awesome. I'll just go ahead and say right now, if you're interested in writing or speaking - go to this conference. Next year they'll have a women's ministry track, so if you're in your church's women's ministry - this will be awesome!

But honestly, the best thing about this conference is the spiritual impact. God shows up there in a big way! There is something about being with 300 like-minded women, women who love God passionately and who seek Him and who want to know and respond to His calling on their lives, that is so powerful. It was 3 years ago when I went on the writer's track, before I even had an inkling of what God was about to do in my life with writing, that I knew that I knew God was calling me to write and speak for Him.

One of the blessings this year was going with three of my best buddies, Holly, Mandy and Kelly. Oh what fun we had! We laughed, prayed and got tired together - not a whole lot of sleep at these conferences! Not to mention other good friends like MaryBeth,Lysa, and Renee there, also. Oh how blessed I am with women friends who love you and purseue you, Lord!

Got to go shower as the painter's coming...more on this later.
Psalm 31:19 How great is your goodness which You have stored up for those who fear You.

Tuesday, June 13, 2006

Rainy Days

Today was a much-needed rainy day. Thank you, Lord. Days like this are what I have always thought of when I've thought of North Carolina. Growing up in south Florida, it was just hot. And hotter. No seasons. It certainly is beautiful there, and I'm so glad my parents still live there but there's a certain kind of beauty that is so unique to North Carolina.

I remember driving to Maggie Valley, North Carolina for our summer vacations and just marveling at the wild flowers growing along the highways. I remember loving hiking in cool mornings and nighttimes, wading in crisp mountain streams, finding treasures like mica in the rocks, picking flowers that didn't grown in florida. I think all those summer vacations just knitted my heart to North Carolina.

So when we got a chance to move to Charlotte almost seven years ago it just felt like home.

I've always loved rainy days. I don't miss florida's constant hot weather but there is one thing i miss about the weather there: many summer afternoons would bring rain, filled with lightning and thunder. It usually didn't last long, just long enough to come in from the beach for a little bit. So I really miss storms. that might sound weird but i do.

Rainy days invite us to slow down, stop moving, curl up with a book, a puzzle or a board game. We have a new favorite game, by the way, introduced to us by the Blairs, called Rummikub. It's addicting!

I'm trying to take some time to slow down and just curl up with my thoughts, my Bible, and the Lord and just spend some time meditating on His goodness.
Psalm 34:8 O taste and see that the Lord is good

Friday, June 02, 2006

Book Excerpt

Since my book comes out in less than a month on July 1st, I'm going to start including some excerpts. Here's one.


Last year we decided to put a pool in our backyard, and it’s been such a great addition! My sons swam several times a day, and we had plenty of friends over to share in the fun. The ideal pool scenario for me includes floating around on a raft with my ice-cold diet coke. My sons loved it when I would I get in the pool with them. However, they would have nothing to do with creating my ideal pool scenario.

Every time I swam with them I had to actually, well, swim. No floating allowed. In fact each time they were in the pool they wanted to play some type of game—sharks and minnows; marco polo, and all sorts of competitions they invented. I accommodated at first, but finally I’d had enough. I explained to them that when I was growing up in Florida with a pool in my backyard, my girl friends and I did not play games every time we got in the pool. We floated, sunbathed, talked and the only game we played was pretending we were mermaids. So that’s what I as their mother, a former girl, wanted to do in the pool. Needless to say they were quite disappointed in my girlyness.

Even at a young age males and females differ from one another, as my summer pool experience reminded me. In addition to differences from the way you were raised, in your marriage you’ll experience countless situations where the differences between a female wife and a male husband are glaringly evident.

It helps to remember that God planned this difference: “… male and female He created them” (Genesis 1:27). If God planned us and fashioned us to be different, we can count on God to have done this for our good and for our advantage. But it doesn’t always feel that way, does it? Many times the differences in my husband have made me think, What is wrong with this man?!

There are two approaches we can take about the gender differences. First, we can magnify the differences into a negative. Focusing on the differences leads to trying to change or fix or husbands. We’ve probably all heard that a man goes into a marriage expecting nothing to change. On the other hand, a woman enters marriage expecting to change her man. If we take this negative approach, the differences will divide us rather than complete us.

my hair

Okay, got my hair cut and colored by someone new yesterday. Love the color and my hair is in great condition now, after being really dry. I have a very short bob. very short. shorter than i thought. I had a little extra coloring in a spot at my hair line. I was thinking what could i use to get that off? then i saw the magic eraser, the little sponge that takes off scuffs from the walls. sure enough, it takes off hair color, too. i cracked myself up!

hmmm why do I always want the hair I don't have? I think it's like that with women and a lot of other issues - we compare ourselves to other women's bodies, hair, clothes, homes, abilities, and as you get older... wrinkles... and it sure is easy to find yourself lacking in the comparison.

but i am certain that this is a ploy of the enemy to keep us dissatisfied with ourselves, thus not ever enjoying being who God created us to be.

I read a great question in Dan Allender's to be told, a question which has helped me value my uniqueness and i hope it does you too:
"What about God am I most uniquely suited to reveal to others?"